There seems to be a lot of turbulence around the T5 that I don't quite understand. Folks have long complained Sequential polys are too expensive, so Dave released a product that addresses that. I think the fact that it shares one of the Rev 4 filters created a certain expectation or fear that this was going to be a Rev4 killer for a fraction of the price. The first time I heard it, I knew it was not that. But it sounds great - absolutely nothing like a vintage Prophet, but great nonetheless.
It sometimes seem like a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario with product design. If Dave had called the T5 a Prophet-anything, everyone would be crying blasphemy. He's always said he wants each product to have a distinct sound and personality, and I think he achieved that with this product. When he put a 2 pole filter in the OB6, if he had called that a Prophet BX or something, I think there would have been uproar.. so he did the right thing and got Tom Oberheim involved. Here he created a 5 voice synth that, from what I can tell in YT vids, likely sounds better than competitors at the same price point. It's geared to be a portable synth that has a lot of features in a small footprint. Honestly I think Dave succeeded at what he set out to do and I believe the product will be a success long-term.
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