By helping to develop the MIDI protocol Dave Smith did a lot for electronic music. His instruments had a big influence on Electro, Pop and Rock as well.<p>I had a Sequential 6-Track in the early 2000's and then sold it and bought a used Prophet '08 shortly after it came out.<p>The first iteration of the '08 had some issues with the rotary encoders. It was really easy to get a replacement from Dave Smith Instruments. I sent in the defective board and $80 and they sent me a repaired one. It seemed like they were just covering their costs or maybe even taking a hit. I was pretty pleased since I purchased the instrument used.<p>Great company to work with!
The Prophet 5 was also a huge step forward. The combination of polyphony and many memories in a great-sounding synthesizer of practical size was a giant achievement at the time.<p>It was a really hot item for ages. I worked in a music store in the 80s that had a demo Prophet 5 in the back room which musicians would try and then place an order, which would take a few weeks to come through. One production team was so desperate to get a Prophet 5 that one member ran out the back door with our demo model, while the other guy plunked down a pile of cash and begged us to take the money and not call the cops.
We grudgingly let it slide, told them not to try that again, and the distributor had to scramble to get a replacement demo model for the store.
I later heard that the Prophet saved them weeks of time finishing a lucrative rush project, hence the desperate measures.