Moog Minimoog Voyager

Just like the classic, but with more options. Hard to complain about the very minimal menu diving as it's all stuff a regular mini can't do anyways.

Good modulation options, lots of options for interfacing with other analog gear, variable filter slopes, twin filters, dedicated VCOs, patch memory. Tons of stuff you would have killed for on the original mini.

Very expressive, velocity, aftertouch, and it sounds like a Moog... but in a very bland way. Here's where the review gets bad- for 3 grand it just comes up *way* short sound-wise.

I pity the poor bastard who buys the old school version of this, because frankly modern conveniences are all that it has going for it.

Let me put it this way- there are *800* patches, but 70% sound more or less the same and they almost all suck. I got a headache paging through bland patch after bland patch and finding nothing worthwhile.

You can get some usable sounds out of it, but I found myself messing around with it way too much trying to get it to sound right. It did exactly what I told it to, a square wave sounded like a square wave, unlike that weird squarish looking thing the mini D spits of, the oscillators stayed perfectly in tune, but it was just boring. None of the cool distortion when you cranked the filter up, the oscillators would beat in very matter of fact way. The envelopes actually had separate decay and release knobs but other than that did nothing to endear me to them.

I'm sure "on paper" this is a much better synth than the Mini D, but then again "on paper" everyone's favorite guitar amp is a piece of junk. If it sounds good, it is good. And this sounds very boring.

I've had stuff from MacBeth and synthesizers .com and both did a much better job than this, especially the macbeth.

You can still get a Studio Electronics midimini new for 3 grand and less than 2 used that will absolutely kill this. Mine has original Minimoog D filter boards, true, but any of them sound much much better than this. And of course an Mini D is only a little more than a new Voyager OS in good shape.

I got my Voyager new in the box for $2100 at GC Green tag sale and I still took it back, paying a restocking fee. I disliked it THAT much.

Put another way, any synth with this many pretty lights has to suck.

Built like a tank. I think the only reason to get one it to bring up on stage and have your glowing eye candy for people to gawk at, but then again it's too expensive to lug around.

They sound good, never used them.

This is a decent attempt, but too little fidelity to the original design reminds you that you can't modernize something like this. It's not a piece of technology, it's an instrument, and If you just think of it in terms of specs it looks great but that's so beyond the point. Nail the sound first then add bells and whistles, don't just expect it will work out. Yes, it sounds like a Moog, but so do the VSTs. It's nowhere near that bad of course, but way short for something this expensive. It checks all the right boxes but fails to impress in every way.

Is that harsh? Try any of the old, great synths first, and some of the lesser known modern ones and I think it's pretty obvious you can do a lot better for the money.

The sucky sound is not because of the digital controls, either (and I DON'T mean DCOs- I mean the type every synth with patch memory has). A P-5 sounds a ton better than this. Don't assume the Old School is any better, please.

I find that it was easy to learn the analog sequence on the panel, though the os features and other things are a bit out of my reach, which is why I went with the MiniMoog in the first place. I found the panel configuration to be the easiest way to understand analog subtractive synthesis. Start left move right. If it wasn't for the digital aspect i would have given it a ten.

Well It seems like this has been covered by all the tech people very well. So I will not go into the innards. I will go into the performance points. The key system is one of the fastest playing keys I have ever felt. I turn down many synths because of the key action. I use this as a performance instrument. I may record stuff for album or demo in the studio, but this thing deserves to be on stage. I like the plug in for the light. The flight case is very good too.

Ok Here we go. The reason for buying it in the first place. It sounds like none other than Moog. It is everything that has ever been said and more. Yes it sounds incredible in the studio, but in my opinion, so do most. LIVE, is where this thing really stands with no other. It really send the most warm tone rich sounds to an audience. It is the reason Keith Emerson Toured with the Monster 8ft. Modular.

I use Reason, Arturia and others on my Mac. They are said to be flawless at replication and sound perfect in the studio and live. This claim does not sit well with me. It does sound really good in studio settings, but it is not the best live. I use it
as pads, effects, and an ocasional sample. Nothing really holds up to a main lead synth like the MiniMoog.

When toggling through program banks or turning knobs on stage through big sound systems, it retains a decent consistency in volume. so one effect is quiet, and you change and it sends monitor carpeting in you face from extreme volume. Reason is great for that sort of thing.

All things aside Nothing sounds like a Minimoog. It is really inspiring on stage.

Seems fine to me.

I think customer support is great, but I also live 3 mile down the road from Moog Music in Asheville NC. I know employees, and support the Robert Moog Foundation. From what I know of them all, they will bend over backwards to help and set things rite. I have been called as follow up to make sure all things were fine, and if ever any trouble they would be happy to help. But this is coming from a local of them. Dealings from a distance is always different, and harder due to shipping.

Overall, It is my only true LEAD. It is like that really good sax that a great horn player cherishes. A horn is mono phonic. so is the moog. so what. I wouldn't let it stop me from buying it. To me there is no other feeling while performing than having that panel in front of me. Yes it was expensive. I got mine used and it was perfect. Look around if you can't aford of one new try to find a great deal. It should last a lifetime.

The basic parameters are easy to use. But for some special parameters you need to navigate through the menu & the PC editor is not included.

The CV box & CV inputs are damn cool! -1 for calling it modular in the manual while not supplying hardwired individual outs for the VCOs on the CV box.

It deserves 13,8 out of 10

If you know how to handle this synth you can get fuckin nasty sounds brutality out of it. I love the way it sounds. Without an external distortion I got such heavy driven sound out of it - pure rawness but still musical.

VCO FM sounds also pretty cool. And of cause the basses. And FX sounds. And theres so much more to explore. It??s versatile.

Bob??s designs are reliable.

The support is said to be very good if you phone them. But I live outside of the USA and I won??t call them on the phone because it??s expensive to call them from europe.
Theres virtually no tech support via eMail - no matter how many mails I write. I??m not sure how to rate this - eMail support get??s a "not helpful at all" but Rudi Linhard, a phone call to Moog USA or en eMail to the distributor are the options to get support.

In my opinion this is the best monosynth ever build. A bunch of them make the best polysynth ever build ;)

I??ve been playin 17 years and I??ve played and owned a lot of analogue synths. Right now I only own gear that helps to express myself musically - a second synth, great converters, a great pre, a nice microphone, a Mac Pro...

And I expand the Voyager with external devices (eg moogerfoogers). Somehow the CV doesn??t track external VCOs correctly. It??s not 1V/oct and also not 0,935V/oct. It??s much more than 1V/oct so currently use an attenuator to adjust it.

I got a select model - it looks nice. Overall value is great.

This is an Update of my prev rewview. Cause i integrated a few more stuff to my setup. In this new context the voyager shines out of the night!
I add a Midipedal to change presets instead of the useless select buttons. I organize my patches in a row i need in a song. The way the voyager switch to a new preset is incledible. It switches faster than i can play! The other feature i add is a Ibanez AD9 analog delay. Awesome! In combination with the pedal-preset-switch i can play 20 Sounds in a row with delay and with the other foot i change the filtercutoff for a long neverending sweep madness!!
Another great thing i have ad. The Moogerfooger Ringmodulator. Connect the LFO out to the voyager and you have a second LFO and more. Awesome.
So more i use this instrument so better it is. I learn in a timeline to use all the features this instrument offers. I guess i will never need another keyboard. I have only to hands and two feets and they are in work while making music. THANKS MOOG FOR THIS BEAST

The other cool thing is, that my band mate has change his crappy novation bassstaion for a Little Phatty! Cool!
We are now a moog sounding madness. :-D

People! Throw away computers and all digital crap, buy real instruments, use it right and explore the possibilitis.
So i go and learn better english...

Not good overall. I`d like to see a seperate legato switch and remove the useless release-switch for that. The glide-switch is cool.
The rest is cool.

Patches are cool, so you can use this instrument live ways better than the old one that i am own too.
But the way you change the presets sucks. Have OS 3.1 and you can use mixerknob Ext. for quick changes but that is too inefficient. So this feature ist useless.

Soud is realy good. Not best overall but good. It is worth the money. I run this instrument in that chain: Voyager whit 3 Expr.Pedals - Danelectro tremolo - Marchal Bluesdriver - Danelectro Pure Drive - two VOX AC30 so i can use it in stereo.

In the band we are 3 keybordplayer and everybody only plays one board. I play the moog. The other play a Korg CX3 Organ and the other play the Basstation from Novation. He is our "virtuel Bassplayer".
Then we have a Guitarplayer and a drummer and a two singers.
Very loud group.

The old one sounds better but the tuning stability is a mess. So i make some turn on my efect pedals and my amps and it sounds nearly the same. I dont use the old one live futher.

Not good.

The first thing i recived from EMC germany was damaged. The touchpad dont work. And the pitch wheel stuck in downpitch. The second i`ve get was ok, but the corsor keys stuck too. So if you press the coursorbutton too hard you running throuh the presets. So i have used a nail file to give it a little more space to work. Now it works fine, but man, this thing is bout 3000 Euro!!!! I want to have a PERFECT working mashine!!!

Very good. No doubt. The best service i ever had.

Overall i can say: if you want a good live synth whit realy great sound then buy that thing. And hope u get a fully working instrument first time.

Fantastically easy to get some wacky sounds out and its semi modular under the skin as well.

some presets are cheesy but it does so far convincing emulations of a number of other analogue synths and some of the presets by bernie worrell are truly funktastic. a number of others are great as well, including the good old brain salads and the super slinky synthworld.

editing is a cinch... and the panel for editing is for me relatively ok to get through. gonna get the software though. that will make things much easier.

monophonic.
keyboard is way better than on my nord lead.
its the easiest to use synth i've ever used.
you can use 2 items to expand it, the 351 cv device and the control processor from moog...
midi is fine.
no on board sequencing, as far as i can see, but i can do that from my DAW....

its a moog, it does everything very well.
its only real weakness for me so far is strings, but i've only just got it so will see.
its a very human device in terms of playing, its warm and emotive and very powerful.
aftertouch and velocity are fine.

1 week in its still working.

the finish is fairly good but theres a paint chip near the keyboard.

not tried yet

very very good so far. when i get the editor and cv expander it will be truly awesome.

OS 3.0 is simple to scroll though the presets but I'll be damned if they didn't make it more complicated than it should be. Many submenus and the like to really scare off an analog synth nut like myself ( I thought the whole reason behind buying an analog synth today-besides the sound-was to get away from editing patches in a tiny LCD screen-aarrrg!). On the flipside the synth isself is very easy to use IF you've had experience working with analog synths and moogs in general and pretty much any way you twist the knobs you're going to get a cool sound. Everything is laid out in a neat and self-explanitory manner. Not as easy to use as my moog rogue but so many more sounds. The only tricky thing is the routing for the modulation busses...just cause there's so many options. I give the ease of use a four: because the OS 3.0 is a real bitch to use and reminds me of why I hate digital keyboards and also if you aren't familiar with analog synthesis you may be a little lost-considering the voyager's panel looks like something you'd see on the starship enterprise.

Ok so it's a monophonic synth. Besides that slight drawback (I mean moog did, at one point, have polyphonic synths) the features of this keyboard are outstanding. It's an analog synth, through and through, but you can save presets, which is incredible if you've ever sepnt any time trying to play a vintage moog live, and its got just about everything you need to get some of the coolest, funkiest sounds out there. The touch screen is the bomb...I just love moving my hand around in that thing-it's like having a kaoss pad built in to your synth. All the knobs the voyager has really give it an earthy feel. I love being able to shape my sound by twisting knobs and immediately hearing the results. With the voltage control expander and the moogerfooger control processor you can turn this thing into a pseudo modular synth-how cool is that (you won't need your ARP 2600 anymore). The OS is a little lame, although if you're just changing presets and editing presets it's not too bad, but it definately takes some time to get aquainted with. Bascially all this functionality ends up with the user being able to craft pretty much ANY sound. Truely amazing.

Are you kidding me! This thing is so fat and warm and psychedelic. It's unbelievable. What's awesome with the 3.0 OS is that you get about 800 presets. Yes, some of the presets are incredibly cheezy sounding and completely unuseable...but here's the great thing, just start twisting knobs and you can change the preset and get something new out of it, and when you've tweaked to your heart's desire you can save the changes. It's great to scroll throught the numerous presets, find a sound you like, and then tweak it even more to get a sound you really like. It makes things so much faster when you are recording and when you play it live-forget about it!-this thing smokes any analog synth out there. You can have all the sounds you neeed at the touch of a finger w/o having to tweak and write down settings. A few of the presets are really fantastic too. I love: Bank 3 Preset 74: "skinny 2" sounds like the ohio players funky worm. Bank 3 Preset 79: "head duck" bubbly LFO modulated madness. Bank 4 Preset 72: "spartacus" one of the illest sounding bass presets the voyager has (and there's plenty). Bank 3 Preset 45: "DPG Lead" Dr. Dre/ Bernie Worell all the way baby, real smooth sounding and funky as all hell. These are just a few of the wonderful sounds available on the voyager, man this thing is great!!!

Haven't had it all that long but I can certainly attest to the durablility of the moogerfooger pedal line, which I have been gigging with for many years and the voyager seems equally well built but I am ccertainly going to take real good care of it. You would do the same, wouldn't you, I mean come on, this thing is worth almost three grand!!!

Moog has been very helpful everytime I've called. Much easier to deal with than most and all thier products are made in the USA so they know what's up with thier stuff.

Well, it gets a ten in my book for the fact that it has the most unbelievable sounds and being able to preset them is just great. It loses one point for the OS being pretty stupid and hard to get into and one more point for the fact that is freaking unbelievably expensive!!!! I mean, it's made in the US and it's analog so it's not like someone can just slap a microchip in it and call it a day...it takes time and skilled craftsmanship to build these things, im sure, but man was this thing ever expensive. But, then again, if you really really love analog synths, their controls and thier sounds, well then you might as well just submit and realize that the moog voyager is the best out there. Nothing compares. However, if you simply like electro synth type sounds and don't really care about having all those knobs to twist, well I gotta say that the Nord lead is a great souding synth and it's way cheaper than the moog and it does polyphony. So if you need a nice sounding, durable, flexible synth, and just play completely off presets, go ahead and get the nord lead-you'll be very happy. However, if you need the absolute fattest sounding bass, and warmest, liquid analog sounds, why the hell would you buy a digital keyboard?! Plus, if you love being able to tweak your sound on the fly by reaching out and grabbing, say the filter cutoff knob, well brother, you need to get yourself a moog voyager.

Depends how you look at it. The knobs and controls are easy. Updating the OS was complicated and didn't work as expec'ted. Without help from the moog website & forum I would have been utterly lost. The manual is no good. It lacks any detailed information about updating the OS other than a refreence to MIDI OX, which again I found very hard to understand. I am a bit oldskool and not so much into computers - which brought me to the idea of buying the Voyager as a modern analogue instrument, just wanted to ceonnect it to a tape recorder or a hard disk recorder. Bad move. Without a PC or laptop, a MIDI to USB connector and lots of patience you're not going to enjoy this as you can't update the OS. Needed to buy a whole set of expensive peripherals. Ho-hum.
I also hate the fact that you have to buy the breakout box to have any decent connectivity. And now, with OS 3.1 out you need another thing to build in just in order to have zillions of patch places. For people who don't care about programming and saving patches, it's an utterly useless feature. Probably many people want to save patches, but I personally don't so I think I made a mistake buying this. 4 Rating for this section due to the fact that it's not self-contained, rather dodgy and was delivered to me with inherent bugs. I'll come to these later.

I'm not going to say a lot about its features as other users will have said more on this.
In my opinion it has... too many of some and too little of others.
The thing I dislike most is the touchscreen. It is uncomfortable to play and even died after installing OS 2.5 (yes I did follow the instructions by the word). Had to send it back in for repairs.
I got a UK model right when it came out so mine had many bugs. Unfortunately, the touchscreen issue came up after my warranty expired. No idea wha the touchscren died, but I have heard other users comment on the same issue in early models.
Also, there was a problem with the pitch bend wheel. When toggling through the interval options (half note to two octaves range) the whole sound flattened by a note.
The pots tended to crackle, and one of the oscillators went out of tune.
On the positive side, the sound is unquestionably very, very good.
But I spent 6 months waiting for it (and it was damn hard to get any info out of Turnkey where on earth my 2000 Pound synth was) and another 3 months for repairs. that's a lot of waiting.
I like the knob action and the build quality. I only wish it had
- no touchscreen
- no Patch memories
- no OS
- Ins and outs straight out of the box
- a decent ribbon controller in a better place
- a ring modulator
- free patchability rather than being hardwired.
4 Rating because of the fact that I find its features lacking in some important areas.

The sound is excellent. No further comment. Play one and you'll hear.
8 rating only because some sonic possibilities are missing that I would have liked to see in the instrument.

I am extremely cautious about giving the instrument a high rating due to the fact of my bad experience with an OS update which for some reason deactivated the touch screen. Who knows what will happen with certain functions in a further OS update.
Other than that, it is very good. Stays in tune and plays very nicely.
7 rating due to the fact that OS updates *may* bring out inherent bugs. No idea if it will happen again or if an inherent bug caused the TS to die at all, but this is what happened to mine.

I bought mine at Turnkey, UK. Well, they were eager to get my dough, but giving out any information about the whereabouts of my instrument at the time of purchase was a fight I could have lived without.
When I had trouble, again, it was a fight to get it fixed. I had spent a lot of money on this instrument and it arrived faulty (some faults were not immediately obvious, and only after upgrading to OS 2.5 after a year - the warranty had expired - did new bugs become obvious). I was not treated well at all times by Turnkey and I felt rather humiliated by Moog's treatment. I have managed to get it fixed and have made some music with it, but somehow, I don't enjoy it as much as I would like to. I never got all too friendly with it due to bad vibes.
2 Rating for having to fight for repairs and a rather patronizing way of being treated. Face it: If you buy from a manufacturer and get a faulty unit from a supplier, the supplier must see to it that you get a working instrument. I have experienced that they were not interested in helping me.
Not a 1 rating as it was fixed after all. But boy, what a shlepp. Sorry, can't be positive here.

If it were lost or stolen, I would be sad about the money, not about the instrument itself.
I bought it in Fall/ winter 2002 and got it in april 2003. A long wait. Plus it's a UK model, i. e., a "Voyager by Bob Moog". I play a Yahaha DX100, several sequencers and effects and a Casio VL1.
I love the wood and the build quality. I hate the touchpad and the hardwired concept. I loathe the missing ins & outs, I can't stand the OS updates all the time, and I ferociuosly can't live with the fact that you're forced to have a PC to be up to date with this thing. I'm oldschool, so other useres will say, dude, so what', who cares. It is too compliated for my taste and the internal features I'll never, ever use (pot mapping etc., no thanks),
I wish it were more flexible, and self contained. I can't stand this pseudo-modular concept and the way it's built as a "buy everything else from moog" instrument. Blecch.
When it works it's ok. I remember trying to figure out how to update the OS for the 1st time. I nearly lost it. Without help from the forum, I would have lost the will to live. I spent so much time with technical issues that I hardly made any worthwhile music so far. Only a handfull of semi-acceptable recordings. I had way more fun with my Rogue althzough it sounded not as great as the Voyager. But it was easy and funny. This thing is just bulky and has too many bells and whistles which deters me from enjoying it. I wish Moog would have kept it simple, without this silly touchpad, had completed the instrument prior to selling it and finally, I would have loved a more flexible approach in regards to the patchability.
Dear synth fairy: take this back to Moog and give me my money back.
2 Rating for overall dissatisfaction. The good point, again, is the sound. That is the only thing I honestly love about this.
Sorry. Disappointed.

Well, everything's right there in front of you. Nothing hidden...except a few interesting features buried in the menus...the only reason I give it a 9.

Fantastic instrument! Its a sophisticated toy for sophisticated ears...just "turn the knobs and blast off!"

Real nice and simple. Limited but versatile, if you are.
But it does what it does extremely well.
No polyphony, however I have transcended polyphony by accepting the instrument as it is, and am learning how to work/play WITH it...rather than me playing IT.

Adding a Delay in the chain really puts some rocket fuel into this puppy, Phaser works great too. I use Moogerfoogers, and an Echoplex.

The best keyboard I've ever played. It is the Rolls Royce of synths, hands down.

There are enough control voltage parameters (for patching), and knobs, switches, wheels, pedals, and touchpad to have your entire body rockin in riddim, gyrating like a drummer with all limbs playing in unison. A very unique instrument in that regard. Not many offer that caliber of TOTAL expression. That's somethin I live for, to move like that with the music WHILE MAKING IT!!!

Sounds???
Sheeeet....This thing has got so much personality, you could give it a name, but its already got Bob's, and it fits perfectly, so.....
But the sounds put VAs to shame, except the NordLead which I appreciate... It doesn't have all the bells & whistles a VA has, but its got some real magic of its own. I don't use the presets anymore, not even as a launchpad. So, actually by abandoning the presets, I'm able to coax tons of USABLE SOUNDS out of this synth, without having to spend 3 hours tweaking endless parameters... But there's plenny of fun wacky sounds possible as well, it all depends on YOU.

But, with all the expandability options + Control Voltages, this thing a bad mutha...
no doubt.

No problems, I use the soft bag for local travel, bought the Alum Flight case for plane travel...no problems.

I bought mine used, a few knobs were missing the silver cover. I emailed moog to buy new knobs. They send em free + AND kept email correspondense to make sure I got em!!
Its all about handmade, quality instruments, in my opinion...The personal touch is crucial.

I've been gravitating towards American or Japan made gear lately, feels the best...

This thing is helping me take my music to the next level. I was fussing with digital synths for 4 years cause I knew no better or different. I was frustrated that I could never get the sounds out of my digital synths to go with the rest of my music...I thought it was me. Turns out it was only partially me. The moment I heard the demo of the Voyager online, I was sold. I heard the quality I was looking for.

Before that, I never even CONSIDERED getting a Voyager. I thought it was WAAYYY out of my league, some retro collector's item. Then as I was researching I realized that it was not too lofty for me, that it was the next step to take. Indeed it was. If it were stolen?? Man, don't even ask me that! I'd flip out! Of course I'd get another one! By all means! I'd sell my car & strait ride the bus for a year so I could get one!!! Its one of my core instruments, along with my Rhodes, MPC2000...My holy trinity.

But, you know...if you don't flip over the demos...or REALLY dig the power & elegance of simplicity, you prolly want a VA. And that's okay. Lots of great music made with VAs... But for me, this thing is a COMET with a monophonic trigger, like shooting stars across space...one at a time...a cosmic flute from another time, another place...a paintbrush where each simple stroke speaks the calligraphy of music far beyond the known...abandoning convention, while reinventing it. This thing is a bad mutha.

It's an analog synth . . . Depends on if you know analog synthesis or not. Location is laid out however, and learning your way around is VERY fun . . .

This thing is amazing. There is so much room for expansion, external input to the filter is great. Dual Low Pass filters and HighPass/Lowpass in stereo is SICK. WON"T find that on any other analog monosynth. Lot's of features and cross-modulation capabilities. Two things I would wish for - THe ability to set the keyboard to regenerate the envelope each time I press a key, not just when I only press ONE key. Sometimes I will miss when playing and the envelope doesn't regenerate. Also wish the filter could be set to glide with the portamento. As it is it does not match the portamento glide. It isn't very noticeable, but if I could have my way . . .

If I had all the money and space I could want, I'd have a Voyager and right above it I'd have an original Mini. As it is I can only have one, and I've chosen the Voyager. Sure there is a certain mystique and rock and roll aesthetic to the original Mini's - they are like war relics now . . . But the Voyager SOUNDS AMAZING! And all those irresistable features for today's world - Full MIDI capability, patch saving, perfect tuning stability. I'll give up the nitpicky crap about the VCA not being quite as overdriven, or whatever minutia people can come up with, for the ENORMOUS gains.

I'm not diminishing some of the very analytical comparisons out there. They are very usefull. I'm saying that anyone who says the Voyager is nothing compared to an original Mini is an idiot. They are slightly different, but you won't find a better monosynth than the Voyager. The original Mini might be the equal, but not Better.

The frequency response is unreal. Every sound has so much presence. Nothing get's lost in the mix. It is a dream come true. I don't have to EQ it like my other synths, and it ranges from so beefy to smooth and crinkly. So many sounds . . . Sounding so good. Best low end in the business. The only synth I have heard come close to the pristine sound is the Arp 2500. Pristine but oh so analog.

For the first few hours I had trouble getting used to how clean it was compared to my other synths, but now I just love that about it. You can make it dirty if you want - just tweak a bit, or send it through some light tube distortion and quite whining!

Very well built except a few of the small screws on the bottom fell out . .. Was like that straight out of the box :( Waiting to here back from Moog . . .

Just contacted them two days ago . . . waiting . .. I've heard the folks at Moog are good people. Bless Dr. Moog . . .

Please don't steal it . . . Overall this Synthesizer is just fabulous. Sure it has a big price tag, but when you own one, you can see and feel just how worth it it is. It is a professional tool. Truly. I have spend countless hours dicking around with digital emulators and less expensive analog synths, and now I just wish I had bought one of these sooner. It is the real deal. Currently I own a CAT Octave synth (very awesome synth by the way, truly like a wild animal), JX-8p with PG-800, Kurzweil K200, MPC1000, KORG EM -1, and a bunch of other synths I've had the pleasure of meeting.

I have software VS 2.1, but am upgrading to v3.0, with the extra 7 memory banks. The presets with my anniversary edition are mixed...some are really good, and some are unusable, with a lot in between. I'm dying to get the entire library, and use that as a springboard for salt and pepper editing. Editing patches is a joy...a knob for everything, just like the Model D.

This is a monophonic synth, just like the original. The keyboard action is much better, however...it's even and smooth, and adds velocity (very cool with certain patches) and aftertouch...it also has full MIDI, unlike the model D.

This is full out Moog analog, with the added benefits of programmability, velocity and aftertouch...awesome !! I found that the best sounds come when you do your own tweaking...and it's a lot of fun as well. Nothing touches that warm fat Moog sound.

This thing is the best built synth on the planet...high quality pots...great feeling keys...and a fine furniture quality cherry wood cabinet...beautiful. I owned two model D's before this without a problem...and I would expect this to be just as rock solid.

I am sending this in for the 3.0 upgrade...and I have never encountered a more accessable, more personable company in all my life. There's always a real person to talk to, and they are extremely friendly and willing to talk about any problem/concern.

If it were lost, it would be most likely irreplaceable (only 15 of these were made)...but I'd try anyway. This is the ultimate analog lead/bass synth...now if they would only re-make the Memorymoog. I called the company several times to see if this was in the works (rumor had it)...my fingers were crossed, but sadly, Dr. Moog passed away last week...so my thoughts of a Dr. Moog designed polyphonic analog are gone as well. RIP, Dr. Moog.

I believe the firmware is at version 2.1 and supposedly an update is coming out relatively soon.

The presets are quite diverse and rich. There are great basses, leads, blips, burps and percussion sounds. I have been slowly replacing the sounds and making a completely new sound set by hand, I would say editing patches is very easy as most of the parameters are on hand, and if you don't mind going through menus then most other options are less than two menus deep.

I have not bought the patch editor yet, although I keep thinking about it. It offers a few interesting options such as morphing between two patches which could create some very interesting sounds.

The manual is decent, if a little short. I would have appreciated a bit more depth and breadth for the device. As well the control processor and control voltage break out box share the same manual, so while you get a good run down of what you'll be able to do with both devices it would have been nice to have a dedicated manual for each device.

This is a one note polyphony system. The keyboard is nice and there isn't any wiggling or mushy keys.

Well it has the low pass, high pass and band pass filters. That is about as filtery as you can get, however you can hook up an instrument into it's in port and filter away and get some decent effects.

For expansions, you can get the break out voltage control box, add in the control processor or a few moogerfoogers, but in the typical expansion sense you've got what you've got.

Once you get it setup, midi is wonderful on this device. It does understand pressure sensitivity and aftertouch, so you can make patches that take advantage of these parameters in some way. Recording midi into a sequencer can be fun.

There is no on-board sequencer, although with some fancy tricks you can use LFO's to fake sequenced patterns.

If you want an analogue sound you cannot get any more realistic than this. However I did pick up the Moog Modular V before this and I will say that if you need an inexpensive alternative the analogue emulations are getting there. Still they are not perfect, but the differences between them are getting fewer. This is also one of the best synths to learn synth programming and patch creation in my mind. It is so simple and you have all the controls in front of you. Having learned patch creation on soft synths with way too many parameters and never quite knowing what I was doing, it was refreshing to come to this system and be able to wrap my brain around the instrument.

I don't gig...

Moog support was a joy for me. I had a few specific and very bizarre/technical questions that weren't covered in the manual and I received an email back that answered everything for me. Apparently nobody had asked before and nobody had all of the details, but they did the leg work for me to get me the answers.

If it was lost, stolen or broken I would probably replace it. On the other hand it was such a huge investment that I'd probably need to give it some thought as I am not a performing musician and I currently don't make any money from music.

I own way too much other gear...

It definitely helps me make music, and for crazy chunky bass lines for songs this beast can really tear it up. Having owned a Virus, I am really surprised how much this thing can punch, kick and scream it's way into a mix. The Virus can certain fit well into a mix as well, it just comes through a bit differently.

Relatively easy; a little more difficult than an older synth to use because there are more options to learn.

Comprehensive for a mono synth.

I think if depends on the context:
-In relation to anything currently or recently made, it rules. Only in comparison with a Minimoog can anyone question it's sound.

Conclusion: excellent; only a few Mini owners can even question it's brilliance.

No problems.

The only minor criticisms are related to comparisons to an original Mini, and even then, the differences aren't great IMO. For anyone else, including some Mini owners, superb and far beyond anything other than the few relatively obscure top-end modular systems on the market.

As far as value, depends on your perspective. If you want the best, it's worth it. If a decent facsimilie will suffice, there are better options. The new rack mount mitigates some of the price pain.

If you already know how to program a synth it will be quite easy to use...

Possiblities are endless in my opinion ;)

Really analog! I have owned lots of VAs but noone sounded like this!
Preset sounds are good but the real deal is in programming!

It never broke until now...

Never had problems until now..

The best musical instrument I have ever owned, apart from my steinway grand piano ;)
To the anonymous who is bashing the voyager: I understand that You think that the original is better, but You have to understand that it is not easy to find one actually... at least for me. More, I've never heard an original Moog and I have tried lots of VAs but noone sounds like the Voyager! I feel sorry when I read Your opinion since I really love the Minimoog Voyager. Bye.

I'm currently using os 2.1 and will be upgrading to the new os that is being released with the electric blue version of the Voyager. I'm really impressed with the current system. Previous to purchasing the Voyager all my synths(with the exception of my first)have been pre-midi analog keyboards so, I don't have quite alot of background with midi oriented gear. That being said, I've find the operating system and patch editing quite easy. The user's manual is well written and serves as great reference when a question arises. The presets are ok to just reference basic patches and doesn't serve the Voyager much justice.

The Voyager is monophonic and the action is smooth with low and high note priority and is both velocity/pressure sensitve. The features are vast and many. I could write a lengthy page on the features but I feel that has already been covered in objective reviews elsewhere submitted on this page. But I can't resist in saying the three dedicated oscillators, the dedicated lfo, two mod busses, dual lp and hp/lp filters,fm mod,touchpad and more really smoke the old minis! Between the midi capabilities,the vast features of the os and the new front panel features along with the expansion capabilities definitely decided this purchase for me!

It's a Moog and It's Analog so, from an analog standpoint the expressiveness/sounds are otherworldly!!! To answer the question "are some of intruments very realistic?" NO,THEY ARE NOT AND IF I WANTED SOME KIND OF PSEUDO REALISM, I'D BUY THE NEWEST OF THE NEWEST SOON TO BE OUTDATED DIGITAL PIECE OF CRAP OR SOME GOSH AWFUL VA OR PLUGIN!!! I've already gone that route many years ago. I feel that the Voyager fits well with many genres rock,jazz,classical,goth,electronica however this isn't a push and play type of machine so I'm not going to say it fits with every and all types of musical genres.

I've owned my voyager for about seven months and it appears to be very reliable and I'm confident I can depend on it. Very well built, I'd say it's built rock solid. I usually don't inject personality into my instruments but, She sounds just as beautiful as she looks and would use it with out a back up with out thinking twice.

I haven't had to deal with Moog Music for warranty or customer support. But did deal with them about general inquiries and warranty registration and they promptly replied and were most friendly. I have no concerns should a question or concern arise. The Voyager forum at their website is very helpful as well.

Overall rating I must give it a resounding 10!!! If it were lost/stolen God help thief if caught and would replace at all cost. It's well worth the money and is the best synth in it's class. I own other analogs/keyboards Polymoog 203a+280A,Arp Odyssey,Farfisa combo compact deluxe,Multimoog,Liberation,Opus 3. My first synth was digital and hated it. It was too expensive and was replaced not even two years after it was released. Since then I consumed older gear and analog synths at the time were cheap, powerful and easy to use. I remember buying a Moog Rogue for$80.00 bucks and seen a mini for under $300.00 at the guitar shops in the early to mid 90's. The sound of these keyboards are trademark and will continue to be so. It's frustrating to see what older gear is going for and all the hype that accompanies it. It seems like the young'ins are trying to emulate their idols and the elders reliving the past. I don't know maybe I stand in the middle but, the preceding were not reasons for purchasing the Voyager. I waited, researched and decided to try before I buy. When I did try I tested a model d and a voyager they basically had to cut the time short. 15/30/60 minutes is more than enough to demo a synth to them. model d was figured out.similar to multimoog, But my Multimoog had more routing capabilities plus aftertouch. The Voyager had both velocity and aftertouch and much more. Try before you buy and see! Ignore the benign subjective reviews here and see for yourself. The model d and all the hype that goes with it is unfounded! all the negative posted bull*&^ posted here belongs to the realm of myth,fantasy,folklore,airheads,hobbyists and nostalgists!!!!!!!! YOURS TRULY AND MOST SINCERELY!!!

There is one crucial thing that has only recently come to my attention that every Voyager owner or prospective owner should know.

Before I was making most of my patches in dual filter low pass mode. Some of my patches, when using modulation, or the touch pad (which amounts to the same thing) were sounding not to my liking. I then switched to the low pass/high pass series mode (a simple flick of a switch!) and it was like a REVELATION! It turns out that the low pass mode when performing heavy modulations and affects, due to the dual filters, can cause phase cancellation and such, thinning out the sound. (I tried my all discrete Technosaurus as a control and the same thing happened. NOW, these patches are like those I had dreamed of; rich squealy resonant tones, sizzly sparkling highs in a backdrop of resounding mids and lows. Just thought you should know.

Lately there have been a few who express disatisfaction with the fact that the Voyager's oscillators are not fully discrete. I too began to have a complex about this and got into the habit of plugging my Technosaurus into the filter in order for it to sound like an Omega 8 or some other imagined Holy Grail of Synthesizers. Subsequent listening has shown this to be folly. It does not improve upon, and if anything intrudes upon, the delicate yet resounding sonority that is unmatched by any other synth, (including the modulars), except the original Mini itself. And the Mini is not better, but brasher, and buzzier, attributes that make it more difficult to integrate into a modern mix. Furthermore, discrete is not necessarily better, and in fact most of the original Minis used Integrated Chips, and they are considered fatter than the earlier discrete Minis.

Finally, most criticisms of the Voyager seem to be inconsistent, and fall into the trap of comparing it to the MiniMoog, a synth that differs from one to another. I hear some say it is better than the Mini in the high end, and inferior in the low, and others vice versa. Moog Music is partly responsible for this in that they marketed as a Mini for the 21st Century. It has the same unique sonority, but is its own instrument.

But enough of talk. Hear for yourself; check out the demo below. The leads are made with the Voyager (DRY! i.e. no effects).

http://analoguediehard.home.att.net/

James Socorro

If ever a synth deserved full marks its this one. For those who whine about the cost, think about what a Mini would cost in real dollars in 1975.

Secondly, think about the money shelled out for VAs only to be forgotten about in a year's time by the next digital attempt to reach the unreachable goal of the 'aliveness' of true analogue. Factor in the price of a computer every 2 or 3 years in order to keep up with the RAM and processing speed the CPU hungry soft synths require to approach their unreachable goal.

James Socorro

Great to see some honest appraisals of the Voyager rather than more saccharine praise. However, on the sonic shortcomings and as a Mini owner, I would love nothing more than to believe that there are significant sonic differences with an original Mini. However, except for those overly-cynical, long-winded and nit-picky reviewers below (one or two under different pseudonyms most likely) I have a feeling that most will find it very much like a Mini, with the added and substantial luxuries of patch memory, midi and enhanced expressivity. I don't think for a momement that "discrete" Macbeths, Studio Electronics or Omegas are closer to a Mini than this BTW, they all have their own distinct (and different) sounds. Those claiming otherwise are revealing their synth-head proclivities.

That said, let's hope Moog's listening and will include the missing discrete components in an eventual rack mount..

Patch memory, midi and expressivity..

I'm a long-time violin/mandolin/guitarist who felt like expanding, so I started looking for synths and decided to go with the Voyager. So I don't have the old vs. new thing going on and hopefully can offer a different perspective.

As far as ease of use, this thing is a piece of cake. It's really plug and play. The presets are there, but there's so much more when you get in control of the thing in manual mode. Granted, to get the most out of it, you should study sound synthesis (i.e., understand how the filters, envelopes, etc work), but I spent days of happy tweaking blindly turning knobs before I got serious. When I finally did take the time to understand it, it really opened up! Moreover, running other instruments through its audio-in is also an easy way to turn other instruments around.

The modulation buses are really nice. You get two, and everytime I work with them I come up with something new. Another nice feature of them is the ability to change their souces and destinations to even more combinations via the software's edit mode.

Then there are the pot-mappings, which allow you to control multiple pots via a single source (the manual suggests, for example, having the pitch wheel control both pitch and filter cutoff).

There's also the midi interface. This will make your software sequencer very happy. I use both Reason and Cubase with it so that I can play things my fingers can't do. Plus, you can tweak as you record. I understand that you can also save/export presets with a couple of different software apps (midiox and other that Moog is pushing), but have yet to try these. And speaking of user presets, this option is great, because coming up with a really interesting sound is one thing, trying to recreate it is another.

Lastly, I always run my guitar and bass through the audio-in. You only get the filter, but the mod busses make it possible to get the LFO in as well (and the third oscillator as well, which can also act as an LFO). This can make for some really unique sounds - great vibrato, panning etc...

I can't compare this to other analog synths. What I can say is that this sound impressed me enough to shell out $2700! I paid alot more to get a really good violin sound - and that offers only one type of sound!

I was afraid that synth playing would be too robotic, but this has not been the case with the Voyager. Many of the sounds I've gotten from it seem organic - I don't know how to describe it. Imagine anything from liquid being sloshed in a container, bubbles popping, wind in trees - it's not that it sounds exactly like these things, it' s more that it can immitate these things in a natural sounding way.

I've read of others having problems, but mine's been ok so far. I read another review here that mentioned hiss, I can't reproduce this on mine, it's very quiet.

Moog has been really good about answering emails (have yet to speak with anyone in person, no need). In addition, they have a nice community forum in which you can post questions etc. Apparently, their employees also browse this forum and chime in.

Overall I give this instrument a 10. This may simply be my naive view of it, but I've played music my entire life, and this thing has quickly become one of my favorites (considering I normally play guitars, basses, violins, mandolins).

The price is a factor. $2700 isn't chump change. But go shopping for a Gibson mandolin (~$3000), or a Fender Strat with a Twin combo amp (ouch!). True, these things are apples and oranges, but what they have in common is a great sound and qualtiy workmanship.

If you really _need_ a synth and are on a budget, of course you should shop. I may well have been just as content with a Nord or some other synth, so all I can comment on is this particular variety. I could afford to try it out, but I was in no way dissappointed.

If it were stolen I'd replace it. I'd be tempted to try some other syths, but I've put so much time into this one that it's really familiar now.

It's all about SOUND my friend. Synth makers of the last 20 years seems to have forgotten this!

That said, sure its got lots of features but consider what's missing:
1)Sine Wave - (In other words "Buy the MOOG THEREMIN")
2)LFO Saw Tooth Wave - no submarine signals! (Buy the VX351 Box!)
3)Filter Glide- A big part of the original Mini sound. Moog users are howling about this one (One threatened on the Moog Forum to dump his
if something weren't done about it. Seems the good Doctor thought he could sell some more expansion boxes by making it impossible without them. Even then it would mean readjusting the parameters for each patch! Moog Music is scrambling for a solution before there is a large scale revolt.
4)Pitch wheel problems described below
5)Castrated oscillators due to cost cutting op-amps and such i.e. not discrete like early minis, or Studio Electronics stuff, Macbeth, or EVERY other mono synth manufacturer I can think of. Come on, if they can't give us polyphony, at least give us discrete oscillators so they live up to the legend! See below for more.
6)Basses are too bright and not bassy enough. Opamps=more money for Bob are to blame. My Waldorf Pulse puts it to shame, not to mention my Future Retro 777 which is the best in my books, though its sort of apples and oranges.

Disappointed with the general sonic density of the non discrete oscillators. With JUST ONE OSCILLATOR, my Technosaurus Microcon has more sonic density than the Voyager! (Not suprisizing as its totally discrete.) The Voyager's are too transparent, and not biting and brash like the olds ones. The tone is delicate enough to begin with, so you really need that brashness for it to cut, especially live.

One thing though, with the old minis the increase in resonance really takes the umph out of a lot of the sound, especially in the bass. The Voyager is better in this regard. Perhaps its because of the non discrete oscillators, I don't know. Though it still tends to have that digital sounding weak bright sound which I shun.

That said, the dual filters, and touch pad are very cool, and with the Technosaurus running through the line in for a needed sonic density, I get some awesomely rad sounds that I won't get elswhere short of a modular system. For this reason and this alone, I am keeping it. Its also a superb controller for a modular which I plan on getting eventually. However, compared with the original Mini's superior sound, you really don't get your money's worth. Bob gets his money though, thats for sure.

There is something psychologists refer to as "cognitive dissonance". It refers to the fact that people will judge far more favorably, something they have spent a lot of money on, than something they didn't. In other words, If they spent 3 grand on a mono synth, the majority of people will not be able to JUDGE OBJECTIVELY about how they sound in comparison to other gear. Old Moog lover or not, the Voyager just does not kick ass like the Moogs of 30 years ago, because the electrical components are not of the same quality. What does "New Sound" mean? More digital, less biting, more transparent. Thats what it sounds like to me.

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.

Version number is not displayed, the unit is recent so I hope it's the most recent version of software. The website has the latest version for download if need be.

The presets sound great but most are show and tell, I did like the fact there are some ELP and Rick Wakeman style presets so right away you can tell that indeed you are getting a Moog sound. The knobs are what this thing is all about though.

You can immediately edit preset sounds and the manual tells you exactly and clearly how to do so. To start from scratch with a sound might be daunting for the uninitiated in analog synthesis. I think that's half the fun to come up with something new and different. It's an analog synth so no patch editor is needed, nor desired IMO.

The manual appears to be well written with some basics on subtractive synthesis. It doesn't go too deep. Keep in mind that this keyboard is analog and to get the most interesting sounds out of it you will have to dial in your sound. Everything is adjustable.

Monophonic means "one note at a time" and this is a shocker for someone who is used to digital wizardy and high polyphony keyboards. I think creativity is always enhanced by limitation so, with that in mind there is no need to fear the monophonic boundaries of this keyboard. The keyboard action is hard to describe, it feels nice but one thing I noticed and do not really like is the chatter of the keys when released quickly. To me this indicates a cheap keyboard and that is a loss of points in this category. Moog would do well to monitor the quality control since these boards are not cheap by any means.

No built in effects per se' but you can create your own using the routing and design of your sound.

It does have expansion capabilities and this is a big plus. The VX-351 is an add on you can get for the keyboard that expands it into a full blown modular synth and this is the direction I intend to go with it. You can patch in external modules ie., MOTM (www.synthtech.com) and develop this thing into a monster. In addition to this there are several input and outputs on the rear panel for a "whole lotta" control options. One in partical that I like is the mix out/ filter in jack that basically allows you to "insert" external effects into the signal chain.

Midi in thru and out connections are available and add to the flexibility of the keyboard. The full usual midi controls are there.

No onboard sequencer and just as well, I have a Kurzweil expressionmate and PC sequencing software so that will suffice my needs.

This is a Moog, it sounds like a Moog. Nothing to imitate here.

This synth is analog and you can shape the sounds to fit or inspire your music. Whether it be rock, ambient, prog you name it.

The keyboard is velocity sensitive and it responds well to pressure.

I would depend on this keyboard. In my case it is used in a studio so no road hazards here.

I would certainly have some sort of back up if I were to gig with this keyboard, but that is just gig savvy.

Moogmusic responds well to emails and are friendly. Hopefully I will never need the repair department. I suspect they would do well if needed.

One interesting question that I think about alot is what the difference in quality is between "Signature Editions" and the "Performer Editions". There is a big price difference between the two and the warranty coverage is longer on the "Signatures". Obviously wood selection was a choice and an autograph as well. So far as collectability is concerned I might understand the differences but quality control and quality itself should be the same for all Moog products in my opinion. I get the sense that you may be getting a noticeable difference in quality in the "Performer Eedition" which is disappointing to me. I feel for the cost the warranty should be the same for all Moog synthesizers. This in no way affects the sound or features and I do think the "Voyager Performer" is a quality synth.

I would purchase the Moog again if stolen if I had the means to do so. If this synth inspires my music and creativity, and it does, then how can it not be worth the price paid?

I am a guitarist first and a keyboard player second. 20+ years on the guitar less than 5 on keyboards.

I use the Moog in a home studio. I use alot of softsynths at the moment, Native Instruments stuff is great, Spectrasonics Atmosphere is awesome, Lounge Lizard and Emagic EVP88, good stuff as well.

Moog has a long history in the synth world and started something big in music. That fact alone draws me to any product he might come up with. This product is no different. I love the sound and flexibility of the Moog. I am looking at modular analog synthesis so it fits perfectly into this realm of music creation. One thing I failed to mention is the touchpad. This thing is great and very expressive.

The only thing I can see about this keyboard that I do not like is the key chatter when played with speed, maybe I just need to adjust my playing style but other keyboards I own do not do this.

There is nothing to compare this board to, it is unique.

It certainly helps me make and enjoy music and that is all that really counts. If you can try before you buy I would recommend doing so. Nevertheless this is a wonderful instrument.

I don't know the software version - it doesn't display when I switch it on. The presets are fun for a few minutes but you don't buy a Minimoog for the presets. You buy it so that you can dial in your own sounds from scratch, change 'em while you're playing, etc.
If you understand subtractive synthesis, you will have a ball with this instrument - it's playable, it sounds great....hey, it's a REAL Minimoog!

It's a monophonic solo instrument. The keyboard action is far better than the original Minimoog, much smoother and consistent feel for each key. There's an optional device you can connect to the Minimoog to make it more modular. There's no sequencer (thank goodness - this is a musical instrument, not a "push the button and it plays the tune" toy).

Don't try to imitate real instruments with a Minimoog. It is an instrument with its own unique and recognizable sound.

The first one I got started generating noise after it was on for about 20 minutes. I shipped it back and Moog Music sent me another one...it works perfectly.
As for using it on a gig, never mind backups - I want several of them on stage, just like Rick Wakeman :-)

They were great. Tech support responded quickly. Most interesting is that they were willing to drop-ship me a new one before they received the broken one back. Moog Music does really seem to care!

I have pined after a Minimoog for 20 years...damn right I would buy it again.....after shooting whoever stole it from me :-)
I've been playing keyboards for 30 years, was professional for a few years a long time ago (pre-MIDI) with an 11 keyboard stage setup.

Who compares a Minimoog? It's the Steinway of the synthesier world!

I wish it was a little less expensive.

Super easy. Just turn it on and go. The presets on the Voyager make it much easier than the original Minimoog. For more complicated modulations, it's the best there is. Unlike other synths, where you have to dig deep into menus to start modulating the sound, with the Voyager, it's all right in front of u. The labelling is excellent - just choose a source, and then choose a destination. Simple. I have an ARP 2600, and although it has more extensive patching capabilities, even the basics on it took me a lot longer to learn.

Far more modulation features than the original. The addition of the Sample and Hold(s) (u get 2 of them) give you the ability to make more "spacey" sounds, which you could never do on the original. Also, you now have a separate LFO and the ability to modulate the oscillators, the EG's and the filters, etc. which you also couldn't do on the original.

The 3D Matrix Modulator is Phenomenal. I have an original ribbon controller, and the 3D Mod. on the Voyager is just as fun in its own right.

Bottom Line: If I could only own 1 Analog Synth. The Voyager would be it!!! Moog has truly preserved all the elements of the original, while adding way more extensive modulation capabilities, great quality, and all that modern electronics (i.e. stable osc, midi...) have to offer.

I think the Voyager sounds as good as my old Mini. The original mini sounds a little grittier, but that doesn't mean it's better. The Voyager just sounds a little more refined.

Bottom Line: It's a Moog

I haven't had it long enough to say.

Haven't had to use them. I hope I never have to call.

It ain't cheap, but for bass lines, lead solos & even for "Spacey" sounds, it's all u need!!! It's built like a tank, and it's worth every penny. I'd definitely replace it if it were stolen.

Enjoy!

I give the Minimoog Voyager a 10..of course!

What is the polyphony? Monophonic...just like the original
Does it have any built in effects? Yes! The Moog filters!!!...(but no, of course, it does not have effects).
Does it have expansion capabilities? Yes...an accessory unit called the VX-351 can be added to the SCSI port on the back making the Minimoog a Modular of-sorts(Im getting one).
What MIDI capabilities are there? The Voyager responds to Note On messages, Program Change messages, All Notes
Off, Pitch Bend, Mod Wheel (CC1), and Volume Controller (CC7) messages.(that was from the manual)...The minimoog also does "sysex" dump and receive.
Does it have an on-board sequencer?No.
How flexible is it? It is as flexible as you would expect from a "lead" type synth...what you put in is what you get out.
Easy to use? The Minimoog Voyager is simple to use, the beautiful big knobs are easy a smooth to turn, However data entry on the small screen is tedious at best for entering patch names.

What types of music does it work well for? Tomita, Vangelis, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Klaus schultz, ELP,YES,...and your own 70s art rock style.
Does it react to your playing? Yes, it has a very expressive touch pad that is very cool...if ytou hold down a note and touch paart of the pad all with one hand, and with the other hand touch softly the metal housing of the synth something weird happens...But i'll leave that for the owners...
How does it react to velocity and aftertouch? Yes it reacts well to Velocity and "Pressure"..
Overall the Minimoog is "over all"...as you would expect it is very expressive and the filter sweeps and waves are so cool I cannot ezplain, smooooth.

Can you depend on it? I guess, however you'll be too busy playing with it to depend on it.
Would you use it on a gig without a backup? I would never let this beauty leave my house...never!

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?
I e-mailed Moog music about dealers in my area and they responded the same day.
Ever get an upgrade, or try and get it repaired? I just downloaded the user manual in PDF from their web site and I also Got the new OS and some cool patch sets all from the web site as well.

If it were lost or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else? If my Minimoog was ever stolen I would die...the Lord would take me home.
Is it worth what you paid? I got a steal on mine in a very small town music store where you would never expect to find a Minimoog...let alone a synthesizer.(City boy).
How long have you been playing?29 years
What other gear do you own? Lots of stuff that I would feel bad bragging about.(not really all that bad though).
what do you love about it? I love the fact that my Mod wheels glow bright blue...I love the Walnut cabinet so beautifully crafted....I love the Big smmoth knobs...I love the touch pad...I love the Tilt control panel...I love all the Outputs and inputs on the back.
"Every Little Thing".
What do you hate? I hate Other people who get grease from their fingers on my synths.
Did you compare it to other products? NO.
Why did you choose this one? Actually, it took some time to decide to Buy the Minimoog Voyager because it is monophonic...and the fact is in all my years playing I have never owned or even touched a Minimoog, so when I got over the fact that it was only Mono I only had to come up with the cash. But I chose the Minimoog because of the fame and lore of bands like YES and others who have used the Original and the sounds they made with it.
Anything you wish it had? I wish it had Come with an editor for the mac or PC so I do not have to scroll through or use the touch pad to enter names. Thats it.
Anything else you'd like to share? I hope Bob Moog does not make a Memorymoog because i'll buy that too...

Moog Music's new flagship product, Voyager, is a monophonic performance synthesizer. Keep this in mind as it should not be confused (or compared) with dance-oriented polypohnic units and other poyphonic synths.
When I first started looking for a synthesizer for my sound studio about 6 months ago I noticed a commonality among reviews: often they would ask "can it sound like a Moog," or, more often, "Can it make THAT sound?"
As I have found with microphones, it is often better to buy the unit that is typicaly used for comparison purposes rather than the most recent competitor.
Consquently, when the Voyager came on the market, I jumped at the chance. My local Guitar Center was able to get a cherry model for me and I added it to my modern performance arsenal of Yamaha P-80 piano and Roland VK-7 organ clone. The three complement each other as real-time performance instruments.
I have, just this last week, upgraded to the new OS (2.5). All owners will want to do this immediately. While still a bit raw, the new OS update allows for altering presets and for saving new sounds under your own supplied timbral name. The Voyager is completely analog, but its digital interface is growing in complexity and power. Watch out for the naming procedure -- it needs to be followed by saving the sound in order to work.
The presets are a gas and I wish there were many more of them. I particularly like the ones in which the timbre changes (#50 as "Fuzzy"). Would suggest that if only 64 are going to conitnue to be offered, that there be more leads and less bass lines.
The manual is in two sections: one oriented towards the instrument itself and a second that deals with the software. Both could be more comprehensive, although they do the basic job.
ASAP, Voyager needs to find a writer who can share their programming expertise with the rest of us; in particular, something like Rhea's programming diagrams for the original MiniMoog.

The Voyager is a blast back to the past as far as synths go.
It is designed to be a real-time performance synth and it is delightful in this capacity. No serious keyboardist could sit in front of this instrument for 10 minutes and not find something that is impressive. The knoobs and modules are expansions of the original MiniMoog (with Modulators, additional filters, and digital interface).
Tweaking sounds is extremely easy, but the value of the instrument is in its experimental possibilities. I have been fooling around with sounds that change timbre throughout their time and have a background hint of Sample and Hold ambience. Very interesting.
Would suggest that buyers consider this instrument for real-time performance and individual sound creation (i.e., not rushing to the presets in order to hook it up to a MIDI sequencer).
There are a great deal of Ins and Outs for expansion purposes and they are well designed and implemented.

OK, this category is the payoff.
Yep, you've heard it from other reviewers and you are hearing it again from this one!
This is the best sounding synthesizer I have ever heard.
The oscillators are rock solid and amazingly powerful. They have an immediacy that no virtual synth possesses - despite the rhetoric being claimed for the better ones. The difference in sound quality is great, despite what you may have read on the Net.
Having spent some time downloadng MP3 files from the Net to compare synths, I can tell you that you should abandon this technique. Instead, find a Voyager to try out and give it a good 30 minutes. If you are looking for a real-time performance instrument, and can live with the monophonic restriction, you will be convinced.
This instrument reminds me of Grotrian pianos -- instruments so good they suggest expressive gestures to the performer ALL BY THEMSELVES!
Not a "10" here -- much more like a "12."

Do not gig; use for studio only.
Believe the instrument is extremely well built and comes with a 4-year warranty.
The travel bag that comes with the Signature edition is substantial but I would want something hard if I was travelling wih the unit.
It is fairly heavy (40 pounds).

Had no experience except to download the OS update.
Did meet Robert in the early 1970s at a University conference. Keep up the stellar work, Bob!

Am a professional musician who specializes in early music but plays modern, popular music for enjoyment.
Would not enjoy having the instrument stolen and would purchase another despite the cost.
Compared this to all other commercially-available synths for some six months. Despite the attraction of the Andromeda A6 and the Virus C, the Voyager was head and shoulders above the competition. It is, truly, in its own class right now.
But, as I stress above, this is because I was looking for a real-time performance instrument for use in my studio. It is not the right device for dance-oriented MIDI people.
There are still a number of Signature Voyagers available through Net music stores. Considering the quality of the instrument, Moog's name, reputation, and signature, and the collectability of the type, would suggest that you make this a Christmas present for yourself. You and your heirs won't be disappointed.

Very hands on, with tons of knobs. Well marked and laid out.

The os isn't complete so all the options aren't open yet, but the touch pad is awesome. The keyboard has a really nice feel to it.

It is monophonic, but that is fine with me. It is very expressive and has a wonderful sound. This synth begs to be played and tweeked.

Have had no problems with tuning yet. The touch pad had a slight problem but Moog music was quick to respond and have it fixed. It seems to be very stable.

The people at Moog are extremely nice, and very helpful.

I don't know if I could afford to replace it, or could at all since it is # 33 of 600. IT would definitely be missed if lost. It is very inspiring and fun to play. HIghly recomended to analog fans.

Very straight-forward and easy to use besides the initial unfamiliarity of the touch pad.

All the hardware you could want for an analog monosynth. Gets a "9" rating because the OS is not complete.

This is it! Monster monosynth. Add it to a good poly and it should be all you ever need.

People say things like "built like a tank" when referring to good build quality. This takes that statement one step further. Hand-built to perfection. Very nice attention to detail and solidly built without sparing expense.

Just got it! Haven't needed anything yet, so we'll see. My exchanges with Moog Music have all been positive however.

Walnut #170. I love it! If it were lost or stolen (God forbid) then I probably would not replace it just because I would not be able to afford it (and it's a sig. series; pretty irreplaceble). However, after saving up for a good while I guess I could purchase a performer edition.

I just received my Voyager sinature Edition (Walnut #196). It was definitely worth the long wait. I am using the OS 1.0 for now. Most people are aware of the specs; I assume most people reading these reviews are simply intersted in the sounds and the overall enjoyment factor. In short, it is like the mini but with more features including more extensive modulation routing capabilities. The preset sounds are good only to give one an idea of the scope of sounds it can make. It is very cool though to be able to store sounds....Note that stored sounds cannot be modified extensively. One has to be in "edit" mode to tweak all the parameters, so whatever the parameters are set at will always be the default sound in edit mode. This is cool, since the actual knob settings are true to the current the sound (unless one is playing a preset sound). Editing patches is very simple as long as one has a basic understanding of analog synthesis. Things that aren't immediately intuitive become apparent with experimentation. Another nice feature is that there are no parameters hidden in menus.....I always hated this with the digital synths. Note that the OS upgrades may allow one to pick settings in a menu (there are mod bus settings with "pgm" as an option), though this should be straight forward. The manual is nice because it illustrates basis and fundementals of subractive synthesis. Overall, the manual shouldn't be necessary figure things out.

This is a monophonic synth, so obviously it is not meant for keyboard sounds, pads, etc, but this is why they make other synths. The keyboard action feels quite nice and solid. Other than the cool touch pad, it has no built in effects, though the spacing capability of the filters can create a swirly phaser-like effect. I would HIGHLY recommend playing this synth through a delay, as with any monophonic synth. It is velocity and pressure sensitive (these are both routed through the modulation busses), though it is too sensitive.....for example, the modulation bleeds through even if you do not apply any pressure to the keys. It has MIDI; no sequencer (no big deal)

The sounds are wonderful. It has that same warm, fat sound as a minimoog. I have a minimoog as well (serial number 1970) and compared the 2 side by side with identical sounds. The mini has a mildy rawer edge, otherwise they are indistinguishable. In light of all the other Voyager's features, the sounds are otherwise superior to the minimoog.

I don't gig; the tuning stability is much greater than older analogs. I haven't had it long enough to see if the oscillators will drift in pitch overtime, though from I read, this should not be a major issue. It takes ony seconds to warm up. The wood is solid, the knobs are smooth.......it seems very well built.

So far Moog Music has been very helpful, and they have been very nice over the phone.

It is a very pricey synth, but I feel you definitely get what you pay for both in sound and quality. Anyone who loves tweaking synths would certainly enjoy the Voyager. I have several other synths, and though they are more complex, the Voyager has by far been the most fun to play with. Its biggest limitation is the fact that it is monophonic, but that is just fine with me.....I just wouldn't recommend it if one did not have at least one polyphonic keyboard to go along with it. Barring that, I would whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who appreciates vintage synthesizers. Other keyboards I have include: Korg Trinity Pro X V3 (Awesome), Access Virus kb (Awesome), Waldorf Q (Awesome), Minimoog (Awesome), Gleeman Pentaphonic Clear (very rare, sounds cool), Korg MS 20 (ok, fun to play around with), prophet 5 (not all they are cracked up to be sound-wise but they look cool)

I finally got my Minimoog Voyager Signature Edition. It is serial #125 in walnut.

If you're curious about these, try one out in person. Most mp3s don't do it justice, the lossy compression of mp3 encoding messes up the bottom end and destroys that classic Moog beef. Some GCs do have them on display, then as the sig models are finished there should be Stage editions going out the door.

Some of the presets sound really good (000, 001, and 012 are good ones), most of them are waft so don't judge by the presets. Push that EDIT button and start playing with the panel, then make a judgement. Twist those knobs, toggle those switches, select a program #, and press ENTER to store the sound. It doesn't get any easier than this. The slope of the front panel can be set in five different angles like the original.

The manual is well written. In addition to describing what the knobs do, you're getting a course in Analog Synthesizer Programming 101 along with material for the advanced students. The OS is pretty early (v1.01) and is getting features added everyday, but the hardware is nailed down and it sounds great.

The Voyager Minimoog is the Minimoog for the 21st century. It has everything the original has, including the sound. Moog Music has added variable waveshaping on each VCO, hard sync, linear FM, a second Moog filter for stereo processing, a dedicated LFO, two modulation busses, full ADSR EGs, velocity and pressure aftertouch sensitive keyboard, MIDI, programmability for 127 patches, a three dimensional touchpad controller, and lots of I/O points.

The VCOs have waveshaping, continuously variable from triangle to ramp to variable width pulse. Each has an octave switch with ranges from 32' to 1' and VCO2/3 have an extra large frequency knob that varies each respective VCO +/- seven semitones. Like the original, when you put VCO3 in LFO mode the range of the frequency knob is extended. The extra large knob really makes dialing in the frequency easy. VCO2 can be sync'd to VCO1 and the sync really screams - best when they are at least an octave apart. Linear FM (ala DX7) is available with VCO3 modulating VCO1. VCO3 can operate as an LFO by two switches; one disconnects the keyboard control and one changes the frequency range to subsonic - much more range than the dedicated LFO.

The Voyager has dual Moog ladder filters that can operate in dual parallel lowpass mode or in series as bandpass mode, in which one of the filters is changed to non-resonant highpass mode. The filters are 24dB/octave, and a future OS will give you a 12dB/octave option. Unlike the fixed options on the original, the Voyager has fully variable keyboard tracking. Both lowpass filters will self-oscillate. The cutoff has an extra large knob for fine-tuning the sound, this is easier to operate than the original Minimoog.

New to the Minimoog Yoyager is the SPACING control, which sets the difference in cutoff frequencies of the filters - it changes the cutoff frequency of one of the filters from minus 3 octaves to plus three octaves with respect to the other filter. When used in bandpass mode (highpass/lowpass), the cutoff sets the upper LP cutoff and the spacing sets the lower HP cutoff.

Hearing dual lowpass filters in stereo sounds a lot better than I had anticipated - especially when you play with the touchpad. You can get everything from subtle phase cancellations to wide spread in the stereo field. It's all in the SPACING control, especially for spacey S&H stuff. If you're trying one out in a store that has a non-stereo speaker setup, plug in a set of headphones for a real stereo treat or ask to have it hooked up to stereo speakers. Mono mode doesn't do it justice.

The dedicated LFO has triangle, square, and S&H along with an LED to indicate its frequency. The LFO can be free-running or it can be sync'd to keyboard (resets to new key), to MIDI clock, or to Envelope Gate (external triggering). The LFO frequency goes from about one cycle every five seconds to 50hz, and the frequency can be modulated from the modulation buss or from the rear panel jacks. You only need VCO3 as an LFO if you need wider range or if you want keyboard tracking.

There are two modulation buss systems, one for the Mod Wheel and the other for a Pedal (MOD2 rear jack or full on). Each buss has a source, destination, shaping, and amount control. Source selects one of the three LFO outputs, VCO3, ON/MODx, or Noise/PGM. MODx is the rear panel jack that accepts any control voltage source; a CV pedal (passive or active), a controller (IE ribbon), or an external VCO/LFO/Noise source from your modular synth. There are MOD1 and MOD2 inputs. With nothing plugged in a MODx jack, it defaults to full ON. PGM is a source selectable from the menu system in software - on its way in a future OS.

The source can be routed to one of six destinations: pitch, VCO2, VCO3, filter, VCO waveshape, or LFO Rate/PGM. PGM is a destination selectable from the menu system in software - on its way in a future OS. The SHAPING control selects a controller for varying the amount of modu

I've had the Voyager side-by-side with my R.A. Moog Minimoog (serial #1053) and believe it or not, the Voyager sounds like the Mini. That old Minimoog has that classic G-R-O-W-L that I could not get out of any other synth, Moog or otherwise. The Voyager nailed that growl. Basses and leads and FX measure up to the original. I own many vintage synths and have auditioned many more, and the Voyager is the only keyboard that could nail THAT minimoog sound. Not even the Andromeda could get that growl, even though that is one awesome synth. After all, Bob Moog designed both the original and the Voyager, so if anyone could match or beat the original Minimoog it would be Bob. Even the glide sounds minimoogish.

Don't just buy one because it sounds like the original... the Voyager does so much more, with dual filters, a great modulation system, and that cool touchpad.

There isn't a single loose or sloppy knob, pot, or switch anywhere on this thing. I cannot hear any stepping, zippering, or staircasing from any of the knobs - filter sweeps are smooth and oscillator pitch can really be fine tuned.

The Voyager's filters have that vintage Minimoog warmth and squeal, maybe just a hint creamier. The filters on the original Minimoogs did vary from unit to unit - some were better at soft smooth timbres, others did better hard sounds. The first couple hundred originals did have one feature that set them apart - all the transistor pairs in the ladder filter were matched, versus only the top and bottom pairs in the later units. I have heard three of the early filters (#1001, #1009, and my #1053) and those all sounded alike despite each having different oscillator boards (there were three versions over the original Minimoog production era). When I heard the later Minimoogs the difference in the filter was very noticeable. The Voyager filters sounds like the early ones, it's so close to my #1053 that it's uncanny. One of the reasons the original Minimoog sounded so great for bass was a "fault" in the filter - the resonance doesn't stay constant over the full range, it decreases at lower cutoff frequencies. To my ears it sounds like the Voyager copied this trait, as bass sounds with a slight spike from the EG sounds like the original. As a bonus, while increasing the resonance just into self-oscillation duplicates the non-linear resonance of the original, cranking the resonance fully clockwise produces self-oscillation across the entire range. Watch your ears when going supersonic!

The bandpass filter mode opens up some nice sonic options, always handy to have. Dual lowpass filters in stereo has to be heard to be believed - play with the touchpad and that spacing control for loads of fun. The resonant quality of the filters is wonderful and quite variable - it's been a long time since I heard a filter this good. Combined with the touchpad and pressure/velocity, this is a really expressive synth. I have found a lot of use for pressure aftertouch in my other vintage synths and was mighty pleased to see it in the Voyager.

Just recently I dialed in a trumpet solo patch that uses the filter envelope to sweep VCO2 slightly off pitch from VCO1 and it makes a really good transient, so combined with those great filters it got one of the fattest brass solos I've heard in a long time. The original Minimoog couldn't do that without modification.

OK, get this: you had to let Minimoogs and other analog synths "warm up" for about twenty minutes before they are stable, because the components on the circuit boards heat up at different rates and then settle at operating temperature.

Turn on the Voyager, and in about TEN SECONDS it is stable and ready to play. Even when brought in from a cold car. I'VE NEVER SEEN AN ANALOG SYNTH WARM UP THAT FAST!!! *That* is an achievment - no more waiting for your VCOs to warm up!

The Voyager is solid - no flexing anywhere, steel base and steel control panel enclosure. The internal pc boards are super clean and the component quality looks top notch. The connector pins between boards are gold-plated, so they won't oxidize. Oxidation is a common ill on many synths that use tin-plated connector pins, which causes them to go out of tune or malfunction some other way. The Voyager won't have these problems with their gold-plated connecter pins - expect it to be very reliable. I'm an EE and I have years of experience in military electronics, so I know a reliable assembly when I see one.

Moog Music is really responsive with its customers. I've been in contact about OS features and they've been really open. Hell, I saw the first prototype at NAMM2000 which was far less featured - Bob got a lot of input, then went back to the drawing board and built the machine people had asked for. That's customer feedback. Even though they are really busy building product, they were timely when I arranged payment on the balance for my Voyager and they shipped it out within a day. I have contacted them in the past (also bought an LMC Minimoog MIDI Interface and some MF pedals) and they are always receptive and helpful.

The Voyager isn't for everybody. If you look at the price and start wishing that it had a sequencer or arpeggiator or built-in effects or polyphony, then you're looking for the wrong machine. If you want that vintage Moog sonority with real tools of expression, a great interface with knobs & switches, and a killer sound then this is your axe. This baby was meant to be PLAYED by HUMAN HANDS. The price of admission is well worth it. Yes it's monophonic, but with the tools in the Voyager you can get extremely expressive sounds out of it. Yes it's monophonic but so is the human voice, so is the saxophone, the trumpet, etc and they are all extremely expressive in capable hands. So the OS is in its infancy - the hardware sounds excellent, that's the number one priority. The "corny" sounds of "Moog" 60s/70s records isn't my bag, I like to sculpt sounds that are expressive and that aren't alien-sounding but sound like they belong in the songs; that's why I chose the Voyager. I've been playing for over thirty years and own a pile of vintage synths, and it's wonderful to see Bob back at building synthesizers. He has that midas touch and you can hear it and feel it. In the three years that went into making this machine you can tell that a lot of love went into it - well worth the wait. This is the only keyboard I have ever bought sight unseen; I had full confidence that Bob would deliver a product worth my cold hard cash, and he did.