P6 on the way. Wanted to chat a bit before it arrives. I'm coming from a Rev2.

[philroyjenkins]

Hey guys, I'm in the midst of that slow anticipation phase while I wait for my P6 to arrive.

Just felt like chatting about it and hearing some thoughts from other users especially if you've come from a REV2 or P08. I wanted to share my motivations for any future folks considering the swap as I am someone who loved the hell out of my REV2.

I've seen plenty of comparison threads and I wasn't so much looking for another. Just wanted to share my personal thoughts and maybe hear some validation that I'm on the right track (ha!)

Rev2 was my first proper synth. I dove pretty deep into it and honestly I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to synthesis. I never found the sound lacking and always managed to carve out some sonic areas that pleased me. Sometimes they were on the icy and digital side but they were always unique and tickled my ears well.

I made a short series of videos diving into some of the settings and sounds I wasn't hearing in other demos of the REV2. I've also kind of built a reputation of being "The REV2 Dude" in a few forums and discords because I am always jumping in to praise the synth and chat about its possibilities.



I ended up selling my REV2 to fund my first semester back in college after 8 years (no regrets.) I'm doing better at work this quarter and recently found a great deal on a mint, open box P6 that I could pay monthly for. This was the first time a P6 was ever actually in my reach so I took my chance.

I am very familiar with the specs and limitations of both synths. I've always wanted a P6 for a couple very niche reasons that add up to a whole lot for me. As someone who has used all 4 LFOs and 16 mod slots on the REV2, I also knew what I would be giving up pretty well.

What I think I'll prefer on the P6:

- Deeper raw synthesis (IMO) rather than modulation.

Having a HPF that doesn't waste an FX slot is huge. Especially with the ability to send a negative envelope to it. I'm really excited about this addition. The analog drive seems like it could be helpful in some patch designs. I think it could be cool on a self osc sine wave kind of electric piano patch.

I also think the poly-mod is a lot deeper than people give it credit for. I'm really into analog FM clangs and bells but there seems to be some really cool drone potential too. I'm looking forward to slowly modulating a pulse wave near 0.

From some of the demos I've heard and my experience with the REV2, I'm hoping to get more out of the raw P6 waves. On the REV2, changing the wave-shape kind of felt lackluster at times, like it didn't really make much of a difference. I think the P6 might have an edge when it comes to these kinds of timbre shaping tools. Sync, PW, Wave Shape.

A form factor I prefer

I prefer a smaller keyboard (even if only by a few inches.) 4 octaves is fine for me. Pitch and mod wheel on the side is a huge plus and HOLY CRAP THE PATCH SAVING BUTTONS will be huge for my workflow. I don't care about naming patches and the REV2s little patch selector knob was easily my biggest gripe with it. I multi-track a lot and being able to have a working bank of sounds that I can go back between, save and quickly save will be great.

More hands on

The sequencer and arp look a bit more intuitive. The panel looks very promising and I am really excited to experience this "greater sweet spot" I keep hearing about. I cut my teeth on a REV2 and plundered its dark corners for hidden treasures. It took digging at times but I learned to find them and became a better sound designer because of it.

Some of the biggest features on the REV2 never really applied to me.

I never really found myself wanting to split or stack patches on the REV2. It just isn't my workflow. I only had the 8 voice version and I am fine with loosing 2 more voices. As much as I enjoyed using a bunch of LFOs in wacky ways, when it came time to making music I'd start with an init patch and make only small tweaks before achieving my final sound. I also didn't really use the 3rd envelope all that much beyond the testing phases just to prove I could. All in all, it seems like I might prefer a simpler architecture despite the fact that I utilized a lot of what the Rev2 offered.

Summary / TLDR

What I am really hoping for with the P6 is an experiential improvement. I love getting lost in tweaking a sound on the fly rather than creating super deep evolving patches. I'd rather move seamlessly from one "simple" patch to another in a way that adds up to a complex journey.

I am at peace with the limitations and don't think they would hinder me creatively. My favorite thing about synthesis is the moments where you loose track of time because you are so engaged with the instrument. I'm looking for more of that connection.

[IAA Music]

I never really found myself wanting to split or stack patches on the REV2. It just isn't my workflow.

I had the P8 and that's what I found. In terms of modulation options the P6 is more limited than the P8 or Rev 2 BUT for me here is where it excels;

1/The sound is great even without utilising FX - a modicum of slop and detune and you're in the spot.
2/The modulation is still good  - but really intuitive and very hands on WYSIWYG.
3/The filter(s) are both nice sounding and the resonance on the LPF can really sound nice on a slow sweep through the harmonics
4/It seems robust - no hang ups or stuff  - switch it on and you're good to go
5/The UI is intuitive and you'll find yourself starting from an init patch and developing your own sounds far more often that selecting presets!
6/The pad and string sounds are some of the nicest I've heard and when you slap on Unison and oscillator sync the P6 can really cut the mustard as a lead synth with few equals

Enjoy!

Ian

[OceanMachine]

I went from the REV2 16 voice to the P6 and don't regret it one bit. I find in most song situations, I don't need super complex evolving sounds. If I was working on film scores, then I might think differently. In that case I'd go for something digital with even more possibilites. There are certainly times when I wish I had another LFO for instance, but then that forces me to tweak what I do have available and I usually come up with better results. Yes, the poly mod is a great tool for timbres, though I usually find subtlety is key with it. The thing about the LFO is the lack of subtlety on the shapes that aren't triangle. 99% of the time I stick with triangle because of this, unless I'm looking for something more jarring and rhythmic. A slew function (like the P12 has for instance) would be a massive improvement. Having two effects comes in handy, but I would love to have at least one super long reverb without having to sacrifice the first effect on delay. Perhaps the biggest gripe I have, which applies to all DSI/Sequential instruments is no categorical organization. This would be massively beneficial to finding exactly the type of sound needed in the moment. Those three gripes aside, I've owned it for half a year approximately and have about a hundred patches on it that all not only sound amazing, but also can and will be used on tracks. Like you've heard, the filter has much larger sweeter spots. Also, VCOs make a huge difference, which is immediately noticeable when actually playing the instrument. I can't tell you how many times I'll play a sound and be blown away by how authentic it sounds because it responds more like acoustic instruments with natural physical intonation do. What's really nice is how slow the LFO can get and adding in a bit of it for freq is when things get really magical. Lastly, you'd be surprised how much you can do with a mere six note polyphony, although admittedly the ability to incorporate a sustain pedal will suffer greatly. A small price to pay for overall greatness, I say. 

[philroyjenkins]

5/The UI is intuitive and you'll find yourself starting from an init patch and developing your own sounds far more often that selecting presets!

It came in yesterday and I've spent about 8 hours with it, all building patches from scratch. Love the hands on control!

The thing about the LFO is the lack of subtlety on the shapes that aren't triangle. 99% of the time I stick with triangle because of this, unless I'm looking for something more jarring and rhythmic....

....I can't tell you how many times I'll play a sound and be blown away by how authentic it sounds because it responds more like acoustic instruments with natural physical intonation do.

I'm sure you know this already but I was having a lot of fun on the P6 with polymod as an LFO since you can change the shape in realtime and get a sort of wonky triangle.

I finally get the acoustic thing! I felt it. I spent a lot of time on my Rev2 but I was finding all kinds of timbres on the P6 I've never achieved on the Rev2. (Still love rev2, don't get me wrong.)

While exploring poly-mod on osc shape at high rates I came across tones that sounded like an actual piano. These sounds just presented themselves in every corner. While I agree the sweet spot is generally large, some of these even sweeter spots hide in unexpected corners. Doing weird things with OSC synced and Poly-modded leads to some truly crazy sounds.

A couple of sounds for you guys. A little sequence jam within the first hour I had the unit, a clavy patch I made with the awesome HPF and a sort of destroyed sine wave experiment / knob twiddle sesh.

People say this thing is only bread and butter but I've already got some wild stuff from it.

[Manbird]

I confess I've always found this "bread and butter" thing simply silly. The P6 is a synth, not a prison meal! And it's capable of such a wonderful and weird range of sounds. Sounds like you're off to a fine start with yours - congrats! I love mine, love it more and more all the time.

[martin3]

Hi,

using the second VCO silent and modulating pitch at audio rate or Low Freq is along with rhythmic use of the lfo is a thing that i never experienced elsewhere, ecxept OB but that goes somehow other ways soundwise. Sometimes the pitch isnt right then but can be tuned then via the Filter ENV in Polymod section. LFO is for me nice in triangle mode, in most cases the other ones are better because they are centered and all kinds of crazyness can be brought in while having a fallback to zero. The keyboard feels nice and AT section brings all the above to live via the often on paper not visible Modulator of the P6> the person playing it.

Great Instrument.

Hope this is useful,

Martin

[Kja]

I only wish the lfo range was much higher, I guess is a limitation of using digital control? The pro 1 starksy comparison video the prophet 6 only has about 15% of the range of fm and when the pitch goes up is when fm really becomes interesting.. wish prophet 6 could go that high..

[OceanMachine]

I only wish the lfo range was much higher, I guess is a limitation of using digital control?

https://youtu.be/omJmkCJzMNg?t=167