SCI Prophet 600 Synthesizer User reviews -Page 16

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Average rating: 4.0 out of 5

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Mike Cummngs a hobbyist user from boone nc writes:

I just bought one of these for $200.00. And although I don't know jack about synthesizers, I think I can safely say that I really dig on this unit. I play it through a growling bass amp for hours at a time. I have several limitations due to my lack of synth knowledge and overall stupidity. As well, I am severly hurting for a manual-if any of you people have one that you copy for me (at a reasonable price) please get in touch via email.

Rating: 4 out of 5 posted Monday-Feb-04-022 at 11:45

Ski-Mask a professional user from USA writes:

In the Summer of 1991, I bought a used Prophet 5 from a music store by mail and was severely disappointed by it- it sounded thin and unexpressive- I wondered what all the Prophet 5 hype was about. I ended up trading it in after being very uninspired by my Prophet 5. (Unlike a Yamaha CS-50 which creates some TRULY inspirational tones!) I played with a Prophet 600 at a musician flea market and fell in love with it- it had the warmth, the analog heaven, the thick bass and sweet pads that the Prophet 5 was supposed to have, but didn't. I then went on a search for the Prophet 600 and am very pleased. I would never sell my Prophet 600. I think it sounds way better than the P-5 I had. People may think I'm crazy, but that's what my ears tell me. Maybe I just had a crummy revision P-5 that made it sound so thin and lifeless, but all the P-600's I've played have blown me away. As always, the underrated thing proves to be better than the one with the overblown hype.

Rating: 5 out of 5 posted Tuesday-Aug-21-011 at 08:59

80'srock a part-time user from USA writes:

When looking at the class and price of this synth, it deserves high marks. This was the first synth I purchased 17 years ago. There was no consideration of buying a P5 - if I had the money then, I would have bought the P5 instead. But for less than $2000 17 years ago, there were only a few synths to look at. In fact I had a down payment on a Juno 60, but after hearing, programming, and playing the Prophet 600 had no question that it was much more expressive, thick, and flexible to work with and I never regretted getting the P600.

You can read many of the reviews hear that talk about the poly-mod section and what you can do for odd sounds, but the beauty hear is that (for the money) you can get very close to the sounds of the 80's rock - close enough to satisfy or fool an audience. (If you got the money, go get a Prophet 5 or Jupiter 8 by all means).

It may be that because this was my first synth that I dug into the programming and tweaked the sounds over and over 'til I was happy. No this doesn't do a great B3, nor will anyone think your playing a real horn of any sort. But if you want to do Journey's Separate Ways, Foreigner's Waiting for a Girl Like You, Prince's Little Red Corvette, sounds that are what an analogue synth really does - this does great. It served me well.

There are limitations, it doesn't have all the features of the "great" 80's synths, it is not it's big brother the P5 and it is likely not going to compete with the 'modern' analogue synths from Clavia or Waldorf (though I haven't had a chance to play those). And yes, it needs to warm up before you begin a set. But if you find one at a good price and in good shape, they're great. Mine is still in my set-up and still going strong.

Rating: 5 out of 5 posted Sunday-Jul-15-011 at 02:00

Big Mike a professional user from NY area writes:

Yes this was the first commercial synthesizer with MIDI and as such is a historic piece. I bought this years ago and we used it live with much success. I have since retired it to special studio use but one thing that's special is the sounds. Bon Jovi It's My Life sound is so easy to get with this unit. Time After Time is just right. What I'm saying is this unit was good then and is great now. You just can't get the sounds from other units. Stripped down Prophet 5 with more voices! It is more programable than most people let on. Mine is fairly reliable but every once in awhile I open it up and perform the oscillator tuning ritual. This is well documented in the factory manual. Other advice is upgrade the midi chip as the original only supports the omni mode and can't tell one midi channel from another. The last upgrade will enable you to select any channel you require. Buy one and start your own Midi museum, this is where it began. kudos

Rating: 5 out of 5 posted Friday-Feb-02-011 at 00:47

Calyx a part-time user from USA writes:

A very nice synth! Surprisingly warm and "alive" , but can be extraordinarily thin and cold at times. Got mine in mint condition with flightcase and manual for $500. Not a bad deal at all. Excellent for deep, burbling drones when using the poly mod section. Oscillator drifting can be a pain and the auto-tune function can take nearly a minute at times. As everyone has mentioned before, the envelopes and LFO are slow and lifeless, but with careful programming you CAN get good basses and crisp attacks. This is not an all-purpose analog! The lack of a HPF leads to very big sounds that can easily dominate a mix. Use this to your advantage. The tiny real-time sequencer is useless and compared to a JP-6, Polysix, Juno-60, (etc) the arpeggiator is severely lacking. Bottom line: unique sounds with the Prophet 5 flavor at a good price. Well worth keeping.

Rating: 4 out of 5 posted Monday-Jan-01-011 at 19:10

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