Moog Minimoog Voyager

i have the voyager ae,software version2.1. this is a fantastic machine.ignore the guys stuck in the past in previous reviews. i own a moog source and minimoog and the voyager is just as fat sounding, albeit with a more modern sound. i have done extensive a/b tests and use the voyager every day. its a modern day classic! the manual is fine and editing patches is a breeze. try that on a minimoog.i know its a classic but the voyager is the best current monosynth without a doubt. se 1 is a pain to use with too much hidden in menus and doesn't sound as good. all main controls are to hand and if really deep editing is needed u can plumb the depths of the extensive menus.patch editor is on its way and will help organise the presets as its pain not having a numeric keypad.

its a monosynth and a future classic. keyboard action is very well balanced and feels good quality. not sloppy or cheap feeling. no built in fx but thats a good thing. good reliable midi timing and facilities. every front panel control sends and receives midi messages. couldn't ask for more.

the voyager sounds incredible and sits great in a mix. for studio use it is way better than a minimoog. its sounds just as good but fits in a mix so much better and stays in tune. it'll still cut through any mix as well as sit in it perfectly. its warm and bright and glossy. presets are very average so make your own. pitch and mod work great, very expressive, as is the touch controller which is fantastic for getting interesting sweeps and random fx. it can be programmed to control any parameter on the fly.

very reliable

moog are very helpful and reliable, all good.

this is the best synth i've ever owned or played and thats compared to minimoog,korg ms20, studio electronics se-1, memorymoog, ems synthi,arp oddyssey. i love it.its suits both studio and live work and i regularly use it on sessions. the only things it doesn't have which i would like is octave up and down switches. its an inspirational and expressive instrument which strikes the right balance between new and old sound and feel. i don't understand how people dislike this machine.i am a harsh critic myself and its hard to find fault with. sounds and looks great.

All the knobs are on the front panel, with no need to use the sub-menus for first tier editing. The knobs feel real, and are highly sensitive. So much to the fact that you can set spots between the digital values that appear on the LCD screen and watch the numbers blend back and forth. Would be a 10, but the knobs "jump" from the presets to the new location and can make for abrupt changes when unexpected. Presets are excellent starting points and are good in the sense that many take advantage of the touchscreen well. It's highly rewarding right out of the box.

It's an Analog synth, not a Triton.

For Rock, Electronica and Jazz, I haven't found one better. Sure all those lame Moog gurus out there claim "it's not as good as my model D", but they just want to make themselves feel better about not being able to buy the more improved version. The touchscreen changes the way this thing is played -- makes the pitch-bend wheel almost obsolete. For example, in the review below this one, the user gripes about his pitch-bend wheel not feeling good enough -- case and point, he's not playing the synth like its intended, using the touchscreen. This is the only piece of electronic gear I feel confident in calling an instrument, expressiveness doesn't do it justice -- it crafts tones in realtime, amazing.

I gig with it using the custom Gator hard case from Moog. I took it all over the UK, piling my luggage on the case over the pull out handle and just rolling along. It's rock-solid, even after 7 planes and 8 trains. With its midi capability, it's the only keyboard I use onstage -- just feed it into sound modules.

They reply to emails by the next day and treat you as family. No doubt they would overnight a replacement before a gig if ever needed.

I would sell enough gear to rebuy it and punish myself somehow for not being bright enough to get renter's insurance for $10/mo. I've been playing for 4 years, and play it in conjunction with a Handsonic. Between that and the Moog, can craft entire compositions. I've owned a Nord Lead 3 and Korg Karma - the Nord sounded exceptional and the Karma generated such a range of sounds, but the Moog puts them to shame -- it's a real instrument, not an emulation of one. Don't be bothered by these fools wasting time comparing it to the sound of the "old" Moogs, because they just have a chip on their shoulder that a new crop of Moog players is being born because of the advanced capabilities of the Voyager via it's touchscreen and Midi functionality. If the old dog can't learn a new trick, it's much easier to say that trick stinks anyway. If you're into playing music instead of programming it, sell what you need to and buy a Voyager. You won't regret it.

Well this is yet another review- I have to ad some things to my last review- I can't echo how important it is to have true natural sounding vibrato through the mod wheel. This is yet another area where the Minimoog Voyager falls short. Bob tried to model the Voyager after the Model D in almost every way except the mod/pitch wheels. That is an area that I guess they didn't feel was as important to replicate, although it is a part of the Model D sound just as much as the Overdriven VCA is. The Springs on the pitch wheel are stiff and lame on the Voyager. Why didn't they make it so there was no dead zone and no springs like on the original Model D? The pitch wheel on the Model D is capable of MUCH more natural and realistic sounding vibrato and bends. The fact is just like any lame cheap midi keyboard, the Voyager has a dead spot in the center of the pitch wheel. The only keyboard made these days that does not exhibit this hugely overlooked problem and the only keyboard that is capable of a true natural sounding vibrato is made by Clavia, the Nord Lead with the wooden pitch stick. If you plan on doing any pitch bending like Jan Hammer, Alan Zavod, Manfred Mann, the Nord is much more suitable for natural, guitar like bends or just use an original Model D- but the Voyager is no replacement for the sounds you hear on the old fusion records you love so much. If you plan on not ever bending notes and use it to make dorky sounds like Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson, Heart, Steve Miller, this won't ever bother you. If you plan on screaming fusion- think again. When I first got my Voyager, when I moved the pitch wheel, the internal spring scratched the pitch wheel assembly inside. I had to send it back to Bob and have him replace my pitch wheel because it was faulty. I also told him that while it was there, why don't you go ahead and fix that faulty VCA board problem that was a known issue in SOS magazine, that volume scratchy at 5 thing where the VCA board was faulty in most early Voyagers. He apparently did this but when I got it back I noticed no difference. I swear I have read on some Voyager forum posts on the Moog site that this thing makes almost like a very faint white noise sound on top of everything through the headphone or output jack jack. When I got it back from Moog, it still did this. I always noticed this from the moment I got it If I play this thing with headphones, I hear the faintest like white noise, scratchyness over top of the whole sound. What the hell is that about? Why do I spend 3k on a high end piece of gear that exhibits more noise than the 12 bit DACs on an original DX7???? This is inexcuseable. I always thought I was almost crazy noticing this- but it is actually there. No joke and it never goes away. It's like your Voyager has tinitis or something. Also this product is completely pointless if you plan to gig anywhere with it- being that it is like 50 pounds and then add a hard case on top of that and it ends up being like 60 or 70 pounds. I swear my old Yamaha S80 in a hard case was only slightly heavier than this pile. So keep it as a studio piece cause that's where it'll stay unless you are famous and have a roadie- in which case you have a real Model D and maintenance on it isn't an issue. You tend to think of the Voyager as a little synth, kind of like a little Roadster, but it's not at all. It's clumsy, unexpressive, heavy, dorky and not the real deal- just a lame tech toy. Speaking of which.. have you guys seen the Anniversary edition of the Voyager with the geek and lame factor even multiplied by adding a glowing front panel??? How faggy can we be???? My lord Bob is totally milking this thing. First he gets a Signature model which just has a little different wood- lame glowing blue wheels and his John Hancock on it and charges an extra 1000 bucks over the Performer version for it- by the way I'm glad my Performer had white wheels instead of the dayglow blue light special ones.

I have developed much hate for the Minimoog Voyager- mostly because I fell in love with the Minimoog sound and went on an endless $ quest $ to get the sound I was after. After trying everything synth out there for players not desktop musicians, I decided this is not it. It's all about Nord and Studio Electronics. I've owned other Analogs and I think the Voyager is a waste of money.

Pretty easy to use but the buttons feel crappy and the OS is pretty primitive. I was really unimpressed with the feel of the keyboard action it self. I think the Pratt-Reed action of the old Mini is much better. My DX7 has better action. Nuff said. I think the Dual filter thing is lame and cheesy and the touchpad is totally dorky.

Well I have to add something here just as my final farewell with the Minimoog Voyager. I too am the kind of player who has been playing for years, pours over classic 70s records like Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live, Jeff Beck Wired, Allan Zavod of Jean Luc Ponty, The Fents- Alan Holzman ,Kit Watkins of Happy the Man and Manfred Manns Earth band- the REALLY GOOD minimoog players- not Rick Wakeman types- I don't think that guy has ever touched the pitch or mod wheels before and he wouldn't know what to do with them. Anyway, I have to say that after owning this thing for over a year and gigging with it with many bands, it just does not have the balls of the original Minimoog. Too bad the Oscillators aren't discrete. It's sound doesn't cut through my band the way a Model D does. I was looking for a modern equivalent of the Mini but this thing leaves me wanting. I miss that the oscillators don't drift in a natural organic way like the true discreet old Minis. The only thing that I like about it is the Sync, the Sample and Hold, the VCA does overdrive and it has fast snappy envelopes like the original Mini. Most people feel the Mini sound has it's sound due to it's filter. Wrong!! The SSM filter is probably a better filter than the Minimoog filter but that's a matter of oppinion. The place where the Minimoog gets it's sound is not due to the filter, it's the overdriven VCA- which yields to fast and snappy envelopes. Yes GOOD QUESTION TO THE OTHER REVIEWER- WHY HAVEN'T WE SEEN ANY OF THE OLD LEGENDS LIKE JAN HAMMER EMBRACE THE MINIMOOG VOYAGER- WHAT'S HE PLAYING THESE DAYS? KORG OR SOME GAWD AWFUL COMPANY LIKE THAT???? WHY HASN'T BERNIE WORRELL 0R JAN HAMMER OR ANYONE ELSE BEEN PLAYING THE VOYAGER? CAUSE IT DOESN'T SOUND AS GOOD AS A REAL MINI. THE PEOPLE AT STUDIO ELECTRONICS HAVE A MORE CONVINCING MINIMOOG SOUND THAN THIS THING. BOB MOOG MUST HAVE JUST RAN OUT OF MONEY AND NEEDED SOME MORE. SHOULDN'T HE BE LIKE RETIRED OR SOMETHING??? He's an old man- looks like my grandpa- my grandpa's retired. THINK ABOUT IT.....

Bottom line is, it is isn't what it's cracked out to be, which then leaves me with a keyboard with a short keyboard (44 keys) that I spent a couple grand on. It's heavy-especially cause mine is in a hard case, and it is cumbersome to take around. Also, it cost so much money that you worry about breaking it. Overall I find that it is more a pain in the ass than it's worth. It's suited as a studio piece- although most studios have a real Model D, not a gigging piece. It is too heavy and fragile- not good to lug around. And I grew up on Rhodes, Wurlitzers, CP70s, Clavs and Minimoogs. I am a player and I want something I can gig with not leave in the studio. I am selling it and buying a Nord Lead 2 and maybe a Studio Electronics ATC-1 after that-if I find something missing. The Nord Lead pitch stick is more expressive than the sluggish, spring loaded wheels on the Voyager. Also disappointed that the pitch wheel in the Voyager like all modern synths except for the Nord Lead, has a dead zone in the middle so you can't get true vibrato with the pitch wheel. It has a non-exponential pitch wheel- which sucks. Ultimately, I am looking for something to gig with and wig on- not worry about. The Voyager is much more of a museum type piece and for that reason I'm selling it. Ultimately I feel like a total toolbox, a total nerd, a total techy geek playing this thing on stage. It's like the total dot com dork piece of kit. It's way more digital sounding than you think it should be and it's lame LCD screen, touch screen, etc.. this thing screams dork with a lot of money. I just am going to focus on a true Players synth that reacts naturally to playing, the Nord.

In all fairness, I would like to clear up some things in the last post, that does make some cogent points.

The Moog Music Forum post,of May 24 2004 entitled Voyager vs Model D, has NOT been removed from the Forum, and is to be found in the 'General Forum' rather than the specific'Voyager Forum'.Secondly, the Harmony Central review is not as negative as is suggested. Here is a full excerpt of his specific comparison.

Posts: 23 OK here is my opinion, as a user of both, side by side.fwiw i have an early version mini, discrete version (non-ua726). yes they are a bit more animated, uncontrolling and drifty than the later minis...i've had both, so i must admit the mini is bassier than the voyager. the waveforms sound a bit different too. the voyager is smoother up high which is actually better for leads. the mini is "rounder" so better for thick basslines, especially funk. both have that "growl"(from the filter). the filters are pretty similar. the mini is a bit more brasher while the voyager is smoother, perhaps a bit lusher. the envs are pretty similar. they are both clicky. the lack of a true release on the minimoog's envelope is annoying sometime. the voyager doesn't have this problem. the voyager also has a real lfo which the mini does not. further more the voyager offers sync, tons of
cv ins and outs (via the expansion box). the interface on the original mini is much more immediate (mainly due to lack of parameters). you can sit at it and get a good sound in 5 seconds. the voyager takes more work but once you get used to it can act similar. the touchpad on the voyager is VERY nice. i was sceptical when i first saw it, especially in the middle of the keyboard, but it works extremely well and works as a great "controller". also the continuously variable waveforms on the voyager can lead to some cool sounds.the voyager obviously has a lot
more going for it: nice midi controls, filter seperation (great for fx) and more modes, a *killer* look with the anniversary edition =) etc. still, the mini has what counts: unbeatable sound and immediate, hands-on interface.so if you're looking for pure sound and nothing but it, from a discrete analog purist point of view, get the old early minimoogs and be prepared to tune and maintain it occasionally. its worth it...something i'm willing to put up with.but if you want a pretty good analog sound, a monosynth that is ultimately flexible (makes a great front-end for a modular *plus* you can link voyagers for multiple voices if you've got the cash =) ) and more then get the voyager.btw yes macbeth products do rock as well-bye, shawn

My own opinion is that the older, especially fully disrete Minis are fatter and bassier than the voyager, though the dual filters make for some very rich sounds. In addition. the 'mildly rawer edge' of the Mini that people describe, can be an important factor in how a sound carrys in a live situation, thus the comments about the recent Rick Wakeman concert.However, there can be such a thing as 'too much fatness/brashness, especially in today's mixes that contain such clarity, and high frequency response.

In general the Voyager does sound 'brighter' and 'thinner' than the old minis, indeed, because of the numerous op-amps and such that are a cost cutting necessity if all the other features that the Voyager has, including the wood, were to be implemented, for a economically viable synth. Ask yourself how many people would be willing to pay in REAL DOLLARS, what a Mini would have cost in 1972? That said, a rackmount, no frills, fully discrete Mini would be a great idea, and would be well within the means of Moog Music. As an adjunct to the Voyager, it would be a trully fabulous combination, and could justly compete with the Moog legend of old.

Another feature that is missing on the Voyager which was on the old Mini is a sawtooth LFO. Without that you can't get the classic 'submarine signal' sound that was one of the early synth novelties. Of course you can spend some more money and get the add on modules to get this pretty basic feature.

Some sounds are great, like the FMs, and the formant sounds that are a result of the dual filters. Others, especially in the lower ranges (read BASS), don't match up to the old Minis, especially the discrete ones. One aspect of the Voyager sound that is bothersome to me, even more so than the fact that it is not as fat as the old minis, is the excessive 'brightness' of the Voyager. This is a result of the op-amps that are used in place of discrete circuitry to cut cost. This eats into the bandwidth of the sound, thus making it 'thinner' and 'brighter'. I noticed in the manual, when they describe the sound of various waveforms, it says, sawtooth-"bright and buzzy", square wave-"bright but hollow", rectangular wave- "bright but thin". Only the triangle wave does not follow suite being described as "muted and flutelike". As far as I know, the sawtooth wave is the only one that could be described as 'characteristically' "bright". This is a sneaky way of trying to hide the fact that the whole synth sounds "bright", for the reasons I have discussed.

Too bad Bob Moog thought he could have it both ways, that is, make as much money as possible, and still put out a product to compete with the legendary products that established his name in the first place. You don't do that by sneakily claiming pratically 'all' waves are 'bright'. Companies like Macbeth, are probably content with a modest profit, and do it more out of love of music and a pride in providing the very best sound they are capable of. If Moog Music wants to regain my respect, it must start putting out the best product possible. A fully discrete rackmount Mini would be awsome. With some CV/Midi outlets, you could control it with the Voyager. Think of the possibilities by putting it through the extra audio in and mixing it with the variable wave forms! The disrete sound, as well as making it fatter, would temper some of the brightness, especially in the Bass where it can be annoying.

Couldn't be more logically laid out - gobs of knobs.The new software update allows for quick comparison between the edited and original patch which was missing before. The manual gives a good intro to analog synthesis for beginners, as well as containing much useful info.

Except for one glaring ommision, the fact that the filter does not follow the glide, a feature on the original Mini, there is a plethora of features. Given that the the new update allows every knob to send Midi CC data, it makes it the best midi/cv controller in the world, in function, as good as it looks!

This is where I am somewhat dissapointed. If the sounds were not compared to the old Minis, then it might warrant a 10, however this is not the case.More than one reveiwer at some recent concerts where Rick Wakeman had both the Voyager and his old Mini, remarked that 9 times out of ten he played the old over the new. Not only that, one reveiwer said he could notice a difference between the two even 'before' he could see which one he was playing, and in retrospect preferred the old Mini to the Voyager. The Voyager's leads are less raw and cutting, the Bass less dense and so less funky.See below for details.

Looks fairly robust, though some claim the British "MacBeth" to be better built, if not as pretty to look at. -Remains to be seen.

Again - Remains to be seen.

Having been an owner of a Moog Voyager, for some months now, I no longer believe that the Voyager can replace a Minimoog, as it was so assertively stated on the Vintage Synth Explorer and other industry articles. My first reaction to Moog Music?s web site, before I bought my Performer Model, was of almost incredulous suprize at the crass exploitation of the Moog name. However, I thought that if the quality of sound was behind it, then it was a trifle. It is my decided opinion now that Dr.Moog has compromised, as he peddles the Voyager like some old time huckster masked as a music demi-god, the actual quality of the sound of the synthesizer and its functions. Here are the reasons:

The oscillators in the Voyager, unlike the early Moogs, are not discrete, but are generated by a copious amount of op-amps, and transistor packs, even more than the later Moogs, that indeed, used integrated chips (including the ua-726). This is not generally known, and indeed, my salesman claimed the circuitry was completely discrete.

All this might seem academic, but for the reason that is crucial to the craft of music making, the Voyager sounds brighter and 'THINNER' than the older Minis, even including the later ua-726 ones. This has often been attributed to the dual filters, but the fact is still apparent when one filter is used. (I have noted how curiously silent the old Moog players have been, Stevie, Bernie, Wakeman, et al, regarding the Voyager?s supposed glories, while they continue to play their old Minis.) This is not just ?my? opinion, in fact numerous people have expressed this on the web, including on the Moog Forum post of May, 24 2004, entitled Voyager vs Model D. This discussion was actually ?REMOVED? from the forum so is no longer available for the perusal of those interested in the appraisal of the facts in a democratic forum. Here is an excerpt.- ?I've been a little disturbed to have been reading so many posts that claim that the model D is still way phatter then the new moog voyager...I thought Moog would develop the voyager so to never lose a bit of the originals' phat-ness.?

One contributor to the post stated that the greater ?fatness? or ?sonic density? as he called it, was wrongly attributed to a lack of oscillator stability, but is a result of the non-discrete nature of the Voyager electronics. He then goes on to say that it would be prohibitively costly to build it with discrete circuitry today. I cannot ascribe to this view. There are a number of synth manufacturers today building entirely discrete audio paths; the Omega 8 and the MacBeth come to mind. The latter is actually marketed as a Mini alternative, and though it has far less midi capabilities, it also costs about half as much. Midi software is cheaper to develop, so Dr.Moog chose the cheapest way rather than the most musically optimal.

Finally, regarding function, another cynical cost cutting ploy was the decision to not include the same elegant portamento function as on the original moog, where the filter follows the glide. The only way to do this is to spend more money on a vx351 and a cp251 add on module, a cumbersome and expensive solution, that still does not allow for patch saving of parameters. Some voiced their displeasure about this, and it was taken off the the forum, although I notice it has since been re-instated, no doubt after more protests.

Probably the most informed and balanced appraisal of the Voyager is to be found at - Harmony Central User Forums > Keys, Samplers, & Synths > Keys,Synths & Samplers > how does the moog voyager stand up to old moogs? Here is some telling excerpts- Posts: 23 ?OK here is my opinion, as a user of both, side by side.... i must admit the mini is bassier than the voyager. the waveforms sound a bit different too... the mini is "rounder" so better for thick basslines, especially funk...., the mini has what counts: unbeatable sound ...so if you're looking for pure sound and nothing

If you already understand or are willing to take the time to learn how to use this type of synthesizer, its not that bad. Its definitely worth learning because the creative possibilities are incredible.

How the synthesis process works is not very difficult once you run through it a few times, its what your mind can conjure up once you understand what it can do that will ultimately be the limiting factor. For somoene that has worked with a modular type of synth, the "Ease of Use" is a 10. For someone new to this type of synth its about a 6. If you've played around with Propellerheads' Reason's patch cables, its a very similar concept.

The King! I purchased the 50th Anniversary Edition. This synth isn't cheap. There are currently 5 MoogerFooger effects for the Voyager and the VX-351 and CP-251 CV modules, all of which have to be purchased separately. The synth itself can produce jaw dropping sounds, but using the CV processors and the MoogerFoogers turns this synth into Godzilla.

The touch surface is killer for manipulating and controlling patches (similar to a Kaoss Pad). There is full MIDI capability which is sweet, and there's even an audio in jack. there are also the EP-1 and FS-1 foot pedals to control the synth. Keep in mind that if you own this synth and care for it well, it will be worth a lot more than your original investment. Dr. Bob is 70 years old so he, unfortunately, won't be with us forever.

The expressiveness of this synth is unreal. If you want to make bass of any kind, this is the mother ship. There are a lot of great digital synths out there, but nothing can match this synth. Its not hype, it comes form the mind of a true synth genius, the Michaelangelo of analog synthesizers.

Naturally, this synth can do a lot more than bass lines. Strings, percussion, you name it. Don't expect to get realistic, sampled violins and pianos, this synth is not made for that. This synth is for creating ultimate funk and for making the spirit soar!

Its a Moog. Its built like a tank. Its a heavy synth. Its new so I naturally haven't had any problems, but the original Moogs are still playing today so that's all you need to feel secure with this synth. Treat it with TLC and you'll be playing this synth for a very long time.

Moog's customer support is very good. They will take the time to answer any question from the easiest to the most difficult, and they even call you back. The company is small so most of the people working there understand a great deal about the Voyager.

If this synth was stolen, I'd crawl into a ball in the corner in a catatonic state for about a month. Then, I'd spend all of my days tracking the heartless jerk down and shove the synth up his butt sideways!

I own a lot of other analog, digital, and soft synths and this is the best I own by far. If you can't get inspired playing this synth, you're probably dead. This synth will appreciate in value so its a great financial investment if you care for it properly.

The only thing this synth needs is an analog vocoder (which would be gigantic).

hi, i rate '1- Very Difficult To Use' because this is THE SYNTH, i mean, don't think this is a keyboard, this is a very complex machine and you shouldn't try it unless you're into creating your own sounds and are able to understand sound synthesis, so, if you're not a little bit intelligent you'd better try another POLYPHONIC keyboard with normal sounds and less knobs.
On the other hand, for the people that really wants to fight againts a Minimoog, everything is nice about it.

this is THE SYNTH

yeah guys, Minimoog is THE SYNTH

i hope so

considering how much does it cost, it's a normal thing that they are friendly with customers

this is the SYNTH, mine is the anniversary edition, i think no matter which edition you want to buy, just buy it before you cannot buy it, forget about second hand old minimoogs unless you want to wait 30 minutes before it warms up, if it warms up sometime, or discover that you have a note that doesn't sound anymore, or filters do what they want, blah blah blah

The OS is 1.5 and everything works great.

No need to redescibe. Its a Mini with cool extras.

Mine has the tone I been dreaming about for a long time.

I depend on mine everyday.

The people at Moog were great to deal with when I had a few questions before I ordered mine. I have no concerns about dealing with them should a problem arise.

Thankyou Dr. Bob for giving the world an updated Mini. You have made alot Musicians very happy and I am one of them. The only problem has been the wait.