Hi guys!

I'm looking to buy my first hardware synth to bring some life and color into my productions Right now I'm using plugins like Omnisphere, Diva etc.

I went to try a Prophet 6 the other day and really liked it. I've heard many good things about the Prophet 5 as well, although I haven't had the chance to try one yet. Today I was offered a Prophet 5 rev 3.0 for pretty much the same price as a new Prophet 6, what would your advice on this be? Anyone that's tried both? Is it worth having a piece of hardware at all nowadays?

Any advice or suggestions would be really appreciated

That's a tough call right there. I would go play the P5 and see if your ok with Curtis filters. VS a discrete analog recreation of the old SSM 2240 filter in the rev1 and rev2 P5. Which is what the P6 has.
If you don't like the P5 as much buy it and resell it as they usually sell for a fair amount more than P6's. Then go buy a P6 and pocket the extra cash.

Go with the P6 and forget about the old stuff. You'll be supporting people who are making new analog synths which will keep them going, and you get a warranty.

That's some good points right there! Thanks guys!
The thing is as well, that I have to travel a few hours to go pick up/try the Prophet 5. So I'd be cool to hear some opinions on the two, and if it's worth bothering with the P5 at all? Are they 'that' different?

That's definitely a good price for the P5, and they will only go up in value, it's a certified classic.
However they are also known to get a bit temperamental in their old age. Unless you know a reliable tech, I'd be a bit weary of vintage synths, no matter how great they sound.
There will be no such problems with the P6, and if there is, DSI support is the best.

Go P5 all the way. It's a classic, it will hold it's value, and it's becoming more and more desirable as it becomes more and more rare.

As Dpro mentioned, it's also the right FINANCIAL thing to do regardless of your creative muse. You can always sell it and make much more than a prophet 6 is going to run you.

**disclaimer** - My above advice is predicated on it being in great working condition before you do the deal (which kind of sounds suspicious...) Do your due diligence.

Thanks guys! Yeah it's true about the value going up for the P5.. The P5 is in good condition from what I can see so far in the pictures (some visual signs of tear/usage of course, keys are a bit "wavey"/uneven.. As you would expect from a synth of that age), and it was serviced a couple of years ago.
I actually over-exaggerated a bit when I said it's the same price as the P6. Without the Swedish VAT and all, a new P6 is actually like $1000 cheaper.. Oops, my bad! But it's still a pretty good price for a P5 right?

Hmm will this changes the picture quite a bit. $3700 is pretty close to the average stree price on a P5 rev 3 . That makes not that great of a deal in relation to the cost of a P6. At that point it better be I am buying it because I love it and want to hold onto it purchase.
If you try it and like it perhap you should try to negotiate on the price?

It's up to you man.

Yeah thats true! I will definitely hold on to it and make good use of it since I work with music professionally!

Damn, it's a tough choice.. It doesn't make it easier that the P5 is so much sexier looking!!

So far the word on Prophet 6 is that it has everything the Prophet 5 offered plus a lot more, and it is brand new with warranty and supports the company

6 all day long, don't look back, it's mostly about nostalgia and in this case the newer product is better anyway. Check out Gordon Reid's review, if anyone could find fault with the 6 it would be him:

Product Review - Dave Smith Instruments Sequential Prophet 6

Yeah I'm starting to lean towards the P6 now. Just feels so much safer and easier, and if it's not even that far off sound wise.. And the P6 even contains some of the presets from the P5! I'm definitely going back to the store tomorrow to try it some more

Other than that, what are your opinions on analog hardware vs software synths? Can one really separate the two in a mix?

Thanks for all the answers, they've been really helpful!

I've own Prophet 5, Jupiter 6, Super Jupiter, V Synth, D50, DX7II, Microwave, DS Poly Evolver, JV5080 and a few more...

Mostly I use soft synths. Draw your own conclusions.

P6 all the way. It's new, has warranty, and sounds great. Win-win if you ask me.

Guys.. Im really considering going to try out the Prophet 5. In total it will be a 10 hour drive there and back.
I tried the Prophet 6 today and didn't really feel it that much to be honest. I'm more of a preset guy/doing simple tweaks and didn't find them that inspiring. I also prefer dryer sounds, and wasn't a big fan of the digital effects part in it.

Do you think it's worth going to try, and probably end up buying the P5 rev 3.0? Or am I being foolish?

These are some photos of the synth by the way: https://goo.gl/photos/i8BcRzi8efQG869t5

If you didn't like the presets on the Prophet 6 there's little chance you'll like a Prophet 5. I believe John Bowen moved all the Prophet 5 libraries to the 6 so if you've spent time with the 6, you've heard 'em (and you didn't find them inspiring.)

I see, yeah I heard something about that as well, but surely it wouldn't be all presets from P5?

Is it likely at all that a P5 will drop in value or will it just increase over time? (If it's kept in good condition of course)

Any other opinions? I have to decide on this tonight haha!

A ten hour drive sounds pretty terrible, but it's a lot of money you are spending, and you want to have something that you're really happy with.
Perhaps the best option is to go check it out, at least then you can hear it yourself and make the right choice for you. No other opinion here really matters as much as yours.

Old synths need maintenance and will break a lot faster than new ones. I loved the old stuff but from my experience I have a few synths that need some love.

If you`re going to sell in a few years, get the P5.

If you`re looking for a synth for the long haul, get the P6. It comes with the P5 presets, and it`ll be new, with DSIs support.

If you don`t like the digital efx, shut them off… easy enough.

Ditto. I have a bunch that need more than a little love to the point where some of it is beyond me and too expensive to fix. Although I love hardware it's soft synths for me these days as I just don't have the time and money to keep dumping into those beasts anymore. If I were to buy hardware these days it would certainly be new stuff only.

Surely.
Prophet 5 presets included in Prophet 6

Seriously Prophet 5 factory presets were nothing to write home about. Even Sequential stated in the manual they were merely there as starting points. The real sonic beauty comes out when you start tweaking your own sounds. I literally got sounds out of my P5 that sometimes would be unrepeatable if I did not save them. Even when I did all of the same knob twists it would have some of what I did originally but would never be exactly the same. Nature of the beast.

It would probably be the same with the 6 as it is with most analog synths.

Haha!! That's what I was thinking.... "who cares"

As for reliability, personally I've had my P5 since the early 80's and aside from one touring incident where it was dropped and then the tech literally started cutting PCB traces to find the problem...:face palm:...it's been rock solid. The only repair was a new power cord after the original rotted out. (Well....besides the gold keyboard thingies....) I've got lots of vintage analog synths and have had very little problems with any of them. Over decades....

Vintage synths have a lot of obsolete parts in them and it can be a hassle if something breaks down. Replacement parts are sometimes difficult to find and maintenance time can be quite pricey too.
You wrote that you work with music professionally, so I recommend to buy the newer Prophet 6 which has warranty. If you are more a collector or just can't live without the beautiful sound of these old machines (like me), I'd suggest to buy the Prophet 5.
If you are more a "preset-guy", maybe even a different synth would be better for you? Because you don't really need to buy an expensive analogue synth for presets...

... one more thing: you wrote that the keybed on the Prophet 5 is uneven. Be aware that the maintenance of the keybed with the j-wires is also quite time consuming. So maybe calculate that also in the price you pay for the Prophet 5.

I also came from the world of soft synths and sampled sound synths like the Kurzweil.
Bought a P6 and at first didn't get it. Than two eye opening events occurred. 1) try the presets using the pre programmed
music in the step sequencer. You will be blown away. 2) start tweaking knobs
Now I am in love with the P6. There is also a good review in sound on sound magazine; the conclusion is basically the P6 sounds better.

I also came from the world of soft synths and sampled sound synths like the Kurzweil.
Bought a P6 and at first didn't get it. Than two eye opening events occurred. 1) try the presets using the pre programmed
music in the step sequencer. You will be blown away. 2) start tweaking knobs
Now I am in love with the P6. There is also a good review in sound on sound magazine; the conclusion is basically the P6 sounds better.

I also came from the world of soft synths and sampled sound synths like the Kurzweil.
Bought a P6 and at first didn't get it. Than two eye opening events occurred. 1) try the presets using the pre programmed
music in the step sequencer. You will be blown away. 2) start tweaking knobs
Now I am in love with the P6. There is also a good review in sound on sound magazine; the conclusion is basically the P6 sounds better.

I also came from the world of soft synths and sampled sound synths like the Kurzweil.
Bought a P6 and at first didn't get it. Than two eye opening events occurred. 1) try the presets using the pre programmed
music in the step sequencer. You will be blown away. 2) start tweaking knobs
Now I am in love with the P6. There is also a good review in sound on sound magazine; the conclusion is basically the P6 sounds better.