Well there it is. Looks like a mini Taurus (natch) with added square wave and separate Decay/Release and audio input. No memories or arp from the looks of it. Could it be used as an expensive way to program a Taurus 3 via USB perhaps?
•100% analogue audio signal path based on Taurus I/ Taurus III synthesisers.
•2 Taurus VCOs with variable Glide amount
•Sawtooth (original Taurus) or Square waveform selection for both VCOs
•External Audio Input
•Headphone out
•2 Mixer VCAs for setting the level of the VCOs
•1 VCF Moog/Taurus-style Ladder Filter w/ VC Resonance
•1 VCA
•Two Minimoog-style Envelope generators for modulating the VCF and VCA: ADSR with the Decay and Release segments controlled by the Decay control, and with the Release segment enabled or disabled with the Release On/Off switch
•1 MIDI-syncable triangle wave LFO for modulating VCF/VCOs
•DIN MIDI in and MIDI over USB out
Not quite exactly what I expected. A tabletop Taurus Module ? Curious design choice. Unless rackmount ears can be added, à la Voyager RME ? But from the width of it, that would make for large ears !
Well, at least the price seems acceptable…
I don’t think it can be used as a Taurus 3 controller; there is no MIDI out and no CV out either.
Question…what would you send to the audio in/outs on this thing? Am I correct in understanding that you would need a MIDI device of some kind to actually play this thing?
Oh yeah, I didn’t originally have that rear panel picture when I posted and didn’t really look at it afterwards. Thought it would have MIDI In and Out. Maybe the USB is two-way, although you’d need a computer then I suppose.
Well, I like the looks for sure. Having those inputs on the “top” and being slanted will make it as difficult to rack as a few banks of foogers are. The price looks nice and I like the knobs. It could be similar in size to the MP-201. Thanks for the Audio input. It looks like a tank.
Im curious to know if it still has the original Taurus architecture or if these Oscs are different (they might be with the square wave option) and if they have a broader range than the T3.
It is a great price, even more affordable than a Slim!
The Cluster Flux is listed on the Moog homepage at $599. Novamusik had a $519 preorder price on that unit.
They could go that low on the MiniTaur or you can bet at least 50 bucks off. Still, that is a HOT price!
I think they hit one out of the ballpark with this one. We will likely be hearing the Phattest Bass on the planet in A LOT more places now.
Now, go back to the Taurus Critical Listening test video with MC and think to yourselves…Duophonic Bass.
AMOS:
PLEASE INTEGRATE THIS WITH EASY POLYCHAINING LIKE THE SLIMS AND THIS WILL BE THE SHOT HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD!
Thanks Mr. A. for finding the press on this. I knew it would be released to public today but strangely, Moog wasn’t (and still hasn’t) broken the news. As with Slim, some obscure outfit publishes the pics first!
I was relieved to see that I’m NOT going to be pressured into buying this. Since I already own T3, there isn’t much for me… but then again to be honest, I can’t stand getting down on the floor to stumble through the buttons and modes. Despite the power and the… um… power, T3 isn’t exactly conducive to tweaking. I picked up a Novation SL25 MkII for all of the mapping required for tweaking but it’s not the same.
I’m not bothered by the lack of presets, in fact, I’m with Eric, I like the looks of the knob arrangement. The hint of it being programable via Midi suggests that at a minimum, a sysex style ‘push’ of a preset is possible; and I really really like my Old School and Oberheim SEM as is.
I’m less inclined to want PolyChain a I am to have a simple built in function to accept a range or midi split, whereby you hold a key then press a Midi note which will mark the upper end of the range.
Finally, I would have loved to have patch points for the ins/outs. A pair of DB25s for future expansion would have been swell. Moog USED TO provide all of the ins/outs but these days, they do not. I like the openness of Tom’s SEM and I think they could have easily wired in a .0156 header pin row to DB25.
Otherwise, it’s a nice price, more affordable than SEM and DarkEnergy, offers a bit more on one hand but comes up short in some ways. Still tempted. Form factor wise, it would be handy if they could bolt up a kit to join this to a VX or CP for mounting; looks to be about the right size; hope that it is.
Yes, you would play it with a MIDI keyboard controller or footboard controller, or MIDI sequencer, or finally an analog synth with CV and GATE out to play this thing.
Yes. Maybe. What you would need is a box that accepted a MIDI in from a keyboard, then had a number of MIDI outs for each “voice” that you would want. Then it would have to seperate each note to a different MIDI out.
Moog Forum member MC, explained the difference in detail in a post in the Taurus Forum, MC wote
"What separates the Taurus from the LP and most other monosynths is the feedback architecture of the filter. Like any tube guitar amp, the feedback architecture plays a large part in the “character” of the filter. This is why the Taurus sounds different from a minimoog from a rogue from a LP from a memorymoog from a voyager from a…
The Taurus filter has AC coupling between the VCF and VCA that happens to have an inherent bass boost. Due to the coupling being done at the feedback path, that creates some special interaction that gives the Taurus its voice. Boosting the bass EQ on your mixer does not get the same effect, it’s sort of a dynamic bass boost.
Taurus also uses CA3080 OTAs which are NOT high fidelity components - they add some subtle distortion themselves, much like a tube. There’s one in the filter feedback path and another used for the VCA. The Taurus is driven pretty hard in the filter. If you probe the output with a scope you can see the clipping of the ramp waveform. "
Joe,
I honestly didn’t consider that it doesn’t have a LCD. The Midi Murf and Cluster Flux both have “operating systems” however that doesn’t mean that it is even possible to get polyphony, but hell, you think that after the slim and with the need for polyphonics and Moog’s history of modular compatibility or “Open Systems” you would think this feature would be a no brainer (but would likely drive up the cost).
I’ll bet we find out that the panel controls are Midi Controllable like the 105m and 108m.
Are the CV inputs tuned to the same values as the Taurus? If so, they will not match the Voyager’s output pitch (don’t know about a phatty).
It doesn’t appear to be the same synth engine as the Taurus, we’ll see how it sounds!
It looks like a str8 up slave device.
Can’t wait to see the full specs and dimensions.
I would really consider buying this if I hadn’t already gotten excited about some HF radio equipment.
Sigh, no presets/ memories Come on Moog, this is 2011, not 1973. Without memories etc, this baby is totally impractical for live and band work, which surely is one of your main markets, right? Looks like I’ll have to stick with my Creamware Minimax …
Come on Moog, this is 2011, not 1973. Without memories etc, this baby is totally impractical for live and band work, which surely is one of your main markets, right? Looks like I’ll have to stick with my Creamware Minimax …