Digital does analog! The Prophecy was among one of the first synthesizers to lead a revolution started in the mid-nineties by synthesizer makers to satisfy a growing segment of the market that was lusting after old-school vintage equipment in the pursuit of making electronica-style music, by providing a state-of-the-art retro synthesizer that could sound like a classic analog.

The Prophecy Solo Synthesizer was unveiled in 1995, and was a purely monophonic solo/lead synthesizer. It employed DSP synthesis first developed for the Korg OASYS synthesizer, with algorithms for producing realistic analog timbres, VPM (Variable Phase Modulation) tones similar to FM synthesis, and physically modeled brass, reed, and plucked string instruments. At your finger tips were tons of real-time control over traditional analog editing parameters like filter cutoff and resonance, envelopes and the arpeggiator. It had a pitch wheel, a mod wheel, an expressive dual action ribbon wheel, six effects processors and more!

It is used by The Orb, Jan Hammer, Download, Meat Beat Manifesto, Mirwais, Front Line Assembly, Kobe, Depeche Mode, Orbital, Theatre, Überzone, BT, Union Jack, The Prodigy, the Crystal Method, Eat Static, Apollo 440, Radio Head, Luke Vibert, Stabbing Westward, 808 State, Rick Wakeman, Yes, Joe Zawinul, the Pet Shop Boys and lots more! A great and modern techno/electronic music machine.

Sanhedralite

August 20, 2009 @ 2:11 pm

Difficult to program, but nice beefy sound..ugly though IMHO

Nick_Toznost

August 14, 2009 @ 6:33 am

I agree that the Prophecy is a pain to program. I've had one for 8 years and it was mostly redundant in my setup. Odd to think that the 5 parameter knobs were meant to be similar to using analogue kit. However I discovered an old PC prophecy editor called ProGenie, it works on xp/vista too. It makes for simpler editing on a prophecy... managed to get some interesting sounds eventually, remember it does have (rare) comb filters. Though my Blofeld does it better. Anyway give Progenie a try if your prophecy is doing your head in...

http://www.brothersoft.com/progenie-154669.html

Shawn

July 31, 2009 @ 3:05 pm

Plenty of useful sounds but these synths do take a good while to learn. Nice for those who have limited space in their home studios. Very portable too, not as unwieldy as a large synth. I think these would have been better if they had the ability to do stereo as well, but I guess the mono feature was regarded as a selling point. I have found mine quite useful for soundtrack and ambient music.

il

July 21, 2009 @ 2:04 am

A product of hype and fashion, pick up now if cheap as a fun toy but severely limited (Liam Howlett hated his in the end). Crap korg buttons as always and cheap/breakable build. Overated and over priced in 2009.

Malte

July 11, 2009 @ 7:09 am

The only the strongest point of criticism is the adynamic initial attack which can be increased by further external filters or distortion pedals. Effect section reminds on first generation digital rubbish. Concerning handling: there are plenty of possibilities to configure the controlers.

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