£70 / £100, gforcesoftware.com
In 1978, an upstart American company called Sequential Circuits surprised the industry with the Prophet-5, a five-voice analog polyphonic synthesizer that featured something no one had before: programmable memory. For this reason, the instrument was soon on everyone’s lips. And thanks to an incredible sound that magically blends into any mix, it found its way onto hit records from artists like The Cars, Phil Collins, Michael Jackson and many more.
Dave Smith’s Prophet-5 has grown in stature over time, evolving from a sought-after instrument of its time into a true classic. Like the Moog Minimoog, it has become a synthesizer standard, a benchmark by which other instruments are measured. For this reason, it’s not surprising that it has been emulated many times in software, with notable companies like Arturia and u-he all producing impressive versions of it. Now you can add GForce Software to that list – with a little twist. They’ve teamed up with Sequential to create the first-ever official plugin version of the legendary instrument.
Does it live up to the name of the prophet? Yes, and more.
Advanced main instrument interface. Image: Press
Table of Contents
A sequential Prophet-5 through and through
GForce Software’s Sequential Prophet-5 (to use its full name) doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. The aim is authenticity, but with a few allusions to modern work processes.
All the features of the 1978 original are there, such as: Such as the dual oscillators with simultaneous waveform selection, the ability to use Oscillator 2 as an additional LFO, and the Poly Mod section that allows you to apply filter and frequency modulation to a variety of targets. This can lead to some pretty jarring sounds, which the band Japan makes excellent use of on their album Tin drum Album.
As is well known, the Prophet-5 in its original incarnation went through three revisions from 1978 to 1984, with Rev1 and Rev2 having SSM chips for the 4-pole low-pass filter and envelopes, and Rev3 handing these duties over to more robust Curtis chips. Instead of choosing one or the other, GForce did what Sequential did with the re-release of the Prophet-5 in 2020 and eschewed both, with a Rev select button in the filter section. Both are powerful in their own way, with the SSM being more analogue and the Curtis being a bit sharper.
X modifier. Image: Press
What’s new in Sequential Prophet-5?
While the goal apparently wasn’t to go wild with new features – like an Arturia emulation – GForce offers enough new features to make the new Prophet emulation useful in a modern context.
While the original hardware only had five voices, this new version provides a generous ten voices per level. Yes, per shift. That’s the other big innovation: this prophet can create levels and splits, essentially giving you two prophets at once. Each layer is a unique instrument with its own presets, meaning you can use different revision settings on each layer.
Other new features include an arpeggiator, chord generator with a nice strum option, an effects section, full MPE compatibility and GForce’s excellent X-Modifier section, which provides additional modulation control with an added visual component.
Filter. Image: Press
How does Sequential Prophet-5 sound?
Given GForce’s track record of creating emulations of classic synths (including official Oberheim synths, which are also part of the Focusrite family), it’s no surprise that Prophet-5 sounds incredibly good.
There’s a depth and richness to the sound that will leave you gasping for joy and wondering how this can really be software. And if it’s still not analog enough for you, turn up the Vintage knob for even more smash and smear.
Although this new Prophet sounds fantastic in most styles, it is particularly powerful in the bass range. There’s a reason the monophonic Pro One spin-off became one of the greatest bass synths of the early ’80s, and all that low-end power is on full display here too. Set the voice mode to mono, set the new Q-Comp for filter resonance to get low frequencies, and get started.
FX. Image: Press
Do you really need another Prophet 5 emulation?
Your plugins folder may already contain one or two Prophet 5 emulations. Do you really need another one? The short answer is: Yes, just because this new take sounds so damn good.
The long answer is also yes, but with a few caveats. There’s hardly anything wrong with the software, but we do wish a few small issues were addressed. The arpeggiator and chord mode controls are tiny and hard to see due to the gray text on a black background. The graphics showing the different chorus and reverb modes could also be easier to see. However, these are minor points and definitely things that could be fixed in future updates.
GForce Software’s Sequential Prophet-5 is a worthy replica of the hardware original and a triumph of a software instrument. It is also extremely affordable. A real winner.
Key Features
- Officially developed in collaboration with Sequential
- Both Rev1 and Rev2 SSM as well as Rev3 Curtis filter and envelope characteristic models are available
- Dual layer architecture with layer, split and alternate modes
- Up to 10 votes per level
- Redesigned GForce software X modifiers
- Two selectable effect slots with chorus, phaser, filter, distortion,
- Tremolo and compressor as well as dedicated delay, reverb and pan
- Spread effects
- Over 460 presets, including the original factory patches from 1978
- Independent arpeggiator and chord modes for each layer
- Full MPE compatibility
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