Is there a difference between the Prophet VTM and the Pro-12 ASB”? You can bet there is. The one has been out of production for years; the other was made available just in November 2005. The one has five voices; the other one has twelve.

That’s it? Well, there are actually a few more differences. The Pro-12 ASB comes with sophisticated velocity functions – including attack and release velocity. With refined channel-pressure features. With a versatile unisono mode. And finally with a newly attached FX section. At the same time, it eliminates the few weaknesses of the original – for example, the keyboard amount can at last be set in the filter section. And the filter envelope operates negatively as well now.

The sound? Well, the sound… Sorry, but we couldn’t do anything about it — it’s still the same. Sharp leads, clanging filter FM, swirling sync sounds on a sonic-speed harmonic roller coaster, pumping bass beats making you spin, fluffy pads — the Pro-12 ASB has it all inside. Just like the original. THAT couldn’t be made better.

After all, some things are timeless. For that reasons, the front panels of the Prophet VTM and the Pro-12 ASB look as alike as two peas in a pod: One function, one knob! That’s the way it’s got to be. Forget about your computer. In fact, however, there is a drawback:

You can’t tweak the knobs and hold your ears at the same time. So use it at your own risk!

Just as with the original, the structure of the Pro-12 ASB is plain and simple: There are no gigabytes of samples, just one single filter. But that filter produces the unbeatable sound of the analog legend made in Silicon Valley in the late seventies. On the menu: Two oscillators with saw and square waves plus variable pulse width. Including hard sync whenever you like. One mixer. One LFO. The organic filter with the officially approved cult factor of the original. Two lively envelopes. The Poly Mod section where you can abuse oscillator B or the filter envelope for making havoc of oscillator A, oscillator B, or the filter. Enough? Definitely enough to whoop it up. Rest assured.

For those who want to dive deeper into sound editing, there is a remote software for looking under the instrument’s hood. Chorus, flanger, and stereo delay make up a nice effective three-course meal. The channel pressure acts upon parameters such as the pulse width, filter, pitch (individual setting for oscillators A and B), and LFO rate; the unisono mode groups two to ten voices with variable detuning; and the LFO with retrigger functionality and adjustable phase almost behaves like a third envelope generator. All settings can be stored and can thus be accessed at any time without the use of a computer. Naturally, all knob movements are output via MIDI.

We say: Laptops are for office users. Modern musicians use real instruments.

You don’t trust your ears? Here come the Pro-12 specs — for those who prefer a more down-to-earth approach.
 

As with all ASB instruments, no manual is required. These machines are built for a quick start: Plug, then play. The same is also true for the remote software, which allows for tailoring the extra effects to suite your sonic taste or tweaking the unisono mode, etc. The software, too, follows the unbeaten intuitive operating concept of the analog original closely.

Of course, a manual exists — if you want to learn about everything the Pro-12 cPro-12 can do. Download it here.  
 

There is always a good story behind good instruments. Because you won’t forget their sounds. The Pro-12 ASB has a story, too. A story that goes straight to the heart of pop music. The instrument houses state-of-the-art technology — modern DSP components running superior software. Nevertheless, with the Pro-12 ASB, CreamWare continues the tradition of a true classic from the history of music: no other than the legendary Prophet VTM by Sequential Circuits. The original ProphetTM entered this world in 1978. During the years to follow and even to the day, that product from a small company from the Silicon Valley influenced the charts as well as the underground– perhaps as only the MinimoogTM had done before. The special thing about that synth from San Jose was that it was the first one to allow for recalling polyphonic sounds that had been carefully created in advance and stored by the user. Fiddly knob tweaking or even cable re-patching between songs was over and done with!

Of course, the reasons why the Prophet VTM is so inspiring to many musicians still today are completely different: It’s the typical assertive and warm base sound – the typical “Prophet brand” sound – and a number of “secret weapons” such as filter FM or oscillator sync. There is everything inside: from fluffy magic carpets to wicked brute-force sounds — just at the push of a button. Thus, the list of keyboard players who have integrated this instrument into their setup is more or less the synthesists’ who is who.

The downside is that the Prophet costs a fortune on the second-hand market to this very day. The perfectly equipped toolbox of the Prophet VTM – for example, including the Poly Mod section (which, by the way, was added only at a very late time in the design process) – and the aggressive power of this polyphonic dinosaur put the Prophet VTM on top of the wish list of many musicians still today. Many of these could not afford making this dream come true. true.

This has been a good reason for many software makers to once again put their Prophets on the workbench and to use modern technology for transferring the sound of that analog monster to the new millennium. But just the Pro-12 ASB combines modern software skills with the analog feeling of decades past — by turning the much-acclaimed Prophet emulation from CreamWare’s Scope platform into an instrument you want to get your hands on. The Pro-12 ASB contains the whole gamut of classic sounds known from two and a half decades of Prophetic cult: warm analog pads, razor-sharp and ultra phat sync sounds, and brilliant leads. No booting. No mouse. No blue screen. Just go!

So the story of the Prophet VTM continues. Neither more nor less.