UPDATE: Dave Smith has now confirmed that it is real.
The new keyboard is on the way from Dave Smith, the Sequential Take 5 synthesizer.
Previously leaked by a Belgian retailer Sequential has confirmed the existence of a new analogue synth, the Take 5. This the company’s first new synth since it was acquired by Focusrite in April 2021.
Could the Sequential Take 5 synth give you the Prophet-5 sound in a compact and more affordable keyboard?
“The Take 5 puts the classic Sequential sound and legacy into the hands of people who may not have been able to experience it before,” said Dave Smith, Sequential founder and lead product designer.
“Packing this much performance power into such a small footprint was the kind of challenge we love. Throughout development we were amazed by how huge this synth sounds and how crazy versatile it is. It was a joy to work on and I’m looking forward to hearing what our customers create with it.”
Possibly not designed exclusively for those who wish to play the Dave Brubeck classic, this is a five-voice polyphonic instrument with two analogue oscillators per voice and a continuously variable waveshape per oscillator. As such, its architecture appears to be similar to that of Sequential’s Prophet-5 Rev 4, which was released in 2020.
Other features include a sub-oscillator, hard sync and front-panel FM, while a Mixer enables you to set the levels of the oscillators and the amount of white noise.
The four-pole low-pass filter, meanwhile, is said to be based on the design of the one in the Prophet-5 Rev 4. This can be made to self-oscillate using the Resonance control.
Modulation features include two five-stage envelope generators with variable routing, with velocity modulation of each envelope amount. The envelopes promise to be freely assignable to multiple modulation destinations. The same can be said of the LFO, which offers five waveshapes and internal or external MIDI clock sync.
A digital effects section gives you dedicated reverb and overdrive along with a multi-effect that delivers stereo delay, BBD delay, tape delay, chorus, flanger, phaser, ring mod, vintage rotating speaker, distortion and a high-pass filter.
In addition, a Vintage knob is included – another feature of the new Prophet-5 – so that you can recreate the tiny oscillator, filter and envelope fluctuations that are typical in classic synth hardware.
On the control front, there is a full-size, semi-weighted and aftertouch-capable 3.5-octave Fatar keyboard, pitch and mod wheels, a keyboard split mode and both portamento and unison (monophonic) options.
A step sequencer and arpeggiator are on the agenda, too, while you can expect 128 factory presets and space for 128 of your own.
Features:
OSCILLATORS
- Two analog VCOs per voice
- Continuously variable wave shape (sine, sawtooth, variable-width pulse) per oscillator
- Hard sync: oscillator 1 syncs to oscillator 2
- Square wave sub-octave generator (oscillator 1) per voice
- Keyboard tracking on/off for each oscillator
- Front-panel FM (frequency modulation)
MIXER
- Oscillator 1 amount
- Oscillator 1 sub-octave amount
- Oscillator 2 amount
- White noise amount
LOW-PASS FILTER
- Four-pole, resonant, analog low-pass filter per voice, based on Prophet 5 Rev 4 design
- Filter can be driven into self-oscillation with the Resonance control
- Bi-polar filter envelope amount
ENVELOPES
- Two 5-stage envelope generators (ADSR + delay) with variable routing (filter, amplifier, gate)
- Velocity modulation of each envelope amount
- Envelopes freely assignable to multiple modulation destinations
LOW FREQUENCY OSCILLATOR
- Five wave shapes: triangle, sawtooth, reverse sawtooth, square, and random (sample and hold)
- Clock sync (internal or external MIDI clock)
- Freely assignable to multiple modulation destinations
DIGITAL EFFECTS
- One dedicated reverb with damping, pre-delay, decay and tone
- One multi-effect with stereo delay, BBD delay, tape delay, chorus, flanger, phaser, ring mod, vintage rotating speaker, distortion, high-pass filter
- Dedicated Overdrive effect
VINTAGE KNOB
- Recreates the characteristics of vintage synthesizers by introducing micro-fluctuations in oscillators, filter, and envelopes per voice.
AFTERTOUCH
- Source: channel (mono) aftertouch with bi-polar amount
- Aftertouch freely assignable to multiple modulation destinations
CLOCK
- Master clock with tap tempo
- BPM control and display
- MIDI clock sync
ARPEGGIATOR
- Up, down, up+down, random, assign modes
- Syncs to MIDI clock
- Re-latching arpeggiation
SEQUENCER
- Polyphonic step sequencer with up to 64 steps with ties and rests
PERFORMANCE CONTROLS
- Full-sized, semi-weighted, 3.5-octave premium Fatar keyboard with velocity and aftertouch
- Spring-loaded pitch wheel with selectable range per program with independently adjustable upper and lower pitch wheel range transpose controls
- Low-split mode creates two independent performance zones with different octave ranges
- Hold switch latches held notes on
- Polyphonic glide (portamento)
- Unison (monophonic) mode with configurable voice count, from one to all five voices, and key modes
- Factory switch: when off, the front panel is live; what you see is what you hear
PATCH MEMORY
IN/OUT
- 1 MIDI In, 1 MIDI Out, and 1 MIDI Thru port
USB port for bidirectional MIDI communication
- 1 Sustain/footswitch input
- 1 Expression pedal input
- Main stereo output (2 x 1/4″ phone jack)
- Headphone out (stereo 1/4″ phone jack)
The Sequential Take 5 is available now priced at $1,299. Find out more on the Sequential website.
