A3

Sequential
Circuits Prophet VS

  • Year of manufacture
    1986
  • Production period
    2
    (1986-87)
  • Polyphony
    8
  • Oscillators
    4
    (4 DCO)
  • Waveforms
    128
    (96 Preset- & 32 User-Waveforms)
  • Modulation
    2
    (2 LFO)
  • Filters
    1
    (Low-pass -24 dB/octave)
  • Keys
    61
  • Features
    12
    (Chorus, Velocity, Aftertouch, Unison, Glide, Voice Pan, Mod Matrix, Pitch-, Mod-Wheel, Vector Joystick, Arpeggiator, MIDI)
  • Sound-Memory
    100

Dave Smith's hybrid synth

The “VS” in the Prophet’s name stands for “Vector Synthesis”. Even tho it holds analog filters, it is still considered a digital synth, since all of its 128 waveforms are generated digitally. When Sequential Circuits released the Prophet VS in 1986 it was their first digital synthesizer but, unfortunately, their last synth before going bankrupt. 

What made the Prophet VS so special, were its 4 oscillators with 128 complex digital waveforms each, of which some were derived from samples, like acoustic instruments. These 4 oscillators could be mixed in their respective loudness using the vector-joystick. The Prophet VS offered, what was pretty much the two-dimensional, linear merging of up to 4 waveforms, not yet like in a (three-dimensional) wavetable, but close. 

The Prophet VS existed in two versions: Rack and Keyboard.

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