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Sequential Circuits Prophet T8

Analog Programmable Polyphonic Synthesizer

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Sequential Circuits Prophet T8
Sequential Circuits Prophet T8
5 000.00 street price

Prophet T8 is an 8-voice analog synthesizer with digital microprocessor control. This model hasn’t lost its relevance even now (2016), as it has all the necessary features:
Full MIDI support
Dynamic keyboard with aftertouch
The ability of keyboard split and layer
Sequencer for 670 notes
128 patches to save settings

The analog part of the synthesizer is built on specialized CEM chips and doesn’t differ much from Prophet-600 or Prophet-5 Rev3 architecture.

Voices are put onto sound cards, each of which contains:
Two voltage controlled generators (VCO) based on Curtis CEM3340. These chips allow you to generate a triangular, sawtooth and pulse wave with a high tuning stability. For each oscillator tuning and the depth of the PW modulation controllers are provided. For VCO2, the "FINE" knob is available which allows the micro-tuning of the tone. A sync mode is also available, which makes VCO1 and 2 of each voice sound in unison.

The chip CEM3372 which allows the use of the pre-mixer (VCO1, 2, noise source), VCF and VCA. The voltage controlled low-pass filter (LP VCF) has cutoff, resonance and modulation depth adjustment. The filter has a slope of 12 dB per octave. The source of modulation can be the LFO or ADSR envelope generator.
The modulating LFO produces a triangle, a meander and a saw. The signal can be sent to modulate (PW/FM) VCO1 and 2, as well as VCO and VCA.

The design of the keyboard was so successful that New England Digital Corporation acquired a license to use the keyboard in its flagship product "Synclavier II". And Dave Smith himself used T8 as the main MIDI controller in his home studio.

Unfortunately, Prophet T8 didn’t have huge commercial success. Apparently it happened because musicians had enough of analog and were looking for something completely new. It’s no surprise - the most popular synthesizer of that period was Yamaha DX7!

Country of origin / production: USA

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Usage area
Synthesizer 
Usage Design/ Form Factor
With Keys 
Archetype
Hybrid, Digital+Analog 
Polyphony
Analog Voices8
Tone Generator / Sound Synthesis
Oscillator Type VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator)
Oscillators' hard sync 
Oscillators per voice2
Waveform/ Spectral form (main generator) Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
Waveform/ Spectral form (main generator) Triangle
Waveform/ Spectral form (main generator) Saw
Programs/ Voices/ Timbres
Patches128
Filter
Voltage Controlled Filter (VCF) 
Low-pass Filter (LPF) 
2-pole 
12dB 
Resonance 
Envelope Generator (EG)
FilterADSR
Sequencer
Max Events Count670
Arpegiator/ Portamento
Portamento 
MIDI
General MIDI (GM) 
MIDI in/ out
IN 
OUT 
Keys
Type Synth Action
Size6,5
Number of Keys76
Display
Display type TFT
Color resolution Monochrome
Built-in controllers
Pitch Bend Wheel 
Modulation Wheel 
Audio out
Stereo 
Analogue: 1/4" (6.35mm)3
Power
Voltage 100-230(250)V
Voltage 50-60Hz
Power Supply Built-in, internal
Dimensions
Height114 mm
Width1219 mm
Depth546 mm
Weight29.5 kg
Case/ body
Metal&wood 
Color
Black 
Production start1983
Production end1986
Production ended

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