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I'm trying to remember...I don't think the JMP-1 has any onboard effects, does it? If that's the case, you are really looking at very extremely different units, in that the Prophesy has a full range of effects as well as being a preamp.
Soundwise and use-wise/flexibility-wise, it really depends on what sounds you want out of a unit. If you want straight-ahead just-Marshall kinda tones (but nothing I'd consider "extreme" on its own), then you might like the JMP-1. The Prophesy will do much more sound-wise, but is also somewhat harder for most people to program, with its parametric-EQs (as well as the Voodu Valve) and is much more expensive, as you've pointed out. I just sold my used Prophesy for $700, BTW, and have seen them go for anywhere from just over $600 to about $850 used...and they aren't all that common to find used.
Now, between the Rocktron Voodu Valve and the Prophesy, there's less functional difference, but a good bit of sound difference. The Prophesy has better "features" and is much more forgiving and nicer to program. Again, like the JMP-1, the Voodu Valve is significantly cheaper and much more common to find used. The kicker here is, though the Prophesy costs a lot more, I find that it is easier to get "closer" to Prophesy sounds with the Voodu Valve than it is to get "closer" to Voodu Valve sounds with the Prophesy. I sold my Prophesy and kept my Voodu Valve...mainly because I could get much more $$ out of the Prophesy, and I needed to recop some $$ from buying an Egnater preamp. Sound-wise, the Voodu Valve is much more gutteral, deeper, throater...in some ways, more of what i'd call "amplike sound". But, no matter what I do with it, it always has this trailing off nasty noise sound when I use high-gain settings on it, and what I'd call a "hollowness" to it. The Prophesy, sound-wise, is much more clear, much more defined, and can pretty much be made to be completely void of noise. Its sound is generally much more refined sounding--very crisp--and it would be harder to get it to go into "muddy amp" territory than the Voodu Valve. No matter what, the Prophesy's sound is dead-on, hammer-hard and defined...it doesn't like to go loosey goosey bass-flabby "brutal" like the Voodu Valve does. The Voodu Valve, on the other hand, never seems to get as clear or crisp, nor have quite the definition of the Prophesy. As far as the definition...it can get "sorta close" through creative EQing...but it's not the same character. Both Rocktron units, I think you would find, are much more sensitive and reactive to your playing than the JMP-1, or many other units out there. I'd give the nod of the most sensitive and reactive to the Prophesy, but the Voodu Valve is close behind...just not quite there, and the fact that it doesn't have quite the definition of the Prophesy changes feel as well as perception of feel.
Programming the Prophesy vs the Voodu Valve is also much different. With the Prophesy, you can go into any patch, and program it however you want. You can add any internal effect before the preamp section (even the effects loop), and up to 3 internal effects after the preamp section. Any of them, change them at any time, no sweat, no problem. With the Voodu Valve, you have to select pre-made "patch algorithms", which are a finite number of set linkages for the different effects and preamp type. So, you can't just place internal effects before or after the preamp section as you wish like the Prophesy. It's kind of annoying, but not as bad as units used to be that were designed in this way. The Prophesy also has a nice stereo effects loop. The Voodu Valve has...well...none, though, again, depending on what you're doing with it, this might not matter at all.
Hope some of this helps... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Soundwise and use-wise/flexibility-wise, it really depends on what sounds you want out of a unit. If you want straight-ahead just-Marshall kinda tones (but nothing I'd consider "extreme" on its own), then you might like the JMP-1. The Prophesy will do much more sound-wise, but is also somewhat harder for most people to program, with its parametric-EQs (as well as the Voodu Valve) and is much more expensive, as you've pointed out. I just sold my used Prophesy for $700, BTW, and have seen them go for anywhere from just over $600 to about $850 used...and they aren't all that common to find used.
Now, between the Rocktron Voodu Valve and the Prophesy, there's less functional difference, but a good bit of sound difference. The Prophesy has better "features" and is much more forgiving and nicer to program. Again, like the JMP-1, the Voodu Valve is significantly cheaper and much more common to find used. The kicker here is, though the Prophesy costs a lot more, I find that it is easier to get "closer" to Prophesy sounds with the Voodu Valve than it is to get "closer" to Voodu Valve sounds with the Prophesy. I sold my Prophesy and kept my Voodu Valve...mainly because I could get much more $$ out of the Prophesy, and I needed to recop some $$ from buying an Egnater preamp. Sound-wise, the Voodu Valve is much more gutteral, deeper, throater...in some ways, more of what i'd call "amplike sound". But, no matter what I do with it, it always has this trailing off nasty noise sound when I use high-gain settings on it, and what I'd call a "hollowness" to it. The Prophesy, sound-wise, is much more clear, much more defined, and can pretty much be made to be completely void of noise. Its sound is generally much more refined sounding--very crisp--and it would be harder to get it to go into "muddy amp" territory than the Voodu Valve. No matter what, the Prophesy's sound is dead-on, hammer-hard and defined...it doesn't like to go loosey goosey bass-flabby "brutal" like the Voodu Valve does. The Voodu Valve, on the other hand, never seems to get as clear or crisp, nor have quite the definition of the Prophesy. As far as the definition...it can get "sorta close" through creative EQing...but it's not the same character. Both Rocktron units, I think you would find, are much more sensitive and reactive to your playing than the JMP-1, or many other units out there. I'd give the nod of the most sensitive and reactive to the Prophesy, but the Voodu Valve is close behind...just not quite there, and the fact that it doesn't have quite the definition of the Prophesy changes feel as well as perception of feel.
Programming the Prophesy vs the Voodu Valve is also much different. With the Prophesy, you can go into any patch, and program it however you want. You can add any internal effect before the preamp section (even the effects loop), and up to 3 internal effects after the preamp section. Any of them, change them at any time, no sweat, no problem. With the Voodu Valve, you have to select pre-made "patch algorithms", which are a finite number of set linkages for the different effects and preamp type. So, you can't just place internal effects before or after the preamp section as you wish like the Prophesy. It's kind of annoying, but not as bad as units used to be that were designed in this way. The Prophesy also has a nice stereo effects loop. The Voodu Valve has...well...none, though, again, depending on what you're doing with it, this might not matter at all.
Hope some of this helps... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
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