Woody Piano Shack vs. Behringer Pro 800: Cheap Prophet, Big Punch

Let’s get real: most of us aren’t dropping fifteen grand on a Prophet 5, no matter how much we fantasise about it in the rave bunker. Woody Piano Shack opens with a confession – he’s always wanted the Sequential Circuits classic, but the price is pure comedy. Enter the Behringer Pro 800, swooping in at around $280 and promising a slice of that vintage pie for the price of a dodgy night out in Soho.

Woody doesn’t sugar-coat it: the Pro 800 isn’t a Prophet 5 clone, but it’s close enough to make you double-take. It’s based on the Prophet 600, the more affordable sibling, but with some tweaks that might actually make it better for modern punters. Eight voices, analog guts, and a price tag that won’t get you divorced – that’s a street weapon in anyone’s book.

Woody doesn’t waste time with manuals – he jumps straight into the sounds. The Pro 800 spits out brass stabs, string pads, fat basses, and even some wild effects patches. Unison mode stacks all eight voices for a monstrous lead or bass that could shake your nan’s teacups. The filter’s got bite, and the oscillators can get noisy – just like the originals, for better or worse.

There’s no onboard effects, so what you hear is bone-dry until Woody adds some post-processed reverb later in the demo. The presets? Not exactly chart-toppers, but they’re a solid launchpad for tweaking. Woody’s not shy about mangling them, showing how quickly you can warp a patch from polite to filthy with a few knob twists.

Want to hear the real magic? You’ll have to watch the video. The Pro 800’s range is best experienced with your own ears – from lush chords to weird SFX, it’s got more tricks than a dodgy street magician. Woody’s playful jamming and filter sweeps make it clear: this synth isn’t just for vintage purists.

Presets on the Pro 800 are a mixed bag – some are bland, some are bonkers, but none are sacred. Woody treats them as a jumping-off point, not a destination. The real fun starts when you get your hands dirty, twisting filters and envelopes until the sound’s unrecognisable.

The tactile controls make it easy to experiment, and even the menu-diving is minimal. Woody admits he’s no menu-diver himself, preferring to scribble down the odd function in a notepad and get on with playing. If you want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, the video’s got all the knob-twiddling action you need.

Here’s the twist: despite loving the Pro 800, Woody’s musical life has moved on. He bought it (and a Behringer RD-8) for an 80s synth-funk project that never happened, and now the gear just sits there, taunting him. It’s the classic case of gear guilt – too good to sell, too unused to justify.

Woody’s honesty is refreshing: sometimes even the best synths end up gathering dust when your creative focus shifts. But hey, at this price, maybe it’s worth keeping around for the next sonic detour. Either way, the Pro 800 proves you don’t need to be a vintage collector to get big analog sounds on a budget.