The Prophet '08 is a polyphonic analog synthesizer

Analog synthesizer

An analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s such as the Trautonium were built with a variety of vacuum-tube and electro-mechanical technologies...

 created by Dave Smith

Dave Smith (engineer)

Dave Smith is an engineer and guitarist who pioneered many groundbreaking technologies in music technology. Smith was responsible for the first polyphonic and microprocessor-controlled synthesizer, the Prophet 5...

 of St. Helena, California

St. Helena, California

St. Helena is a city in Napa County, California, United States. It is part of the northern San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 5,814 at the 2010 census....

, USA, for Dave Smith Instruments (DSI), released in late 2007. As with DSI's other instruments, the Prophet '08 uses true analog subtractive synthesis

Subtractive synthesis

Subtractive synthesis is a method of sound synthesis in which partials of an audio signal are attenuated by a filter to alter the timbre of the sound...

, as oppopsed to many of the current crop of analog synthesizers, which employ DSP-based virtual analog synthesis.

Similar in functionality to the renowned Sequential Circuits

Sequential Circuits

Sequential Circuits Inc. was a California-based synthesizer company that was founded in the early 1970s by Dave Smith and sold to Yamaha Corporation in 1987. The company, throughout its lifespan, pioneered many groundbreaking technologies and design principles that are often taken for granted in...

Prophet 5 analog synthesizer popularized in the 1970s (also designed by Dave Smith), the Prophet '08 has an all analog signal path ; however its envelopes are generated digitally. It is one of only a handful of analog synthesizers commercially available as of September 2011.