To Moog or not to Moog, that is the question?

Jack Hammer

New member
I ordered a Voyager performance model.
They are selling for $2,999.99 or thereabouts. But...MOTU has come out with a new box that has 24 analogue ins and outs - perfect for my set-up and just what I have been waiting for. It is also 96 khz so I am expecting some pretty good sound.

The Voyager is a luxury item to me, the MOTU a necessity since I have a 2408 mkII that has only 8 analogue ins and outs. Since I have no digital board or recorder, I do not really have 24 tracks and have to use workaround bussing and/or muting when recording after the 8 initial tracks are used. This would be eliminated in a big way and so, its a must have.

But then the Voyager...I am really unsure if there is all that much benefit to this board. I should add that I have a Virus b and a Waldorf Micro Q so that my "analogue" type sounds are fairly well covered.

To be sure, the Voyager sounds absolutely amazing, it is really great but...pricey.


So, I have decided to go with the MOTU for now and see about the Moog at a later date...Wouldn't you?
 
Yeah, its kind of pricey. 3k for a monophonic synth. When you think that you can get a top of the line Triton of Motif for that money it gives you pause. The other consideration would be the possibility of a PC to run Gigastudio on, plus the program plus some great ROM samples. For 3k you could do quite well in this department. I think my Access Virus b and Waldorf Micro Q give me enough phat analogue sounds and phat bass sounds so that I can live without the Voyager.

Yet I must say, that Voyager is sweet and it is a classic and great for programming. Damn, I'm a synth junkie, no two ways about it. I want one of everything!

Be that as it may, I decided to put off the Voyager for now. I decided that the MOTU 24i/o was a better investment, particularly since I have a 24 channel analogue board.
 
the moogs are overhyped and thus, the prize is amazingly high... it's not even like it's innovative or anything... jomox sunsynth is innovative...
it's a classic misconception that you have to have a moog... there are alot of just as fine boards out there for less money..
 
keep the moog

Hi. I was one of the earlier orderers of the Voyager. Luckily I preordered my Sig. edition before the price hike ($2,995 for #170 walnut). I also have a Waldorf Q+. I have owned many boards and given my budget and space requirements I wanted only two boards. In my mind I have the best combination possible. The Moog gives me the phattest, rawest sounds possible. In addition this board is beautiful, will keep it's value, and can do a heck of a lot more than the original. The Q+ is fabulous because it accels in making digital sounds, but can do a lot of real analogue sounds the VA's simply can't do. I can't imagine ever selling either, and they compliment each other quite well. With your set-up I would definitely keep the Moog. It is a luxury, but you get what you pay for. If you are eyeing that Motu, I'd either take out a loan, finance it, or simply save up. In a few years the Motu will lose a great deal of value and be obsolete. The Moog will NEVER be obsolete. Just my $ .02
 
Some things you just have to have the real thing


Harleys, Hammonds, Moogs, its not something you can nail down, it just is.

I miss my old moog..I want another...


Problem is, I would have to sell my hammond or my Harley
 
Man, f. Lai makes a good point about the moog
keeping its value. If your think about it as an investment, it is not unlike keeping the money in the bank.
 
The performance model is the "non signature" right? So you're gonna pay the same amount for one without the signature?
Ouch.
That's alot o' fuckin dough!

I'd make damn sure that the Hartmann isn't better before I bought.
 
If you think the Hartman and the Moog are comparable in any way besides they both make "noise", then you need to find a new hobby.
 
Sure they're comparable. They both cost alot of money, and they're both very cool. And yeah... they both make noise too.:rolleyes:
 
And the sounds they do make are completely different. It's like deciding to buy a new drum set or a tuba.
 
A drum set and a tuba huh? I'd like you to explain to me the differences in the synthesis architectures between the voyager and the neuron, and explain to me what it is that I missed on either that make them go from 2 synths to a drum set and a tuba.

Monophonic, polyphonic, neural synthesis, 5.1, touchpad... Big deal. They are the two coolest newest synths, and they are no different than your dick and my dick except for size and mine pisses longer.

The only reason I mentioned it is because if I were buying a new synth for x amount of thousands of dollars, I'd want to make sure there wasn't anything out there I wanted more.

So quit busting my balls about a subject I need no teaching in BiOTCH!
 
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I wasn't trying to bust your balls, just pointing out that they make VERY different sounds, and therefore are NOT comparable in the sense of making similar sounds.
 
Voyager Samples

Thought you guys may be interested in some samples:






Those are some samples by Jay Denonville aka Synthbaron. Pretty neat stuff IMO.
 
i'm not exactely impressed with those sounds... i could definitely make those very sounds on any V/A you put in my hands... which kinda reveales once again that analogue synthesis in most cases is too expensive for what it's worth...

there are still cases where you'd need analogues, and that's when the filter tweaks needs to be fluent... tb303 actions for instance..
 
I like the old analog synthesizers mostly because it's great at teaching you the basics of sound synthesis. Once I learned how to program that, creating sounds on other, newer units made a lot more sense.

But you don't need a Moog for that. I learned on my $100 ARP Axxe. I'd love to have a Moog, but to be honest you can get a far superior ARP or Oberheim from the same period and get a lot more synth for the same price. An Odyssey is half the price of a miniMoog.

---
DAVID VESEL -- electro music
http://www.ampcast.com/davidvesel
davidvesel@pobox.com
 
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