DSI(Dave Smith Instruments) released Prophet '08 in 2007. The analog 8-voice polyphonic synthesizer has two forms, "Keyboard" and "Desktop" module. At first, Prophet '08 has many rotary encoders for editing. Later, DSI changed them to popular potentiometers. Prophet '08 PE(Potentiometer Edition came. Prophet '08 has split/layer, stereo output, modulation matrix, expression pedal connector, velocity/aftertouch, sequencer and arpegiator. Those funcitions are new for older Prophet synthesizers(T8 had some, but not sophisticated）. Although Prophet '08 is not as revolutionary as DSI Evolver, many synth players who could not afford Prophets may be happy with Prophet '08. In 2016, Prophet '08 ended the production. Successor is "Prophet Rev2".
From mid 2018 to Feburary 2019, I used Prophet '08 as a master keyboard at right side keyboard table. Prophet '08 is compact, less weight, 61 keys, enough functions as a master and easy to edit internal sounds. At Feburary 2019, Yamaha EX5 got the position. The reasons are 76 keys, control change assignable 6 knobs, program selection buttons and so on. With Prophet '08 we should select program with a knob. If you send many program change messages in short time to the synth which needs long time to change sounds, the synth may hang up. Prophet '08 has not bad keys. However, I have been playing Yamaha FS keys long time.
I played and recorded 70 sounds of Prophet '08 factory presets. I may add something.
| Sound | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1-1 Wagnerian | Shaking left to right, right to left. Evolover has stereo signal path which enables stereo dutune. Stereo capability of Prophet '08 is rather simple. Dave loves stereo. Yeah. |
| 1-2 Tom Sawyer | Keyboard split is welcome addition. Left is bass, right is lead. Both are 4-voice unison mono. |
| 1-3 T8 Strings | I owned Prophet T8 before. T8's sound is not high rank, cheap. In this program aftertouch makes the sound softer. |
| 1-4 Epic Brass | Floating brass. Wheel may add noise modulation. I do not know how to use Prophet. I should learn. |
| 1-5 Dual Bass | Layerd sound. I can use 4 voices. Aftertouch opens filter. |
| 1-6 Bridge Seq | Prophet '08 had max 16 step sequencer. |
| 1-7 Soft Triangles | Soft and nice. Modulation wheel adds vibrato. I did not use it. |
| 1-8 Double Arp | Introducing arpegiator. Stacked. |
| 1-9 Fusion Bass | Prophet '08 is good for bass. Heavy. |
| 1-10 Listen | Layer A uses 2 step sequencer. Layer B is sustaining. Chord play is possible. |
| 1-11 MOONSTER | 8 voice unison. Release is long. But no harsh. Great job. |
| 1-12 Tarkus(F1 seq) | My elder sister had Keith Emerson's Tarkus. LP record. |
| 1-13 BiSync | Stacked, 4-voice poly. It may be good in order to battle with electric guitars. Delay or reverb are mandatory. |
| 1-14 Lo Drone | 8 voice unison. Modulation wheel shakes the sound. |
| 1-15 Crystal | Modulation wheel makes attack longer. Aftertouch adds vibrato. Prophet has metalic character. I cannot use it well. |
| 1-16 Aliens | Both aftertouch and modulation wheel change pitch, I guess. |
| 1-17 Slither Lead | 8 voice unison synth lead. Aftertouch adds vibrato, modulation wheel opens filter. Portament is valid. Nice. |
| 1-18 Konserve | Aftertouch adds odd modulation. |
| 1-19 Evolver | DSI sound, but different from Evolver. Evolver is more dramatic. |
| 1-20 Deep | Layer A is unison, layer B is 4 voice polyphonic. |
| 1-21 Modern Music | When hit center c, the pitch goes higher one by one. In the later half of this recording, I play with no thought. Modern music comes. |
| 1-22 SlowWah FastClav | Modulation wheel opens filter. I played keys with right hand only. |
| 1-23 P'08 in da House | Modulation wheel adds vibrato. I did not use it in this recording. |
| 1-24 Chaos | Analog/digital hybrid monster. |
| 1-25 Verse | It sounds like cello. I love. |
| 1-26 Tonga Conga | Prophet has fast attack. Good for percussion sound. |
| 1-27 DelayEarlRef | Sequencer is used for delay effect. Surprising. |
| 1-28 Talker | Some kind of creature is talking. |
| 1-29 Hi Brass Bells | Prophet has metal character. Great value. |
| 1-30 Ice Planet | I should have not used aftertouch. |
| 1-31 DIY Phazorand | Using stack to make phaser sound. |
| 1-32 Braggomat | Sequenced beat sound. |
| 1-33 40scStrings | Modulation wheel maximum means soft sound. Pulling it makes more overtones. |
| 1-34 Sunset Mono Gtr | Good delay simulation. |
| 1-35 Tape Vox | Mellotron human voice. Effect is necessary. |
| 1-36 PlayLO n LETitGO | I hit once. Easy. |
| 1-37 P5 3-2 Sync | Oscillator sync sound is not my area. I could not buy synth with sync function. |
| 1-38 Santiago | Good rotating motion sound. |
| 1-39 Classic Square | Too much aftertouch modulation I made. |
| 1-40 Anakeys | I played with sustain pedal on. |
| 1-41 Velocihornet | My play is green. |
| 1-42 b00mChik | Sequencer beat sound. |
| 1-43 Chamber Strings | I made too much aftertouch modulation. |
| 1-44 Fortunate Guy | Stereo panning synth lead. Long release sounds well. Key assigner is well done. |
| 1-45 Bandpassed | Single layer can make this sound. Tweaking is easy. Smooth modulation. Great synthesizer. |
| 1-46 Sus4 Stack | 1 key triggers 8 voices. The noise floor is low. Good stuff. |
| 1-47 Poly Bass | Moog bass has boldness. Prophet bass has weight. Nice. |
| 1-48 Analog Bliss | Amazing. Stack means 4-voice polyphony. We can use long release in this synth. |
| 1-49 Sync Floyd Dark | I have an SACD "The Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd. Some relations? |
| 1-51 Hot Alias Chick | 8-voice unison. Noisy modulation. |
| 1-52 Suitcase Layer | Maximum modulation wheel makes rhodes sound only. Pulling adds sweep tones. Nice key assigner. |
| 1-53 Blip | Panned laser guns. |
| 1-54 SeeSaw SeeSquare | LFO rate is changing. Smooth modulation. |
| 1-55 Spit 'n Spark | I do not understand the name. |
| 1-56 Toto French Horn | TOTO is a great rock band. They are popular when I was a high-school student. David and Steve's twin keyboards were perfect. This sound is stack and 4-voice polyphonic. However, more than 4 keys are down, no trouble. Great job. |
| 1-57 Colliochord | Good velocity, beautiful aftertouch vibrato. Ideal analog synth. |
| 1-58 Vector Wheels 4V | Pitch bend wheel changes the sound. |
| 1-59 Helicopters | Not real, but nice. |
| 1-60 EvoPad | Well rotating. Beautiful. How did you do it? |
| 1-61 Basement | I chose low keys poly. |
| 1-62 Service | I love synth which has low cutoff fascinating sound. |
| 1-63 Small Pipes | Small pipe organ. I did not add reverb. Nice release. |
| 1-64 Sample Hold X4 | Sample & hold stack. Column of mosquitoes. |
| 1-65 Hard Pad | When I played this, the volume surprised me. However, after recording, not loud. It may have some peaks. |
| 1-66 Rubycorn Dream | Sequencer and modulation. Interesting. |
| 1-67 Suitcase | Only 8 voices. But, can be used as a piano. Good key assigner. |
| 1-68 VariClap | Bender and modulation wheel changes the sound. I do not know the mechanism. |
| 1-69 Opening Up | Beautiful sweep. |
| 1-70 Al Arma ! | This sound reminds me of the last preset of DX7 "(Mount) St. Helens". |
Prophet '08 factory preset (or some modified) with an external effector.
| Sound | Comment |
|---|---|
| Hard Pad | Recordings above did not include effects. They are clear, but, not interesting. At this recording, reverb made the sound more brilliant. |
| Mr. Fusion without/with Eclipse 104 Banddelays | When I purchased second-hand Eventide Eclipse, I tested the effect program with Prophet '08. The purchase was success because I could get this sound. |
| Wagnerian with Eclipse 489 Heaven | One more Eclipse test. Please make volume up. |
My original sounds on Prophet '08. Most are recorded with effect. Some recordings are for effector testing. Some recordings are done during I tested setup of Prophet '08 sending program changes to Roland SRV-330.
| Sound | Comment |
|---|---|
| Saw1 | One simple saw. It is not as fat as vintage monosynth. But beautiful and useful. I love. |
| Pulse1 | After playing a saw, I need to play a pulse. Don't you? |
| Triangle1 | The next wave is triangle. |
| SawTri1 | Prophet '08 has "SawTri" wave. Prophet 5's oscillator has some wave buttons which can be used simultaneously. With Prophet '08, you use Shape/PW knob to select wave. You cannot mix pulse and something. |
| SawStrings1 | 2 oscillators produce saw at same pitch. Added some detune. Aftertouch adds Osc1 vibrato from LFO1. Modulation wheel adds Osc2 vibrato from LFO2. Rates of LFO1 and LFO2 differ much. Dave, good job. |
| PwmByMW | Osc1 pulse only. Modulation wheel adds pulse width modulation by LFO. Though Osc2 is silent, it waitst at one octave higher for mixing. |
| SawBrass1 | One saw brass. Large amount of filter envelope. Prophet '08 has 4 knobs to set filter cutoff frequency. They are "Frequency", "Env Amount", "Velocity" and "Key Amount". When tweaking one of them full, other knobs are not valid. |
| NoiseFiltViolin | Cutoff modulated by noise. Too much modulation makes sound "chirichiri". Using 3rd envelope generator, I added the modulation at attack. |
| MwPanModulation | Modulation wheel adds pan modulation by LFO2. Nice dancing. Prophet '08 has stereo output. You can use "Pan Spread" knobs for random panning. You can modulate pan, too. But, no static pan. If you need panned oscillators, I recommend DSI Evolver and KORG 800DV. |
| SilkRoad | After entrance into high school which my father graduated, I asked him to buy Yamaha Electone D-30. Yes, it was expensive in spite of second hand old model. With D-30, I chose "Clarinet" red tone lever for playing "Theme of Silk Road" by Kitaro. I had no audio disk of Kitaro then. Recently I get a disk including the song and am surprised with the sound in my memory is much different from Kitaro's original sound. By the way, Prophet '08 can be used as a mono synth with 1 voice unison. The floor noise level is very low. |
| SawStackLR | I thought pan modulated by envelop 3 may enable stastic pan. I stacked A & B with different pan mod. No. When A is at left, B is at right. With next note, A is at right, B is at left. Difficult. |
| Flute1 | The difference between triangle lead and flute, flute needs some breath noise. I added filter modulation with noise controlled by envelope 3. A little noise is mixed. |
| Clarinet1 | The difference between square lead and clarinet, clarinet needs some breath noise. The way I adopted is as same as flute above. |
| TriVoice1 | Two triangles apart one octave. Envelop 3 controls the pitch. Vibrato is important. |
| PwmByMW and Slow Strings 2 | PWM program of Prophet '08 and E-mu sampler E5000 Ultra's PCM strings. Those two are mixed at TL Audio multi-input compressor C-3021. A little bit compression. |
| SawStrings1 with Chorus Reverb #1 | From here to "SawTri1 with ER>Chorus", I recorded for Roland SRV-330 testing. SRV-330's chorus reverb is amazing. |
| Saw1 with SimpleDelay | Soft saw lead with delay. For delay, I chose SRV-330 algorithm "7:Reberb + Delay". Signals are routed to ER(Early Reflection), reverb, and two delays. Though ER and delays have level adjust parameter, reverb has not. I set reverb time "0.01" to elase the reverb. A delay used with 320msec time. |
| Pulse1 with SimpleReverb | With algorithm "7:Reverb + Delay", I used reverb only here. After adding some reverb, I might want to add some delays. |
| Triangle1 with StereoDelay | The algorithm is "9:Delayed Reverb". In spite of SRV-330 has 400 effect programs, delayed reverb is used in only one program "397 SWIRL". This algorithm has two delays after reverb. Delay A on left, delay B on right. It can produce ping-pong delay. |
| SawTri1 with ER> Chorus | I thought to make a chorus program. I chose algorithm "14:Delay Chorus". Chorus parameters are predelay 0, rate 0.43, depth 14 and phase 0. I could use "13:Direct Mix Chorus Reverb". I should try. |
| SawStrings1 with Chorus Reverb #1 | From here to "2Saws with Library Ambo60", I recorded Prophet '08 programs with correspoinding SRV-330 programs. When changing Prophet '08 program, SRV-330 loads new program with receiving program change message. Some sounds are no effect. |
| PwmByMw (NoEffect) | Modulation wheel adds PWM modulation. Effect is not used because effect may hide the PWM. |
| SawBrass1 (NoEffect) | No effect to clear the vibrato. |
| NoiseFiltViolin with Stereo Large Hall | Full reverb expanding. |
| MwPanModulation (NoEffect) | No effect because it may hide pan mod. |
| SilkRoad with 70RichP Out50 | My dear 1970s. Out level is decreased to 50. |
| SawStackLR with SimpleDelayLvl13 | Saws are panned at left and right. Layer A has aftertouch vibrato. A little bit delay. |
| Flute1 with SimpleDelayLvl13 | Small amount of delay, too. |
| Clarinet1 with LargeAmbienceo20 | I used ambience program. Algorithm is "1:Reverb". |
| TriVoice1 with ST Soft Ambience | The pair of sound and effect was made accidentally. I did not change. Nice. |
| 2Saws with Library Ambo60 | I chose "Library Ambience". Output level was decreased to 60. |
| FilterOsc1 | Filter oscillation lead. Oscillator "Shape" is "Osc Off". Filter should be 4 pole, max resonance. Key amount is 64, cutoff is 36. LFO1 destination is "Low Pass". The mod amount is controlled by aftertouch. Unstability is what I wanted. It is polyphonic. |
| FilterOsc1 Unison On, Noise Added | From above, unison on, added some noise. Legato play makes some pop noises. |
| Saw1 with Eclipse 181 Diffchorus | Lots of Eclipse Diffchorus. One saw is expanding much. Amazing effect. |