I’m new to the forum, so I don’t know if this topic has been covered. I have an original Studio Electronics SE-1. I haven’t used it a lot in the last couple of years, but I want to get back into analog sounds. I’m thinking about upgrading the board to get more banks/sounds. The upgrade is about 1/3 of what I paid for it brand new.
How does the Moog Voyager compare to the SE-1X? This will help me determine if I should just upgrade the SE-1 to SE-1X, or look at the Moog Voyager. I owned a Minimoog years ago, but sold it, so I’m definitely familiar with the original Moog sound. I do miss the feel of the keyboard, it was great.
Any info on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
Take the Model D. Add patch memory, a touchpad, and MIDI. Keep the Moog filter design, and three super stable oscillators. Also add updated firmware, which is developed as needed, and FREE. Also, add the never imitated or duplicated Moog support. Add a warranty, and the Moog forums. What does SE offer?
I mean add all the stuff I mentioned to the D, and that’s what a Voyager is. I’m not too familiar with the SE-1X, but I’m sure it can’t compare to a Moog product…especially the Voyager.
Well, it looks to me like a good product. Whether the upgrade is worth it, I dunno. It’s not that much money, really. Same price as a CP-251. I guess it depends on if you want an instrument that becomes an extension of your soul, or a tool with which to make music. If I were you, I’d get the upgrade, just because of the price factor. Nothing will compare to a Moog, though. A tangible, very REAL instrument will always be my first choice, but to each his own. And the Moog Voyager is a work of art, that commands the highest respect from anyone seeing it in a rig. Just my thoughts.
If you had that AND a Voyager, that would be a powerhouse.
If you are really traditional, you migh look at the Voyager OS, no Midi just all analogue greatness. The keys are like a butter drippin off a hot biscuit.
Moog and Logic go hand-in-hand. I’ve played around with my custom LP and Logic 8, and its truly a beautiful thing. Of course, I had to give Logic back with the laptop I borrowed. I don’t really do much with MIDI anyway.
Sure thing! Which Voyager would you be looking at, just out of curiosity? The Rack Mount Edition is the second cheapest, and has MIDI in, out and I believe, thru. Next would be the Performer, followed by the Select Series. All great synths. If I had the money, I’d get the Select mahogany with Jade lights. If I won the lottery, I’d get one Select Series of each combination, ie, 42 of them.
Probably the Voyager Performer Edition… It’s a lot more than I wanted to spend… Upgrading the SE-1 is around $600. I would definitely need to sell the SE-1 to get the Voyager Performer Edition. The downside to selling the SE-1 is that I would be lucky to get half of what I paid for it.
Very much on point. You may want to stay open to the idea of a pre-owned Performer, and keeping the SE-1.
If you use the SE-1 set to nothing else but the Oberheim filter patches, combined with the Vger’s twin Moog filter patches, you have a wide palette of programmed sounds with just those two pieces, with virtually no overlap, and an expressive controller board (w/ touchpad) to boot.
My understanding is that the original SE1’s panel ctrls didn’t transmit midi data, the lfo’s didn’t sync to midi clock, and the panel functions had some stepping issues.
The X upgrade is said to have fixed the above issues, and Keyboard magazine did a review in their Feb. 2005 issue.
If I were in your position, I would try to save a bit more for a new
Performer edition Vger & keep SE1, or get a pre-owned Performer & keep SE1.
Yes, it is shocking that the SE-1 is selling for around $450 to $650. The upgrade to the SE-1x costs about $600 to $650 with to and from shipping costs. I’m just afraid that it may not be worth it as I’m looking for a big difference from the SE-1. Paying $1,500 for it new and then having to pay another $600 or so to upgrade is a bit risky.
I had a Minimoog Model D years ago, and I did like the smooth keys. It’s like no other keyboard feel. I may be able to get a good deal on a Voyager Select for around $2,750.
In your opinion, would the upgrade to the SE-1x be somewhat close in terms of the sound to a Voyager? If it’s somewhat close to the Moog sound, I could probably live with it for a while and save a lot of money. The downside with the upgrade is that I would possibly loose more money because used SE-1x’s are going for around $1,000. Thanks.
I tried SE-1X for 2 hours and found it is very close to the sound you can get from Voyager, with some minor limitations (and some features).
But you’re right about the feelings which, no doubt, are very important. Voyager (with keyboard) is really better THING here. Take Voyager, you’ll win.
Units we’re talking about are comparable in sound, but not comparable as a units. One (SE-1xxx) is just a 3U box (or it was 4U?) with nice uncomfortable interface and no soul (for me) and sound made as a [good] REPLICA to Voyager. Another (Voyager with keyboard) is an instrument. Musical instrument. With its own voice.
Money is nothing about here I suppose.
P.S. Dreaming about PolyVoyager… Going to try SE CODE 8 voice. I like chords…
P.P.S. Prophet '08 is not a choice for one who want big sound and musical interface, unfortunately.
