Minimoog compared to dsi Prophet 08

[Ancaja123]

who makes the intro music?

[nickeax]

@Ancaja123 Me, if you could call it that!

[jutubaeh]

the prophet sounds like my ex sony 1 bitter wahwah computer cdp compared to my ex pana multi bitter... i mean just listen to the deeper sawtooths the moogs sound full and considerately crafted while the plastic prophet... ? nest pas?

[evilsnakes1]

o wow, exactly what i was looking for

[NightfurMusic]

Great demo! Any chance of doing filter sweep comparison?

[nickeax]

@NightfurMusic I no longer own the Minimoog :-(

[Cds56]

@nickeax awwwwwwww :(

[disorder1977]

bad video

[tonykanemusic]

Actually monophonic synths can go music dirtier than polyphonic synths based on the design philosophy. Basically all the oscillators cant go as loudly on the vca. Monosynths will always sound filthier. The older moogs and oberheims etc had some much distortion in the signal path but it sounded great.

[sacredgeometry]

@tonykanemusic It only takes playing a virus in poly mode to realise how quickly anything more than duophony sounds awful on any slightly dirty sounds. With monophonic instruments you can stick as much filth on without that worry. Thats why the three oscs of a minimoog can make 90% of the sounds in most electronic dance music.

I wonder what part of the design philosophy you mean, would you care to elaborate? Dont worry about detail i program my own synths and DSP so I am fairly competent.

[neopandorex2]

Next time put gain to unity please...

[hongdekong]

intro music is cool

[TheSurfis]

How did you get to own both of these...

[musicroman]

Great work, thank you

[fooloof]

the Moog sounds a little flat (as in pitch).

[Godscarmachine]

The prophet is polyhonic, making the sound have a slightly less "dirty" sound, comparing them in the first place is a bit silly.

It would have made much more sense comparing the Prophet and a Polymoog, or the Minimoog and the Minimoog Voyager(or a little phatty).

[NITEWORKSmusic]

@Godscarmachine "The prophet is polyhonic, making the sound have a slightly less "dirty" sound"

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

[yotam1589]

what is the intro song??

[lukuntri]

prophet 8 has 1 very big plus its polysynth

[hooptyndablowfish]

That's one of the worst sound comparisons I've ever seen.

[gododinou]

Ridiculous to compare this two synths!!! Not the same age, not the same users and not the same price (do you remember how much cost a Minimoog in the 70's?). Waste of time......

[rantarave]

the title of the video should be - man learns the blues scale and attempts to play it on 2 synthesizers



[Axibis]

They are both great Synths, but the Moog is a Moog and the sound is more musical. Thank you

[1980sCoverband]

it does not matter if the two synths had the same output volume level or not....the Mini Moog blows the Prophet 08 away.

[1980sCoverband]

it does matter if the two synths had the same output volume level or not....the Mini Moog blows the Prophet 08 away.

[dzlvs8]

Way to go, you forgot to turn the oscilators on the minimoog up all the way until 3/4 of the way through the video. OOOHHHH thats why the minimoog sounded so gentle. You were hiding the main characteristic of the minimoog over driven oscillators. Nice job misleading people. Its pretty obvious what you are trying to do the entierr way through the video.

[RyanMortimer13]

buhhhzzzz... buuuhzzzz... buuuuuuuuuhhhhzzzz.. buuuuhhhhhhhhhhzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz­zzzzzzzzz

[gregpadden]

wish they were the same volume

[Skaark244]

Ahhhh.. . . . the sound of analog. :)

[skyprop]

What a joke though. The Mini was out at least 5 years before the FIRST PROPHET!!!! And the Mini Sounded that good then. SWEET Prophet, PLEASE??? The Prophet shown here is like a third generation.... To do this right set a a first generation Mini with a first Gen Phrophet Mono synth.

Thanks for the vid though. it is cool

[LSDpeasantry]

intro song is SWEEEEET

[fargizzle]

unfair gain, although the prophet is some sweet piece of analog

[TheVincentPROduction]

1. theey aren´t tuned.

2. moog is too quiet.

[digitalcp01]

If P08 is set mono- unison we are listening eight stacked oscillators.

On the Minimoog side we are listening only one.

Tadaa!

I had Oberheim Xpander, Sixtrak and they can't touch the Model D i have in its deparment: Mono-world domination-bass'n'lead-land.

[pacific707]

Even with all of the "virtual analog" synths I have, nothing can beat real analog.  Now I want to hear the Prophet 8 compared to the Alesis Andromeda.

[corganb]

did you have any "slop" setting on the Prophet?

[nickeax]

@corganb I think it was set to 4.

[Laura041974]

Can the sound of a synthesizer change as it ages? To test this you would have to compare an OLD recording with the same one as it sounds NOW. This would only be possible if someone has kept it from new or if it is know to have been recorded by a previous owner. Does the moog sound more mellow 'cos it is older or just different? If parts need to be replaced as they wear out, will the tone change too? Will a Minimoog be easier to keep working in the future with no special chips in it?

[Cds56]

I don't know why there were so many people hating on your video because the volume was low on the mini. lol. IMO, the mini saw wave and the prophet's clean were both almost identical. except that the prophet's was a bit thin. And the moog's filter kicks everything.

[pomfrit93]

the minimoog the prophet the minimoog the prophet the minimoog the prophet the minimoog the prophet the minimoog the prophet the minimoog the prophet the minimoog the prophet the minimoog the prophet the minimoog the prophet the minimoog the prophet the minimoog the prophet the minimoog the prophet

[RodBeauvex]

I wonder how much component drift has affected the Moog at this point. Caps dry out, resistors fall out of spec.

[glanza69]

P08 is better!!!

[anonymusum]

tuning and volume adjusting would be useful

[nickeax]

@anonymusum They both have both of those features

[LongtimeSunshine]

too bad you didn't figure that out before you made this video

[nickeax]

@LongtimeSunshine Heh... I think I know what you mean!

[LongtimeSunshine]

lmao at the fucking retard that made this

[nickeax]

@LongtimeSunshine Hello, thanks for your comment. I'm glad you enjoyed this!

[LongtimeSunshine]

ahaha you suck. fucking kill yourself

[baba6363]

@nickeax

@nickeax

Hi man, some people just have bad manners, it's a pity for themselves.

However I also think it would be very useful to better match the settings of both synths.

1. The attack of the prophet is too punchy,

2. it's sound is much louder than the mini 

3. it is tuned too high (or the mini too low).

If you match all those parameters, both synths would be much closer I guess.

THanks anyway for your effort anyway, I am sure it took a lot of time to put it up.

[subby33]

The Minimoog sounds like a warm friend, the new Prophet sounds like a cold neighbor. I prefer the Mini. I think the old Prophets sounded great, not too into the new ones. It all depends on what sound you are going for though. A lot of new dance artists have used the Prophet 08 to great success.

[baba6363]

@subby33

I am quite sure the prophet can be made much closer to the Mini, if tuning, attack, loudness better match the minimoogs settings. Probably not 100%, but close enough. And of course the prophet can do a lot of things that the Mini cannot...

[cypherdrone]

Please compared with minimoog v3 and prophet 08 .

[freezazoid]

not only are the vol. levels different, but what is the almost "clicky" sound when you play the prophet08? Are the ADSR's set the same?

[dnabiologic]

Making a moore fair comparison by manually turing up the volume when listening to the MOOG, there are a fatter sound,,,,,,and moore smooth.

[Harald136]

i hate your playing just jazz pianism is not for synths like these

[stealthgear]

minimoog sounds better

[id4rk2]

@stealthgear ......... sir, u phail

[Truthzilla]

Of course a fair amount of the difference between these two could be compensated for with EQ. The Prophet clearly has a certain amount of presence that makes it sound harder and more biting than the MM. It wouldn't make them sound the same, but a well place EQ cut or two would make up a lot of the difference.

[makkibiff]

I wonder how a "natural" ocillator sounds :) Stupid comment. Interesting how you also can compare a 100% analog machine with a digital machine like Micro Korg Xl. Sugestion: clear your ears man. :)

[digitalmidgets]

The attack on the P08 is quicker or you have some filter attack or something..more resonance maybe? thanks anyway

[davenoz1]

I had a liitle phatty . I got rid of it when I got my Prophet 08 . The Prophet is just as phat as the Little Phatty . Its got eight voices is 2 parts multi timbral and lots more capabilities than the moog . Dsi gets my vote . Although if I was rich I would own lots of Moogs but who can justify the cost when you have tetras , evolvers or even a waldorf pulse that you can pick up for 300 quid . Moogs just to dear to go up against the competition

[dragonmissioner]

I like your playing I was therally entertained. i think this was a good representation of the two keyboards. Here is the biggest difference though is the price; the prophet was from $1'499 to $2'099 and the Minimoog was from $309 (if your looking hard enough) to $3'395. However it depends on the version you buy as well.

[nickeax]

Ha ha, thanks mate! I don't think the MM is worth the asking price, but it is 'fairly' rare I guess and it has a formidable rep!

[HammondB200]

00:52 that is horrible, you should never play like that, not even in a test...

[nickeax]

I'm not a player.

[HammondB200]

So the keyboards are not yours?

[nickeax]

Yes they were mine, but I sold the Moog.

[OZilla612]

stfu moron

[remixerone]

POFF! THE VOLUME LEVELS ARE DIFFERENT!

This is not a comparison...

[markandjohanna]

Yeah, I find it hard to pick the exact differences at different volumes too. But thanks for the video man, interesting to hear the two synths making some similar sounds!

[Rhythmicons]

THey are definately two different beasts that serve two different functions very well. Apples/Oranges. But, Id take the Model D any day perhaps even over the P5.

Eric

[Rhythmicons]

you could have at least had the sound levels the same and played the same licks with your dominant hand, lol.

Looks like you are a bit biased.

Moog Lives!

Eric

[Evenwave]

lol the sound level is not even the same, this is cheating...

[Evenwave]

I mean volume

[Dogboy73]

They both sound quite similar in this test. I'd like to get a Prophet 08. Moog is great but I'd rather have something new that would be more reliable. Plus of course the 08 is a polysynth. A brand new analogue polysynth? Very tempting.

[Dzoni73]

dogboy 73 ?

dzoni 73

lol

[tesseracht]

You do realise that there is a new minimoog, right? Reliability is not a problem.

[Dogboy73]

Sure but price is & DSI has just launched the Tetra. Sold to me I reckon. Anyway. Horses for courses.

[anonymusum]

tuning would be helpful

[nickeax]

Not really, because I can't play!

:)

[anonymusum]

Ok - xD

[Subtronik]

I think it's a decent comparison.

Only thing is the technology is years apart, so obviously you're dealing with apples and oranges.

[spacetrucker2020]

The prophet 8 is cool. But if you had the levels balanced you could tell the mini sounds way better.

[dariusmidi]

True analog instruments are always better. P08 is affordable, portable, modern and true analog. Only bad thing here is P08 hasn't ten 10-key pad for dialing programs. Its serious drawback that makes P08 only good for home playing. And for example, If i must to make decision between MemoryMoog and P08, i take MemoryMoog, because it HAS 10-key pad.

[nickeax]

I've never used a MemoryMoog.

[slammah2012]

wow......

a numeric key pad is a feature for live playing? lol

I think Polyphonic aftertouch is a bit more influential than a numeric pad....

[Nillerbabsen]

Apples and oranges.

[nickeax]

It's just for interests sake. And the Prophet was in mono mode. :-)

[beautifulmicia]

The 'Prophet 08' has the volume twice as high as the minimoog! Not a fair comparison.

[MPrint666]

Really! I don't even know why you would compare an 08 which is polyphonic, to a Model D which is monophonic. A better comparison would be a Model D and a Mopho, or a Prophet 08 and a MemoryMoog.

[nickeax]

I think I know what you mean!

[Lemure333]

If you had the choice in between the prophet08 and the poly evolver which one would you choose? Thanx

[nickeax]

I did have the choice! I chose the Mono Desktop Evolver and the P08. :-)

[jonronson]

Prophet 08 is better

[Andybaby]

prophet08 is louder, which ALWAYS sounds better

[MPrint666]

Just ordered my Prophet 08 today, should be here next week. Can't wait for it, i'll be biting my nails. Had a Mopho, but decided to sell it to a band member and upgrade. Wish I could have kept it and expanded the Prophet, but money is tight.

[PimpMyFahrrad]

MiniMoog should sound more dirty and warm than Prophet - it's normal. Mini has discrete circuits, while Prophet has Curtis chips.

But the Curtis sound is more precise, and punchier, than warm and dirty Mini sound... it doesn't mean is sounds worse.

I think Prophet is a lot of real analog fun and versatility for a very reasonable price - and you can't get any closer to vintage sound... it has old Curtis chips in it... the whole sound engine (vintage) is old!

I've already ordered mine :)

[nickeax]

I'm sure you'll have a good time with it. :-)

I'm not sure that all of the circuits in the MM were discreet though. Maybe someone who knows what they are talking about can comment?

[PimpMyFahrrad]

Well, I know what I'm talking about :D.

I'm pretty positive that Mini has discrete circuits.

[nickeax]

I'll take your word for it.

[PimpMyFahrrad]

Hello - me again...

Say - have you noticed some sort of a click artifact, while you play your prophet? It is very noticeable when you play MELLOW BASS sounds.

I'm not talking about the analog click - this is something different.

[nickeax]

I think so. I just make sure the amp and filt envs are working together, it seems to help.

[rollerskater]

the mini sounds more pleasing to my ears.

[LeonardRockstein]

something to be said for the old minimoog...the oldschool transistors and other compoments make it that bit more smooth. Still...the '08 sounds pretty nice as well. i'd like to hear a comparison between say a prophet 5 and the '08

[SHUTUPYAFACE]

The moog sounds like its quieter than the prophet.

[nickeax]

That's why I sold it!

[divyx]

By now you have had a lot of time to play with P08, and i'm not dissing that synth at all but have you had occasions where you feel that the the sounds are somehow really muddy like? specially with pad like sounds? that you couldn't make them to respond good to your playing? It's really weird but i had a lot of those. Perhaps lack of programming skills in a way.

[nickeax]

I have found that you need to be careful what you run it into. I had a difficult time getting a clear string sound whilst running into an AW1600! But with headphones, everything sounds great, IMHO.

[cageswood]

You sold it just because it was quieter?You're nuts!!I'll never sell my Model D

[bigblubox]

thanks for taking the time to do this!

IMO when used in a song with multiple tracks, some of the "fatness" will be cut-off for the sake of the mix. So at the end of the day, "fatness" isn't necessarily a good thing.

[01vv10]

The DSI kit sounds superb especially for the money, but the filters are just a tad weak compared to Moog, but the Prophet has polyphony which is nice :) A Prophet is next on my want list, followed by a Little Phatty.

[divyx]

I never liked my P08. I just couldn't "connect" with it as a whole. Yhe patch memory selection was bit limiting since you can't dial in a patch number. Sound wasn't what i expected, i dunno why really, it didn't have that huge feeling to me what i wanted. Polyphony of 8 resulted many times to be pain because i was usually in dual mode for pads so the polyphony was four notes, that is like 3 keys from right hand and one key as bass from left hand, you can barely play Jump like hehe. Get Andro A6

[brownerthanu]

great comparison, tho. the moog does have a warmer sound, while the 08 has a harder more modern attitude. i like them both.

[brownerthanu]

on the prophet, there's clearly a harder attack via the synth envelope, or a compressor. you can hear it's absent during the legato notes, so i'd say it's in the synth envelope.

[15KAND3R]

Doing this test with both synths set at the same volume and same tuning would be better for a fair comparaison...

[nickeax]

I think I know what you mean!

[freakmasterwarp]

Cool , very interesting video, I like the prophet out of the two. :o)

[nickeax]

That's the one I still own. :-)

[01vv10]

Was the patch memory a deciding factor? would be for me I think. That's all that puts me off the old moogs, I could live with the tuning.

[nickeax]

Not really, as I only produce crap music in my room! A mono synth for a guitarist like me is not all that playable, no matter how amazing it sounds. I had a lot of fun making sounds, but I wanted to see it go to someone who could really use and look after it.

[Thalassa77]

Hello, I've posted this video on switchedonsynthesizer.blogspot . com

[nickeax]

Rightio!

[crisalidacdr]

The minimoog's pitch and volume are set lower than the Prophet, tune them the same, set equal volume levels, and then do the comparison again!

Its an interesting video anyway.

[dansonbrockworthy]

In an ideal world you'd get the minimoog voyager (the update of the minimoog model D this guy is using) for doing basses and leads and the prophet for pads and arpeggios etc. The prophet can actually be made to sound quite a lot like the Roland Jupiter 8 (my favorite poloyphonic synth). Basically, quite unfair to compare the two as the moog is obviously going to sound a lot warmer and richer then the prophet but you cant play chords on a moog. I love them both.

[slliks67]

mini moog has smoother sound with a lil sumn on it other joint just loud

[diegoesk]

Damn I love dave smith stuff, but for moog to only have one voice and hold its own is impressive in its own right!

[postpunk77]

how do these hold up against the APR Odyssey?

[nickeax]

I've never played an ARP Odyssey.

[thekilon]

You need to raise the volume of Minimoog for fair comparison. It sounds too quite. Other than that Great video , thanks.

[harrychristner]

yeh and the minimoog doesnt get made any more either so id stick with the prophet

[enricosognato]

prophet plastic attac,minimoog sounds better

[enricosognato]

prophet plastic attac,minimoog sound better

[monsterjazzlicks]

Quite a bizarre experiment (lasting 9 mins !!), but actually its an interesting one. ha ha...

Give me the MiniMoog any day !! You should make a video just featuring the MiniMoog (esp. the bass sounds). And if you want to run another zany experiment, try it thru some contrasting amps/speakers !!

[TR0jAX]

Minimoog wins !

[peterkadar]

I think the Prophet holds up well considering. I think if the levels were a bit more closely matched it would have helped. Plus, I wonder how high the "Slop" parameter was set in the Prophet... a higher number would make it behave a bit more like an older analog. 

I have a Prophet, and I love it, but I'd love to get a Mini someday for sure!

Thanks for the great video!!

[Brian880]

Try amtching your levels, the Prophet is quite a bit hotter than the Mini, Good idea though

[cavalier777]

and the mini's a little flat in comparison to the prophet too

[EmeraldSynth]

The p600 is excellent at moody 'washes' of sound but is also much less versatile than the P8 , and has less punch and bass end. It's still an excellent synth for atmospheres, just very different I would say.

[Paardekut]

Mini sounds way warmer and sweeter.

Prophet sounds too precise.

The P08 does not at all sound very analog, even though it is. It doesn't even sound like a Prophet. It's a good machine though, especially for the money.

Good demo.

[PhotoAnimationGuy]

Totally agree, I wish I did like the way the p08 sounds but I would way rather have a prophet 600 or a prophet 5

[Paardekut]

I've had the P600 for 25-years now and even though it doesn't do what a P08 can, it still sounds much more analog. After trying the P08 I saw a P5 on ebay and bought it, even though it was much more expensive than a new P08, but man, that P5 is synth perfection. Nevertheless, for the money the P08 is great if you're into more modern sounding analog type sounds. It's a bargain really for what you get.

[Qiwolf]

I hear compression on the Prophet

[bdbender]

great idea and thanks for posting but I must say part of the usefulness of this a/b is compromised by the tuning and amplitude differences. The mini is almost a semitone flat at the beginning and 3-4dB down... Good stuff though, thanks!

[Robbinsffxi]

Ssounds like the moog is slightly out of tune at start there. The moog is more fat sounding, the Prophet is more stable and in tune. I like the punch in the filter of the prophet a tad better. my vote is for the Prophet.

[ratsouffle]

The moog is a tiny bit flat. :P All adds to character.

[Dubreak]

Probably would have helped the test to be more accurate if you had the volume levels the same for each synth. Unless that was the point of your test. E.g. The Minimoog volume dial does not accurately represent the settings of the SCI volume dial?

[flateric4you]

that mini is in good shape :) both awesome axes

[californiabass]

nice to see a bit of resourcefulness in what people do with their vids..

[californiabass]

thanks for this video.

[dannicool11]

i notice there's alot more decay on the Prophet08, if you get rid of that, it'll sound preeeetty much the same

[TR0jAX]

The Prophet sounds it has a built in chorus with a little compression

[PilferMusic]

Thanks for doing this... I gotta say. The P8 sounds pretty good... but the Moog to me sounded better.

[nickeax]

COMMENT BY "neolojism" (I deleted by accident!

The moog sounds cleaner with more sonic body. Price-wise though, it puts them both in very different leagues. The prophet 08 is a poly-synth, and the minimoog isn't. Compared to other polysynths out there, the 08 sounds pretty damn good. I would also get one over an andromeda, based on build quality and engineering alone, due to some bugs and dodgy digital electronics in the andromeda voice control design.

[Qiwolf]

Andromeda reigns over the P08. I own all the modern analogs, Voyager, Andy and P08

[EmeraldSynth]

The Andromeda and PO8 do different things with different strengths I'd say.

[Qiwolf]

It has nice brass

[sweetcircuit]

own all modern analogs huh?

[nickeax]

Um... I deleted instead of replying AGAIN!

Sorry!!

[nickeax]

I was going to agree that the Prophet is very well built. It's something that even a non-keyboardist such as myself can just sit at for hours and make nice sounds.

[nickeax]

No, you are mistaken. Have a read of the description.

[ingrexco]

They are both awsome. Its like comparing a ferrari to a lambo. You might prefer one to the other but if someone gave one to you I don't think anyone would complain.

[juno6]

It´s unfair as the P08 has a MUCH higher volume. That has a psychoacustic effect of making it sound "better" than the Mini.

It is also clear that the P08 has a bass boost of some kind (incorporated), as its low end sound so artificial.

But thanx anyway, I love this kind of reviews!

[nickeax]

Any fool can buy anything. These reviews prove that.

[juno6]

I wouldn´t say that, I really appreciate the time and effort Nickeax took to make this review. As he said he´s a novice, but it´s quite a good comparison for a novice.

The 08 is what people want, I think. Cheap, knobby, simple and limited in some ways. I don´t like it´s sound at all, but for kids that never used a good analog synth won´t make much difference.

[readyfresh]

I've owned virtually everything in the Sequential line over 20 years, junosix, I can tell you the P8 stands up very well. Its exceptionally versatile in tone for an analog synth, and also has a great deal of bite.

[juno6]

I´ve played in one time or another a rev2 and rev3 Prophet-5s, Prophet-10, T8, Pro One, Prophet VS and Split-8, and I *personally* feel that it´s lack of polymod section alone makes it don´t deserve the name Prophet.

Everyone know it´s CEM chips are more related to a Matrix-1000 than the 3340s and 3320s, not to mention the SSM chips in rev1 & 2. I heard Dave saying it has the original Prophet chips... come on Dave, because they´re CEM doesn´t mean they´re the originals. For a start it has DCOs.

[jgcorn]

It sounded off to me by :31 in, but I couldn't tell you by how many cents...

[DUT011]

From what I can hear in this video the moog is about 10 cents under pitch compared to the prophet

[nickeax]

It had changed over the course of the filming, but I can't see it as a MAJOR problem.

[DUT011]

oh yeah its not really anything noticable. I'm a music major so I always notice things like that...nothing on your skills against you as a musician.

Thanks for the vid btw, i enjoyed the demonstration

[nickeax]

I don't have any skills! I'm a complete novice on keyboards and a hack on guitar. Doesn't stop me spending my money on this stuff though!

:-)