Prophet-5: One Year On, Part 5 Of 6

video upload by Sequential

"We're celebrating the one-year anniversary of Dave Smith’s modern classic, the Prophet-5 (and Prophet-10) Rev4!

As part of the celebration, our family of Sequential friends asked Dave for the inside scoop on the vintage Prophet-5 and the Rev 4 — one year on. Watch all six installments here as we post them. And to learn more about the Rev 4 Prophet-5 and Prophet-10, visit our website: https://bit.ly/Pro5-YT"

Sequential Prophet-5: One Year On posts

Prophet-5: One Year On, Part 4 Of 6

video upload by Sequential

"We're celebrating the one-year anniversary of Dave Smith’s modern classic, the Prophet-5 (and Prophet-10) Rev4!

As part of the celebration, our family of Sequential friends asked Dave for the inside scoop on the vintage Prophet-5 and the Rev 4 — one year on. Watch all six installments here as we post them. And to learn more about the Rev 4 Prophet-5 and Prophet-10, visit our website: https://bit.ly/Pro5-YT"

Sequential Prophet-5: One Year On posts

Prophet-5: One Year On, Part 6 Of 6

video upload by Sequential

"We're celebrating the one-year anniversary of Dave Smith’s modern classic, the Prophet-5 (and Prophet-10) Rev4!

As part of the celebration, our family of Sequential friends asked Dave for the inside scoop on the vintage Prophet-5 and the Rev 4 — one year on. Watch all six installments here as we post them. And to learn more about the Rev 4 Prophet-5 and Prophet-10, visit our website: https://bit.ly/Pro5-YT"

Sequential Prophet-5: One Year On posts

Prophet-5: One Year On, Part 2 Of 6

video upload by Sequential

"We're celebrating the one-year anniversary of Dave Smith’s modern classic, the Prophet-5 (and Prophet-10) Rev4!

As part of the celebration, our family of Sequential friends asked Dave for the inside scoop on the vintage Prophet-5 and the Rev 4 — one year on. Watch all six installments here as we post them. And to learn more about the Rev 4 Prophet-5 and Prophet-10, visit our website: https://bit.ly/Pro5-YT"

Prophet-5: One Year On posts

Prophet-5: One Year On, Part 3 Of 6

video upload by Sequential

"We're celebrating the one-year anniversary of Dave Smith’s modern classic, the Prophet-5 (and Prophet-10) Rev4!

As part of the celebration, our family of Sequential friends asked Dave for the inside scoop on the vintage Prophet-5 and the Rev 4 — one year on. Watch all six installments here as we post them. And to learn more about the Rev 4 Prophet-5 and Prophet-10, visit our website: https://bit.ly/Pro5-YT"

Sequential Prophet-5: One Year On posts

Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 Rev 2

Click here for shots via this auction.
Details from isatellite:
"This is the famous Sequential Prophet-5, a rare Rev. 2 version, in near mint collector's quality condition. It is considered by many to be one of the best analog polysynths ever made. This one has been babied, and maintained throughout it's life. It comes with 5 new old stock spare SSM chips (VCOx2, VCF, VCA, ENV) worth over $500 so you can be sure this synth will be running for many years to come.

History: When I bought it I had a Kenton Electronics MIDI kit installed in it. It has been used on pretty much every song I've ever done and was featured as the main lead in the song Automat. I used it live once at the Autobahn show in Ohio back in 2003 and it was a solid performer live. It has been one of my favorite synths and I really hate to see it go. This synth has guts, and nothing sounds like it. I've owned 5 Prophet-5's throughout the years and this one sounds the best. I've owned many Rev. 3's and they have generally been more unreliable than this synth. You'd be hard pressed to find one in better condition at any price.
Version: This is the later version Rev. 2, just before they switched over the CEM chips. It uses the much better sounding SSM chips throughout, and has the rare cassette upgrade. This is how a Prophet-5 was supposed to sound, before it got a complete circuit redesign by Sequential Circuits. Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads said he preferred this version to the other Prophets. OMD swore by their Rev. 2 and were upset when Sequential changed the internals. Some have called this the Rev. 2.2 model, but that numbering has been debated.

Condition: See untouched photos for details. These were taken this morning, straight out of my camera. Based on 15 years of owning literally dozens of vintage synths, I would rate it a 9.9/10. It is in near mint electronic and cosmetic condition. I know the word mint is overused on eBay, but take a look at the photos and judge for yourself. As you can see, the cosmetic condition of this synth is pristine. There is no wear whatsoever on the graphics, knobs, silver switches, or lettering. The logo plates are all original and reflect like a mirror. The large Prophet-5 logo on the back is simply stunning and in pristine shape. Looks much better than the heatsync on the Rev. 3 models. There is no sun damage and all of the parts retain their original coloring. The wood is a gorgeous walnut with only a few small marks here and there on the wood edges that are barely noticeable in the photos. There is one indentation in the wood on the righthand side that is very minor and not noticeable in the photos. Rev. 2 Prophets almost invariably have a crack in the wood at the upper right due to a design defect in the modulation section. This synth has been taken care of and has no cracks in the wood. A couple of the knobs have marks on them, but they are all original, not Wine Country reproductions. Small mark on the top of the modulation wheel...barely noticeable. Small indentation on the right of the Prophet-5 logo on the face of the synth. The underside has some marks and paint scrapes in places. There are still two pieces of velcro stuck to the bottom where I had a controller attached for turning on a bubble machine during the performance of Bubbleboy in 2003. One screw is missing from the bottom of the synth. The red LED screen is bright and clear, and the plastic lens has only extremely light scratches from dusting it...but they would not show up in the photos. A little plastic polish and the lens will shine as new. The keys are highly reflective with only the occasional mark here and there. The internal components are all present and accounted for, and the internals are clean and free of rust and debris. This is the mintest example of a Rev. 2 Prophet-5 that I have ever owned or seen ever in over15 years of collecting synths. If you're picky about the condition of your gear, and you want the very best Prophet-5 ever made in pristine condition, this is the synth for you. I realize I'm asking a lot for this synth and it may not be the synth for your price range. If so, please don't send me threatening e-mails. If you can find another in this shape at any price, then buy it. It would be worth it. I'm the type of person that will pay additional $ for something that is the best of its kind, with no rust, and no issues. And this is the best example I have seen of a Rev. 2 Prophet-5 anywhere, at any price.

Functionality: This synth has been babied and maintained in top functioning condition its entire life. I literally just brought it back this weekend from having my tech go over it in detail and make sure everything was functioning 100%. It tunes up after about 20 minutes of warm up, and then never drifts after that. A few years back Tony Clark of Great Lakes Modular modified the power supply so that it was more stable than typical Rev. 2 Prophets. All of the knobs and buttons function perfectly, with no scratchy pots. I have never had to clean the sliders or pots, and they all work as new. All keys trigger perfectly with no double-triggering. I spent a great deal of money buying and installing completely new bushings about a year ago. The keys play like butter. All inputs and outputs, MIDI, velocity (from MIDI), aftertouch (from MIDI), modulation, pitchbend, keys, buttons, and pitchbender - everything works perfectly. There is nothing functionally wrong with this synth. The Kenton MIDI kit provides MIDI in, out, and thru and is considered to be the best MIDI kit available for the this synth. For more info on everything that the Kenton MIDI kit can do, please check out the Kenton site at kenton.co.uk. In case you are worried about the reliability of this synth, I have only had one SSM chip replaced during the 11 years I've owned it."

The PPG 1003 "Sonic Carrier" - World's First Programmable Synth?

via Wolfgang Palm on Facebook
Be sure to see the video below.

"This was the first programmable synthesizer (1977)."

Programmable as in patch memory. The 1003 was a programmable monophonic synth with two oscillators, digitally controlled keyboard, and it was duophonic.

But was it the first?

Excerpts via Part 4 of the PPG Story:

CLICK FOR MORE »

Sequential Re-Introduces the Prophet-5 and Prophet-10 Synthesizers

"The new Prophet-5 is Dave Smith's return to the analog poly synth that changed the world. It embodies all three revisions of the legendary synth — Rev1, Rev2, Rev3 — and now, the Rev4. History never sounded better.

Soundtrack exclusively by Prophet-5. Yes, even the drums."

Both models will be available in October. The Prophet-5 has a US MAP of $3,499. The Prophet-10 has a US MAP of $4,299. Note there is an additional video demo by INHALT further below.

Sequential · Prophet-5 Audio Demos

And the press release (pics below):

"Sequential Reintroduces the Prophet®-5, the Synth that Revolutionized an Industry

San Francisco, CA—Oct 1, 2020—After months of clandestine development, Sequential today announced the reintroduction of its most famous and beloved instrument: the Prophet-5. Timed to coincide with founder Dave Smith’s 70th year, the instrument revisits a landmark era in American analog synthesizer design and marks an authentic and authoritative return to roots for the legendary pioneer of electronic instruments.

“It’s not often that you get to revisit your past, retrieve some of its magic, and give it new life,” said Dave Smith. “The Prophet-5 was one of the most exciting instruments to appear in an equally exciting time for music and technology. It’s gratifying to rediscover that its sound and aesthetics are just as appealing now as they were then.”

Faithful to the original, the new Prophet-5 features five voices with two multi-waveform analog oscillators, resonant analog low-pass filters and amplifiers, and a filter and amplifier envelope per voice. Modulation is provided by a multi-waveshape LFO and Poly Mod, a ground-breaking modulation scheme for its time that allowed the filter envelope and oscillator B to be routed to a variety of destinations including filter cutoff frequency, oscillator A frequency, and oscillator A pulse width.

The new Prophet-5 features original, genuine Curtis VCOs and filters as used in the Prophet-5 Rev3, as well as the Dave Rossum-designed SSI 2140 filter, the modern counterpart of the original SSM 2040 Rossum designed in the Prophet-5 Rev1 and Rev2. “We made the new Prophet-5 the best of all Prophets by embodying all three revisions of the original. We did this by adding a Rev switch to the front panel, so you can choose your preferred filter.”

Smith continued, “We also researched what made the original P-5 sound the way it did — organic and alive — and found that a lot of that desirable character was due to fluctuations and differences in the response times and frequencies of the individual oscillators, filters, and envelopes from voice to voice. So we also added a Vintage knob that loosens all of them up like they were in the old days. You can dial in progressively more vintage character as you go from a very stable “4,” as in Prophet-5 Rev4, all the way to “1,” as in Prophet-5 Rev1, which was the most temperamental of all Prophet-5s. We’ve even included the original factory sound set for the full vintage experience.”

Other modern enhancements include velocity sensitivity and aftertouch to increase expressiveness, as well as MIDI and USB connectivity. Control voltage and gate ins/outs are also present for connecting modular synths and other gear. The new Prophet-5 is housed in a collector-worthy, premium-quality, steel and hand-oiled sustainable black walnut heartwood body, with a full, five-octave, semi-weighted Fatar keybed.

Sequential is simultaneously offering the Prophet-10, a ten-voice version of the synthesizer with the same sound engine and collector-worthy design. “I originally designed the first Prophet in both five-voice and ten-voice versions. But the five-voice model was the one that achieved mass production. We thought it would be fun and fitting to reintroduce the ten-voice as well, to make the circle complete.” Sequential Circuits’ later product, the dual-manual, bi-timbral Prophet-10, was a different instrument in both concept and execution.

Both models will be available in October. The Prophet-5 has a US MAP of $3,499. The Prophet-10 has a US MAP of $4,299."

Sequential Prophet 5 Rev4 INHALT Sound Design of Factory Patches Demo


"There are few synthesizers that spark deep emotions and reverence. The Prophet 5 is one of them. Its history is marked by both the counter and the dominant cultural works; wether listening to the independent outings of New Musik and Skinny Puppy, the art of Japan and Sakamoto, the disco of Cowely, the soundtracks of Carpenter or the pop of McCartney and Madonna, it collectively becomes clear that the Prophet 5 is the great enabler of the modern musical expression. If the Model D is the left hand the Prophet 5 is the right. And rightly so, as its genius and genuineness transitioned the 5 from "tool of novelty" firmly into the place of an exuberant enabler of the creative expression. From decade to decade, its design and purity allowed it to slot into a music production unweathered and unbiased by whatever style is in vogue. Yet, it's always fashionable and it always sits right where it's supposed to. Put simply, it's a workhorse that inspires. Whatever the revision. And now, that story, that lineage continues with the Rev 4.

It's with absolute honor, gratitude, and exhilaration that I accepted the offer to work on the factory patches for Sequential's latest chapter in the story of the Prophet 5. Sound designing alongside the superb voicing team has been a wonderful collaboration with a company I consider family and my way to give thanks for the career that the Prophet 5 has helped me build. Unlike other projects I've done in the past, part of my testing of the Rev 4 included putting it through an actual studio music production. I'm currently in the middle of producing two LP's (the artists Some Ember and Patriarchy) and the Rev 4 got used heavily on both. The main question I sought to answer: "does it handle the same as a vintage unit". What became abundantly clear: the Rev 4 isn't like a Prophet 5, isn't inspired by a Prophet 5, ins't referencing a Prophet 5; it is a Prophet 5. Through and through in every sense of the very defining characteristics of the 5. It's a Prophet 5. Period. And in many regards it's better. Why?

Rapid fire MIDI, Fatar keybed, both genuine SSM (SSI) filters and VCAs, genuine Curtis filters and oscillators, a perfectly tuned LFO and envelopes, the ability to actually save LFO amount settings, velocity, aftertouch, the same voice allocation as the original ... and zero repairs needed with no sacrifice to the soul of what makes the 5 the 5. It looks the same with minor additions that can be completely ignored if you choose. You can play it like the original and you can expect it to do exactly what the original does. Or you can take advantage of all of the modern facilities. I also made a set of patches that were the same sounds on both a vintage 5 and the Rev 4 and quickly cycling playing the same passage on the 2 instruments, for all in the room, it was impossible to tell what's what and who's who.

The amount of care, attention to detail, and workmanship that has gone into the Rev 4 is remarkable and I am honored to have been a part of the team putting it through the paces. Sequential is a special company. It's marked by integrity, friendship, care, and carries on a tradition of producing musical instruments from that platform. The Rev 4 is a Prophet 5 and ONLY Sequential can make that.

Please note, the Rev 4 in the video is a prototype unit and I recorded this with a beta firmware. As such, while the synth was largely done there are some changes both to the panel and to the OS that are in the final shipping version (obviously). The Prophet 5 was recorded straight into Pro Tools HD and no post processing or fx were added. What you're hearing is the raw Rev 4."

All the press pics:

CLICK FOR MORE »

Prophet-5: One Year On, Part 1 Of 6

video upload by Sequential

"We're celebrating the one-year anniversary of Dave Smith’s modern classic, the Prophet-5 (and Prophet-10) Rev4!

As part of the celebration, our family of Sequential friends asked Dave for the inside scoop on the vintage Prophet-5 and the Rev 4 — one year on. Watch all six installments here as we post them. And to learn more about the Rev 4 Prophet-5 and Prophet-10, visit our website: https://bit.ly/Pro5-YT"

Happy New Year From MATRIXSYNTH! - A Look Back at 2015

Happy New Year everyone!  I want to thank you all for a great 2015 and I wish you all the best in 2016!

The following is my yearly round up for the year.  Feel free to dig into this post as much you like, or skip it and leave a comment at the bottom of the post. I'd be curious to hear what stood out for you in 2015. Do you like the direction the synthesizer world is headed in, or would you rather see more or less of any type of product?

CLICK FOR MORE »

Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 Rev 2 SN 1091 w/ KENTON MIDI & Dust Cover

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"THE MYTHS:

As an owner of both a rev2 and two rev3s, let me just say:

1) They are most definitely different, more noticeable at certain settings..any prophet 5 is an outstanding synthesizer - no one would dispute that..
but some are more outstanding than others - it's not mojo, I spent a long time with my two synths together in my studio.

Ok, so the above still may sound subjective.


But here's something any professional will confirm:

CLICK FOR MORE »

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!!!  I hope 2012 treated you well and I wish you the best in 2013!

As I do each year, I thought I'd reflect a little on the past year.  These posts are always difficult to write, and I always wing them, so bear with me.  It's impossible to justify a whole year's worth of synth coverage in a single post.  The following is just a small bit of what comes to mind when looking back.  You'll find a top ten list of posts with the most page views followed by my picks for the year further below.  Apologies if I miss anything, and of course, if you have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment below.  I'm curious what you, the readers of the site, felt stood out in the world of synths this past year.

First, I want to begin this post with a HUGE THANK YOU!!!  If you are reading this it obviously means you have come to this site and some of you have been coming here for years! Thank you for sticking with me. This site is a journey I hope to continue for years to come. Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to showcase their synths, and thank you to those that share what they find! Thank you to those that link to the site and help spread the word on MATRIXSYNTH via Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and your own websites! And of course, THANK YOU to all the sponsors on the right who believe in the site enough to support it!

A nod to previous New Years posts, pictured to the left is the MATRIXSYNTH world domination map. :)  I always think it's worth taking a look at who's watching the site.  Synths are global and you are looking at a map of the readers of MATRIXSYNTH.  Everything you see in green represents a visit from that country.  The darker the green, the higher the number of visits.  This is just for the year, but for the life of the site, we still haven't gotten a single hit from North Korea!   I don't know what they have against synths!  ;)   You'll find the top 10 visits by country further below.

This is the eighth New Year the site has gone through!  The focus for the site this year has been the same as previous years, and I plan to keep it that way.  This site is about showcasing specific synths, not just synths in general, and not just news and press releases.  The focus is on the individual synths that have existed throughout history, the technology behind them, and the lives they lead with their odd owners, myself included.  :)  Yes it is about the gear, their makers, and their players.  It has always been my opinion that synths in general have a tendency to be undervalued. Compared to say collectible guitars, they are often discarded and devalued in favor of next year's model, next year's technology.  It has always been my opinion that every synth has something of value to offer,  something specific and something unique that gives it its character. I built this site to showcase that.  This site is about the history of synths as their history unfolds - videos and images of synths being played and used, by both those that make them and those that play them.  Vintage synths being offered in the second hand market, being exchanged from one sonic explorer to the next. It really is a wondrous thing. Think of the magic synthesizers bring into your world. That is what this site is ultimately about.  Some posts may not seem to make sense now, but they will in time, because they will be a look back in time. A day in the life of a particular synthesizer.  I love analog and I love digital. I love all synths and this site celebrates that.

And now for a little reflection on the year. This year we had a total of 16678 posts including this one.  That comes out to roughly 45.69 posts a day.  Not a single day of the year went without a post.  So what dominated the synth year?  Mobile, modulars and a few dedicated hardware synths.

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Happy New Year! The Year in Synths 2013

Happy New Year Everyone!

What a busy year it has been in the world of synths.

This is going to be one doozy of a post, so bear with me. This post is a review of the year in synths for 2013. We begin with Tributes to Those We Lost This Year, followed by New Manufacturers & Makers, Older Manufacturers Added to the Site, New Gear Announcements, Top 10 Posts by Traffic,  My Standout Posts for the Year, and finally This Years' Synth Events. I did my best to keep things as short and concise as possible.

Let's begin with the hardest part of the post.

Tributes to Those We Lost This Year

RIP Bernard Parmegiani - Electronic & Acoustic Composer
Lou Reed RIP
RIP Dick Raaymakers aka Kid Baltan
RIP George Duke - DreamWeaver
RIP Ralph Dyck, Sept 28, 1941 – May 20, 2013
RIP Ray Manzarek

All missed and never to be forgotten. Take a moment to remember them.

------

New Manufacturers & Makers

Starting last January, I decided to keep a running list of every new manufacturer and maker introduced to the site during the year.  This is something I haven't done before and I thought it would be interesting to see how many there were in the year.   It's easy to focus on the big synth announcements throughout the year, but what about all the new makers and brands? I shouln't have to go considerably into the significance of new designers on the scene, so I'll just say two things regarding them.  One, the number of new makers is a direct reflection on the interest in our scene, and two, these are the creators of new gear which directly translate into new designs not previously available to us.  Think about that for a moment.  These are makers and designs that did not exist before.  They are part of our synth history.  So what is the total count of new synth designers for the year? A whopping 113. Think about that a bit. One hundred and thirteen new synth designers and brands this year alone.

Here they are (note a handful date back to 2012, but 2013 marked their momentum and availability):

CLICK FOR MORE »

Red Martian

One of the people I met at this year's PNW meeting was Stephen Jones. You might recognize the name from this post on the custom wood case for the Sequential Circuts Pro One. You can find more info on the case and other custom work on Synthwood. I actually need to put a couple of posts on the custom T8 and Multi-traks there.

For this post, however, I want to focus on Stephen's band Red Martian. If you like Severed Heads, you will like Red Martian. I asked Stephen what his music was like and what bands influenced him. Not only is he influenced by Severed Heads, but one of their tracks was actually remixed by them. Pretty cool. BTW, you know my policy on only posting music if it showcases a given synth. Well the track "Behind the Mask" features a Prophet 5. Details:

"On behind the mask casey recorded his drums with live bass and keyboard. I then went back and tapped out a gate track along with his human tempo and used that to trigger the backing sequence. All of the synthesizer sounds were done on the Prophet 5. I got the mono lead sounds by killing voices and playing it it unison. "no moogs here". The vocals were done with a SVC-350 vocoder along with the Prophet 5."

Check out their MySpace page to get to the track directly and check out their main site for more. This is good stuff.

Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 SN 6252

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction, also on Reverb

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Latest News from Behringer & A Response From The Curtis Family

The next chapter in Behringer synth development is in. We already know Uli Behringer announced plans to re-create classic synths. Behringer will be making new innovative synths as well, and we now have some numbers:

“We have 4 synthesizer development teams simultaneously working on 20 synths, drum machines etc..

We’ll be creating both innovative new synths as well as reviving classics.

We’re all in and the teams are on fire.'"

On reproducing vintage chips for the classics:

"We just received the first batch of our 3340 VCO chip.

It is a 100% exact replica of the Curtis CEM3340 which even includes the 40 year old, 8 micron manufacturing process. It was a difficult and expensive undertaking but we are very pleased with the result as this VCO is considered one of the best sounding oscillators.

We are continuing to invest in reviving other legacy Curtis and SSM semiconductors which will allow us to bring back classic synths - all in the most authentic way. We have also reissued the 3320 filter chip which should be arriving in a few months.

Uli"

It's worth noting the Curtis CEM 3340 has already been re-introduced by OnChip Systems, formerly Curtis Electromusic, and is currently available for makers. Behringer's 3340 appears to bypass Curtis Electromusic and is being manufactured by Behringer (via Coolaudio) directly. SSM chips and the CEM 3320, however, are not yet available. Although the chips will obviously be re-issued for use in Behringer synths, it does appear that some if not all may become available to the Synth DIY community as well. More info on that further below, but first a response on the re-creation of Curtis chips from the Curtis family:

"Many of you who are active on synth forums have recently contacted us regarding another company's claim of producing VCO chips that are the equivalent to the CEM3340 that was used in many legendary synthesizers.

To avoid any confusion, please know that there is only one manufacturer of the authentic CEM3340 designed by my late husband, Doug Curtis. Any claims, use of this product designation, and use of the name Curtis Electromusic by other companies are made without permission from OnChip Systems (our current company name) or the Curtis Family.

As much as Doug would be humbled and so very happy about the legacy his products enjoy, we can assure you that as a person of the highest integrity he would be deeply saddened by the attempt of others to trade on his name and to make unsubstantiated claims of equivalency to his original inventions.

In his loving memory and gratitude for the community of musicians and synthesizer enthusiasts, Doug's family is committed to making his authentic designs available as demand presents itself. Thank you for your continued support of Doug's analog synthesizer legacy.

Mary Curtis and our daughters, Ashley and Julia"

It's worth noting that many Dave Smith Instruments synths use Curtis chips and do so with permission from the Curtis family. Dave Smith was friends with Doug Curtis and has been buying parts from OnChip for over 15 years. OnChip was Doug Curtis' company and is now his wife Mary Curtis's company. These chips were used in the Evolver line, the Prophet '08, MoPho line, and the Prophet 12. The Pro 2, Prophet-6, and OB-6 use discrete designs.

The following is from another thread from Uli in German, translated into Googlish:

"Something clearer. Patent rights are generally 20 years, whereby the technology is freely available for everyone. This allows the inventor, on the one hand, to harvest the fruits of his invention, but also to ensure that no monopoly arises and, after the expiry of the protection, everyone has free access to the technology - without a bad conscience.

In the case of the Curtis or SSM chips, the patent rights of these 40-year-old components have run out for a long time and everyone can reproduce them today. Why this no longer companies do is simply because the mask costs are very high (6-digit USD range per chip) and on the other hand the minimum edition is about 300,000 - 500,000 pieces.

Curtis has registered the name rights for Curtis and CEM, but on the number 3340 etc. there is no protection. Therefore, there are other vendors who have revived these old chips:

Http://ericasynths.lv/en/shop/diy/diy-a ... er-as3320 /

Or look at how many manufacturers. The 074 Opamp.

Why are these 40 year old chips being rebuilt? Anyone who once belonged to an old Oberheim OB-Xa or a Prophet 5 will agree with me that the sounds of these Curtis and SSM chips are absolutely unsurpassed in their sound qualities. This specific sound is not easy to replicate with discrete technology and since we have an immense passion for analog synthesizers and believe that customers will appreciate these components, we are taking the financial risk of reviving these chips. Coolaudio has just produced the 3340 VCO successfully and the 3320 filter chip is now also under development - further building blocks will follow.

For more than ten years, the company http://www.coolaudio.com, which is affiliated with us, has specialized in restoring expired components. On the one hand the company produces the coveted BBD chips from the Panasonic times, but also VCA's, OTA's, Optocoupler, etc.

Our intention is to focus on the old Curtis and SSM chips, as we want to use them in our future synthesizers. At the same time, Coolaudio will also offer them for sale, which allows other competitors to build analog instruments as well as help people repair old synths. Many of the Coolaudio chips are already used today by our competitors and we are happy if we can make a contribution to the fact that these analogue components are made of music.

I personally consider VA for eyewash because this is ultimately digital technology. No digital synthesizer will ever be able to reproduce the 'unpredictability' and 'inaccuracy' of an analog synthesizer - no matter how much marketing is operated. Anyone who listens to analogue and digital synthesizers in comparison can easily find out. That is exactly why we will be specializing in analogue synths.

Perhaps our desire for analogue technology is simply that we humans are knitted by themselves analogously and the emotions associated with it determine our existence.

Greeting

Uli"

This one spotted and sent in via Soviet Space Child.

Update: And another update just in via Soviet Space Child:

Originally Posted by Uli Behringer:

"Allow me to share a thought.

Dave Smith Instruments (DSI) is using our SSM clones (V2164).
homemade polysynth — A quick tour of the Prophet 6 voice card

Elektron are using Coolaudio parts as well.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/psychl...7632621387322/

Many other leading manufacturers are using Coolaudio chips and by using these parts obviously have no concerns with cloning in general and with using our chips in their products.

If our competitors are not concerned then why should customers be?

Uli'"

The difference of course is currently available vs. not currently available.  The CEM3340 is currently available from Curtis Electromusic, and the Minimoog Model D is currently available from Moog Music.   You be the judge for yourself.

Happy New Year From MATRIXSYNTH!

Happy New Year everyone!

First I want to thank everyone who takes the time out of their busy schedules to come visit the site. I want to give an extra thanks to everyone who supports this site, including the sponsors you see above and on the right. Without them this site would not be possible.

As many of you know, running MATRIXSYNTH is a labor of love. The site has been running for over 13 years and hopefully will continue on for many years to come. Every single post goes up by hand, seven days a week, including holidays and "vacations." Some of you may not know this, but MATRIXSYNTH is a one man shop by me, matrix. I have not missed a single day of posting since back on August 6 of 2005 when I first launched this format of the site. I say "this format of the site" because I actually registered matrixsynth.com back in October of 1997. You can still see the old site here. On the left were links to sites I visited back in the day. It's actually a pretty neat snapshot of what was around on the web back then before the days of YouTube and social media. I launched this version of the site back on July 20 of 2005. As of this post there have been 175,117 posts on the site. We had 13,302 posts in 2018. Every single one went up by hand. I am extremely humbled and grateful of those who choose to support the site. Thank you so much!!!

Now, for some numbers. I haven't shared them in a while as they started to feel a little redundant year after year, but I figured why not? The image above is a map of visitors to the site in 2018. We had 540,712 users visit for a total of 3,418,064 pageviews. We finally have a visitor from North Korea this year! The numbers are from Google Analytics and should filter out bots. BTW if you look at this all time map, the only country to not have visited MATRIXSYNTH to date is the Central African Republic. It's pretty amazing to think someone from every single other country in the world has visited the site.

The following are the top 10 countries to visit by traffic:

1 United States 4,564(35.30%)
2 United Kingdom 1,070(8.28%)
3 Germany 866(6.70%)
4 France 653(5.05%)
5 Canada 544(4.21%)
6 Italy 512(3.96%)
7 Japan 464(3.59%)
8 Netherlands 357(2.76%)
9 Poland 331(2.56%)
10 Norway 314

(Update: I originally had the list by language which duplicated DE and FR. The list has been updated for country only).

A couple of years ago I started tracking new gear for the year with "new gear" labels. For 2018 we had the following:

695 new items never featured before on the site. This includes 49 posts on older gear never featured before.
111 new makers
92 new synths
63 new soft synths
67 new sound/noise machines
36 new synth effects
266 new modules
42 new mobile apps
11 new drum machines
111 new DIY projects
26 new controllers
40 new tools
7 new cases

And finally we had 52 posts to get the exclusive label for the year. These are the rarest of the rare featured on the site.

Note there is some overlap and the primary focus of MATRIXSYNTH is hardware synthesis. Rather than go into a top 10 list (which I never was into because all gear has its use imo), click through any of the links above to see what came in by category.

On the mega synth front, we saw the release of the Sequential Prophet X and XL (DSI changed names to Sequential as well), the Moog One and Grandmother, Yamaha MODX, Korg Prologue, and the Waldorf Quantum finally made it to release. You can also recap what was featured at NAMM 2018, SUPERBOOTH18, Knobcon, and SoundMit and other events.

This year we lost the following in the synth world. Note this does not include discontinued gear, although with Erthenvar being featured as a company, I may include gear in the the future.

Erthenvar Closes Shop
RIP John Leimseider
RIP Shirleigh Moog
The Candlelight Vigil: A Synth Cover in Memory of Jóhann Jóhannsson (From Prisoners)
David Van Koevering Has Passed Away

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And that's it for 2018. Happy New Year and onto 2019! Thank you to everyone that enjoys, contributes, and supports the site! I started MATRIXSYNTH to track everything synth. It's rewarding to know people out there still enjoy the site. MATRIXSYNTH is my gift to you.

New MOOG SUB 37 Paraphonic Polyphonic Synth Coming to NAMM?

Click the pic for the full size shot.

Some discussion on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge and MATRIXSYNTH Facebook.

Update: [see Update4 below] for those not familiar with Paraphonic synths, a definition via wikipedia followed by a couple of notes:

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Happy New Year From MATRIXSYNTH! - A Look Back at 2014

Happy New Year everyone!

I want to start by thanking everyone that comes to MATRIXSYNTH and helps make it what it is - the readers, the supporters, and of course all the sponsors on the right.

THANK YOU and have a GREAT 2015!!!

This site is a labor of love and a ton of work. This site is ultimately meant to be an testament to everything synth in the making. We have over nine years of daily synth history captured here, 119,983 published posts. I can't wait to see what the future brings us in 2015!

That said, here are a few interesting bits from 2014 in the longest post of the year. ;)

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Oberheim DMX Completely Overhauled, Linn LM1 EPROM, Mods

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"No other DMX is like this. None. It’s a one of a kind, future proofed beast of a drum machine that has been refurbished and modified FULLY for professional studio work. I know the asking price is high, but by the time you read how much work has gone into it you’ll understand why. First of all here is a bullet point breakdown of every enhancement this machine has been bestowed with by a former Oberheim tech:

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