Prophet Rev 2 vs Behringer Deepmind vs Korg Prologue

A comparison of features for three analog poly synths under $2k.

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The Sequential / Dave Smith Instruments Prophet Rev 2, the Behringer Deepmind and the Korg Prologue are three of the top polyphonic analog synth options available currently, in the under $2k price range.  Here we will compare and contrast the top end offerings and features of each.

1. Core Sonic Territory - Oscillators and Filters:
All three of these synths are highly capable analog poly synths that can cover a wide range of synth tones, from basses, leads and keyboard sounds, to strings, brass and pads, to experimental ambient and special effects sound design - however, the sound generation capabilities vary from instrument to instrument.

The Behringer Deepmind has the least capable sound generation options of the three, as it has only two total oscillators per voice.   The main oscillator on the Deepmind is limited to Saw/Square/Both, and the secondary oscillator is only a Square.   You don't get the option for a Triangle waveshape on either, or selectable waveshape on the second oscillator.   In contrast, the Prologue features two analog VCO oscillators, plus a third digital multi oscillator per voice - and the Prophet Rev2 features two analog DCO oscillators, plus a third analog DCO sub oscillator.  The sub osc on the Rev2 is a square wave, but the two main oscillators have variable mixing between Triangle, Saw and Square shapes, plus pulse width modulation (PWM) that can affect both the main oscillators, even with Tri and Saw shapes, creating unique tones.  The third sub oscillator on the Rev2 is tied to the first osc in terms of pitch tracking, just one octave beneath.    The Korg Prologue features a digital oscillator as its third, which can load wavetables, do FM synthesis and provides the Prologue's noise capabilities. 

In terms of filters, all three feature a low pass VCF (Voltage Controlled Filter) per voice.   Both the Rev 2 and Deepmind have adjustable switching between 2-Pole (12dB per octave) and 4-Pole (24dB per octave) resonant modes.   The Prologue only features a 2-Pole mode, which limits its sound filtering capabilities. 

1st Place: The Prophet Rev2 is the winner from a core sound generation aspect.
2nd Place: The Prologue comes in second, due to lacking filter modes.   
3rd Place: The Behringer Deepmind is third due to limited oscillator setup.  

2. Bi-timbral / Multiple Sound Engines:

The Deepmind is mono-timbral, meaning that it has just one layer of sound design available.    Both the Prologue and Prophet Rev2 are bi-timbral instruments, meaning you can split the voices into two separate layers of sound that can be assigned to SPLIT areas of the keyboard, or STACKED for complex multi-timbral tones.   Having the ability to design two totally separate sounds per preset gives a huge amount of sonic flexibility and sound design territory that would never be possible otherwise.  It's ultimately like having two complete synthesizers, rather than one.   It should not be understated how much a difference this can make in live playing (having a bass sound on the lower keys, while playing a pad or strings on upper keys), and for complex, rich sound design - you can stack two different sounds together to create incredibly rich textures.  

1st/2nd Place: The Prophet Rev2 and Prologue are the clear winners in this category.
Disqualified:  The Deepmind misses the podium here, being only mono-timbral.

3. Modulation and Sound Design Depth:
Modulation is really at the heart of sound design.  It defines the character, motion and temporal behavior of a sound once you strike a key.   

Envelopes: 
The Prologue features only two envelopes per voice, which will cover your standard Amp Envelope and Filter Envelope needs, but not give much more flexibility for temporal sound design.  The Prophet Rev2 and the Deepmind give you three envelopes per voice, so you have an extra auxilliary envelope to assign for special modulation purposes.   The Deepmind also has adjustable ADSR stage contours, allowing deep control over envelope shaping.   The Deepmind, and Rev2's extra aux envelopes can open up many additional sound design options. 

Low Frequency Oscillators (LFOs): 
The Prologue features only a single LFO, so your sound design of complex sounds and animated tones and peformance modulation is fairly limited.   The Behringer Deepmind features two LFOs per voice which gives you some additional flexibility for motion, vibrato, pwm and animation in sounds.   The Prophet Rev2 gives you four LFOs per voice.   The Rev2, with its 4 LFOs, gives you extreme flexibility for having rich animated tones.  You can pull off massive strings, brass and pad sounds with pwm, pitch modulation and vibrato.   Also, if you want to do experimental/ambient sound design, the Rev2's four LFOs give a huge amount of flexibility.

Mod Matrix: 
The Korg Prologue does not feature a mod matrix.  All of its modulation sources/destination are hard wired.   The Behringer Deepmind and Prophet Rev2 both feature an 8-Slot mod matrix - meaning you can custom define eight separate modulations, mapping a variety of sources to different destinations.   The Deepmind has a very rich collection of mod sources and destinations, including some rare/unique sources ones like Note Off Velocity and Voice Number.   The Prophet Rev2 also features five additional hard-wired source mod slots for performance controllers, so you could make the case that the Rev2 really has 13 mod slots per layer. 

1st Place: The Prophet Rev2 is the winner when it comes to modulation and sound design capabilities. 
2nd Place: The Deepmind is also highly capable, but not quite up to par with the Rev2.   
3rd Place: The Prologue is a distant third place here, with more limited modulation options.  

 

4. Modulation Sequencing / Animated Parameter Modulation:
The Korg Prologue does not feature a modulation sequencer.    Both the Behringer Deepmind, and Prophet Rev2 features flexible mod sequencers.   The Deepmind features a single lane 32-step sequencer that can be assinged in the mod matrix to any of the various mod destinations, giving your patches lots of syncopated rhythmic motion.   The Rev2 features the most capable and extensive mod sequencer, with four separate lanes of 16-step sequencers that can be used as either a note sequencer, or modulation sequencer.   With mod sequencing on four lanes, you can design extremely complex animated sounds, or use the key-stepping mode for some advanced modulation options.   The Rev2 is capable of Voice Modeling, by using its gated sequencer, giving you the ability to model classic synths and acoustic ensembles with additional realism.   

1st Place:  The Prophet Rev2 has the most capable and deep mod sequencing options.   
2nd Place:  The Deepmind is second place with a highly capable single lane sequencer.   
Disqualified:  The Korg Prologue doesn't get to stand on the podium, as it has no mod sequencer. 

5. Onboard Effects:
Modern poly synths offer a variety of different built in effects options - something that the analog poly synths of the 80s never had.   Onboard effects give you the flexibility to design in the effects layer and save effects directly into the patches, rather than having to recall settings on outboard effects units.   In addition, many of the effects parameters can be modulated from a variety of sources from the synth engine and performance controls, which make the effects into an integrated aspect of the sound.   

All three of these synths offer a variety of different effects options and built in effects circuitry to add to the sound design.   The Rev2 offers just a single effects engine per layer.   The Prologue features two digital effects engines that can be set as a variety of different effects types, including chorus, phaser, flanger, delays, reverbs, and other effects.   The Korg Prologue features a unique digital engine that allows 3rd party developers to design custom effects.   The Behringer Deepmind doubles down on effects, offering a whopping four effects slots that can be configured in a variety of different serial and parallel pathways for extremely complex effects sound design.  In addition, the Deepmind offers the deepest selection of effects types, powered by TC Electronic and Klark Teknik algorithms.    

1st Place: The Behringer Deepmind takes the cake with four effects slots and the most advanced routing capabilities.   
2nd Place: The Prologue takes second due to its open source two slot sdk capabilities,
3rd Place: The Rev2 comes in third with its single effects engine per layer.  

6. Keyboards, Build Quality:
Comparing the top options for each, the Prophet Rev2 and Korg Prologue both feature 61-key keyboards with aftertouch/pressure.  The Deepmind 12 has a 49 key keyboard, and doesn't feel quite as high quality. 

1st Place:  The Rev2 takes the top spot with very good feeling Fatar based 61 key keyboard with great aftertouch
2nd Place:  The Prologue is a close second with a good feeling 61-key keyboard
3rd Place:  The Deepmind loses out on an octave, and keyboard quality is a step down.

 

Value:
Here we take a look at the overall value - the bang for your bucks.   

1st Place:  The Behringer Deepmind, at $828 for a 12-Voice Poly Synth is just unbeatable for value
2nd Place:  The Prophet Rev2 is the highest price, but also offers the most complete synth sound design and quality
3rd Place:  The Prologue is a good synth, but middle tier features, and mid-high price doesn't give you the most value.

Overall:
All three of these boards are great analog poly synths that can pull off a wide variety of sounds.   The Prophet Rev2 is the most capable of the three and the overall winner in this vs comparison.   For the value, the Deepmind 12 offers the best bang for the buck.   The Prologue does offer a unique digital oscillator and SDK for unique/custom sounds, but overall, the other two synths are recommended.  

1st Place:  The Prophet Rev2 takes the top spot with superior sound design, flexible modulation, sequencing, layering and functionality.

2nd Place:  The Deepmind comes in second with limited core sound engine, but great modulation, sound design, effects and value.   

3rd Place:  The Prologue takes third with a unique core sound engine, but limited sound design and modulation options.

 

Synth	DSI Prophet Rev 2	Behringer Deepmind 12	Korg Prologue
Voices	Polyphonic, 16 Voices	Polyphonic, 12 Voices	Polyphonic, 16 Voices
Oscillators Sound Gen	3 Analog Osc Per Voice: 2 DCO Oscillators (Saw/Sqr/Tri) 1 DCO Sub Oscillator (Sqr) Noise Generator	2 Analog Osc Per Voice 1 DCO Oscillator (Saw/Sqr) 1 DCO Square Oscillator Noise Generator	2 Analog Osc, 1 Digital Per Voice 2 VCO Analog Oscillators (Saw/Sqr/Tri), 1 Digital Multi / FM / Wavetable / Noise
Osc Mod	Variable Mixing between Saw/Sqr/Tri for both Osc 1/2 Square PWM for Osc 1/2 Osc Hard Sync Pitch Modulation	Osc 1 Switch Saw/Sqr/Both Square PWM on Osc 1 Osc Hard Sync Pitch Modulation	Osc waveshaping for Saw/Sqr/Tri
Filters	VCF Filter per voice Selectable 2-Pole (12dB) and 4-Pole (24dB) resonant modes.	VCF Filter per voice Selectable 2-Pole (12dB) and 4-Pole (24dB) resonant modes.	VCF Filter per voice Only 2-Pole (12dB) filter.
Envelopes	3 DADSR Envelopes (Delay stage)	3 ADSR Envelopes (with contour shaping)	2 ADSR Envelopes
LFOs	4 LFOs - Sine, Triangle, Square, Saw, S+H (has sync)	2 LFOs - Sine, Triangle, Square, Saw, S+H (has delay stage, sync)	1 LFO - Sine, Triangle, Square, Saw, S+H
Sequencer	Yes, highly capable 4-Lane, 16 step modulation sequencing	Yes, single 32 step sequencer	No
Arpeggiator	Yes	Yes	Yes
Effects	1 Digital Effect Slot with a variety of assignable and modulatable effects types.	4 Digital Effects Slots with a variety of assignable and modulatable effects types.  (also effects routing options)	2 Digital Effects Slots with a variety of assignable and modulatable effects types. (also sdk for 3rd party dev)
Mod Matrix	8 slot mod matrix + 5 additional source assigned mod slots = 13 total	8 slot mod matrix	No mod matrix
Control	64 Key Velocity and Aftertouch Sensitive Keyboard, Pitch and Mod Wheel	49 Key Velocity and Aftertouch Sensitive Keyboard, Pitch and Mod Wheel	64 Key Velocity and Aftertouch Sensitive Keyboard, Pitch and Mod Wheel
MIDI	In/Out/Thru, USB	In/Out/Thru, USB	In/Out/Thru, USB
Audio Out	2 1/4in Audio Outputs (Stereo or Mono), 1/4in Headphone Jack (Stereo)	2 1/4in Main Outputs (Stereo or Mono), 2 1/4in B-Outputs for Second Layer, 1/4in Headphone Jack (Stereo)	2 1/4in Audio Outputs (Stereo or Mono), 1/4in Headphone Jack (Stereo)
Presets	1024 Preset Slots (4 banks of 128 factory slots, 4 banks of 128 user slots)	1024 Preset Slots, with Free Behringer Editor Program	200+ presets
New Price	$1999 - 16 voice keyboard	$828 - 12 voice keyboard	$1499 - 16 voice keyboard
Value	= $125 per voice, with bitimbral two layer architecture	= $69 per voice, only a single layer	= $93 per voice, with bitimbral two layer architecture
Used Price	$1400-$1700	$600-$700	$1100 - $1300