Official gate over-voltage limit?

The Moog Forum Minimoog Forum
1

Hi folks,

Newbie here, recently acquired an Electric Blue, superb!

Anyway, I have searched high and low for this but cannot find it anywhere and I need to know because I am going to interface other CV gear to the Voyager and that gear supplies gate voltages higher than 5V. So…

What is the official max gate voltage that can be safely connected to a Voyager please?

Thanks in advance…

Mark

2

5v max.

3

Thanks MC :slight_smile:

But how is it people are connecting Doepfer gear that has a 8V gate and not making any mods to the connections?

Mark

4

More confusion here! I’ve been trawling through the forum and have found people using 12v gates without any problem. I’ve also read elsewhere that people are using the Deopfer MAQ16 (which I want to use with the Voyager) without problems and that generates an 8v gate and other posts on this forum recommending the MAQ16. So it appears that gate voltages over 5v are OK - unless they are doing slow damage in the background?

The way I am looking at this is that Moog wouldn’t build these synths so the moment someone sticks a gate voltage over 5v into them they blow up in a puff of smoke. So there has to be some tolerance or safety margin above 5v with gates. As such, there must be an official design limit for the gate voltage when it is exceeding 5v. How many volts can the gate circuit take before it does pop? That’s the value I am after. The official public spec might say 5v but I can’t believe it isn’t designed to handle a greater voltage for safety and compatibility.

Thanks,

Mark

5

You could call Moog and ask the horse’s mouth. Then post the answer here. They have always been good to me on the phone in the past.

6

I’ll see what I can find out.

Mark

7

Hi synthesists -

I’m totally new here. I signed up for this forum simply because I too would like to know the answer to this question. I would think this would be of great interest to anyone use a Future Retro Orb sequencer with a 10v gate output voltage.

Is it possible using some device of the CP-251 or Multi-Pedal to turn that 10V into +/- 5V? It is absolutely the same voltage total - just bipolar.

It would be nice to get an official answer AS WELL AS a practical answer. Something like "Moog does not condone sending a 10v Gate to your MMV or MRE. IT will void the warranty. But in reality the circuitry should be able to withstand +/-X v peak without fear of imminent damage. Regular use of CVs in the +/- X range may reduce the operating life of your MMV or MRE.

Also, does the duty cycle come in to play here? A continuous CV in excess of the specification would possibly be more harmful then sending 1/8 note gates with a 1/16th note duration. Also - Is there any over-voltage protection on the MMV/MRE CV inputs?

I would simply use an attenuator on the Gate signal but the freaking peak to peak CV on the CP-251 is something like 8v. (I checked, it is 8v) If Moog did not anticipate people interfacing their gear with the likes of Doepfer and Blacet and MOTM without blowing up then, as great as the MMV sounds, the design is less then robust.

The answer to this question could have a huge bearing on my future purchase of Moog products.

Thank You, Richard Aylward

Spitting Lama MIDI
Neenah WI USA
www.spittinglama.net
www.spittinglama.com

My parents, to distract me from the path of iniquity, bought me a Minimoog for Christmas in 1976. I was 15. It changed my life. Although it didn’t do much for keeping me from the path of iniquity.
Moog MMV Electric Blue, MF102, MF104, MF107, VX351, CP251, MP-201, SE Omega 8, Future Retro Orb

8

An 8v gate can be sent to an attenuator on a CP-251. I would think that by attenuating the signal by 3/8 that one could safely route a Doepfer to a MMV provided that they have an attenuator. The real problems come in, IMO, when we are talking about CVs in excess of +/-8v like on an Orb or other 10, 12, and 15v gate modular components. Please let me know if I’m off base here - seems to be reasonable to me.

Spitting Lama MIDI
Neenah WI USA
www.spittinglama.net, www.spittinglama.com

My parents, to distract me from the path of iniquity, bought me a Minimoog for Christmas in 1976. I was 15. It changed my life. Although it didn’t do much for keeping me from the path of iniquity.
Moog MMV Electric Blue, MF102, MF104, MF107, VX351, CP251, MP-201, SE Omega 8, Future Retro Orb

9

Huh? The gate input needs roughly a sharp edged (i.e. square) 5V minimum input to trigger the envelopes. The Doepfer gates shouldn’t do any damage. I haven’t had any major problems so far interfacing my Voyager and Euro/Doepfer modular.

As far as CV’s are concerned just remember that some CV’s are bipolar and others never cross/respond below 0V. Read the Voyager’s manual to see what’s what. The results will vary but it’s very unlikely that damage will occur as long as the module your interfacing with doesn’t have any issues.