Native Instruments PRO53 (Macintosh and Windows)

No longer available at zZounds
New oscillator technology. Larger knobs and switches. No fixed limit to the number of voices.

The PRO-53 carries on the tradition from the legendary days of vintage cult synthesizers. This virtual instrument, fashioned after the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, provides the sonic properties of the unique originals while meeting the practical requirements of the present day.

Inspired by the immortal sound of the synthesizer giants of the eighties, Native Instruments created the PRO-53 to cast in software those qualities that have been such a major influence on popular music in the past twenty years: brilliance, power, warmth and beauty. Through Native Instruments' creative development philosophy, these timeless aesthetics have now reached the next step in their evolution. The result is the manifest re-definition of an original that was regarded as unrivalled until now.

PRO-53 - The New Version
With the PRO-53, the third generation of the virtual analog classic is now available. The synthesizer emulation has been vastly improved by a new oscillator technology that offers an even warmer and more brilliant sound. In addition the sonic possibilities have been expanded even further with new features like a high-pass filter mode and an invertible filter envelope. The control surface was also reworked and now shines in a whole new light.

What's New:

Oscillators
A new oscillator technology makes the PRO-53's impressive sound even warmer and more brilliant than before. The sonic character of the PRO-53 reaches new levels of quality for virtual analog sound creation.

User read more Interface
Larger knobs and switches provide for easier and more ergonomic operation and convenient editing. In addition there are several new elements on the control panel. The design was also slightly changed: PRO-53.

Filter
The filter can now be switched from a normal low-pass to a high-pass filter. In addition the action of the filter envelope can be inverted, which allows for sonic colors that were not possible with the PRO-52.

LFO
The LFO can create repetitive sounds using the envelope-trigger button: held notes are newly re-effected by every pass of the LFO. Since the LFO can be synchronized with MIDI clock, sounds can be fit rhythmically to the song's tempo.

PRO-53 as Effect Plug-In
Use of the PRO-53 as an effect plug-in to process external signals with its filter and effects has been simplified: a hold button makes entering a long MIDI note into the sequencer (to open the envelope) unnecessary. The hold function also makes sound programming easier and can be used with the envelope-trigger-function of the LFO.

MIDI
The MIDI-implementation is clearly more versatile on the PRO-53: with MIDI-learn the control elements can be operated by hand by assigning them to the desired controllers, for example the knobs and sliders on a MIDI controller box. The set-up connections can be saved in a controller-map. Several pre-configured controller-maps come with the software and can be loaded directly into the PRO-53.

Update Possibilities
Registered users of the PRO-52 will be able to download the update via the NI website for free. The update will follow soon.

NSP-Technology (Native Signal Processing)
Using Native Instruments' highly advanced NSP-Technology (Native Signal Processing) it is possible to generate a software synthesizer that rivals its legendary hardware predecessors. The Native Instruments PRO-53 sets new standards without denying its origins.

What's new: no fixed limit to the number of voices, many more savable preset slots, velocity sensitivity, MIDI automation of all available parameters, an additional effects section, a high-pass filter mode, invertible filter envelope, audio input, LFO-envelope retrigger, and the option to run several PRO-53s in parallel.

Sounds for Any Eventuality
The PRO-53 is able to import Prophet-5 SysEx sound data, which means it can read and accurately reproduce all the existing sound libraries made for the original. The subtle deviations from perfect behavior, which are typical of analog circuits and crucial to the sound, can now be fine-tuned.

The huge sound library gives the PRO-53 plenty of material for all kinds of musical styles: 512 selected classic and modern analog sounds cover any possibility.
64 of these sounds have already been programmed for the previous version by synthesizer legend John Bowen, one of the creators of the Prophet-5 synthesizer. In addition, PRO-53 comes with 64 new sound presets, which were specially designed to take advantage of PRO-53's new features.

512 preset memory slots are available where you can store your own sound creations. The PRO-53 displays a name for each of the presets, unlike the original, which only displayed the preset number.

Effects
A built-in effects unit adds multi-echo and ultra-fat chorus and flanging effects. This makes the sound of the PRO-53 'complete' for both live performance and studio production. The included preset sounds make extensive use of the effects. The PRO-53 also has an audio input for processing external audio signals through its filters and effects.

Integration
The Native Instruments PRO-53 integrates perfectly into any computer based virtual studio by supporting the interfaces VST(TM), DXi, MAS and DirectConnect. It can be used as a sequencer plug-in or as a stand-alone synthesizer. It is possible to run several PRO-53 plug-in instances in parallel.

Additional sounds for the PRO-53 - Electrix
Easy Sounds from Hamburg, Germany offers 64 additional sounds for the Pro-52, which can also be used in the new version PRO-53. (audio demo) The sound set was created by Peter Krischker and contains sequencer sounds, pads, sweeps, effects, basses and lead sounds. It is suitable for a range of musical styles like trance, electro, techno, ambient and pop. For users still working with the Pro-Five, the sounds also come as a file in Pro-Five format. Also included are Easy Edit pages for Logic and Cubase and 32 demo sequences. "Electrix" can be ordered and is delivered by e-mail within two days.

[Electrix is a trademark of IVL technologies and is used with permission from the brand Electrix but has no affiliation with their products or services.]
read less

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 866-556-6487 or 323-467-2693

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars. (24 ratings)
Submitted May 25, 2003 by a customer from msn.com

"Pro-53 or Hardware?...read this first!"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
I can see myself using the Pro-53 for years to come...once it was installed it became an like an old friend to me. I can not wait until Native Instruments comes out with RTAS support for the pro-53...which they are doing this year...they really just know what we want out here in the real world.

Sound
I own a Nord Lead 2, and a JP-8080, both of which attempt to emulate the sound of a vintage analogue synth...after I installed and used the Pro-53, I am seriously considering selling those un-nessecary hardware synths...especially since the sound does not even come close to the Pro-53.

Features
The Pro-53 can have as many instances as your computer can handle...and it can also out put to 16 or more channels into your software (vst is 16 channels, protools is 32 ch.).

Quality
I have used a real Prophet-5 and the Pro-53 is just like it...in every way, except that it is software, and offers more control than the original Prophet-5.

Value
Compared to other software synths that say they do what this does, this is the best value, and it actually is a real emulation of a Prophet-5.

Manufacturer Support
Most of your questions can be answered from reading the manual, if not try thier web site "FAQ's"...worst case senario, call thier tech support line. I have had to use thier e-mail tech support for another piece of Native Instruments software read more I own, and they e-mailed me back the same day with a resolution.

The Wow Factor
The Pro-53 is a serious emulation of the Prophet-5, every nuance of the original machine was painstakingly turned into lines of code...this thing looks, and more importantly sounds like the real thing.

Musical Style:
Drum and Bass, Hip Hop... Drum and Bass...again!!!
read less
3 of 3 people (100%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!