Released in August 2007, the standard Prophet ’08 is an eight-voice, polyphonic synthesizer with a 100% analog audio path. It primarily uses rotary encoders for its front panel controls.
On the new Prophet ’08 PE, 38 of the 52 rotary controls are potentiometers (AKA “pots”). “We have received numerous requests for a version with controls more like those used on the vintage Prophets, particularly for the more performance-oriented parameters like filter cutoff and resonance,” said designer Dave Smith.
“With the Prophet ’08 PE, we feel like we’ve achieved a good balance between the advantages offered by both pots and rotary encoders.” (See the following pages for specs and a complete list of parameters and their control type.)
The features and functionality of the non-pot and pot versions are essentially the same. The difference is strictly in the controls themselves. Encoders are “endless”—they have no minimum or maximum limit. The advantage to that is that when you edit a preset parameter, the change begins at the preset value and increases or decreases, depending upon the direction turned.
Pots typically have about 270° of travel and have definite limits. The advantage to that is that you know, by feel, where the minimum and maximum limits are and you can sweep through the entire value range in les than one full turn. The only obvious visual difference between the standard and PE versions is that the pots have lined knobs.
The Prophet ’08 PE melds the best of the “old school” with the modern features and affordability of a new generation of analog polysynths.
The Prophet ’08 PE is available now with an MSRP of $2,309.00 and an MAP of $2,099.00.
For more information, visit www.davesmithinstruments.com