This is a question to all who know the complete history of Moog Company and Minimoog Model D.
What are the best sounding Minimoogs?
The R.A. Moog, the Musonics or the later ones up to s# 10175?
Thanks
It seems the earlier the better but watch out for oscillator drift; the later models are still sounding awesome and are more reliable.
I own two Model D’s, one with a serial number in the 4000’s and one with a serial number in the 8000’s. To my ear, they sound virtually identical. In fact when you set them up with the knobs in the exact same settings (except for the tuning knobs), they sound exactly the same. I was always lead to believe that they were unique enough from instrument to instrument, that this would not happen.
Watching prices on Ebay, it appears that the last evolution of the Model D (after the serial number 10175) is not as popular. Usually mint condition late models go for less money than slightly beat up older models. I assume this is because their increased tuning stability gives the impression that they do not sound as “fat”, or as I have laughingly noted that it is printed in my Moog owners manual, “flat”.
I got a late 1979 Minimoog. And I got the impression that these do sound also very big. Of cause they drift a little bit too. But not as much as the old oscillator boards. And the low serial number is not a garranty for the original oscillator boards. Many Minimoog user changed them or added the octave buffer board later. So not all below #10175 are real original old.
I have played older then my Minis. But the sound change was not as by no way as big as from the Voyager to the Minis. And the beter tuning stabil later models are way better if you really like to use your Mini on stage.
You’ve got to be kiddin’, huh?
What sounds good to one person will sound terrible to another, and vice versa.
Use your ears and determine which will sound best to you. THAT is the one that sounds the best…to you.
Rick Wakeman was said to be able to differentiate between his 9 minimoogs and in fact he was on British TV in the early eighties on a show where he did just that, blindfolded he was led from minimoog to minimoog and he named them all correctly based on the (same patch) sound (he had names for them all).
I have owned 5 minimoogs over the last 18 years (not all at the same time though) and I can’t say that they sounded different. The last one that I owned (serial 11188) did sound the best but that’s because it had an RMS modification which created soft distortion and generally beafed the sound up.
I sold it in March which I now regret.
I agree with the previous statement . . everyone hears things differently, what might sound great to you might sound naff to someone else . . you like it . . you play it.
I recently sold my PPG Wave 2.3 (lovely) to a chap who commented on the “crap” sound of my MINT (and working 100%) memorymoog . . some people just don’t have taste!!
Mal
Yes Don, it’s a matter of taste, that’s why i don’t play my Roland JX 10, i thoght that i like it, but changed my mind, also don’t play my yamaha motiv 6 and do not own casio keyboards. I’m not sure if i like my voyager really as i play my old model d(s# 2590) most of the time.
But i always like my memorymoogs, even after years.
Ok, why do i like to know the differences of model d’s?
I had a minimoog with s# above 10175 (no modification) and it didn’t pleased me and wasn’t stable allthough you can read on the net that these are the most stable. Most of the people claim that the old oscilator boards sound better and are more drifty. The one i own now is 32 years old and 100% stable, yes 100%. I can play it 5(!) hours and do not need to correct VCO 2’s frequency a little bit. If they are drifty, they have a fat sound for 15 minutes and then a change into a unmusical detuned or a thin sound.
Allthough my model d sounds fantastic i couldn’t recreate exactly the patches of chick corea’s mini on records “My spanish heart” and “Romatic warrior”. There must be more differences between model D’s i guess. The early ones had matching transistor pairs through the whole ladder filter, the later ones only the top and bottom pairs. Did the early minis had different oscilators? In my opinion there are a lot of differences between minis.
How can i get chick’s sound? Did he use a musonics or the first R.A. Moog?
Yes Mal, i like the PPG Wave digital/analog hybrid sound too, much more than the yamaha dx 7, again a matter of taste.
Thanks for your comments and experience.
Sometimes, I get the impression that people’s idea of what sounds better is based on that dirty oscillator drift. The truth is, all you have to do to get that sound is detune osc. 2 or 3. It’s a redeaming, yet stablized way of getting that same dirty sound on any Minimoog, Model D or Voyager alike.
Personally, I’d take one of the D’s that’s got the “newer” oscillator boards. I like when my synths stay in tune.
I agree with you ebg, I think people forget that a lot of the “fatness” sound in a synth comes from oscillators that are slightly out of tune.
You could spend lots of time and money looking for the “fattest” sounding Minimoog out there, but if it doesn’t stay in tune, it is useless to me.