This Month’s Feature at the Summit: Dave smith instruments prophet ’08

One of the highlights for us at Winter NAMM 2008 was the chance to meet all the genuinely outgoing and hospitable individuals at Dave Smith Instruments. The parallels between their goals as an ‘independent’ operation are in very close harmony with our focus at Summit and it was immediately apparent that a natural down-to-earth fit between both manufacturer and dealer lay before us.
We are both very pleased and honored to announce:

Summit Consultation & Custom Sales is now your new authorized dealer for Dave Smith Instruments in the Pacific Northwest!

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IN CASE YOU’VE “MIS-REMEMBERED”:

There are only a few individuals that are as synonymous with “The Synthesizer” as Dave Smith. Back in the mid ‘70s the Minimoog was the go-to instrument of the day (for many very good reasons), but one couldn’t save their favorite sounds and literally had to write them down on paper and dial them in any time you wanted to hear them again. Doing this in front of a live audience only magnified this precarious circumstance, but also sparked the inspiration of Dave Smith and now-greater-Seattle-resident John Bowen. Although a commonplace feature today, soon their legendary Prophet 5 would set the mark as the first polyphonic AND programmable micro-processor based synth. It was Sequential Circuit’s “Universal Synthesizer Interface” tech paper at the 1981 AES convention that laid the groundwork for what would make the Prophet 600 the very first MIDI synth in production. MIDI remains arguably one of the oldest digital protocols still in widespread use today - as important and legitimate as ever - and still at “version 1.0”!

Other developments with wavetable and software synthesis followed for Dave, but for the better part of this millennia Dave’s been back doin’ his thang: analogue hardware-synths!

GENUINE OLD SCHOOL:

So which is it: the return of a legend or the beginning of a new era? The Prophet '08 is an eight-voice synthesizer with a 100% analog signal path. While the Prophet '08's overall sonic character will be familiar to anyone who knows Sequential Circuits’ offerings from the '70s and '80s, it is much more than just a vintage reissue with a handful of new bells and whistles. Of course, it includes many additional features we also now take for granted, like velocity and aftertouch. Add to that performance features like an arpeggiator, gated step sequencer, and the ability to split and layer sounds are all included. The Prophet 5’s modulation capability was always a hallmark of its popularity; now the new modulation possibilities are much deeper than anything Sequential ever produced. For this and many other reasons the Prophet '08 presents possibilities even the classic synths of yester-year simply could not.
Dave has always said that he is “only interested in moving forward”. . . . . . .

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Alright gadget-heads.... here’s the quick list of specs for your consideration:

Prophet ’08 Features

• Two analog oscillators per voice.
• Classic Curtis analog low-pass filters.
• Extensive modulation routing capabilities.
• Four-on-four splits and layers with separate stereo outputs for each layer.
• Arpeggiator, gated 16 x 4 step sequencer, and LFOs all MIDI syncable.
• 5-octave keyboard with semi-weighted action, velocity, and aftertouch.
• Spring-loaded pitch wheel and assignable mod wheel
• 256 fully editable Programs (2 banks of 128) with 2 Layers (2 separate sounds) in each Program.
• 2 digitally controlled analog oscillators (DCOs) per voice with selectable sawtooth, triangle, saw/triangle mix, and pulse waves (with pulse-width modulation), and hard sync.
• White noise generator
• 1 Analog Curtis low-pass filter per voice, selectable 2- and 4-pole operation (self-resonating in 4-pole mode).
• 3 Envelope Generators: filter, VCA, and assignable (four-stage ADSR + delay); Envelope 3 can loop.
• 4 LFOs
• Glide (portamento): separate rates per oscillator.
• Analog VCAs
• MIDI In, Out, Thru, and Poly Chain
• Main stereo audio output: 1/4" unbalanced
• Output B stereo audio output: 1/4" unbalanced
• Sustain pedal input: accepts normally on or normally off momentary footswitch.
• Pedal/CV input: responds to expression pedals or control voltages ranging from 0 to 5 VDC (protected against higher or negative voltages).
• Headphone output: 1/4" stereo phone jack.

Includes power supply for 110V – 240V AC operation (13-15 VDC, 400 mA) and operation manual.
For more information, download the operation manual here (PDF, 616 kB).

Be sure to contact us today for either your purchase or private tour of the
Dave Smith Instruments Prophet ’08!

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Greeting fellow fine print readers!!

2008 marks a 30 year milestone of great innovations from synth pioneer Dave Smith. This same year also brings new beginnings for Summit LLC. What better way then to start off with a bang and celebrate our very first launch of This Month’s Feature at the Summit with a purchase of your own Prophet ’08 keyboard?

March 2008 is also the month we should see the forthcoming Prophet ’08 module! Both of these instruments are/will be currently available ‘At The Summit’ so be sure to contact us with your purchasing interest.
Operators are standing by...

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Contact Summit to place your order