Moog Voyager. . .should I

Mohoyoho · Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 10:58 pm Post subject: Moog Voyager. . .should I

Help me. I am very close in putting some money down towards a Voyager. Talk me out of this. I can get it at a very reasonable price (for a Moog). I have played on one, and I am very impressed. Yes, it monophonic. But it sounds very good to my ears. I think I can get some wacky sounds out of this beast, but it is still expensive. Any thoughts? Yes, I can hear you Nord folks, but the G2 just doesn't seem to beckon. I was on the verge of a V-Synth, but then I played on the Moog.

seraph · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:34 am Post subject: Re: Moog Voyager. . .should I

elektro80 · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 4:13 am Post subject:

The Voyager is a great instrument. I am basically concerned with two things here, first the price.. and then the whole concept of memory banks.

The product seems to be very well made and the parts are of good quality. The price might be defendable, but at this price ( the RRP ) I simply feel I cannot recommend it. Go get it if you think you can afford it. On the other hand, if you can get it for like 50% of the RRP.. why not?

The presets/memory banks aren´t bad as such.. but these make more sense in a software emulation of the product where all the knobs and stuff can be set to the current values as stored in the patch.

mosc · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:14 am Post subject:

Mohoyoho · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:34 am Post subject:

I own an Ion. Love it! But I've played on the Voyager, and it sounds much livelier and fatter. I think it can be used for much more than just leads. I was unaware of the preset thing. That would be a pain. I can get the Voyager for about 2000.

elektro80 · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:41 am Post subject:

mosc · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:16 am Post subject:

Mohoyoho · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:23 am Post subject:

I have seen the Macbeth on the web, but never in person.

Now, I see the V'ger as a very hands on synth with quite a bit of patching capabilities. I own the Moog CV processor for my M'Fooger pedals which works well with the synth, and the V'ger has many CV inputs for modulating many parameters. Plus there is an inexpensive add-on that opens up all the internal CV outs to use with patch cables. Plus the V'ger has an effects loop built in between the filters and the amp outs.

paul e. · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:25 am Post subject:

ok...this may be of some help

i was in the same posiiton as you a month ago..

i spent some serious time playing around with various synths

triton, v-synth, phantom...all no good for me

then it came down to 2 special synths

the moog voyager and nord lead 3

i spent a lot of time on both of these synths

the moog is awesome...VERY MOOG...but...limited

the nord lead 3..has everything..it is a moog plus plus...and even one more plus

turns out,i could afford neither synth heheh..but i would have definetely gone for the nord lead 3 over the voyager

have you tried the nord lead 3 ?

Mohoyoho · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:30 am Post subject:

I have not tried the Lead 3. I have tried the Lead 2, and it's ok. I like my Waldorf Q and XT better.

That Macbeth is in preorder status and selling at 3995. It looks pretty cool.

What has got me on the Moog kick is the Arturia Moog Modular software. I love the sound. The Moog looks like it would be great to perform live with. I wouldn't be doing rock with it; ambient is what it would be used for.

paul e. · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:36 am Post subject:

i have never tried the NL2 so i cannt say how it compares to NL3...but i urge to check out the NL3..it sells at a fair price

somehow, the moog voyager does not strike me as ideal for 'ambient'. mainly due to the mono aspect and bass/lead sound bias it seems to have

elektro80 · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:38 am Post subject:

Mohoyoho · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 11:45 am Post subject:

I already own the M'Fooger Low Pass Filter, Ring Mod, Phaser and CV controller. They are outstanding. Put a percussion track through them and it becomes alive. What does concern me is that I already own a Q and Ion which are very good VA subtractive synths. The XT is a different animal altogether. I feel like I'm getting overloaded with subtractive synths. Perhaps an insane samplerish synth like the V-Synth might be more useful. But playing the Voyager the other day really impressed me.

modulator_esp · Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:39 am Post subject:

Sounds to me like you want something analog and modular, if you don't need patches why not try an analog modular?

Mohoyoho · Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:54 pm Post subject:

Well, those are a bit pricey, and you are always adding to them. Plus I want something very portable for performance. (Although that MOTM in the mixer rack case sure looked good.)

Actually, you are all too late. I put a Voyager Anniv. Edition on layaway. I'm going to pay the balance when I sell my motorcycle. I got it new for $2150, which I think is a pretty good price.

I had some questions about the unit and called Moog in Asheville, NC (an hour from here) and was very impressed by the customer service. The proximity and quick phone service was another deciding factor. I was also impressed by the number of CV ins and outs and the ability to insert an effect within the synth. It doesn't bother me that it's monophonic because I have plenty of polyphonic VAs to use. To my ears the Moog just has a kick ass sound.

As far as my desire for a V-synth, I think I can wait a few years until the prices start to drop. Right now their street price is the $1800-1900 range.

paul e. · Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 7:15 pm Post subject:

congratulations..

and yeah that is a good price for sure

the one i was eyeing was 4,000 CDN ..whixg is approx 3,000 US

so..yeah

elektro80 · Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 4:49 am Post subject:

Mohoyoho · Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 6:55 am Post subject:

Thanks. Yeah, I'll miss my motorcycle. Coincidentally, it's a Yamaha.

I was impressed by all the CV mods on the Voyager. I put an expression pedal on quite a few to see how thhey react, and they were very responsive. I think when I plug my CP 251 control voltage processor into it the Voyager will be even more incredible.

Mohoyoho · Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:53 pm Post subject:

Well I forgot all about this thread. I received my Voyager in September, and brought it to the MEMS show in Indy. This is truly a great synth. (By the way, Mosc, it has 3 Oscillators. Osc. 3 can also serve as another LFO or FM).

One of the issues we talked about above was when changing the presets, the knobs will jump from the previous setting to the new preset setting when moved. This is true, but there are easy ways around this when tweaking on the fly. When you touch the knobs they will tell you the preset setting and what setting you are currently on. If you are not playing a note, you can quickly and easily move the knob close to the original setting without making a jump in sound.

I have been doing some work for Moog, and have the whole line of products except for the MuRF and Theremin. This is quite an expandable synth and could be integrated into most CV systems.

And no, there are way more than two sounds to this synth, but it's forte is definitely bass. It can do some great FX and plenty of slinky and spacey leads as well as some nice percussive sounds. The beauty of this synth is the tweakiness of it. It begs to be modulated and is like a good sports car in those respects. This is a tremendous live performance synth and is right at home with ambient music. It works very well with midi sequencers. Probably its weakness is it's (or my) inability to do spacey pads. But I have my digital synths to handle that chore. There are no effects on board with the Voyager, but it sounds great dry. However the Moogerfooger Ring Modulator can really spice it up. I also love the Moog Analogue delay. The build quality if outstanding, and the customer service couldn't be better.

There are two add-ons: a CV processor and an outbox of most of its CVs, like filter env, vol. env., keyboard pitch, gate, LFO, mixers, etc. The V'ger comes with a bunch of CV inputs, plus there are quite a few modulations via the digital editing menu.

I'm very pleased so far, and I am amazed how deep this synth can get.

mosc · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:31 am Post subject:

Sounds great, Mark.

You can't expect to get too much in the way of pads from a monophonic instrument.

I'm looking forward to hearing it on the NYE event.

cappy2112 · Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 12:23 am Post subject:

Mohoyoho · Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:48 am Post subject:

Since this post has been resurrected, I just thought I would report on my feelings toward the Voyager.

I've had it now for about seven months, and I am still enthralled by it. It has definitely changed the way I approach my live performance. It is so hands-on and for the most part, well laid out. I am amazed at its response. It's like going from a sedan to a sports car.

I have had the latest board upgrade so now there are something like 850+ presets on it. I rarely use the ones that came with it, but some of them are useful as starting points for my own version of the patch. Another feature of the upgrade board is I can now navigate from one preset to another in a flash.

I've added the expander (VX351) which offers quite a few options. It really goes well with the CV processor (CP251) which allows you to mix and modulate a variety of CVs from the Voyager or any other source such as the Moogerfooger pedals..

I've added the Moogerfooger analogue delay to my setup. It's quite interesting. Wish it had stereo ins and outs. It's very different from a digital delay. Each has their unique character.

The service continues to be great. Since I have owned mine there has been two OS upgrades and a third is about to come out. So many times when a software upgrade is offered by a manufacturer, there are initially so many issues. That doesn't seem to be the case with Moog.

As far as what the Voyager has contributed toward my sound, I would say it has made me become much bolder and aggressive. Whether that is good or not is, of course, subjective. Prior to the Voyager, most of my live tweaking of a synth was tied to the modulation wheel and the volume control. With the Voyager, the whole board might get tweaked during a passage.