i hear what you are saying but you posted detailed info about the problems you had whereas the other guy didnt. He also hasnt returned to give us any more info to go on.
“Another forum member then accused this person of “flaming” Moog. That’s absolutely ridiculous!! Someone started this chain by asking for honest, open feedback about peoples’ experiences with the Voyager. How can you slam somebody for simply saying that they haven’t had a fanstastic experience? Is this a forum or a cheerleading chorus?”
I am happy to read that there are still non-fundamentalist “believers” on this forum. I am the guy who got accused of flaming of “flaming” Moog and because of this accusation I decided to not give a reaction. For clarity’s sake, I am a big fan and admirer of the achievements of the late Robert Moog so I am a “believer” myself. I regard criticism as normal within a free society and on this forum and I think Dr. Moog would have been one of the last persons in this world to deny me of this right…
Begin July of this year I purchased a Voyager. The day it arrived it appeared that oscillator 3 malfunctioned and that it was not possible to update the software. I reported the problems to my local dealer, who answered me that within a few weeks he would provide a solution and would contact the distributor of Moog in Holland. Nothing happened…
So after 1 month I decided to call upon Moog about the matter. Amos Gaynes replied very fast and promised to make an arrangement with the distributor to get things fixed. So again I waited…
In between, the LCD-display of the Voyager was also having it’s difficulty’s and will probably stop functioning in the near future. I regarded the scratches on the knobs as minor and not worth mentioning…
One and a half month later, still nothing had happened so I called the distributor, and two weeks ago they swapped the old Voyager for a new one. According to the serial number the new one is from the same series as the old one.
I plugged it in, put on a headphone and after a quarter of an hour oscillator 1 made some crackling noises and died. Exactly the same problem as with the old one… I instantly informed the distributor and again I waited..
This week I became tired of waiting and I decided to contact the distributor and they reported that a broken capacitor was causing all the trouble with my old Voyager. According to the problems with my new Voyager, I suspect the problems with my new Voyager have the same cause…
So after three months there is still no real solution and I am still stuck with a broken Voyager which I can swap for my repaired (oscillator) old one which is probably still having an almost broken display.
Due to all this trouble I still have not been able to use the Voyager as it is supposed to and although not being a “Moog-fundamentalist” I think I have a “fundamental” right to be critical about the construction of the Voyager and the way the problems are handled. Every time I have to take the initiative otherwise nothing will happen and worse, even after my own efforts is seems that nothing happens. I don’t call that a good service…
I don’t regret buying mine at all, but I do think money is a factor.
I’ve sometimes wondered whether the cost was justified. On the other hand the sound does justify it, ultimately. It probably depends how much I like the Moog sound at any given time.
I was talking recently with someone who recorded some very highly respected MiniMoog solos. (I won’t say who because I never mention names when commenting on private conversations. This comment is neutral enough to mention, though.) He said he thought the Voyager was overpriced. I’d have thought it compares with what he must have paid for his Mini, but he was also taking into account other synths that are available now. Maybe he’s simply been there and done that already, but I thought it was interesting.
I suppose it depends what you want to do. My Roland V-Synth cost less than the Voyager, and it’s awesome. They’re both totally different, though. I’m glad I didn’t have to choose one or the other.
Finally, the thing that really opens up the Voyager for me is layering the sound with the Arturia Modular V, which makes for some beautiful and complex sounds.
So regret, no, but I can understand why someone else might. But if you’ve got the money for what you need, then go for it. The sound’s worth it if you want that sound, and how expensive is it if you compare it with a good violin or cello? These are complex and personal factors.
If i had two broken voyagers from the same series i wouldn’t be waiting for a response from moog anymore.id be insisting on a replacement and that they look into a possible bad batch of capacitors. Moog have been really busy with the launch of the LP so no matter how much you think they should be getting in touch with you, just pick up the phone and get on the case. Speak to Linda Pritchard or Siobhan Robinson and you’ll get the result you are after.
peas
I don’t use the touchpad much, but when I do it gives something I can’t readily get any other way. One prime example is an effect I got that sounded like a swarm of bats. That was the filter self-oscillating, if I remember rightly, brought in with the touchpad. I’ve never got quite the same kind of thing with another synth controller.
In fact your comment has reminded me to experiment with it a bit more.
It’s also very handy when editing patch names.
man, now you guys are scaring me.
I really like the touchpad. I use it frequently.
The touchpad is one of my favorite features of the Voyager.
I use the touchpad to play rhythmic effects such as filter cutoff, etc. The fact that you can tap it with your finger and come up with some awesome effects is really nice. It allows you play counterpoint but instead of the counterpoint being another note, it’s a manipulation of the sound itself. Very cool.
I too love the touchpad. As is apparent from many of Bob’s products, he was very much about exploring new ways of interfacing humans to circuits. Not at all “gimmicky”, IMHO, but a very useful way of exploring sound.
Not only manipulation, you can assign a touchpad axis to control Osc. 2 pitch. As long as you don’t mind playing the same rhythm as the first note of your chord for the second note, you have some simply duophony. I suppose you could send the pitch wheel to Osc. 2 pitch, but the touchpad can be non-continuous if you like.
An example of this is the “Running Bass” patch. I think it’s the first one on th AE bank. You can latch the gate on, let the LFO/Osc. 3 control the rhythm. Then you can play one note with the keyboard, and the second note on the touchpad.
I can make my Voyager sound like a robot cat vomiting using the touchpad. Try that on any other synth! 
Makes a change from the more classic patches like hamster farting down a trumpet' or ostrich fighting with a vacuum cleaner.’ 
On another site we had a thread with some really fun suggestions for synth patch names.
Do robot cats eat electric mice? It’s just that I’ve never seen one vomit. 
That’s a good question. I have an electro-mouse patch, too.
Don’t let the robot cat patch eat it, whatever you do - you’ll have vomit all over the place. Not nice!
The voyager is an expensive propsition…and it’s MONO! That’s the one thing I’d fault it for. However, after owning it for about a year now I can say I am constantly finding new and useable sounds on it (and I haven’t even gotten the control expander yet). The voyager is absolutely the best live preformance analog synthesizer out there…nothing can touch it, especially for bass tones. If you ever get a chance, plug the voyager into a decent bass amp and have at it!! You will not believe the subs coming out of this thing! I’ve been very pleassed with my voyager and it has yet to break down on me (knock on wood). I will say that I think the software inside the machiene is really pretty crappy!!! I mean, analog synths shouldn’t have submenus and tiny LCD screens…really annoying. But hey, nothing’s perfect and the voyager comes pretty close. I see some people have had some bad experiences with the voyager…that’s really too bad. There’s obviously a couple of lemons out there but every voyager I’ve played has been great and worked flawlessly!
I think you should forget the Voyager and look into this one.
Interesting, what on earth is it?The mod/pitch levers look strange.
Magnificent looking beast. Pray, tell us more!