I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…

Tonda

I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« on: August 18, 2019, 03:29:05 AM »
When I got it exactly a year ago, I was very excited and was very much in love. However, during the year I realized that the PX does not suit me. Still, I was not ready to sell the PX, it is truly a remarkable instrument. Also, it was a huge investment and somehow, I was not ready to admit to myself I did the wrong purchase. I also own a Prophet 12 Desktop. My experience with this instrument was the opposite. I was blown away by the specs and bought one despite the many (not so good) demos found on Youtube. The first month I struggled to get good sounds out of it, but after a year I gelled with it and currently it is definitely my favorite synth. The decision to sell the PX came after getting my hands on a Waldorf Blofeld. Within a first couple of hours, I got the sounds I like, which did not happen with the PX. The Blofeld was just a tenth of the price of the PX and that was the moment to realize that the PX never will connect to me.  I’ve tried to analyze the issues I have with the PX. I’ve came to these conclusions:
1) I really don’t like the samples. For me, most of them are a bit strange and don’t fit into my taste. Second, a lot of the samples are recorded with some ambience.  I like samples to be dry and dial in my own ambience with reverb. I do like the VS samples b.t.w. and used them a lot in my sounds. But the wavetables in the Blofeld are a lot more interesting to me. The samples I do like are the strings. But unfortunately, these are not looped and there is a certain articulation in it. I’ve tried to extract a part and set a loop, but finding the perfect loop is difficult and cumbersome in my humble opinion. 
2) I do like the synth part of the PX. I used the PX as a traditional synth, no usage of samples. I do like the stereo(!) filter, but how beautiful it is, there is a certain signature which I find too limited in the end. Maybe strange, but I prefer the Curtis filter of the P12. It sounds more neutral to me and therefor more versatile. The P12 has the tools to make it warm and lush if I want.
3) In my humble opinion the quality of the effects is mediocre. I’ve a Strymon Bigsky or a GFI Tempus Specular connected to my P12 and the quality of these two reverb units is stunning. I did like the superplate reverb, but had troubles to get the hall reverb sounds right to me. Same for the chorus… The P12 doesn’t have a chorus effect, but I get a better chorus with just two delay taps and an LFO.

I tell my story to ask if I’m the only one which have these feelings about the PX. Still, I really think the PX is a wonderful instrument and can imagine that others are very happy with it, but it was not for me. Sequential make some fabulous instruments and I will always follow them. I love my P12 and only will replace it when Dave Smith decides to develop a second iteration of the P12.



Nokki

Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2019, 11:07:15 AM »
Please keep this negativity to your self, do not bring this negativity to this possitive place. I ask the moderators to delete this post as it add nothing of value to anything

OceanMachine

Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2019, 12:02:49 PM »
Nothing Tonda said was inflammatory.

jg666

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Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2019, 12:18:13 PM »
Nothing Tonda said was inflammatory.

Agreed :)
DSI Prophet Rev2, DSI Pro 2, Moog Sub37, Korg Minilogue, Yamaha MOXF6, Yamaha MODX6, Yamaha Montage6

Tonda

Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #4 on: August 18, 2019, 12:41:00 PM »
I am not at all negative about the PX. I have heard several examples in which beautiful music was made with the instrument. I wanted to love the instrument, but unfortunately it didn't happen. I do not qualify the PX as bad, on the contrary, it is a unique instrument and that was the reason I bought it. If it is decided to delete my post, I will regret that. It was by no means intended to offend anyone or be negative, but just wanted to highlight that an instrument may not suit you, no matter how wonderful it may be. In my opinion this is the perfect place to highlight another side. My apologies if someone is offended by my story.

jg666

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Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2019, 01:26:02 PM »
I am not at all negative about the PX. I have heard several examples in which beautiful music was made with the instrument. I wanted to love the instrument, but unfortunately it didn't happen. I do not qualify the PX as bad, on the contrary, it is a unique instrument and that was the reason I bought it. If it is decided to delete my post, I will regret that. It was by no means intended to offend anyone or be negative, but just wanted to highlight that an instrument may not suit you, no matter how wonderful it may be. In my opinion this is the perfect place to highlight another side. My apologies if someone is offended by my story.

In my opinion there was nothing to apologise for in your posts :) You’ve just given your detailed thoughts and opinions.


DSI Prophet Rev2, DSI Pro 2, Moog Sub37, Korg Minilogue, Yamaha MOXF6, Yamaha MODX6, Yamaha Montage6

LoboLives

Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2019, 01:33:44 PM »
I think the original poster has every right to voice his opinion on these forums and we have every right not to put much stock into said opinion.

Shaw

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Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #7 on: August 18, 2019, 02:01:55 PM »
Nothing at all wrong with what he said.  I think we have all had the same or similar experiences where, on paper, we love a synth.  Then you get your hands on one and it's... (to quote my beloved P12) "meh".


For me, that synth was the Yamaha Montage. 
For OP, it's the PX.  No problem.  Hope you passed the synth on to someone who will enjoy it and you both got a fair deal.
"Classical musicians go to the conservatories, rock´n roll musicians go to the garages." --- Frank Zappa
| Linnstrument | Suhr Custom Modern | Mayones Jaba Custom | Godin Multiac Nylon | Roland TD-50 | Synergy Guitar Amps | Eventide Effects Galore |

Sacred Synthesis

Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #8 on: August 18, 2019, 02:29:14 PM »
Please keep this negativity to your self, do not bring this negativity to this possitive place. I ask the moderators to delete this post as it add nothing of value to anything.

The original post is not negative; it's objective, even gentle.  Tonda explained his reasons for selling his PX, saying that it simply did not "suit" him.  His comments could be of help to others who might feel the same way if they were to buy the instrument.  And the OP had many positive things to say about the PX.  He makes clear that it's an excellent instrument, but it's just not for him. 

If this forum tolerates only flattering comments, then it's worthless.  This has not been the policy of DSI/Sequential, which has always tolerated legitimate criticism.  Nor do they instruct their moderators to delete posts that contain criticisms.

Who doesn't read the one-star reviews on Amazon before buying something?  They can save you from buying things you really don't want or need.
« Last Edit: August 18, 2019, 08:00:06 PM by Sacred Synthesis »

Nokki

Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #9 on: August 18, 2019, 02:45:24 PM »
I must have misunderstood the meaning of his post, didint mean any harm guys!

Sacred Synthesis

Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #10 on: August 18, 2019, 02:52:49 PM »
That's okay, Nokki. Respectful debate is welcome here.

Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #11 on: August 18, 2019, 05:20:18 PM »
I can't imagine anything as subjective and personal as a musical instrument.  Finding the ones that speak to you (and speak for you!) is part of the adventure.  There are any number of synths that have stellar reputations that I never connected with.  Good luck finding your next muse!  Who knows?  Perhaps Sequential has it in the works right now.

I find that any sample collection tends to be hit-and-miss for me, so the ability to fill in with my own selection was an essential part of the appeal of the Prophet X concept – and why I was willing to put time and energy into PXToolkit to open up the full potential.

Tonda

Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #12 on: August 18, 2019, 10:39:37 PM »
Thank you guys,

I am happy that this forum offers the opportunity to tell a different story.
And I’m touched by the respect shown here for each other.

As Lady Gaia mentioned, there is nothing as subjective and personal as a musical instrument.

Lady, you did an amazing job with the development of the PXToolkit to open up the full potential of the PX. But personally, I’m not willing to spend any time behind a computer to play music or whatever… The Prophet X concept, playing samples over an analog filter appealed to me very much and it was the main reason to buy the instrument. Nevertheless, an instrument as a whole, in particular synthesizers, is the sum of individual parts. The beautiful sounding filter however is too limited to me. I prefer a switchable 2-pole and 4-pole filter design. For me that is the power of the P12; having a versatile lowpass filter, an extra real highpass resonance filter, combined with a shelving eq for low and high frequencies. It offers so much more to mold the sounds to your own taste. But even my beloved P12 has it quirks, my perfect synthesizer simply does not exist. But whatever design a synthesizer has, the most important thing for me is the “wow” feeling. A musical instrument should invite you to play. For example, with my P12 and even the Blofeld I can get lost for hours playing music after changing some parameters. The PX didn’t do this for me.

I think I’ve found my next muse. I have played the Novation Peak several times and was very impressed. But I need an extra keyboard beside my Kurzweil Forte when playing in my band and the desktop design of the Peak I was not looking for. But fortunately, Novation decided to develop a keyboard synth which is actually more or less two Peaks combined, called the Summit. I like its high-resolution digital oscillators, having wavetables, the versatile filter design and the excellent effects. But it's not perfect either, I will definitely miss the ability to play samples over an analog filter. But combined with the Forte (a great rompler and midi controller b.t.w.) I’m convinced it has the sounds, the simplicity and flexibility I need on stage.

Kind regards,
Tonda
« Last Edit: August 18, 2019, 10:57:10 PM by Tonda »

blewis

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Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #13 on: August 19, 2019, 05:48:04 AM »
With the Summit’s audio inputs, you can route an external sampler into stereo analog multimode filters paraphonically. In a pinch. Not the same, but all is not lost.

Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #14 on: September 21, 2019, 07:37:50 AM »
Please keep this negativity to your self, do not bring this negativity to this possitive place. I ask the moderators to delete this post as it add nothing of value to anything

So the $390 Blofeld was a suitable replacement for the Px?  That's like selling your car because you found that a waffle was a suitable replacement.

Nothing wrong with the Blofeld, but just a different direction entirely by you. 

I chalk this up to your ear wanting a completely different sound, because a sample-synth with analog filters isn't anything near the Blofeld.

« Last Edit: September 21, 2019, 07:40:24 AM by station2station »
Oberheim TVS 1a | Antonus 2600 | Sequential Prophet 10 | DSI Tempest | Roland RD-2000 | Martin 000-28 Modern Deluxe

Tonda

Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #15 on: September 21, 2019, 09:35:20 AM »
So the $390 Blofeld was a suitable replacement for the Px?  That's like selling your car because you found that a waffle was a suitable replacement.

Of course the Blofeld is not a replacement for the PX. I've only mentioned the Blofeld because it somehow connect to me more than the PX ever will. Once again, I think the PX is a great instrument. But I have issues with the PX which are mainly subjective as I wrote in my earlier posts. Briefly summarized, the sound of the filter and the choice of samples...
« Last Edit: September 21, 2019, 09:54:05 AM by Tonda »

Razmo

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Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #16 on: October 05, 2019, 04:54:02 AM »
Please keep this negativity to your self, do not bring this negativity to this possitive place. I ask the moderators to delete this post as it add nothing of value to anything

Typpical glorified fanboy comment... I think that this comment is what should actually be removed. Criticism should always be considered positive, as long as it is constructive, and the posters story of his interaction with the PX is well explained... in contrast your negative comment was not... you could have given a positive story of YOUR interaction with the PX to ballance this one out... a much prefered alternative.
If you need me, follow the shadows...

Sacred Synthesis

Re: I’ve finally sold my Prophet X…
« Reply #17 on: October 05, 2019, 04:50:18 PM »
Please keep this negativity to your self, do not bring this negativity to this possitive place. I ask the moderators to delete this post as it add nothing of value to anything

Typpical glorified fanboy comment... I think that this comment is what should actually be removed. Criticism should always be considered positive, as long as it is constructive, and the posters story of his interaction with the PX is well explained... in contrast your negative comment was not... you could have given a positive story of YOUR interaction with the PX to ballance this one out... a much prefered alternative.

I agree.  But we dealt with this, partly by the posts above and partly by PMs.  I think leaving the post, together with the the objections to it that followed, was the best response.  Now others can see what isn't tolerated around here.