Prophet XL?

[drxcm]

In 32 voice mode, you can use 1 instrument and 1 oscillator per layer.  It is not selectable per layer.  32 voice mode always runs the instruments/oscillators in mono.

Will this be stereo samples?
If not would be great if a 16voice stereo mode using similar resources would be fantastic!

[mildwest]

In 32 voice mode, you can use 1 instrument and 1 oscillator per layer.  It is not selectable per layer.  32 voice mode always runs the instruments/oscillators in mono.

Will this be stereo samples?
If not would be great if a 16voice stereo mode using similar resources would be fantastic!

That would be fantastic.

[Lady Gaia]

All XL features will be available on standard PX units.

For which all of us with the original hardware are incredibly grateful.  Thanks for the ongoing commitment to making our purchase more capable!  I look forward to the complete list of goodies arriving in the corresponding firmware update.

[LoboLives]

The XL isn’t for me but I do like the idea of Sequential doing a piano action keybed on a synth.

[Razmo]

Well... I like the 32 voice idea, and are VERY PLEASED to see, that all features of the XL will be ported to the X because I'm one of those people who do NOT like hammer action type of keybeds, so I'll still be aiming at the X, and not the XL... I see this "upgrade" as an "upgrade for the live performers"... though... I'd really have liked to see the X made in a module version with a scaled down user interface like the P12 module... not that I'm aiming at it, but some people might have enough keys in their studio, trying to keep things compact.

[genetic92]

I am prettty bummed out Sequential JUST announce the XL version.

Couldn't they announce it with the release of the Prophet X 61? I would have waited and bought the XL. My return window is long gone of the 61...

I am one of those guys who has beem waiting for weighted keys on a synthesizer for ages, since the Prophet T8!! SO SAD.

[LoboLives]

So is this the "new" synth that was rumored from Sequential or is this simply a custom option when people order the PX now?

[Razmo]

So is this the "new" synth that was rumored from Sequential or is this simply a custom option when people order the PX now?

I'd doubt it... what did they need to do to make this? another FATAR keybed which is probably technically compatible with the 61key version, and another casing a bit bigger... the internal is probably exactly the same fitting both models... that can not be somthing that takes a lot of time creating, in comparison to a whole new synth...

[LoboLives]

So is this the "new" synth that was rumored from Sequential or is this simply a custom option when people order the PX now?

I'd doubt it... what did they need to do to make this? another FATAR keybed which is probably technically compatible with the 61key version, and another casing a bit bigger... the internal is probably exactly the same fitting both models... that can not be somthing that takes a lot of time creating, in comparison to a whole new synth...

Now this got me thinking....if Sequential is going to provide an option for a longer keybed for the PX.....why not 61 keys for P6 and OB6? Not saying they should but it does make one wonder.

[Razmo]

So is this the "new" synth that was rumored from Sequential or is this simply a custom option when people order the PX now?

I'd doubt it... what did they need to do to make this? another FATAR keybed which is probably technically compatible with the 61key version, and another casing a bit bigger... the internal is probably exactly the same fitting both models... that can not be somthing that takes a lot of time creating, in comparison to a whole new synth...

Now this got me thinking....if Sequential is going to provide an option for a longer keybed for the PX.....why not 61 keys for P6 and OB6? Not saying they should but it does make one wonder.

I think it has to do with the fact that the X has the potential of playing piano and other more traditional acoustic sounds... it's users are a much broader audience, and they are probably aiming this at live performers, like those who play with the big workstations etc... the P6 and OB6 is aimed at a different type of user i think... they have 4 octaves which is usually enough to play a single sound with two hands... they also have no split functionality, like the X... this makes 76 keys more plausible for the X, as live users would want to split the keyboard to have two sounds running at the upper/lower parts of the keyboard. P6 and OB6 would not really need 76 keys.

That is my explanation of it

I'd rather argue that the other split/layer capable synths could maybe benefit from 76 keys, like the REV2 and Prophet 12... but in this case, a piano hammer action would NOT be the right choice in my opinion, rather the TP/8S which is a synth action keybed of better quality than the currently used TP/9S that is in the REV2/P6/OB6 (though, I'm perfectly satisfied with the TP/9S to be honest).

[LoboLives]

So is this the "new" synth that was rumored from Sequential or is this simply a custom option when people order the PX now?

I'd doubt it... what did they need to do to make this? another FATAR keybed which is probably technically compatible with the 61key version, and another casing a bit bigger... the internal is probably exactly the same fitting both models... that can not be somthing that takes a lot of time creating, in comparison to a whole new synth...

Now this got me thinking....if Sequential is going to provide an option for a longer keybed for the PX.....why not 61 keys for P6 and OB6? Not saying they should but it does make one wonder.

I think it has to do with the fact that the X has the potential of playing piano and other more traditional acoustic sounds... it's users are a much broader audience, and they are probably aiming this at live performers, like those who play with the big workstations etc... the P6 and OB6 is aimed at a different type of user i think... they have 4 octaves which is usually enough to play a single sound with two hands... they also have no split functionality, like the X... this makes 76 keys more plausible for the X, as live users would want to split the keyboard to have two sounds running at the upper/lower parts of the keyboard. P6 and OB6 would not really need 76 keys.

That is my explanation of it

I'd rather argue that the other split/layer capable synths could maybe benefit from 76 keys, like the REV2 and Prophet 12... but in this case, a piano hammer action would NOT be the right choice in my opinion, rather the TP/8S which is a synth action keybed of better quality than the currently used TP/9S that is in the REV2/P6/OB6 (though, I'm perfectly satisfied with the TP/9S to be honest).

Oh 8m not talking about 76 Keys specifically I was talking about 61 Keys.

[blewis]

In 16 voice mode, the PX is said to be in mono, but each note can be panned in the stereo VCA and you can create a stereo field via Pan Spread or modulating pan.

Will the same be true in 32 voice mode?

[Razmo]

So is this the "new" synth that was rumored from Sequential or is this simply a custom option when people order the PX now?

I'd doubt it... what did they need to do to make this? another FATAR keybed which is probably technically compatible with the 61key version, and another casing a bit bigger... the internal is probably exactly the same fitting both models... that can not be somthing that takes a lot of time creating, in comparison to a whole new synth...

Now this got me thinking....if Sequential is going to provide an option for a longer keybed for the PX.....why not 61 keys for P6 and OB6? Not saying they should but it does make one wonder.

I think it has to do with the fact that the X has the potential of playing piano and other more traditional acoustic sounds... it's users are a much broader audience, and they are probably aiming this at live performers, like those who play with the big workstations etc... the P6 and OB6 is aimed at a different type of user i think... they have 4 octaves which is usually enough to play a single sound with two hands... they also have no split functionality, like the X... this makes 76 keys more plausible for the X, as live users would want to split the keyboard to have two sounds running at the upper/lower parts of the keyboard. P6 and OB6 would not really need 76 keys.

That is my explanation of it

I'd rather argue that the other split/layer capable synths could maybe benefit from 76 keys, like the REV2 and Prophet 12... but in this case, a piano hammer action would NOT be the right choice in my opinion, rather the TP/8S which is a synth action keybed of better quality than the currently used TP/9S that is in the REV2/P6/OB6 (though, I'm perfectly satisfied with the TP/9S to be honest).

Oh 8m not talking about 76 Keys specifically I was talking about 61 Keys.

Sure... but still... even though 5 octaves is nice, you can usually still play what you want on 4 octaves, and only having 4 octaves makes the keyboard more compact... the OB6 and P6 (in my opinion) are more minded at the touring musician, as they are meant for live tweaking... every function has a knob... I can see why someone would prefer the 4 octave over a 5 octave version...

Anyway, if they did make this, then there would be people who want this in 76 and 88 keys too, some will want synth action, some hammer action, some would rather have a module, others a rackmountable version... it quickly adds up in the end.

I guess what is important is that SCI have had enough requests for a 76key hammer action keybed for the X... if not, I'd be amazed as to why they would find this important really... I for one, hate hammer action keys because synth action allow for much faster playing styles... but each to their own on that I guess

[Razmo]

In 16 voice mode, the PX is said to be in mono, but each note can be panned in the stereo VCA and you can create a stereo field via Pan Spread or modulating pan.

Will the same be true in 32 voice mode?

I think it will yes... as far as I'm understanding it, in 32 voice mode, you get only one sample instrument and one synth instrument going... i bet this is how they do the 32 voices... the engine is not powerful enough to create 32 voices, so each normal voice is probably split in half as to not require more processing power but all the modulation stuff associalted with 16 extra voices (you would need to have 32 times of everything like LFOs and EGs etc. but these are probably a lot less processing hungry).

It is clearly stated in the SOS article, that the normal 16 voice filter section will be bypassed in this mode, and that two of the filters will be used to "spice things up"... it's working paraphonically in this mode, which makes the filter not very useful with 32 voices going thru the same filter like this, but i suppose the filters could be seen as a pair of "FX filters" in this case... with samples you do not always need to route thru a filter as the samples have all "in them" anyway, but to sculpt them a bit with a static analog filter is probably a good thing.

One thing that i wonder though is, if it would not have been a good thing to allow the user to select what types of oscillators to use for those two sound sources... i think that it would make more sense to have two sample based oscillators rather than one of these being a synth oscillator, because the synth oscillator is a lot more dependant on a filter per voice... I predict that the synth oscillator in this mode is not going to be used that much in 32 voice mode because of this. If the synth oscillator on the other hand, was given it's own volume envelope like on the PRO2, then this might be a bit more useful though.

I really hope though, that this 32 voice mode will be something you can choose on a program level... otherwise it will basically be useless...

[LoboLives]

So is this the "new" synth that was rumored from Sequential or is this simply a custom option when people order the PX now?

I'd doubt it... what did they need to do to make this? another FATAR keybed which is probably technically compatible with the 61key version, and another casing a bit bigger... the internal is probably exactly the same fitting both models... that can not be somthing that takes a lot of time creating, in comparison to a whole new synth...

Now this got me thinking....if Sequential is going to provide an option for a longer keybed for the PX.....why not 61 keys for P6 and OB6? Not saying they should but it does make one wonder.

I think it has to do with the fact that the X has the potential of playing piano and other more traditional acoustic sounds... it's users are a much broader audience, and they are probably aiming this at live performers, like those who play with the big workstations etc... the P6 and OB6 is aimed at a different type of user i think... they have 4 octaves which is usually enough to play a single sound with two hands... they also have no split functionality, like the X... this makes 76 keys more plausible for the X, as live users would want to split the keyboard to have two sounds running at the upper/lower parts of the keyboard. P6 and OB6 would not really need 76 keys.

That is my explanation of it

I'd rather argue that the other split/layer capable synths could maybe benefit from 76 keys, like the REV2 and Prophet 12... but in this case, a piano hammer action would NOT be the right choice in my opinion, rather the TP/8S which is a synth action keybed of better quality than the currently used TP/9S that is in the REV2/P6/OB6 (though, I'm perfectly satisfied with the TP/9S to be honest).

Oh 8m not talking about 76 Keys specifically I was talking about 61 Keys.

Sure... but still... even though 5 octaves is nice, you can usually still play what you want on 4 octaves, and only having 4 octaves makes the keyboard more compact... the OB6 and P6 (in my opinion) are more minded at the touring musician, as they are meant for live tweaking... every function has a knob... I can see why someone would prefer the 4 octave over a 5 octave version...

Anyway, if they did make this, then there would be people who want this in 76 and 88 keys too, some will want synth action, some hammer action, some would rather have a module, others a rackmountable version... it quickly adds up in the end.

I guess what is important is that SCI have had enough requests for a 76key hammer action keybed for the X... if not, I'd be amazed as to why they would find this important really... I for one, hate hammer action keys because synth action allow for much faster playing styles... but each to their own on that I guess

You know it does seem odd they would do this. They kept saying the PX wasn't a stage piano or workstation. I'm actually quite shocked the demand for 76 hammer action keys was that high.

As far as piano action. I like synth action myself but piano action does have its place like on my V Piano and I have often wondered what an analog synth with piano action keys would feel like. Like the Prophet T8 or CS80. Especially if they had poly aftertouch or those Touch Key stickers on them. 

[LoboLives]

You know I was thinking. With the larger surface it would have been cool if Sequential added some more dials and features to the XL. Perhaps this would have been a good time to try multitimbrality. Add a EDIT Layer C and EDIT Layer D buttons.

[ddp]

I will need one of these.

[niagarasynths]

This is all great update news but I would still really like to know what sample libraries are coming. Sequential and DSI said (and still say in their descriptions) that they would be available on release(which was months ago). I still see the Prophet 5/CP 70 write-ups but nothing else. In the meantime 8DIO have had numerous sales on libraries, which I haven't invested in because there may be duplication when they finally do release.

[johnts]

This is all great update news but I would still really like to know what sample libraries are coming. Sequential and DSI said (and still say in their descriptions) that they would be available on release(which was months ago). I still see the Prophet 5/CP 70 write-ups but nothing else. In the meantime 8DIO have had numerous sales on libraries, which I haven't invested in because there may be duplication when they finally do release.

According to 8IDO in a comment on their XL promotion video: October 25th, tomorrow!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGfmnrcO7KA

The Prophet 5 is one of the most iconic synths of all time. We had the pleasure of deep-sampling the last production unit ever made (Dave Smith's personal keyboard) - and sampled every single preset in the unit. The Last Prophet 5 is specifically designed for the Prophet X and XL - and offers you all the original presets and 16 custom presets. Available on www.8dio.com from October 25th.

[Razmo]

You know I was thinking. With the larger surface it would have been cool if Sequential added some more dials and features to the XL. Perhaps this would have been a good time to try multitimbrality. Add a EDIT Layer C and EDIT Layer D buttons.

As long as the features are the same I'd be fine with some extra control on the XL... I don't need it ... on the other hand, when I looked at the photo of the XL I thought "Why not place the controls as much to the left as possible, so that the right side had free space!?" ... i know some would probably disagree with me because they want the controls to be centered in front of them, but it would also have been nice to be able to place a desktop module of sorts to the right of the controls... i can easily see a P12 module placed there