The Pro 2 is the flagship among Dave Smith's mono synths. It shares the same ergonomics as its 12-voice sibling, the Prophet 12, but carves out clearly different sonic territory with its new dual analog filter architecture, a monster step sequencer, superwaves, digital bucket-brigade delay and much more.
They say nothing else sounds like it and nothing else behaves like this beast. It raises the bar for monosynths and redefines the word "fat." Just as in the world of microphones, where we've seen clear fusions of retro in legendary ribbon mics relaunched with a 2015 vision, we perceive that same vibe in this monophonic synth: the fusion of analog power with the digital cutting edge. It features four high-resolution digital oscillators plus a sub oscillator, with which to modulate frequencies and waveform amplitudes. There's great richness in its arsenal of filters (from ones inspired by the Prophet 5 or the classic Oberheim SEM, low-pass and high-pass filters, parallel and series modes...
Its advanced sequencing capabilities are one of its most interesting aspects: 32 steps and 16 tracks with real-time input, external audio input and MIDI clock sync.
Of course, we can control all the parameters via MIDI: oscillators, LFOs, envelopes, sequenced tracks. We also find plenty of tools in modulation, delays to play with via panning, etc.
The keyboard is semi-weighted with aftertouch and backlighting, and includes modulation wheels, pressure-sensitive touch sliders and, well... it's worth taking your time to check it out if you'd like to own one of those analog gems, reissued to take advantage of the technology of the times we live in.
