The Dave Smith Instruments Prophet Rev2 is a bi-timbral analog polysynth introduced in 2017 as the successor to the Prophet ’08, expanding that earlier instrument’s core design with higher polyphony, deeper modulation, onboard effects, a sub-oscillator, and both polyphonic and gated sequencing. Rather than revisiting the earliest Prophet models as an act of nostalgia, it refined a later branch of the Prophet lineage into a more flexible, performance-ready instrument that could function as both a serious studio synthesizer and a durable stage workhorse.
Sound and character
The Rev2 does not present itself as a loose, unruly vintage relic. Its basic character is more controlled, focused, and structurally clean than that of the earliest VCO-based Prophet instruments, and that is central to why it has remained useful for so many players. The tone has a firm, articulate center: chords stay intelligible, layered patches remain organized, and sequenced parts keep their definition even when modulation becomes dense.
In practice, this makes the instrument especially strong at pads, animated textures, sync leads, modern analog brass, sequenced patterns, and stacked sounds that need width without collapsing into blur. The Curtis low-pass filter gives it a recognizably American polysynth contour: punchy when driven, smooth enough for broad harmonic work, and capable of turning sharp oscillator material into something more rounded without erasing its presence.
What makes the Rev2 more than a polished Prophet ’08 update is the combination of waveshape modulation on all waveforms, the added sub-oscillator, generous voice count, and a much deeper modulation environment. Those elements let it move beyond static subtractive tones into evolving, restless patches that feel contemporary rather than merely retro. Even when it reaches for classic analog territory, it often sounds less like a museum piece and more like a modern instrument built to keep changing under the player’s hands.
Features and architecture
- Manufacturer: Dave Smith Instruments at launch; later branded as Sequential after the company revived the Sequential name.
- Year introduced: 2017.
- Production years: 2017 to present.
- Synthesis type: Analog subtractive synthesis with digitally controlled oscillators and bi-timbral architecture.
- Category: Polyphonic analog keyboard synthesizer, also released in desktop module form.
- Polyphony: 8 voices or 16 voices, depending on version.
- Original price: US MAP at launch was $1,499 for the 8-voice keyboard and $1,999 for the 16-voice keyboard; an 8-voice expansion card was announced at $599.
- Current market price: As of 2026, new US street pricing is broadly around $2,499.99 for the 8-voice keyboard and $2,999.99 for the 16-voice keyboard; used prices generally sit well below that, with the market remaining active.
- Oscillators: Two DCOs per voice, plus a sub-octave square-wave oscillator and white noise; waveforms include saw, triangle, saw/triangle, and pulse, with waveshape modulation and hard sync.
- Filter: Resonant Curtis low-pass filter switchable between 2-pole and 4-pole operation.
- LFOs: 4 LFOs.
- Envelopes: 3 envelopes.
- Modulation system: 8-slot modulation matrix with extensive source and destination options, plus additional dedicated routings.
- Sequencer / arpeggiator: 64-step polyphonic sequencer with up to 6 notes per step, 4-track 16-step gated sequencer, and programmable arpeggiator.
- Effects: Digital effects including reverb, delays, BBD delay, chorus, phaser, ring modulation, and distortion; effects can be assigned per layer in split or stacked operation.
- Memory: 512 factory programs and 512 user programs, with two layers in each program.
- Keyboard: 61-note, semi-weighted keyboard with velocity and channel aftertouch.
- Inputs / outputs: Main stereo outputs, separate stereo outputs for layer routing, headphone output, sustain pedal input, and pedal/CV input.
- MIDI / USB: MIDI In, Out, Thru, and USB MIDI.
- Display: OLED display.
- Dimensions / weight: Keyboard version measures approximately 35.12 x 12.70 x 3.80 inches and weighs about 20.5 lbs.
- Power: Integrated IEC power supply, operating on 100–240V at 50/60 Hz.
Strengths
- Deep architecture without losing immediacy: The front panel remains relatively direct, so the Rev2 can handle complex programming without feeling conceptually opaque.
- Voice count that changes how you write: In 16-voice form especially, the instrument can sustain large chords, layered sounds, and long-release textures more comfortably than many analog polysynths in its class.
- Bi-timbral practicality: Split and stack modes make it useful not just as a single patch instrument, but as a performance rig and compositional tool with real internal contrast.
- Stronger motion than its predecessor: Waveshape modulation, expanded modulation depth, and more advanced sequencing make it far more capable of evolving timbres than the Prophet ’08 on which it is based.
- Stable analog behavior: The DCO-based design helps it remain reliable in tuning and repeatability while still preserving an analog signal path.
- Useful onboard effects: The effects are not an afterthought; they help turn the Rev2 into a self-contained production instrument rather than a synth that always needs external help to feel finished.
- Upgradeable entry point: The 8-voice version can be expanded, which made the instrument more accessible without permanently limiting the user.
Limitations
- The 8-voice version can feel constrained: Once you begin using layered sounds, longer releases, or denser harmony, eight voices disappear quickly.
- Its Prophet identity is not the vintage-Prophet stereotype: Players expecting the immediate bloom and looseness associated with earlier VCO-based Prophet models may find the Rev2 more disciplined than romantic.
- Single-filter topology: However flexible the implementation is, the core filter identity remains one low-pass Curtis design rather than a multi-filter platform.
- Two-part bi-timbrality, not full workstation multitimbrality: It can split and layer convincingly, but it is not meant to replace a deeply multi-part production workstation.
- Interface depth still requires commitment: It is more immediate than many menu-heavy synths, but exploiting the modulation system fully still rewards careful study rather than casual tweaking.
- Current new pricing is higher than the launch proposition: Part of the Rev2’s original appeal was how much instrument it delivered for the money; that value story has shifted somewhat as new prices have climbed.
Historical context
The Rev2 arrived in January 2017 as the direct successor to the Prophet ’08, an instrument that had already established Dave Smith’s post-Sequential return to affordable analog polyphony. The new model did not discard that foundation. Instead, it kept the DCO/Curtis core and pushed it further: more voices, more modulation, a sub-oscillator, digital effects, and a far more ambitious sequencing setup.
That timing mattered. By 2017, analog synthesis had already re-entered the mainstream, but the market was increasingly split between compact budget instruments, vintage-inspired flagships, and modern hybrids. The Rev2 occupied a particularly useful middle ground. It was not a strict recreation of a 1970s icon, nor was it a digital workstation disguised as analog seriousness. It was an intentionally updated, modernized analog poly designed for musicians who wanted depth, reliability, and a substantial keyboard instrument without stepping into a far more expensive luxury tier.
It also sits at an interesting point in the company’s identity. Early units carried the Dave Smith Instruments branding, while later ones appeared under the revived Sequential name. That makes the Rev2 part of a transitional moment: it belongs both to the modern DSI era and to the restored public continuity of the original Sequential legacy.
Legacy and significance
The Rev2 matters because it represents a second, equally legitimate definition of what a Prophet can be. In popular memory, the Prophet name is often reduced to vintage mythology: unstable VCOs, late-1970s prestige, and the aura of the Prophet-5. The Rev2 points in a different direction. It treats the Prophet idea as an expandable platform for modern analog composition, layering, and modulation rather than as a static historical artifact.
That makes its significance broader than its spec sheet. It helped keep the Prophet line connected to working musicians who needed voice count, splits, sequencing, patch memory, effects, and dependable tuning. It also preserved the importance of the Prophet ’08 lineage at a time when discussions of analog synthesis increasingly drifted toward nostalgia. In that sense, the Rev2 did not merely fill a catalog slot. It defended a whole design philosophy: analog synthesis as a practical contemporary instrument, not only as a reenactment of the past.
Artists, users, and curiosities
Sequential’s own artist material has linked the Rev2 to a wide range of contemporary musicians rather than to one narrow genre niche. In the company’s artist spotlights, players such as Nathan Hicks, Itamar Gov-Ari, Luke Neptune, WVM, Matthew S, and Shai Yallin have discussed using the instrument in ambient, electronic, compositional, and hybrid studio settings.
Shai Yallin offers one of the more concrete associations: he has specifically cited the Rev2 on Subterranean Masquerade’s Mountain Fever, including the title track and several other songs from the record. That matters because it shows the instrument not as a showroom demonstrator but as a working part of an actual release.
A recurring curiosity around the Rev2 is visual rather than sonic: there are effectively two historical faces of the same instrument. Early examples wear the Dave Smith Instruments badge, while later ones bear the Sequential name, so the logo on the panel quietly marks where a given unit sits in the company’s post-2010 story.
Another enduring point of interest is the expandable 8-voice model. Because Sequential offered an official path to 16 voices, buyers could approach the instrument in stages. That was a practical design decision, but it also shaped how the Rev2 was perceived: not as a closed purchase, but as an instrument that could grow into its full form over time.
Market value
- Current market position: The Rev2 remains a firmly established modern analog polysynth rather than a speculative collector’s item.
- New price signal: New pricing is significantly higher than the original 2017 launch MAP, which changes the value equation for first-time buyers.
- Used market signal: The used market remains active, with 8-voice and 16-voice versions both appearing regularly and often representing a more compelling value than buying new.
- Availability: Still widely available through major retailers and commonly found on the second-hand market.
- Buyer notes: The most important buying decision is often not keyboard versus module, but 8 voices versus 16. For many players, the 16-voice version is the more future-proof choice.
- Support ecosystem: Strong support from Sequential, abundant patch libraries, tutorials, community discussion, and long-running familiarity in the synth community.
- Ease of finding one: Easy to find used; straightforward to source new in major markets.
- Long-term position: Stable rather than speculative. Its reputation is based on usefulness, depth, and durability more than rarity.
Conclusion
The Dave Smith Instruments Prophet Rev2 endures because it solves real musical problems with unusual completeness. It gives players genuine analog tone, meaningful polyphony, deep modulation, bi-timbral flexibility, and a workflow that still feels like an instrument rather than a software environment trapped in hardware. More than a revised Prophet ’08 and less nostalgic than the brand’s vintage-faithful reissues, it stands as one of the clearest statements of modern analog practicality in the Prophet family. That is why it still matters: not because it flatters the past, but because it remains persistently useful in the present.