ROM stands for Read Only Memory. These are the chips inside a real Prophet VS used to store the firmware program. The software programmed into the chip controls the Prophet VS, much like a game cartridge controls a video game console.
Why do I need the Prophet VS ROMs?
The Virtual VS attempts to faithfully reproduce the hardware of the Prophet VS synthesizer. Being a hardware emulator, the Virtual VS uses the original software to control the features of the virtual synth. The original Prophet VS software is therefore needed to have a completely working emulator.
Because the software is separated, different revisions of the Prophet VS software can be loaded into the emulator. Your Virtual VS will behave according to whatever version of Prophet VS ROM that you have.
Where can I find the ROM images?
The software in the ROM images is owned by Sequential Circuits. Under current copyright law, any unauthorized distribution of the ROM image is illegal.
Do not ask me where you can find ROM images for the VS. All requests will be ignored.
I own an actual Prophet VS. How can I dump the ROMs?
Before you get started, I suggest you read up a little on the process. The following is a good site with information about ROM dumping.
https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/Dumping_roms
First you need to get access to an EEPROM programmer. These tools can read from and write to ROM chips. If you have a friend into electronics, ask them if they can get you access to a reader for a few minutes. If that fails you can buy one, but they aren't cheap.
Here are links to a couple of cheap, easy to use USB powered programmers suitable for hobbyists. I'm told they're both quite useful in the hobbyist space.
Second you need to carefully remove the ROM chips from your VS, put them into the reader, and dump their contents to a file on your PC. Don't forget to return your ROMs to your VS when done!
