Here’s a quick look at the new Dave Smith Instruments Pro 2 monophonic synthesizer, via keyboardmag1.
“As synth geeks, we asked ourselves what our dream mono synth would be,” says Smith. “Then we built it.”
The Pro 2 has a street price of $1,999. For more information, see the Pro 2 product page.
I’m not planning to buy anything from DSI in the foreseeable future, but if I was, this would be it. 🙂
Great demo! Love the example of paraphonic playing.
first look ?? hum…….anyway good sytnh from DS…I never liked the Curtiss filter chips and this Pro2 is now designed with different filters…
Disclaimer – I never had a problem w the Curtis filter chips…
But I got my pro 2 last week and the filers sound awesome, I may prefer it to my voyager. This may very well be my favorite synth of all time. I get sounds out of this I’ve dreamed of but never thought I’d realize. The sounds you can make as you morph between the filters in series and parallel are incredible.
$2,000? Really?
I’m sure it’s a capable synth but seems like ALL of the DSI stuff has this 80’s “vibe” which I find reminiscent of the Roland JX-8P, Korg DW-8000, Ensoniq SQ-80 and even the Kawai K3. True, the programming possibilities on these synths is presumably much more limited than the DSI products, but if used in tandem with a powerful sampler you could create very smilar sounds at a fraction of the cost.
Just my two cents.
It makes sense that DSI gear has an 80s vibe, because they’re the only current instruments that are built using Curtis VCFs and VCAs that were once so incredibly common.
Mostly analog signal paths are in fashion right now, so the DSI sound is popular. That will inevitably change as the next cohort of cool kids pushes the hardware industry in a different direction. The power of DSP chips continues to increase dramatically year after year, and it’s likely that we’ll see some absolutely stunning new digital algorithms and simulations hit the market by 2020 (and, yes, there will inevitably be a generation of old codgers who will rant loudly at anyone who’ll listen how the new technology is vastly inferior to their (rare and thus collectible) old gear.
This synth sounds fantastic! I’m seriously thinking of parting with the cash for one. I really like the Sub37, too. But, the Pro 2 seems better at making smoother, glassier textures to me; probably due of the digital wavetable oscillators.
The pro 2 doesn’t have Curtis filters or vca’s. Probably why this dsi stands apart to me.