I hope you can hear the noisy cutoff that I have been whining about in the forums. I just need some closure knowing whether the tones I’m trying to get are supposed to sound the way they do, or whether there is a way around the noise in the upper registers.
Again, my settings are as follows: (The LP is direct into a Tascam 8-track, no pedals, preamps or anything)
1 oscillator, vol 100%
Wave is at 50%, and I move it down to 0% at the triangle wave.
Resonance 50%
Filter 25%
Octave 4’
I really like the lower filter cutoff sounds because they sound very smooth and creamy… think Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Ain’t no fun” and Donald Fagen’s solo on “Home At Last”… But, as I turn down the filter, I get the nasty frequency clashes that can be heard in the mp3. The noise isn’t there when the cutoff is turned up higher, but it sounds so bright, brash, and cutting…
Is this just a fact of life for synthesizers? Any input is greatly appreciated.
I have not noticed anything weird on my LP Stage, but i don’t use any patches that sound like that - i use mine for bass patches and misc textures only.
I’m just about to go to bed, but i’ll see if i can replicate anything like this tommorow and post back with my results.
PS. I’m not 100% sure what noise you are actually referring to in your clip as there is some backgorund noise in the recording, but i will try to record a similar patch on my LP.
1 oscillator, vol 100%
Wave is at 50%, and I move it down to 0% at the triangle wave.
Resonance 50%
Filter 25%
Octave 4’
All I’m moving is the waveform from 50% to 0% and the filter cutoff from 50% to 25%.
You’ll hear me move the filter down after 10 seconds or so, and you can then hear what I’m talking about. At 1:29 I move to 1 and 2 lower octaves and it sounds great, but moving back up, you can hear the frequencies clashing again. Let me know if anyone else hears it in the two mp3’s I’ve posted
Basically it sounds fine with the filter higher than where I’ve set it, but you lose that creamy tone when it’s up higher than that.
Hi, yes, the sound is perfectly normal - for the Little Phatty. It is a known issue with the LP. There is a fix, but you’ll need an engineer to sort it out.
Hopefully, Moog have sorted out the noise issue on the Stage II.
I agree with you that it is a fly in the ointment as far as the LP is concerned. But, as I said, there is a fix, which costs about $50 and entails sending your LP away for a couple of weeks. It is something I intend to do when I can get round to it. By all accounts it makes a significant difference to the interference noise.
Don’t let it put you off the LP. It is still a brilliant synth.
Not to pry, but I’m curious to whether other people are hearing the noises I do, whether I should send in my LP SE for a mod or not.
Below is an mp3 of the tone I am looking for: the moog solo starts at 6:47.
It’s a band called Percy Hill from New Hampshire which recently broke up. Nate Wilson is on keys.
You can hear that his tone (micromoog) is has a low cut-off, it’s not overly bright and harsh to the ears. When I try to achieve this tone, I get the annoying frequencies colliding heard in the mp3’s I posted.
Like Extraborg says: It’s a fly in the ointment. Anyone have any input to what I should do next?
Yes I reckon the “noise modification” ought to help with that considerably. It reduces those artifacts to about 1/4 the level you are hearing now, which is fairly inaudible compared to the signal level. It’s a big improvement for those certain sounds.
Is the “noise modification” part of the OS 2.0 update, or is that the thing I need to send my LP back to the factory for? I’m not a wiz with connecting computers to my instruments, will I need MIDI equipment to do this OS update?
Yes you will need a MIDI interface to do the OS update.
No, the OS update doesn’t affect the noise situation, as it’s caused by some extremely subtle hardware stuff. The noise modification involves replacing four chips inside the LP with equivalent parts which have lower noise. We found a different manufacturer whose parts perform better in this specific application, and the result is a smoother sound with much less interference in the high frequencies.
If you’re in the UK we can work with Cimple Solutions in London to fit the upgrade. Or of course we could use the tech of your choice, but Cimple are great and they have the most experience with Moog gear of anyone in the UK (as they are our official repair shop).
Thanks so much for getting OS2 to us! I am downloading it now.
Out of interest, what sort of ball park price are we looking at
for a Cimple Solutions upgrade?
I’m an experimental physicist and work as part of a team with
extensive experience building high speed low noise electrical
devices for our research (often surface mount). Would it be possible
to receive component part no.s and instructions so I can do the mod
myself?
