Prophet 5 rev 4 vs OB-X8

[Analog Prophet]

Made acomparison between Prophet 5/10 rev 4 and Oberheim OB-X8. The patches are not made to be identical, but still close, to show the character of the Prophet 5/10 rev 4 vs Oberheim OB-X8

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

[g3o2]

Good work! 

[strytten]

Very interesting - thanks for putting this together! I, too, have one above the other in my setup and I am fascinated trying out different sound concepts on one and then the other. Where the OB-X8 is concerned, it is almost like having 3-1/2 synths in one, which can make it interesting. I loved the patch concepts you compared and the music you played on each. If you do a sequel, consider picking sounds that were impossible to sound similar and that really highlight the differences and/or limitations of one or the other.

[Analog Prophet]

Very interesting - thanks for putting this together! I, too, have one above the other in my setup and I am fascinated trying out different sound concepts on one and then the other. Where the OB-X8 is concerned, it is almost like having 3-1/2 synths in one, which can make it interesting. I loved the patch concepts you compared and the music you played on each. If you do a sequel, consider picking sounds that were impossible to sound similar and that really highlight the differences and/or limitations of one or the other.

Thank you! I think one can create a large chunk of Prophet 5 sound with an OB-X8 but not the opposite as there are different filters etc. Still they have their own character.

[seqpro3]

You made them sound similar. If I didn’t see the video of which synth you were playing and just heard the two I wouldn’t be able to tell which one was being played

[chysn]

I'm partial to the Prophet, but I really think it's a tie. I've heard some breathtaking sounds out of the OB-X8 that I don't think I could reproduce on my Prophet 5.

[LPF83]

I'm partial to the Prophet, but I really think it's a tie. I've heard some breathtaking sounds out of the OB-X8 that I don't think I could reproduce on my Prophet 5.

The two have equal status with me.  Right now I'm spending more time with the OB-X8 simply because it is newer to my studio and I'm easily fascinated with learning new synths, but that will level out over time, no doubt. 

Dave Smith once said that back in the day, alot of musicians were either a Prophet guy or an Oberheim guy; I can see why then, given the MSRP in those days (adjusted for inflation).  They are two special synths though, that do compliment each other well...I sometimes wonder if they were as affordable back then as they are now, would we have seen more artists using both?  I just feel blessed that the planets lined up and we were given the option to own them, because at vintage unit prices and maintenance requirements, I probably would have never done it.

[chysn]

The OB-8X patches here really impress. Now, I'll say, the Oberheim really shines here because the guy who got the Prophet (1) isn't so great at picking presets and (2) is a less-talented keyboardist than the Oby guy. There are a lot of Prophet presets that would better fit these categories, and would more favorably represent the Prophet. Still, I'd love to be able to get something like the sound at 12:40.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvtZxPh0g68

[g3o2]

You refer to the Tom Sawyer kind of sweep sound?

[chysn]

You refer to the Tom Sawyer kind of sweep sound?

Yeah, I think that's it.

[g3o2]

On the Prophet, this same sound is of a slightly different flavour but still (-> 9:55):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnWUHld91Ko&t=596s

[seqpro3]

I like the sound of both but prefer 61 keys and the look of the prophet 5 rev4.

[seqpro3]

The size of the knobs of the prophet5rev4 are larger as well.
It has a classic look.

[Analog Prophet]

The Prophet 5 rev 4 and the OB-X8 are two equal synths. In some areas they can be very close and in some areas they are very different.

The comparison between the P5 and P6 mainly shows were they can sound similar, but same thing with those two synths, they can sound similar but also very different.

And that is true to many synths, they have some wider or closer sweetspots were they can sound close to each other. My former Poliviks could make some Minimoog sounds but that sweetspot was very narrow and other than that very narrow sweetspot they were completely different.

My bottom line is that it’s not about getting synths sound similar but getting the character of different synths. To give a more true picture of the Prophet 5 vs OB-X8 I should enter areas were they sounded more different but my short video was not a deep dive but a quick look at them side by side as there are fair questions and thoughts of getting a P5/10, a OB-X8 or booth.

[LPF83]

I like the sound of both but prefer 61 keys and the look of the prophet 5 rev4.

They both actually have 61 keys.  The Obie has a number of controls in the lever box area which explains it's physical size.

As far as looks, I've heard a number of folks that are passionate about the blue pin stripes of the OB-Xa versus the solid grey of the OB-X (and there is an overlay available that will provide that).  Personally I always liked both looks on vintage models, so to me the design of the OB-X8 keyboard looked good, even if not quite as sexy as the very woody looking Prophet 5/10.  Maybe that's in part because I already had blue pin stripes on my OB-6, thus didn't have any FOMO over the matter.

I will say though that I find the overall appearance of the OB-X8 module a particularly stunning looking addition to my studio.  There is something that happens to the grey background when the amount of space between the controls is reduced, and the black area across the top of the module has a vibe that reminds me of the heatsink area on the top of the original OB-X.  I probably would have gotten the keyboard version if I had infinite amounts of studio space, but ergonimically I needed to make compromises and the desktop unit was exactly what I needed.

[g3o2]

In all “objectivity”, the Prophet sounds punchier, while the OB sounds creamier.

Speaking of other little differences.

* The Prophet 10 desktop gets considerably warmer during operation than the OB-X8 desktop.

* The Prophet is easier to program thanks to a knob per function layout, while OB-X8’s way of setting up multis (double, stack, etc.) is practically unmatched, even when compared with many modern workstation synths.

* The Prophet has an A440 reference tone, while the OB-X8 amazingly does not.

And other little similarities.

* OB-X8’s calibration takes a similar amount of time than the Prophet 10’s. Naturally, OB has a shorter “tune”.

* They both sound and look gorgeous.

[Analog Prophet]

In all “objectivity”, the Prophet sounds punchier, while the OB sounds creamier.

That’s a good summery

[seqpro3]

when I was referring to 61 keys and the size of the knobs I was referring to the comparison of the prophet5 rev 4 compared to the prophet 6 .  I might have sounded misleading since the orginal post was comparing the OBX8 to the prophet5 rev4.
I was commenting on the  utube video

[g3o2]

The idea of the P5vsP6 video in this topic was to demonstrate that the Prophet rev 4 could do the Tom Sawyer sound for which the OB-X8 was praised in a previous video :-)

[ticccc]

Hi there, i wanted to ask to the owners of those two synths what they love about them and what they use them for. i mean, the musical contex in which you use those synths. For example: i think that P10 is godly for deep house.

I'd like to know too where do you think that the differences are, sonically speaking. For sure they share the same sonic territory in some areas but i'd rather focus in the differences than on the similarities of the two