Moog MemoryMoog

Programming the MemoryMoog is a dream. No menus, or scroll down lists, just a knob or a button for every parameter, what could be easier. In addition, when a knob is moved, the display indicates the current value as well as the programmed value, a nice feature.
The manual is excellent and includes the usual 1980's introduction to subtractive synthesis.
There are no preset sounds, all 100 patches can be edited.

The MemoryMoog has the standard (for 1985) 6-voices. There are no built in effects and no expansion capabilities.
The keyboard is your basic early 80's synth keyboard; unweighted, no velocity, no aftertouch.
The MemoryMoog has no MIDI. The MemoryMoog+ has a rudimentry MIDI implementation accepting note on-off data in omni mode only.
The MemoryMoog+ has a very sophisticated (for 1985) sequencer. It can record in both step an real-time modes. In real time mode, an audio click output is provided. However, as the sequncer can only be sync'd to an external clock, the sequencer is of very little use in a late 1990's MIDI studio.

This is one amazing sounding machine. With three true analogue oscillators per voice, the sound is huge. Plus there are many more modulation options than any other programable polyphonic analogue synth of this era making this a very flexible machine. There is a place for the MemoryMoog in all types of music.

This is by far the most unreliable synth that I have ever had. They are prone to overheating and intonation problems. They are extremely complicated and difficult to repair. I never take mine out of my studio and would never even consider taking it to a gig.

Moog have been out of business for over 10 years. However, there are some very knowledgable former Moog employees who are can repair even the most difficult problems.

I have owned a MemoryMoog+ since 1986 and I am still completely in love with it. The sound is amazing and it is a joy to program. My only complaints are that it has been very unreliable and that the Midi implementation is very rudimentary.

For: Knobs and buttons galore; 3 oscillators per patch (times 6 in monomode); make sure your teeth are in tight when you play it (BIG sounds).
Against: do-nothing keyboard; mono outs; tuning probelms (still); MIDI seems an afterthought and only available on MemoryMoog Plus. Doesn't respond to some performance commands (velocity).

Sounds: analog Keyboard: 5 octave (no aftertouch or velocity) Poly: 6 voice Storage: 100 patches Recorders: Arpeggiator Connections: mono; CV gate & input; program jack (up/down); release & hold; cassette

This was the last hurrah from the company that basically started it all. Moog barely made it into the MIDI age with the MemoryMoogPlus (aka MIDIMoog) and limped along a few years before giving up the ghost in 1987.
How does it sound? Well, picture if you will the pure Tasmanian devilry of six MiniMoogs coraled under one hood. Those 18 analog oscillators, in the wrong hands, can spell earth?shattering sounds of eviction?notice proportions.
The control over programming isn?t very intuitive, but it can be mastered. Once there, you have 100 patch locations to store your jems. And jems they are indeed, in at least the same class as the Oberheims and Rolands of the early MIDI era, and with a little careful study, better still?

Not so much, and the chips, like those used in Sequential Circuits' machines, are getting thin in the bins.

Robert Moog's own Big Briar provides an incredible (though pricey) upgrade (better MIDI, tuning, etc.). Considering how old this synth is, this kind of help is a big asset.

This is a powerful machine, but I wouldn't want to take one on the road. At its current price ($1000 or so) it's got more umph than even an MKS80, but the MKS is a decidedly more civilized box. If you have the cash to give it a decent MIDI upgrade, I'd certainly recommend it over a plain Mini, which is often seen selling for more!