After long and hard saving I finaly raised enough money to buy an new Voyager RME.
This arrived on Monday, 3 days ago…
First impressions looks great, well built etc.
Upon turning it on and sequencing some notes I immediately noticed a distinct back ground hiss (As if playing poor quality samples) and popping and clicking sounds - I scrolled through some presets and the noise and clicks were evident through out.
The clicks/pops can be reduced by increasing the volume attack envelope - but the pot must be positioned over half way to eliminate it completely.
So, this means I can not now use my new voyager for any sounds with a fast attack!?
The noise is still distinctly evident no matter what - I also found that I can still hear sound with the volume right down..
Not a major problem on it’s own - but still annoying..
As it stands is I’m not really not impressed with it so far, and I always thought of MOOG as a company of superior quality - but this experience has left me felling extremely disappointed with my Voyager RME.
For the price of these things I would expect it to be near on perfect.
As it is it is practily un-playable as every sound I play sounds terrible unless it has a long attack!
Could you describe your MIDI chain? What’s driving it? When sending sequencer data to it, what position is your Env. Gate switch in - k/b or ext?
There should be no noise when not playing, and certainly with the volume down. I’d be looking at your audio interface first. What sort is it and how is it being used?
I agree with Omaroo. Control voltage bleeding in the envelopes and background noises, as well as the main volume audio bleeding at minimum setting, aren’t normal nor acceptable.
Have you tried listening thru headphones directly plugged into the headphone jack ? And if so, was it the same as with the audio out in the back ?
I’ve had both a Voyager Electric Blue and an Old School before (all Voyager share the same analog board, more or less), and none of what you described was happening with any of them.
You might be extremely unlucky and have a defective unit. But then again, it might be something else in your setup also.
Did you buy it from an online store, or directly from Moog online ?
I have sequenced the Voyager directly from a Monomachine - as at first I thought the MIDI chain could be the problem and still had the same results.
As I said before the pops and clicks when notes are played can be removed by positioning the volume attack at approx. 50% – but this really restricts the the type of sounds I can get out of it.
Main output and headphone sound the same - a constant subtle white noise hiss – which is amplified when notes are played to very apparent.
I purchased the unit new from DV in the UK and not even had it a week yet - to say I am disappointed is an under statement.
I think Im going to ask for an exchange, failing that i’ll send it back for a refund.
Have you tried to reset back to factory defaults? I’m not sure if the RME uses the same banks as a PE, but maybe a factory default might be a place to start anyway. You can always restore specialist banks later.
I hear what you’re saying, and as Voyager owner I love my machine. I’d be mortified to know that it was anything short of perfect - which, thankfully, it is. These are premium machines, as you should be able to expect them to work straight out of the box as described. I’d be sad to see someone give up on their new Voyager due to an isolated problem with one. I’m not a fanboy as such, but I sure understand the passion that went into their design and manufacture. As such I reckon you should look for a decent response form your retailer and get them to sort it.
