EM: The Lost World Rediscovered

Tips and techniques for Minimoog Analog Synthesizers
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Lengai
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EM: The Lost World Rediscovered

Post by Lengai » Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:44 pm

Hello fellow Moogers,

I just finished reading the June 2005 edition of Electronic Musician and the main article titled, "The Lost World Rediscovered," has a panel based comparison of the original Moog Minimoog Model D, the Arturia Mimimoog V and the Minimoog Voyager which, as stated in the article, was one of the highlights of the shootout (several virtual instruments were compared to their original hardware counterparts in a blind test - the Voyager was not tested blind, but it was compared to the Model D and Minimoog V after they were blind tested).

The Voyager used in the test was a SE. Here's what the panelists had to say about the Voyager:
Composer-keyboardist Lee Riley described the Voyager as, "analog by nature, but with a clean digital approach - like Sean Connery in an Armani suit." He went on to opine that the Minimoog V came closer to the Voyager than to the original Minimoog (Model D). Zambiato felt the Voyager, "seemed to deliver the best attributes of the [classic] Minimoog and virtual synth."

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Post by punkdisco » Wed Jun 08, 2005 4:07 am

Hmm, does not sound too complimentary..

I think I prefer Gordon Reid's June 2003 Sound On Sound review comment:
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It's now time to disagree with the yobs on the net who state that the Voyager sounds "nothing like a real Minimoog". I don't have a clue what they're talking about and, to be honest, neither do they.

This statement isn't based on memory, or some rose-tinted memories of the sound of a near-mint, vintage Minimoog. For the bulk of this review, an original Minimoog (number 11235, to be precise) sat next to the Voyager, and direct comparisons were available.

The similarities between the two are unmistakeable when you listen to the oscillators without filtering. Somehow, and I don't know how, the Voyager has been imparted with that indefinable 'Moogyness'; that warm growl that always set the Minimoog and its modular forebears apart from the crowd.
Paul
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Post by The Unknown » Wed Jun 08, 2005 8:21 am

If you want to compare a software synth to the Voyager, then check out G-Media's Minimonsta:Melohman. There is a preset on this machine, created by Rick Wakeman, which is almost identical to one of the presets (also created by Rick Wakeman) on the Voyager AE, and you would swear that both are from the Voyager - no question. Rick himself has given great praise to G-Media's software, and you can see video footage of him playing it on their website.

http://www.gmediamusic.com
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RL
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Post by RL » Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:14 pm

Hi folks,
I checked out the impOSCar demo from G-Media and I can't recognize the original OSCar. For me it sounds as a digital synth...

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Lengai
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Post by Lengai » Wed Jun 08, 2005 8:27 pm

I have impOSCar and the Oddity from Gmedia. They aren't the best virtual synths I've ever heard, but I like them. I haven't ever played an original ARP 2600 or an OSCar so I can't make a comparison. I remember reading a review of the impOSCar in EM where they said it was a good emulation.

As for the article in this month's EM, they did compare the ARP 2600 with Arturia's 2600V and Way Out Ware's TimewARP 2600. Basically the article said that the original ARP 2600 was a pain in the butt because of the age of the controls and that the TimewARP 2600 was, "almost more real than the real thing. It stood out for the smoothness of its filter sweep."

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MC
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Post by MC » Wed Jun 08, 2005 10:07 pm

I played with the TimeWarp2600 at NAMM, very impressive piece and yes the filter is very authentic. Not just the sweep, but also the resonance which has been the achilles heel of softsynths for a long time. It was better than the Arturia 2600.

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Post by mee3d » Sun Jun 12, 2005 3:29 pm

I have owned 2 OSCars and have played them on and off for 17 years or so. Earlier this year I decided to sell both of them (for the big sum of money they fetch now) and I bought GMEDIA's impOSCar as a back-up to the OSCars sound.

IN the 80's I bought OSCars because I couldn't afford a minimoog!

Personally I think the impOSCars sound is actually very close to a hardware OSCar . . remember, most of the original OSCar is digital anyway . . all the Oscillators, envelopes and modulation is digital . . just the dual filters are analog.

Naturally there are differences, mostly in the "touch and feel" of the instrument . . as, there isn't any! but this is the same with all VSTi's, once in a mix it's a pretty good emulation . . . also the sound fidelity is always going to be of a higher quality coming out of a dedicated computer audio i/o then out of the back of an aging 20 year old 'cheap' hardware synth . . you need to 'dirty' down the sound of your VSTi's to get them to sound real vintage.

I have said this before . . but soon we will reach a time when computing power and software programming will be powerful enough to emulate all the old classics . . already GMedia are turning that corner with the minimonsta . . try it out, it's good . . put it up to a model D and do a blind test (it even scared Arturia into updating their minimoog v clone which didn't sound half as close compared to the minimonsta).

Rick Wakeman once said that all nine of his model D's sounded different, there was a programme on British TV in the 80's were he played all his mini's blindfolded and named each one by the tone . . even though they were all set up to play the same sound. All we need now is for someone to build a full scale hardware controller for the minimonsta and a lot of people would be happy (same goes for the CS80v) add that to the nine model D's and get Rick in to do the blindfold test again . . oh wait . . he's already endorsing the minimonsta!

Mal
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