Members MuzikB Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 How often does it appear that you have to tune your synth and are you wholefully satisfied with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Amos Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 Mine was in great tune when I got it; after taking it to gigs and practices several times (including one outdoor show) over the course of about six-eight months, I have just noticed that oscillator 2 is a tiny hair flat when I init. the default settings and turn on all three oscs. in unison (1 and 3 are still in good unison). For now it's nothing to just tweak the osc. 2 frequency up a hair and get it perfect if I want... a little bit of detuning usually sounds better anyway, so it's no biggie but I'll want to tune it up a touch within a few months. As for satisfaction, I have to say that the more I program patches and play sounds on this instrument, the deeper I find it to be and the more appreciation I have for its power and flexibility. Its sounds seem to fit into the mix like the perfect seasoning in a gourmet dish... "Bam!" it makes the mix and kicks it up a notch.. Like any analog with a bunch of little trim pots controlling the tuning, the more you bang it around and subject it to different climates, the likelier it is to need touch-up tuning. Even still, I haven't run into any major issues so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AJP Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 Someone's got GAS...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members urbanscallywag Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 Originally posted by AJP Someone's got GAS...... How rude! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MuzikB Posted August 14, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 Originally posted by AJP Someone's got GAS...... LOL. I'm just looking to make a bit of an investment as well as have a good old fashioned analog monosynth. With the Voyager RME going for $2000, I find this price point a lot more appealing. Especially after the version 3 upgrade. Of coarse my SE-1X will be sold along with a few other things to offset the costs and it will sit nicely above my PolyEvolver KB. The PEK is proving to be more versatile that I would have expected. So far, it's the only synth that I have that can pull off a personally satisfying TR-909 kick drum. A little adjustment and add Live's compressor and your there. I'm also experimenting with programming a Minor 9th chord (3rd inversion) in the combi mode. Uncle Dave and his team did good. I've now got my virtuals in one 3-tier keyboard stand and my analogs will go in and on my desk. Thanks for the incite Amos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WhinyLittleRunt Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 I find it almost hillarious that a brand new analog instrument, with an operating system that is obviously not analog, can still have unstable tuning ... Then again, i'm not an electronics wiz so pardon my ignorance if that statement was wayyy out of line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MuzikB Posted August 14, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 Originally posted by WhinyLittleRunt I find it almost hillarious that a brand new analog instrument, with an operating system that is obviously not analog, can still have unstable tuning ...Then again, i'm not an electronics wiz so pardon my ignorance if that statement was wayyy out of line. Yes, I found this a bit odd too, but after doing some reading, yes the Voyager does require a tuning now and then just like the vintage analogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miket156 Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 As Amos said, the more you use it for gigs and knock it around, the better chance of any analog needing calibration. Newer synths are so much more stable, and reliable than the old analogs. One should still treat them with kid gloves though. When I was carrying an Oberheim. a Prophet and various mono synths around, I was the only one to ever handled them, and they held up well, considering the time period I was using them. My first Mini Moog was somewhat of a pain, it needed time to warm up and it was better in a room with a constant temperature, or it would drift more often. The second Mini Moog was better than the first one. I would think the Voyager, as well as the DSI Evolver KB, would be a lot better than the vintage gear. Mike T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MuzikB Posted August 14, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 On the PolyEvolver, as far as I can tell, the oscillators are digitally tuned. There is no adjustment for tuning them since it's handled like a Juno. The Voyager on the other hand doesn't seem to be digitally tuned or perhaps not as digitally tuned as the PolyEvolver and does have adjustments for calibrating its' oscillators. So I thought it would be important to ask how often has this adjustment been necessary so far. I had no doubt that it would be better than past analog synths but the necessity for it to be done brought about the question of frequency of the task. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members urbanscallywag Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 Evolver oscillators aren't digitally tuned, they are digitally clocked. They don't really go out of tune. I wonder if they VCF ever needs calibration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MuzikB Posted August 14, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 Ah. There's nothing on the PolyEvolver that would suggest that routine calibration is necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rjx Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 I have only had mine for 4 days now and it sounds so beautiful. This totally rocks. You know your gonna get one Get it over with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members urbanscallywag Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 I always read about how flexible the Voyager is, but my short time with it did not reveal its secrets. So where are all these cool features? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MuzikB Posted August 14, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 Originally posted by rjx I have only had mine for 4 days now and it sounds so beautiful. This totally rocks. You know your gonna get one Get it over with! Aw man, not the pictures damnit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Amos Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 Originally posted by urbanscallywag I always read about how flexible the Voyager is, but my short time with it did not reveal its secrets.So where are all these cool features? a lot of them are under the edit menu... things like "touch surface destinations" (which can be almost anything) and also the last setting of the selectors on the two mod busses is PGM, i.e. programmable... this is in the edit menu too, it is where the bulk of the huge mod matrix is hiding. The mod source and destination are programmable, and there is a third option, "shaping" which basically modulates the mod bus, and this is programmable also. So it's an nXnXn 3-d matrix... shoot, I don't know how many permutations that adds up to but it's a helluva lot. Also check out "pot mapping" under the edit menu, it lets you map virtually any parameter to any knob... which means for example that you can have the mod wheel doing four things at once if you want to. Or, you can set the pitch bend wheel to change the panning or cutoff at the same time... or oscillator FM amount... the sky's the limit. I heard a rumor that there is an "autotune" abiitry within the Voyager that is curently latent... let's hope those mad Moog engineers can make the autotune active in a future revision. edit: based on my experience so far I would recommend an annual tuning if the Vger is gigged with; if it just stays in your studio and the climate isn't crazy it may not even need tuning that often. There are enough front panel tuning controls that you could tune-up a given patch for a gig or recording and not even need to worry about it even if you do find yourself out of tune and in a pinch... fine tune + osc 2 and 3 frequency knobs mean you can dial it in no matter what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boose44 Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 Only have had my Voyager AE for two months, but yeah, I'm a "wholefully" satisfied customer. Sometimes, when first turned on, I've noticed the osc's will be about a step and a half sharp -- and the keyboard doesn't fully track in tune either. But after a few mins warming up, it's rock solid and stays that way. No complaints here. I don't gig with mine so I don't anticipate needing a tune-up for years. I know that Steve from Moog was reported to have said that some Voyagers from way back in 2002 haven't needed a tuning yet. Check out the forum on the Moog site and do a search for tuning and you'll find a lot of threads about turning. As for cool features -- for me the whole instrument is cool. I mean, it's hand made, and was designed by the good doctor himself. The back lights, the touch pad and the knobby goodness just rock. And the power hidden under the hood is just awesome. Listen, some people go ga-ga over Tritons, Motifs, Nords, Virus, even the Oaisis .. it's all about what floats your boat. -bruce Now for your moment of zen.... Originally posted by MuzikB Aw man, not the pictures damnit! gotta have pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Qwave Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 I got a Voyager and I am very satisfied !!!I was worth the money. I took it to an open air event starting in the warm afternoon and ended in the cold night around midnight. The tuning was more stabil then all my other analogue synths without auto-tune. And after my move to a new home, I had no problem at all. And the warm up of 15 mins or so before being in tune is very OK for me. And my second and third oscialltors are allways a bit detuned if I set them to zero detune by looking at the parameter value read out. But hey that is an analogue synth! My Minimoog or my Prodigy are both not perfect close to zero beating if set to the 12 o'clock detune setting. As long as the keyboard tracking and the detune is stabil at a certain value, I don't care. Welcome to the world of analogue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wooden Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 And do you have to take it to a technician when tunnig is needed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Qwave Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 The tuning to 440 Hz is as easy as tuning aflute. Its a single knob (without memory of cause) on the ver upper right of the front panel. The fine tuning of oscialltors #2 + #3 is also a dedicated knob (in the oscilator section). Its setting is stored with the patch. Its needed to adjust the desired detune (beating) effect of a sound. If an instrument is a bit detuned inside, a zero value is not the value for the lowest detuning. But not a big deal.If the keyboard tracking is not correct, one needs to have it adjusted by a Moog technician. There is no manual known to me, that shows the customers how to do this in the inside of the Voyager. I got the info on how to to this for my original Minimoog. And I did it myself. It is not rocket science. But Moog Music appears to have this done only by their technicians.I would not recommened to do it if one never has opened a synth before. But there are some users out there in the fields that are able to do it, if only they would get the needed info which trimmer inside does what and a step by step instruction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MuzikB Posted August 14, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 Thanks for all the feedback fellas. I thing I'm going to grab an RME 3.0 as soon as I can. If anyone want's to take my SE-1X, OB-12, and Kurzweil Mangler off my hands for the cost of a Voyager RME + shipping just PM me. BTW. my search for an compatible upgrade for the OB-12 will prove more costly than I can afford right now. I was going to appeal to Dave Smith and provide the schematics and my synth as a prototype if he aggreed to take a look but money will still have to be put up for the research. Loot that I don't have while residing in America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MuzikB Posted August 14, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 I didn't know that the Voyager had 4 filter modes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Amos Posted August 14, 2005 Members Share Posted August 14, 2005 Originally posted by MuzikB I didn't know that the Voyager had 4 filter modes. Actually if you want to nitpick, it has 4*4*2 = 32 filter modes! There are two filters, each of which can be individually configured as a 1, 2, 3, or 4-pole... - Then consider that they can be arranged as dual-lowpass in parallel, or as series lowpass-highpass. A wealth of riches for filter freaks, and another example of "hidden depth" that means the Voyager can be programmed to sound all sorts of ways that an original Mini could never touch... I've gottten some surprisingly Roland-y and Korgish basses and leads using things like 1-pole filters in lowpass/highpass mode. fun stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Qwave Posted August 15, 2005 Members Share Posted August 15, 2005 .. and for those who think switching the filters to 3-pole mode will make the Voyager sound like a TB303, should buy some other synth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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