Three polyphonic analogue synthesisers from the late 1970s and early 1980s defined the sound of a generation and are still everywhere today. Arturia recreates all three in its V Collection: Prophet-5 V, OB-Xa V and Jup-8 V. Knowing their characters helps you reach for the right one.
Sequential Prophet-5 (1978)
One of the first fully programmable polyphonic synthesisers, with patch memory - a revolution at the time. Sequential Circuits' Prophet-5 has five voices, each with two oscillators, a filter and envelopes.
- Character - focused, punchy, slightly edgy; equally at home with brass, leads, basses and pads.
- Poly-Mod - routing the filter envelope and the second oscillator to modulate the first oscillator's pitch or pulse width, and the filter, creating metallic and sync-like tones.
- Use it for - classic poly leads, sync sounds, punchy basses, cinematic pads.
Oberheim OB-Xa (1980-81)
Oberheim's polysynths were renowned for a huge, rich, brassy sound. The OB-Xa is one of the most famous, heard on many big 80s pop and rock records.
- Character - big, lush, warm and wide; famous for brass and stabs.
- Use it for - massive brass stabs, wide pads, anthemic chords, 80s pop and synthwave.
Roland Jupiter-8 (1981)
Roland's flagship polysynth, with eight voices, two oscillators per voice, cross-modulation and sync, and the ability to split or layer two sounds across the keyboard.
- Character - lush, smooth and refined; glassy pads and silky strings, but also aggressive cross-mod tones.
- Use it for - pads, strings, arpeggios, split and layered performances, synth-pop.
What they share
All three are subtractive synths with two oscillators per voice, resonant filters and envelopes - the architecture you reviewed in Pigments. Their differences come from the details: filter design, oscillator character, modulation routings and how voices drift slightly against each other.
Using them today
- Do not treat them as museum pieces. Run them through modern effects, sidechain them, resample them.
- Use the voice-to-voice variation - slight detuning between voices (often called "spread", "slop" or "vintage" settings) gives analogue warmth.
- Pick by job - Prophet for punch and focus, OB-Xa for size and brass, Jupiter for lushness and layers.
- Layer them - a Jupiter pad under an OB-Xa stab, or a Prophet lead over both.
Do this now
- Play the same four-chord progression on Prophet-5 V, OB-Xa V and Jup-8 V using a brass or pad preset on each, and describe the differences.
- Build a Poly-Mod sound on Prophet-5 V from an init patch.
- Program a split on Jup-8 V: bass in the left hand, pad in the right.