Welcome to the forums.
a polyphonic moog is not likely to happen. if you do a search of the forums there are tons of threads already discussing this topic in great detail. your options are basically 1)buy 5 Slim Phatties to go with your Little Phatty 2)Buy a Dave Smith polyphonic synth and live with DCOs if you want a new synth (i dont know your feelings on this but for some people its the end of the world to play a synth with DCOs ) or Studio Electronics if you want new with VCOs but dont mind using rack mount gear 3)look for a used Alesis Andromeda A6 or one of the many synths from the 80’s and 70’s if you want VCOs and dont mind used and possible repair work.
I would love to see Moog Music develop a Polyphonic-Moog Synth in the future. (6 voices would be great).
My balls are growing bigger and bigger .
But, as I remember when Bob Moog had been asked about, if they’ll produce one or not he said: " We could, but we won’t".
The Moog-guys seem to stick pretty much on this.
But my opinion is, if they’ll won’t do, it wouldn’t be good for them. On the other side it’s a “hard thing” to develop one. As I was told, it’s pretty hard to keep 12 or 18 galloping horses (12 or 18 VCOs 100% tuned) all in a row.
Not to break up the party but, Colorform2113 resumed it perfectly well: “if you do a search of the forums there are tons of threads already discussing this topic in great detail.”
Thanks, Animoog looks like a cool, and affordable option, I’m also considering the DSI Prophet 08.
From the feedback on this thread, I think I should not count on seeing a HW Poly-Moog anytime soon, or maybe even in the next few years.
But then, who knows… there is still a glimmer of hope that this might happen one of these days, but there is no point in waiting since there doesn’t seem to be any serious effort from Moog Music to deliver a Poly-Moog in the next couple of month.
The problem isn’t that it’s a “hard thing”. The problem is bad design. There’s a right way to design an analog polyphonic and most of the vintage ones are wrong.
But even if the design was done right, it would be $$$. Moog could build one, but I totally understood Bob’s reluctance when he said they won’t.
I don’t see it happening, certainly not at a competitive (to DSI) price point. The expectation that Moog would cram the guts 6 Slim Phatties or Voyagers RME into one convenient module and price it at less than the sum of its components is just not realistic… It would be really expensive.
Anyone that wants a polyphonic Moog should put their money where their mouth is and configure one to meet their needs.
I know techs who repair them all day by day and who’ve told me day and night about the “hard thing” and, of course, th “bad thinng”. There had been made tons of mistakes over there formerly, and naturally nowadays it could be done much better. But the problem is VCOs must be heated up to keep them stable and in greater numbers this has an effect to the price. This is not the case for DCOs.
P 08 is a fine solutuon, not ideal but despite great. Hope the 12 will compete or will be even much better.
For the new Polymoog nevertheless some years will pass by
Not all VCO designs need to be heated.
Many (if not most) VCO designs are not.
But it is true that they must have some sort of autotune or feedback circuit to keep them stable when used in a polyphonic structure.
DCOs don’t need such circuits or techniques as above, but have their own share of problems.
Some use a master clock which renders all DCOs perfectly in phase.
Most also don’t allow “easy” modulation.
That is, one can’t just “plug in” a modulation source (env, lfo, noise, etc) and have the DCO follow along.
Those sources must either be generated or digitally encoded first, then applied to the digital stream controlling the DCO.
Modulation frequencies are therefore limited to the speed and resolution of the digital processing.
So a design that uses VCOs could add a modulation control with something as simple as a pot and resistor, whether originally manufactured that way or modded.
On a DCO design, it could require considerable software changes.
This is one of the big reasons you don’t see modular synths that use DCOs.
As for Moog making one, give them time. One day they might.
For a polyphonic to be “done right,” it would have to be fully polyphonic, allow individual tuning, voltage control, waveform, filtering,and articulation per-note.
But that’s not what you lot want.
So, you’re a lot closer than you think.
Wouldn’t you just be pleased-as-punch with a digital polyphonic Moog DAW which allowed you to play chords and say (if only say) you were playing Moog?
As such, I agree with those who say “Animoog.” You don’t really want an analog fully-polyphonic polyphonic.
I wonder if it would be cost effective to release a polymoog divide down synth. No one is doing it these days, so it would be a unique product, and much more reliable than the original. The polymoog was truly a unique instrument. There really is nowhere else to go really, other than a full on poly or modular, both of which are nonstarters IMO.
The expense comes in the form of having the “rest of the voice”; meaning Env gens, filters, vca(s) and all of the modulation options. So divide down as you like, even the 12 voices that Dave Smith threw into the P12 are going to cost if done with discreet electronics (and he uses ICs but it still sounds good… not AS good in my opinion but still good).
Bring as much as you can under microcontroller digital control (Moog is close to mastering this: started with the Phatty Tribute then to Taurus to Minitaur and now Sub) and you can reduce cost and improve capabilities but if the purist wants discreet electronics and purity of analog tone, there is only so much you can bring into the digital paradigm. Anything that Moog produces which exhibits the hands-on merits of the Sub with perhaps more voices is going to grab folks attention now that they have folks attention. I’ve got no inside information but the serial numbers that I’m seeing posted here and there indicate that they are selling well.
But back on topic (Poly). My Opus 3 has 49 keys of polyphony and I recently impressed a guitar player friend of mine whose knowledge of synths stops at the Arp or Model D. Well, he was impressed by so much ‘poly’ until I explained that the Filter sounds wonderful but it (Singular) is only useful for fat chords, monophonic leads or playing legato with no re-trigger.
That’s the dilemma. Opus 3 Organ section, which I’m not thrilled with (mainly because I have a Hammond) works 100% as it should, but strings start to get funny due to limited VCA control and brass, as mentioned above… limited by single filter.
On a bit of a rant here but the balance between discreet 2nd stage audio (post OSC) and all of the modulation capabilities that folks demand is going to cost a pretty penny.
Some of you may have read MC’s excellent OBX blog and some may be following Scott Rider’s ambitious OBX voice card DIY effort on muffs: http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=83363&start=0 (inspired by and with help from MC); between development of projects like these and some of the early work invested in by Olivier and the community of folks at Mutable (http://mutable-instruments.net/), there is lots of Analog and Digital-Analog hybrid going around.
It’s a good time to be involved in electronic music. I’d argue that it’s the renaissance of analog as many have pointed out. Really looking fwd to what is next!
Wow I didn’t realize the progress that Scott made on that OBX board. I had been in contact with him through FB but my internet access got cut off due to payment dispute and FB is temporarily blocked at work. Not a member of MW (yet).