OB6 vs Prophet 6

[Sleep of Reason]

Prophet 5 is more new Wave/synth pop British type of tones (Gabriel, Collins [Genesis Collins>>>solo imo ], Tears For Fears) while the Oberheim is more American sounding (Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Prince)

Suppose it could be because I listen to those particular Brits and not those particular Yanks... 

Then again, those examples also speak to the general consensus that Prophets are suited more towards building entire tracks around and that Oberheims are suited more towards leads (or auxiliary elements). Although that's not to say they aren't fully capable of doing both.

[DaveP6guy]

There very similar imo too.
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Also matching sequences would have been more honest than having bum notes on one and not the other (always on the p6 I think) !! All that ads to a perception of one being better (louder is perceived as better etc and feeds the trolls)
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 I hope so as I am kind of ever so slightly gutted I never knew about OB6 as I dont know now which one id have chosen (being so similar)

I wouldn't regret having the Prophet-6. The filter is fantastic in my view.  I'm talking really about the low pass which I mess around with so much. It's so "musical" to my ears and the resonance is magical. I actually like having the low pass and high pass separate. It gives different options from a variable state filter (OB-6).

I was thinking about a P6 in 2015. They seemed to take along time to reach the UK and there weren't may dealers then and nowhere near that I could actually see one. Then came Jan 2016 NAMM and out pops the OB-6. Then I was stumped. Everybody loved it. "OB6, OB6, OB6!" I think it had better presets on it. I'm surprised the P6 sales didn't go to zero!

I didn't know what to get, so I didn't get either. After all, there could have been a 3rd one coming out in 2017? Eventually I made an exchange in early 2018 and got a P6. I love it. I wouldn't swap it even for an OB6 but I would sure like an OB6 too. If they are similar that would give me the equivalent of an 8 octave keyboard -
and if they are different that gives me two great synths.

I would suspect that they are similar until you push them and then I guess the differences will show.

[DaveP6guy]

I think staged comparisons have limited usefulness. The aim there is to get something to sound as close as possible to something else. Usually by reverting to basic tones. I do not intend to use an OB-6 to emulate a Prophet 6 (or an OB-X for that matter). I am far more interested in what the OB-6 sounds like on its own, as an instrument, used to its full extent.
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I was considering two Prophet 6s, but an OB-6 is likely a much better companion. It means losing poly chaining, but that is a hassle compared to having more onboard voices anyway. I regard the Prophet 6 + OB-6 as a single two-keyboard (organ style), multitimbral, polyphonic setup.

That sounds like a good option to me and as someone who has one half (the P6), I would very much like to have the OB6 as well.

[DaveP6guy]

I think staged comparisons have limited usefulness. The aim there is to get something to sound as close as possible to something else. Usually by reverting to basic tones. I do not intend to use an OB-6 to emulate a Prophet 6 (or an OB-X for that matter). I am far more interested in what the OB-6 sounds like on its own, as an instrument, used to its full extent....
I regard the Prophet 6 + OB-6 as a single two-keyboard (organ style), multitimbral, polyphonic setup.

I would tend to agree with you as regards the potential of the P6 + OB6 combination. Someone said an OB6 was a waste of money if you already had a P6. this user had a Prophet6 and a Prophet X to name but two, very different I guess.
I guess it would depend on what kind of sounds you prefer to make and hear. I'm really into the analogue I'm English!) synth type sounds and I'm not bothered about sampled sounds. I couldn't afford anything like a Proplhet X anyway.

I got a P6 on a swap deal in January 2018 and I can't leave it alone. Previously, I was leaning towards an OB6 because I thought the presets sounded better in the demos but I think the Dave Smith team had more time to get the OB6 ready for NAMM 2016 compared to the P6 for NAMM 2015. So the OB6 got better presented at the outset in my view.

Now I have the P6, it has its imperfections or limitations but it is meant to be a constrained design as Dave said, like the original Prophet-5. I keep finding sounds that I love when I play it. The modern additions, especially the arpeggiator, effects and inverted envelope amount capability (which is a never mentioned addition but I think it's great) seem to make the instrument much easier to play. I would rather have had 5 octaves though. That aid, the wonderful feel of the controls and the proportions of the P6 fit perfectly to a 4 octave instrument which is compact and neat, much less bulky than a P5 let alone and OB8, JP8, etc.

I have limited funds so maybe I will go for some recording gear instead of another synth - but I will add an OB6 if I can, because I love the sounds that I have heard from the demos and I am highly accustomed to the P6, which is its sister machine.

I would agree with your description of the P6/OB6 combination as being like a 2 manual instrument. I prefer this to a poly chain since I hate using cables and just love to play the things. Having the two as stand alone completely independent units is attractive to me.

As for staged comparisons, you have the limitation that you can really compare only kind of vanilla synth sounds that are common to many machines and is that really so useful? It's where they diverge that is more interesting. I mean a much better comparison would be for someone to create and play sounds on the OB6 that you in no way can do on the P6 - and vice versa. That would be a better guide as to which instrument to choose first.

[Calaverasgrande]

I got to a juncture in my search for my next big synth that came down to this question.
Both of these synths sound fantastic. But the OB has that multimode Oberheim filter. Which nothing else quite touches for what it is. I honestly prefer it to the other famous synth filters.
As far as 80's synth bands and synth brands.
The fact that Killing Joke used an OB-X on it's first few albums, and Japan used one on it's last two was a big deciding factor.  Those bands are miles apart, getting utterly different sounds from the same model of synth.
Of course an OB6 is not an OB-X.
But if I close my eyes, I can pretend?

[cornonthecob]

That video did not help now I just want to add a P6 along with my OB6 and 2 P12s

[SynthHead]

I've had both (and a rev 2). I really didn't love the sound of either prophet (though the P6 was MUCH MUCH better than the Rev2 that only sounds decent when dressed up to the nines in modulation but oh that weak filter and thin tone... ). Prophet 6 had some meat, could do some GREAT sounds, but was kinda stiff/sterile and took a lot of work to dress sounds up at times and even then it felt restrained/small and boxy like it was being held back (could be the VCOs and the AMP stages where you can't drive it).

OB-6? No contest, it's the only one of the 3 that not just stood shoulder to shoulder with my vintage analogs but actually out did them on many things + all the modern features on top.

OB-6 to me feels better (the knobs feel a lot nicer to use even if you think they don't look as posh they are solid/smooth and the larger radius is much better for smaller moves), looks better (the Prophet looks kinda 'posh' and striking but not very cool.. it's a handsome synth but the OB-6 is just cool looking and a lot less formal, more fun looking but still sexy and high quality, but mainly it just sounds better and for me is more fun to use because of the layout and extra sounds possible from the filter/gains and x-mod additions.