Spent yesterday morning in a top-class recording studio, doing a Taurus 3 vs. Taurus 1 comparison on their massive monitor system. I think we nailed the sound. So much low end it was scary - the chassis of their big 2-track tape machine started buzzing and rattling; walls were pumping to the beat frequency between oscillators… FUN!
Here are a few little sound samples, very rough and unpolished:
Dialing in the “Taurus” preset. This is not the exact final preset but you can hear we’re getting close.
Taurus 1 on one channel, Taurus 3 on the other. Which one is which? Click here to listen.
One big surprise to me was what an amazing acid machine the Taurus 3 can be. The arpeggiator really brings out a new dimension.
Here are some examples: Taurus 3 arpeggiator loop big bass arp resonant arp
and lastly here’s a hasty tour through a few different presets - sorry there aren’t more extended notes to listen to, but you can get a sense of a bit of the sonic landscape.
The right side initially seemed darker, or fuller or more prominant. THe second listen, it was really hard to discern. I think I was listening too hard the second time. Left channel seemed to twinkle just a tiny bit brighter.
I think they pretty much nailed it, but it is going to start a true debate over 1 vs 3 and then the Model D vs Voyager debates will offshoot.
Then a hybrid Phatty vs Rogue debate will manifest and our computers will all get the blue screen of death.
Ill bet you guys had lots of fun with a whole two octaves of pedals to play with.
The arp sounds great I can’t wait to record with it.
Amos,
take all the time you need to perfect it before you ship.
Eric, you are right - after several listenings, I can’t seem to tell which is which. Man, I am so stoked to know they are almost ready! Sold my motorcycle today, and I’m going to buy either a Prophet 08 pe or an Andromeda - probably the Prophet (I’ve owned an Andy, and there was zero customer support, & the P-08 is a grand less & sounds fantastic). I think the Taurus/Prophet combo will mix well together, and I like the fact that both machines are made right here in the good old USA. Looks like 2010 is going to be a really good year!
I think it would be more powerful if you went the Module route. Get the prophet module and then youd have enough for something like a Roland XR or Yamaha Motif Module.
That would be some powerful stuff to combine with the voyager.
Or get the Module and a nice fat juicy sequencer to sequence some arpeggios to.
Im considering getting an electric upright so I will have a well rounded bass arsenal: Upright, Electric, Fretless, and synth as a nice bass station.
Eric - I’ve never been much of a module guy, I like full boards - btw, I just ordered the Prophet 08 potentiometer edition - oh yeah. Sold the Voyager , so I’m down to the Prophet, the Taurus 3s, and the Roland JP-8000. I see you are a bassist too - that’s my main instrument as well - I mainly use the synths for our Rush & prog covers. Hope you fare better on upright than I did - I consider myself to be a pretty good electric bassist, but I can barely play a single note on the upright!
Ive been playing the bass for about 15 years. I love Primus and Victor Wooten (met him twice, once with Fleck), Flea…any of those funky slappers.
Prince is a helluva bass player too by the way.
I have an alvarez 4 (P&J) with EMG’s, A carvin 5 string fretless, jasmine acuostic electric 4 (which I might be willing to trade perhaps) and have experience with uprights (not much, but enough to make me want one badly).
So Im a bass player at heart but I try to own and learn as many instruments as I can so Ive amassed a bit of a collection in my 15 years at it.
Im really wanting to be able to provide any type of bass that ANYONE might look for, which is one reason why I bought the T3. The sound samples have me beaming from ear to ear.
If the T3 is popular, we might see a rack moun t version sometime in the future. However, being Moog Music is a rather small shop, they probably have higher priority projects in the pipeline. Especially as the T3’s are supposed to be a limited run item.
Well, after playing the “Which Taurus” samples for quite a bit, I have some observations:
First, a HUGE hats off to Moog. I think that these are about as close as one could ever get given that components, materials, etc. have changed a lot over time. (both in source components used to manufacture as well as the components in the existing made instruments.) While a difference can be heard between the two, many will not even be able to do so. The question also begs - Who would actually want to?!?! - given how great these sound. One thing that does make it easier to pick out is that they are separated between left and right channels. If played in mono on a continuous loop, it is even more difficult to detect which is which. Try letting it loop in mono for 10 mins, don’t keep count of which part was left or right, leave the room and return. It will be very, very difficult to pick which is which.
As for how each “looks” (scope/software), again, a small difference can be seen, but it is pretty darn small in my opinion and not easy to see.
A big thanks to Moog for making this happen! I eagerly await the beast…
