The discontinuation of the Prophet '08 definitely marks the end of an era. I don't know this, but I would presume the Mopho x4 will be sharing the same fate soon enough. And with that, the classic sound and design of DSI's first generation of instruments, those designed when DSI was simply Dave Smith with a friend or two, will slide into the vintage pit. And that also means the DSI line up will include only one synthesizer with a five octave keyboard - the Prophet 12 - which will now be DSI's oldest instrument. It's hard to believe. Will it be the next to fall?
Perhaps the forthcoming synthesizer will fix all this and answer our dreams. It should offer a clue as to DSI's future direction, since we're all trying to figure it out. Big and expensive instruments, or medium-sized and moderately priced? Analog, digital, or hybrid? Regardless, it's hard to imagine a worthy replacement for the Prophet '08, considering that is was both full-sized and yet moderately priced.