Do you think the present MiniMoog Voyager (including the XL) or the Phattys will ever be made polyphonic (two or more notes can be played)?
In addition to that, the Sound on Sound article about the XL mentions some omissions on the Voyager edition that were on the original: A440 mode, plus filter topology. A passage from that article says:
So do I have any concerns about the XL? Of course I do, and here’s a short wish–list that would make it an even better synth. Firstly, please can we have the Minimoog’s A‑440 oscillator back? This is almost essential on a synth that has no fixed tuning. My second wish concerns the filter topology. As it stands, you can switch the Voyager’s filters between series (HP+LP) mode for single‑channel band‑pass effects, and parallel (LP+LP) mode, with the output of each filter passing to a separate output channel. But wouldn’t it be great if the dual‑LP mode was also available in series? The Cwejman S1 MkII shows what can be achieved with slopes of greater than 24dB/octave, and slopes of up to 48dB/octave would allow us to create some powerful new timbres on the XL. Thirdly, I wish that the XL’s voltage processors were not modelled quite so closely on the CP251’s because this means that there’s still no patchable VCA. I thought that this was daft on the original expander, and I still do, so can we have one (or more) please? Pretty please? Finally, I would like to moan about being asked to pay $79 for the Voyagers’ editor/librarian. If I’m going to cough up over four grand for a synth, I don’t think that it would be unreasonable for this to be included.
A440 mode “almost essential on a synth that has no fixed tuning”? Did people complain when it wasn’t on the satellite, micromoog, sonic 5/6, multimoog, source, minitmoog, T1, liberation, prodigy, rogue…? Really, that’s getting petty.
The guy can moan all he wants about having to pay for an editor/librarian but he should be careful what he asks for. Peavey abandoned the keyboard business because customers were demanding too many things for free with no return to pay for development. These things don’t grow on trees.
Do I think that preset Voyager/Phatty will ever be made polyphonic? If it can be done with SEMs…
If Moog had played its cards right with both the PolyMoog and the MemoryMoog, they might have had a little more success in the polyphonic field. The sad truth over both of those was due to Bob Moog’s not being involved in their R&D. He sold his company to Norlin in 1974 and, for some reason, decided to leave it three years later, before these two models went on sale.
I’ll bet his 1977 exit was something he would later regret.
To be fair, the technology of the day wasn’t really up to the task for reliable, affordable, polyphonic analog synthesizers when the Polymoog and Memorymoog were designed.
Those Zilog Z80 microprocessors were stretched to their absolute limits even with less than 8 voices to manage !
Bob left Norlin/Moog Music because he had no desire for the rigid corporate mindset of Norlin. He was not happy being removed from synthesizer R&D either. He would had left earlier had it not been for the legal obligation to stay that long before he could cash in his stocks. He never went into much detail about those days.
Bob once wrote; “When Dave Luce’s Polymoog finally went into production, it then needed 300 engineering changes…” *
Bob wrote about him: “Dave Luce was a highly intelligent, technically trained person who gravitated towards complicated, sophisticated, tricky, convoluted things.” *
It’s almost a miracle that the Polymooog finally worked.
(* extracts from an article written by Bob Moog and Connor Freff Cochran called “The rise & fall of Moog Music; Shuffle off to Buffalo” in the “Vintage Synthesizers” book by Mark Vail. Used without permission but hey, at least I give credits where it’s due . Anyone who’s interested in vintage synths should have a copy of this book. )
And I know some things about copyright. My guess is that this classifies as “fair use”, and it is completely legal, since it is a brief quote. Giving credit is correct, too
Well this is one man’s opinion. Respectfully, I have never heard it sound good, not in my own hands, nor in the hands of my heroes such as Rick Wakeman or Patrick Moraz…
Because, unlike the MiniMoog - it was polyphonic. If I were to own one of these only the MemoryMoog Plus as modified by LinTronics would satisfy me from a reliability standpoint.
The Polymoog sounds GREAT when you’ll take it as it really is.
Secondly, when you use all the outputs intelligently and tricky you’ll get extraordinary unique sounds.
Very sensible words from my tech not long ago:
“… the Polymoog is not a synthesizer,…it’s primarily layed out to be an instrument for making music and complement the Minimoog…”
but hey, at least I give credits where it’s due 
. Anyone who’s interested in vintage synths should have a copy of this book. 
