Wow that’s REALLY helpful to know, I didn’t see that mentioned anywhere. Thanks for sharing this.
I’m usually about 2-2:30 and no noise in my mixer but any higher and we start going all Jet plane.
That’s where I keep mine and no issues. It’s more than enough volume. I don’t mind the idea that they’ve given us the ability to drive the signal even further (even though it’s not typical).
I guess the issue is not because of Moog. Are you using any 3rd party adapters?
I trust we’ve all seen the polyphony option in the latest FW (1.20)? From the Unison/Mono More page, if you reduce the polyphony for a Synth, only actual active voices are heard in the signal chain (removes the background noise created by voices that aren’t playing). For example, on my 16, cutting it down to 8 voices results in a quieter situation. Worth a look if you haven’t already!
For comparison reasons i’m providing this info:
- Moog One 16 voice, patch level 1.4.0
- Ableton Live 10.1.15
- Steinberg UR22 mkII Audio Interface
- Klotz B4PP1-0300 (Neutrik jack) Balanced TRS audio cables
Oscillators disabled in the mixer, VCA at 100%, Master Volume at 100%
As you can see the peak is at -70.4db @33.9hz
For reference, normally the peak in the noise floor of the Steinberg UR22mkII is at -124db:
instead of the master volume at 100%, I would suggest taking the measurement again with the master volume at 50%.
This would reflect unity gain and be more representative of how folks actually use the synth. Anything above 50% starts to degrade the sound and raise the noise floor rather significantly.
Ok - i’ll have to crank up the input gain on the UR22 to compensate and maintain input level (-6db when playing INIT chord) - will do the measurement again.
NOTE: Will also add another test, because i’ve noticed a different sort of distracting swooshing noise being added when you enable a “Synth Effect” - especially loud with Chorus/Flanger - but it’s present with most effects I think. When I enable the same effect on the “Master Effects” - it’s much less.
Static Values for the test:
UR22 MKII
- INPUT GAIN: 90% (used to be at 60%)
- noise floor: -102.0db (no input signal)
Moog One - Master Volume: 50%
- VCA: 66.3% (Default for INIT Patch)
○ noise floor: -91.0db (VCO1 66% +11db)
○ noise floor: -90.1db (VCO1 100% +11.9db)
When playing on the Moog One - INIT PATCH - which is VCO1 enabled only to the ladder filter, with “HOLD” Enabled, PLAYING Notes - “CGC” chord on all octaves a few times we get a peak sound of:
- PEAK -16.6db (@VCO1 66%)
- PEAK -12.3db (@VCO1 100%)
Conclusion
Just the noise generated by the Moog One on 50% Master Volume and the INIT PATCH (all defaults) adds +11db to the noise floor - so now we play some keys…
When we subtract the peaks from when we’re playing notes from the noise floor we get the following:
VCO1 66% → -91.0db noise floor - 16.6db = 74.4db
VCO1 100% → -90.1db noise floor - 12.3db = 77.8db
At best there is around 77.8db of noiseless “playing space” for my Moog One.
The VCO Level Increase introduces the least amount of noise of all, so that’s something I’m certainly taking away from the testing… but I’m not sure whether 77.8 of playing space is a lot…
For an analog synthesizer, I think those levels are fine.
Thank you for performing and posting the measurements.
First post… hi guys.
After only 2 weeks with the Moog One (actually my second Moog One, because the first unit was faulty), and after finding a bug almost each day, I would say the SNR (signal to noise ratio) is very okay for such an instrument.
I measured both units (the faulty and the new one) with dozens of different tasks in mind, but I couldn’t see any issues with noise from the circuits unless some special synth FX are used (=digital domain, which doesn’t matter).
Stumbling over this thread I looked at samples from both units, which have been recorded with 192kHz/24bits on a RME ADI8-QS over symmetrical lines. The Moog One internal Noise Reduction is turned off, because I wouldn’t trust it no way.
Findings:
With an INIT patch, no FX but all 16 voices active, VCA 100% level and output at 12 o’clock, I get a 72dB SNR with both units. This is okay for a modern analog, and brilliant for a vintage analog.
I think there are a lot of things to complain with the ONE, but the noise level is none of them. Keep in mind that the SNR alone is not telling you much about “noise”. The term “noise” is not very clear, it might be white or pink or red or brown; and if you are not a 10-20 years old guy, your ear will turn the white noise into a pink one slowly, but for sure. Year for year.
This being said, if we consider noise to be something spread over the whole spectrum, but the Moog One outputs more energy in a range between 1-80 HZ (which I see here), the disturbing SNR is even lower. So, don’t sweat it.
I have just a very few vintage synths left in my arsenal (OB-Xa, DX7, MiniMoog, Jupiter-8 and that’s it) because I am tired of all the maintenance AND … noise! Rest assured that my old friends have far more noise than your Moog One. Especially the DX7 is a nightmare with about 50dB SNR which is almost 4 times as much “noise” as the Moog One… but a lot of top chart hits have been made using it 
All right, thanks!
I’ve collected a bunch of “Analog Modeling” Synths over the past 20 years - but The One is my only Analog Synth - so I don’t have a point of comparison - thanks for the re-assurance!
I set noise reduction to 0.0db after the first couple hours of use due to artifacts generated on attack/release of the VCF.
I also noticed this - when I enable a Synth Effect (e.g.: Stereo Chorus - Widener) it applies a “sort of noise reduction” (I think… as the hiss suddenly drops) but it is replaced by a repetitive swooshing noise from the chorus (like on a Roland Juno 106) - it sounds so unnatural in comparison with the regular noise.
Since the effects are Digital - on my Jupiter X the Chorus “noise level” is a parameter - maybe something for the feature request list.
A previous poster mentioned this, but I also have much more noise on the sub outs than I do on my main outs. When I sent the test files I made demonstrating this to Moog service, they asked me to send it in for repair. Nonetheless, they decided that it was not malfunctioning. I was sent a new 16-voice in the meantime, and it exhibited the same issue. They said there is not a software solution to this, so don’t use the sub outs for anything important.
Ok, thanks for the info on the Sub Outs!
Did they end up returning the One you sent for repair or did you just end up keeping the new One they sent you?
I ended up keeping the new one. Sweetwater handled the return/replacement under warranty. The old one had the creaky keyboard some users mention, and the new one does not, so it worked out for the best despite the minor inconvenience.