Moog MemoryMoog LAMM

ease of use? it's a non-modular moog. a child of three could drive this, provided that you explained the concept behind the "move through the stored value & pick-up" action of the knobs. which is brilliant- why aren't all programmable synths like this? especially the multi-timbral ones.... (I'm looking at my supernova mk1 here).
editing is a breeze. the sounds that were in it when it came from germany were breathtaking. there was a flute in there, & an oboe- I had to go round the room switching all my other stuff off because I couldn't believe the moog was doing this.
I'm taking one point off because of the system controller. bit confusing on stage; this bit you need to learn, commit to memory. ironic, eh?

6 note poly, but if you play six notes at once on this, you'd better have a big pa system.
you could use it as a controller &/or with a sequencer driving it. but that would take all the fun out of using the moog as a moog. no upgrades beyond what rudi has already done. I think the hardware's at it's limit, but franky asking for more out of a m/moog would be like putting go-faster stripes on a '64 thunderbird.
besides, it's appearance alone is enough to raise a "wow!" from any innocent bystanders.

you wouldn't normally expect "realistic" sounds from a straightforward analogue synth that was, after all, based on the original minimoog functional architecture. so it's no surprise that it doesn't do pianos or drumkits... get a rompler for that. but, astonishingly, the thing can do a flute or an oboe & you'll swear james galway is in the room with you.
as for expressiveness in other areas- it's a moog. if you put it in unison & make y'rself a "lucky man" emmo patch, you WILL be calling a glazier shortly afterwards.

gigged it, schlepped it, no problems. note: I would not have done this with a non-lamm m/moog. just that bit of nonsense with the system controller, which got stuck in "advancing preset number in tens not one by one" mode, which I should've read about. mea culpa. & it was worth schlepping (along with a mellotron 400) just for the "wow!"s.

rudi gets a ten here, no f*****g question. he even sends his customers christmas cards. wonderful man.

if it got swiped, I would employ a homicidal bounty hunter with an axe fetish. I have other moogs (prodigals, rogues, sources) but this one is the one I'll be buried with. in.
I know the m/moog routinely changes hands for a lot less than I paid, but even I, as an enthusiastic synth engineer, would not have been able to improve the original as much as rudi has done. he spent years revising the o/s & the hardware, so that a growing number of m/moogs are saved from the scrapheap & will probably outlive us all.
hence the ten here too.

Best user(programmer)-interface ever. No switching into another level or menu. All functions are directly accessable with knobs, buttons and system-controller for quick results. Very easy to program. You can get the famous moog-sounds within minutes.
The LAMM-Improvements make a lot of MM-Functions more logical and programmable and at least more practical. The LAMM Manual discribes exactly the old function of the MM and the changes of LAMM-Upgrade. Perfect!

Features of LAMM:
Increased System-Speed,
Damn FAST and extended MIDI (In, Out)
Stereo-Output, the old Mono-Output can be used too, but when you compare them, you will use the stereo-output because it sounds much better.
Tuning-Upgrade. I have 2 LAMMs and it is an interesting experience playing them together. When you tune them to the same pitch after the warm-up, both will STAY IN TUNE !!! until you turn them off. Unbelievable, just because this is the main problem of the Memorymoog. Some people say "without the tuning-upgrade, it's not worth touching"
The LAMM-Upgrade also includes the whole check (cold solderpoints), repair and cleaning. For more information check out www.lintronics.biz

When you search the internet you will find people saying "biggest sounding synth of all". I do agree with that. The MM sounds fantastic, always warm, fat, soft if you like, agressive. Sound is a matter of taste and if you don't like Moogsound don't pick this one. However, I like the famous Moog-Sound and i'm happy with the LAMMs. They can do the Minimoog Sound, the Saga-Sounds, fantastic fat polyphonic pads, real fat leads. The MM doesn't have the digital problems of aliasing, this is the unwanted noise on the high keys. If you have a digital keyboard do the analysis on the high keys. The MM has an unmatched frequency range. If you play a digital one with a MM side by side you can soon discover the shit of todays' digitals. The MM just blows them away. The moog-simulations never, on which machine ever, can recreate the famous moogsound. I've sold a Korg Triton, Trinity, Z 1, Yamaha FS1R and others, so i know what i'm talking about. I like the expression: stimulation is better than simulation.
I do agree with John Havermans, that the LAMM sounds much better than an ordinary Memorymoog.

The common opinion is that the MM is the most unreliable synth ever and the people rate the normal memorymoog down at this point. Different the Lintronics Advanced Memorymoog, it is compleatly STABLE and reliable in all aspects. Believe it or not. The only thing i don't like is the usual long warm-up period.

Germany becomes more and more a branch of the United States with all of its' negatives. I mean, a lot of people try to make easy money and good support is hard to find. What everybody wants is value for money and in that sense the LAMM-Upgrade is worth every $. In my opinion the LAMM-Upgrade is the completion of the engineering of the MM and more. Having read all of the negatives about the MM, i was sceptical to spend such a lot of money for an old synth like this. Today i'm glad i did. I experienced a friendly and highly qualified support from Rudi on any of my questions about the MM. This is a difficult machine and I can't imagine anyone else knowing more about it than Rudi. Everybody who owns a LAMM i talked to, made the same positive experience with rudi.
Have you ever called a computer hard/software company for support and had a busy hotline or you were connected five times and got no solution for your problem. There is a simple reason why these hotlines are always busy. The products don't do what they should and everybody needs help. Rudis' Hotline is always free. Think about it.

The MM sounds absolutly fantastic and I seriously recommend the Linntronics Upgrade to every MM-owner to get back the fun with this machine.

My MemoryMoog has been upgraded by Rudi Linhart (Lintronics). He did quit a lot of MAGIC. It is amazing how the MemoryMoog sounds now. Much better than about 15 years ago. It is a rebirth. Rudi included an addtion to the manual -actual all the new features of the LAMM and added the sounddiver program for both PC and MAC. Now I do not have to use the old tapes and can store and backup all my sounds by PC.

The new features (mainly MIDI and arpeggiator functions)are perfect and easy to use.

Nothing has changed to the polyphony - however the 6 voices are sounding better than before. They are now even in stereo.
He restored all the keys - and they are working as new!
The only expansion possibility - the plus (sequencer part), was REMOVED. This because the Moog part never functioned perfectly, and due to the improved MIDI interfacing, sequencing can be done by the PC. The MIDI functions are so much enlarged that I am still finding out what to do.
The MemoryMoog has the best ON-BOARD editor for all funchtions!!!!!

This is real analog - and the best sounds can be created with the LAMM (Lintronics Advanced MemoryMoog. Classic (fat) Moog sounds, and also fragile sounds can be created. The sounds are not realistic, they are real.
The effects are based on a comprehensive and modified modulation section and a voice modulation section.

Previously I was affraid to play on the MM - however after the magic done by Rudi - it is STABLE - it SOUNDS STABLE - NO DEAD FUNCTIONS.
I never would advice to gig without a back-up - nevertheless it is possible. I feel that I an fully depend on the LAMM.

AMAZING. During the upgrade period there was a perfect friendly ancd good contact. Rudi loves the MemoryMoog - and that one can find back after receiving the LAMM back. He makes my MM laughing again! And me too.

Please MemoryMoog Users, if you feel that you can not rely any moor on your Moog, have it upgraded. It is no waist of money. You get a better synth back and it makes that you will fall in love again on teh MM. I am using the MM now for over the 15 years, and it never sounded that good.
By the way - anybody wnat to share sounds?