● Manufacturer Profile & SysEx Specifications

Sequential SysEx Librarian & Patch Vault.

Dave Smith founded Sequential Circuits and invented both the Prophet-5 (the world's first fully programmable polyphonic synthesizer) and the MIDI 1.0 specification itself. In December 1982, Sequential shipped the Prophet-600—the first commercial instrument equipped with MIDI ports—and famously demonstrated the first MIDI handshake with a Roland Jupiter-6 at NAMM 1983. Today, Sequential continues to set the benchmark for discrete analog polyphony with the Prophet-6, Prophet-5 Rev 4, and Prophet-12. Bipluk provides seamless Web MIDI SysEx library management for all Sequential boards.

# Sequential Hardware & Protocol Architecture

Manufacturer SysEx ID: 0x01 (1 decimal)

Origin / Founded: San Jose / San Francisco, California, USA (Founded 1974 by Dave Smith)

Synthesis Era: Analog Polyphonic (Curtis/SSM), First Commercial MIDI Synthesizer (Prophet-600), Discrete VCO

Handshake Protocol: Sequential 1-Byte Manufacturer ID (0x01) with 14-bit NRPN Parameter Control and SysEx Dump Frames

Battery Standard: CR2032 3V Lithium coin cell; 3.6V NiCad barrel in early Prophet-5 Rev 1/2

Signature Silicon: SSM2020 / SSM2040 (Prophet-5 Rev 1/2), CEM3340 VCO (Rev 3), CEM3320 VCF (Rev 3), Z80 Microprocessor

Standard Memory Protect Procedure:

On Prophet-600, toggle rear-panel MEMORY PROTECT switch to OFF. On Prophet-6 and Prophet-5 Rev 4, navigate to GLOBALS -> MIDI SysEx -> Enable.

Hardware Advisory:

Early Prophet-5 Rev 1 and Rev 2 synthesizers do not have factory MIDI; they require third-party retrofits (e.g. Kenton, Wine Country) with unique SysEx mapping.

# Supported Sequential Hardware Synthesizers

1 Synthesizers

Prophet-600 >

1982

Subtractive Analog (2 VCOs per voice)

Related Sequential Engineering Glossary Terms

Curtis CEM3340 Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) The legendary monolithic precision analog oscillator IC designed by Doug Curtis, powering the Roland Jupiter-6, SH-101, Memorymoog, and Prophet-5 Rev 3. 31,250 Baud Serial Transmission Rate The standardized asynchronous serial transmission speed of MIDI 1.0 hardware interfaces, clocking at exactly 31.25 kbit/s. NRPN (Non-Registered) vs RPN Parameter Numbers A 14-bit MIDI parameter control protocol enabling 16,384 high-resolution synth parameters beyond the 128 basic CC limit. DIN 5-Pin (180°) MIDI Hardware Pinout & Wiring The standardized 5-pin 180-degree DIN connector specification defined in 1983 for 5mA current-loop MIDI communication. NiCad Barrel Battery Corrosion & PCB Trace Destruction The destructive potassium hydroxide alkaline leak typical of rechargeable Nickel-Cadmium barrel batteries in synths like the Korg Polysix and Prophet-5.

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