Hi everyone, I’m here because I am on the verge of purchasing my first moog. I should probably state that I’m not a keyboardist by any stretch of the word (not yet at least!), in fact I mostly play guitar. Anyway I write songs by myself for the most part and I was looking for a way to add some depth to my homw recordings (I play everything from classic rock to Doom/sludge metal).
Ever since I watched the opening credits to A Clockwork Orange I have been a fan of the Moog Sound. I have been researching the net for monthes trying to find our everything I could on Moogs and I have it narrowed it down to two models.
The first one that caught my attention was the opus 3. I like the fact that it has three voicings, stereo panning, and many other cool features. The things I haven’t been able to find much info on are the brass sounds. Also I want to know if it can do. pardon the term, techno style noises. Or if its limited to pretty standard synth sounds (I know ir can offer some weird takes on the strings, brass, and organ). Also can it do bass lines?
The other unit I am interested in is the Prodigy. I like what I’ve read about it. Apparantly it can get some real spacey sounds and nice lead and bass tones. What I am concerned with here is that it might be a little limiting.
What I have decided is that I am probably going to try and get one of each, it will take me quite a while before I can afford two so I need figure out which one to get first. Then start saving for the next one.
If anybody knows of a website that has sound clips of the prodigy or the Opus it would be a big help. Also if anyone who owns one or both of these could give me some info that would help me decide which one would be a best to get first. (I’m really torn between the practicality of the opus and the far out sounds of the prodigy)
Well after reading some old threads I’ve learned a lot and answered some of my many questions. I would still like to know if there is website that has soundclips of different moogs. I found one but it basically just played one note for about a second. Perhaps no such site exists
Thank you sooooo much. I’ve been looking for something like this for a month.
I guess the prodigy is more the sound I’m going for. After reading some of the old threads here I’m also starting to wonder about the multimoog. Are the sounds comparable to a prodigy? Can it do anything the prodigy can’t?
Vintage Synth explorer says it has a sample and hold feature but I don’t know what that does. they also say the multi has a “VCA”…I don’t know what the “A” stands for or what this does.
The Prodigy follows the same design architecture as the minimoog, in that it has Oscillators/Mixer/VCF/VCF Envelope/VCA Envelope, like the original mini. Where it differs is that it is a cut down version, so it only has 2 Oscillators compared to the minis three etc. The sound is not too dissimilar to a mini . . it doesn’t have the grunt (power) of a mini but it can do great basslines . . It also has the ability to sync the frequency of both oscillators together creating a sharper tone, great for searing leads (the original model D mini could not do this without modification).
The multimoog is slightly different in that the architecture does not follow the trusted minimoog layout. It has many features not found on the mini, like sample & hold, the ability to invert the filter envelope which allows you to create “sucky, plucky and boingy” sounds, complex modulation routings, aftertouch and a ribbon pitch controller. To me, it’s more like a lab or educational synth in it’s layout. It suffered from having very limted envelope controls but somehow this doesn’t matter as it sounds quite good . . different to other moogs, thinner sounding but the sub-oscilllator can thinken up the sound quite nicely . . quite interesting for bass sounds I found. Not too many of them made and quite hard to find now at a reasonable cost . . I sold mine last year and I wish I hadn’t.
With regards the Opus3, I personally think this is one moog that doesn’t get what it deserves. Here you have a fully polyphonic instrument that can sound moog like, through the classic onboard 24db filter (which to my ears, screams way more then a mini) and the strings through the chorus sound as lush as any string ensamble synth I have heard . . turn up all the sliders, open up the filter, introduce some delayed modulation and you end up with a very wild “synth” sound. You’ll get great lead sounds out of it but the bass sounds tend to be organy . . as you have to turn up the organ bass registers to get any deep bass power out of it.
If you can afford it . . the combination of a Prodigy and Opus3 makes for a nice set-up . . and they look co-ordinated as well!
Thanks thats really helpful I think I’m going to start off with a mono and then follow up with a string ensemble.
I think the prodigy is probably going to be what I settle on but I have also been reading a little bit about Sequentials Pro One. How does this compare to the prodigy? What I have gathered so far is that the pro one can produce more sound effect type sounds but its bass and lead tones aren’t as impressive as the prodigy. Also I have read many complaints about the Pro One’s Keyboard but I haven’t been able to figure out exactly what is so bad about it? Do the keys stick? are the super stiff?
As for string ensembles how do the strings on the opus compare the sounds on the Arp Solina String ensembel? I ask because I have heard clips of the Solina but I still haven’t founf any for the OPus
I played a Pro One once. It sounded awsome, but the keyboard rendered this particular one unplayable. It was BAD, worse than I though it would be. I mean, it was like trying to play a rusty typewriter. I don’t think they are all like that, though. I think there is a fix, too.
I don’t know what to think. I’ve read countless pro one reviews and most of them include the phrase “worst keyboard EVER!!!” they all say the sound great but the keyboard is a write off.
The Prophet 5 was a pricey synth during it’s production run, and the Pro-One used a less expensive grade of hardware and construction to make
Sequential synths a bit more affordable. Not all of the Pro-One’s used the membrane keyboard, just the later models.
The earliest models had the transformer afixed to the main board, which caused problems during transit.
Whether or not you get a problem unit will depend on doing a bit of homework and checking the serial numbers to find out where in the production run, the unit was manufactured.
The keyboard on Pro-Ones are a bit stiff, and make a lot of noise when pressed. However I do feel that it is a very good monosynth with lots of features.
You can tell whether the Pro-One has the power supply on the main board by just looking at the back. If the switch and fuse cover are near the top, it means that the transformer is on the main board, if they’re near the bottom, then its ok.
So the newer models have a more stable power supply but a messed up keyboard and the older ones have a trouble power supply and slightly better keyboard?
I’m starting to feel like the prodigy might be a more reliable synth despite the fact that it might be less effective in the effects department.
No. About 10,000 Pro-One’s were built. The first batch had the power supply on the board (bad if you dropped the synth) and the last lot had the membrane keyboard.
There’s a site that says the serial numbers affected, but I can’t seem to find it!!!
Ok all this information is extremly helpful, I feel like in the last week i have increased my synth knowledge 10 fold. But what do you guys think of Pro One compared to the prodigy? If you had to choose one or other?
Thats kind of how I was interpreting the info I have been reading (I wasn’t sure if I was reading it correctly though). I guess it comes down whats more important, Tone or features.
hope that helps!
