Sequential Prophet XL is a digital-to-analog hybrid synthesizer with a weighted 76 keys Fatar TP/8 keyboard that combines samples and synthesis. The sample library comes from the company 8DIO and is read from an internal hard disk. The heart of the sound generation is a newly developed sound engine that combines two simultaneous sample engines and two high-resolution digital oscillators. The signals then pass through a fully analog resonating filter. In addition, there is a wide range of effects, a polyphonic step sequencer with up to 64 steps and three OLED displays. In stereo mode Prophet XL offers a polyphony of 16 voices and in mono mode 32 voices.
As synthesizer voices, the Prophet XL offers the power of a classic Prophet with two high-resolution digital oscillators that offer both classic waveforms and a supersaw for more sonic possibilities. With the Shape Mod control, you can manually set a desired waveform width for each of the classic sine, sawtooth, or pulse waves, or use an LFO or other mod source to continuously change the timbre. The raw sounds can be designed with all expected classic synthesis functions, including four synchronizable LFOs with slew and phase offset, four repeatable five-stage envelope generators, and a 16-slot mod matrix with dozens of modulation sources and destinations.
On the sample side, the Prophet XL offers two independent digitally sampled instruments per voice (4 in stack or split mode). The 150GB internal sample memory was developed by 8Dio, known for its groundbreaking deep sampling products. For the Prophet XL, the company offers a diverse collection of acoustic and electronic instruments as well as a wealth of edgy ambient and cinema effects. The samples can be shaped by loop manipulation, sample stretching and the sound sculpting modulation functions of the Prophet XL. Each sample instrument also has its own tone control for high-pass or low-pass filtering. Fifty gigabytes of additional internal memory are provided for importing external sample libraries. Support for user-created samples is scheduled for December 2018. Add-on sample packs are available from the product release of 8Dio.
At the heart of the Prophet XL's powerful sound are its new 24 dB octave resonance low-pass filters based on a vintage design. There are separate filters in the left and right channels for a true stereo signal path. These add an extraordinary presence and abundance to both the samples and the oscillators. For additional polyphony, you can switch the Prophet XL from 16-part stereo mode to 32-part mono mode, which is useful for stacks and splits.
A dual-effect engine offers multiple reverb, two delays (standard and BBD), chorus, flanger, phaseshifter, rotating speaker, high-pass filter and distortion. Two different effects can be assigned to each layer in Stacked or Split Voice mode. Effect parameters can also be modulated by the mod matrix. This is also possible for the samples themselves.
The polyphonic step sequencer offers up to 64 steps and up to six notes per step. You can create a different sequence for each layer when working in Stacked or Split Voice mode. This makes the step sequencer a powerful tool for composition or performance. Sequences can have frets and pauses and can be synchronized with an external MIDI clock. The arpeggiator has note repetitions, re-latching and can also be synchronized with external MIDI clocks.