Prophet Rev2 16-voice Polyphonic Analog Synthesizer

The Prophet is such a beast it’s not even fair and that’s just the brand I’m talking about.  There’s a reason the Prophet has become an instant classic and a signature sound in modern music.  I already love the Prophet ’08 and then the Prophet Rev2 16 Voice Polyphonic Analog Synthesizer comes out and I coudn’t believe what they did.   It had everything the Prophet ’08 had but it dwarfed the ’08 with its 16 Voice Polyphony with the ability to send the voices individually and create unreal chords and stacks of multi voice sounds.  The textures you can create are unreal.

You can even split the keyboard and have separate 8 voice instruments working simultaneously.   The mod matrix, modulations and waveforms are heavily improved and can be stacked or split and the step sequencer is one of the best.

I personally don’t own one of these (yet) but all of my favorite keyboardists and producers have this board in their studio and I have used it quite a few time.  I’ve also been seeing it more and more in live settings.  Especially amongst the true professionals.  When I do studio work I always make use of this incredible instrument.

With 61 keys and 16 voices featuring dual DCO’s, a sub oscillator and a 2/4 pole resonant lowpass Curtis filter per voice, the Rev2 is one of the best synthesizers on the market.

The waveshape modulation is unreal and the onboard FX engine is second to none.  With the waveshape mod you can dial in your width or use an LFO for a continuous shift.  You can even do Mod Matrixing with eight individual slots.

The Rev2 of course has the sawtooth, saw+tri, square and triangle waveforms and can do so much with them with extra controls for harmonic complexity and movement.  The filters are diverse and let the tones of the prophet get very powerful and cutting.

I’m especially fond of the sequencer on this synth.  It is easy to use and easy to customize and the possibilities with it are endless.  You can use up to 64 steps and up to six notes per step.  With then stacked or split voice mode, you can create various sequences for each layer.  Its quite incredible actually and you can get lost in programming.

The knob controls are a big part of the design as the top panel provides full programmability for each knob and you’ll have access to all functions with hundreds of factory patches and rewritable user programs.

At your finger tips are real time controls over al the parameters over 6 octaves.  All of the new and pre existing Prophet ’08 libraries are compatible with the Prophet Rev2 and it’s capabilities are endless.

It’s even sturdier than the Prophet ’08 and is built for life on the road.  The display is great for dark stages, the USB support is ideal for studio use and the keybed is one of the best semi weighted keybeds of any synthesizer of it’s class.

• 2 digitally controlled analog oscillators (DCOs) per voice (plus sub octave on oscillator 1) with selectable sawtooth, triangle, saw/triangle mix, and pulse waves (with pulse-width modulation) 1 analog Curtis low-pass filter per voice, selectable 2- and 4-pole operation (self-resonating in 4-pole mode) 3 envelope generators: filter, VCA, and assignable (four-stage ADSR + delay); Envelope 3 can loop. Polyphonic step sequencer with up to 64 steps (6 notes per step), and ties and rests. Se
• The Prophet Rev2 is Dave Smith’s reimagining of his Prophet ’08 poly synth, a modern classic that has appeared on countless recordings and stages since its debut in 2007
• The Prophet Rev2 retains all of the key features of the Prophet ’08 with twice the polyphony, twice the mod matrix, waveshape modulation on all waveforms, digital effects per layer in stacked or split voice mode, a polyphonic step sequencer per layer, and more
• Best of all, you can download any of the many existing libraries of Prophet ’08 sounds and they not only sound identical, but are enhanced with the new features
• 16-Voice Polyphony With 16 voices to play with, you have the freedom to allocate them as you wish

FAQ Frequently Asked Questions

Adam’s Take

I love the Prophet Rev2.  It’s a great Polyphonic Analog Synthesizer.   The tones are great, the controls are intuitive and the synthesizer is built for the road.