What Should I Buy? Voyger OS or Voyager Performer

The Moog Forum Minimoog Forum
1

Hi guys i am starting a new music project, i am using a Moog Source at the moment and i want more control over my sound and more knobs to play with.
I am going to buy a Korg MicroKorg for a vocoder ONLY, (just because i can’t find a Korg VC10)
But i Need a 2nd synth and i can’t decide on a Voyager OS or a Voyager Performer.
I feel as if i will barely use the touch pad and the preset banks but i feel that maybe in the long term i will find i may use these extra features of the performer… maybe

With the operating of a voyager i want to know can i use it like a OS and not use the presets or do i have to use it like my Source and select a preset then modify the sound from that?

2

You can indeed build a sound from scratch, using only the front panel knobs, and without starting from a preset. Simply select Real Panel Parameters from the Edit Menu.

3

Oh thats great! thanks Hal_McGee :slight_smile:
I would like to know anyones opinions on buying a voyager performer vs OS.

4

http://www.moogmusic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5284

(scroll down).

5

Seems to me that the decision is really based on whether MIDI is a requirement.

I certainly haven’t found that the lack of presets slows me down on my Voyager OS! :slight_smile:

6

WHat are you really looking for the synth to accomplish?

Do you own any other Moog products?

Adding on to what greg posted in the ther thread, you do know that if you want to control other instruments then youd need the vx351 with the CV outputs.

If you want the best of both worlds (OS vs PE) then you can go with the RME if price is a factor.

Hope you find what you are looking for.

Eric

7

Yes a moog source, i love it but i want more knobs and more physical control over my sound.

I don’t really care about all that stuff, i might use an expression pedal to control stuff. Or maybe even buy a moogerfooger or 2 but i don’t feel i would be at that point for a while.

i want a minimoog fold down box.

I don’t care about midi, i may use it to use the moog librarian software, but thats later down the track and a maybe.

My main thought is
A: the voyager is a synth that at the moment i won’t use all the features now but maybe later i may find them valuable.
B: i feel the OS will last forever compared to the voyager that maybe if the electronics fail i will not beable to get it fixed.
(BTW my Moog Source is from '81ish and it still works beautifully)

8

I feel my Voyager will last for decades.

I never use presets on my Voyager. I literally mean never. I have never even scrolled through the presets!
I always “initialize” the synthesizer and work from there. Basically starting from scratch.
I do use the touch screen, somewhat often. It can be super trippy when used to control parimeters on the Moogers…like delay time on the 104z!

All that being said, I really don’t use MIDI either!

On the other hand, the Voyager Old School was not avaible when I made my purchase of my Voyager. (A Christmas gift to myself in 2005) :smiley:

I am totally happy with the synthesizer. Actually I could not be happier.
I am not sure what I would chose if I needed to make the purchase today.
I think the build quality of the Voyager is a bold statement in the world of synths. I would really like to believe the “regular” Voyager is an instrument built to last a lifetime. I know if mine broke and I was told it was unable to be fixed, I would be a little heart-broken. It is a great synth.
I am not sure if all this babble helps you… but consider yourself lucky…some people would love to be in a place where they are debating which Voyager to purchase!
I would bet you will be happy with either. (maybe Moog needs to release a touch pad!..so the Old School people can do what us Voyager owners are doing!)

9

thanks analoghaze your feedback makes a lot of sense. It is great to hear someone using the voyager in the way i expect i will use it!

10

You are welcome.

11

Rynaro,
WHen i first started playing music I began as a bass player. I preferred clean tone technical playing rather than effects-I was anti-effects..I was young and headstrong and I despized “techno” music and I abhored synth bass. If I went back then and told myself, “Eric Im from the future to tell you that you will be loving and playing electronica and will be fascinated with synth programming” I would think that I would have become a total sell out! hahaha.

My point is that the Voyager will provide you with a blanket that will keep covering you as you grow, giving you options that now you might not even be interested in. And, there are respectable members of this forum of the school of thought of analogue purists who don’t use keyboard controllers or even the presets on the voyager. To me that is a very interesting and unique approach to synthesis on this particular instrument. But when you get the voyager in your lab and you start really spending time with it you may want everything that it has to offer and more. In my experience, I have personally had enough of documenting my programming with sound charts or photos of the panel. I never want to do this again so I want the presets so that I can recall my patches. On the other side of the coin I think that not having presets at all forces you to really learn your instruments capabillities because you have to KNOW why you got a certian sound to be able to recreate it instead of just stumbling back to your sound with a lucky chance (as ive done many times).

I always try to encourage people to think 5 years down the line. I am the first to encourage someone to invest in a 5 or 6 string as their second bass because as they may want the increased range as their skills develop. Whatever you end up doing with the Voyager whether you choose the OS or the Performer/Select, you will be constantly suprised. Im just envious because im not in the position to be shopping for either model at this time. I really hope that you are happy with whatever you choose and Its a testament to you that you sought Moog because you came to the right place. I think the Voyager is the best synth on the market today.

Respectfully,
Eric

12

One solution to your dilemma may be to buy an older software version with only 128 patch memory. Used Voyagers are plentiful on Ebay. :wink:

I bought an EB back in 05 'cause I always wanted a Mini but couldn’t afford one as a kid. Seemed to me Dr. Moog had really outdone himself with the Voyager; I see it as being his penultimate work. A really elegant blend of the best of the Minimoog with the added bossness of CV ins and outs and MIDI!!! Keith Emerson would have given his left nut for one of these in 1972!!!

Like others said, if you go with a Voyager you HAVE TO get the VX-351 and the CP-251 and a couple other Moogers to go along with it. The Voyager loves other stomp boxes too. :sunglasses: I’m sequencing with Sonar7 but would MUCH prefer a nice hardware sequencer ala the Arrick 960 knock-off.

Whichever way you go I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. The Voyager is a truly inspiring instrument unlike any other keyboard.

13

Yeah, he’s right. Once you cross a certian Moog threshhold you have to just jump in lolool.

Eric

14

This is my current dilemma as well…

I understand the technical differences and purist opinions aside pertaining to the way they work and play, there are lots of people that do need to integrate these moogs into a solid DAW environment and think more about complex patches with timed, integrated control.

In that case, the voyagers presets (for recall or saving accidental patches on your way to your goal patch) come in handy, the midi transmit from the knobs and controllers are priceless for automation and integration, and more complex routing and patching internally should yield some more complicated synthesis results…

The big question is!

Does the old school truly “feel” better sonically…

side by side with a voyager, the model D tends to project more, be edgier(ripping electronic quality) and cut thru(more presence) over the voyager.. yes they are different Instruments, and yes the voyagers features are way more dense in comparison, and you can probably process a voyager to give you a similar result.. but I’m referring to those nuances and things you mostly feel more than hear in similar patches between the two.

Does the OS have these qualities? If so, are they more pronounced than the voyagers and more like th older moogs and their “raw” ways?

or is it the same as the voyager just a subtle tonal difference that doesn’t encompass what I mentioned…

If they both hit just as hard equally, then the full blown voyager is 100% worth it, as your not gaining much by going for the scaled down voyager (other than purist players that are looking for that style of thinking of course).

But, if the OS does have something sound wise that takes it back to that older sound and reproduces some of those qualities more faithfully then it might be worth it to have BOTH in my case…LOL but id rather just get a voyager and a phatty II and call it a day.

would love to hear what Amos or anyone else thinks about these elusive qualities.

15

I remember vaguely when I had my Voyager, I took just 1 OSC and dialed in similar settings on the Micro…THat single note, the Micro sounded richer, fatter. Its simimlar to those who say that the Voyager is more Bright compared to the Discrete Mini. (Not trying to start a Comparison hijack) Its not something that I can really describe…its the same note, same waveshape but the timbre was different…has to be something unique to the circuits. Of corse, turn on the other 2 Oscs of the Voyager and the Micro can’t compare anymore lol.

The Vintage sounds are simply elusive unless its a vintage instrument.

This is my opinion of corse, some may disagree.

EricK

16

I’ve had three Voyagers - Anniversary, Signature and now the OS. The OS was the Voyager I wish they would have made from the start, but that’s because I don’t use MIDI, presets, the touch screen, and I really care about a vintage asthetic. The lack of memory really goes a long way in shaping your programming skills too, because you’re constantly starting from scratch (which you can do on the regular voyager as well, of course).

There’s a purety about the OS that’s just impossible to match. It forces you to use a synth in the same creative sense that the original pioneers did because of the “limitations” of the interface. It brings you to square one each time you turn it on.

Greatest synth ever made…

17

I’ve had three Voyagers - Anniversary, Signature and now the OS. The OS was the Voyager I wish they would have made from the start, but that’s because I don’t use MIDI, presets, the touch screen, and I really care about a vintage asthetic. The lack of memory really goes a long way in shaping your programming skills too, because you’re constantly starting from scratch (which you can do on the regular voyager as well, of course).

There’s a purety about the OS that’s just impossible to match. It forces you to use a synth in the same creative sense that the original pioneers did because of the “limitations” of the interface. It brings you to square one each time you turn it on.

Greatest synth ever made…

18

Yes, sometimes it takes more time to set the knobs back to “scratch” from an existing sound then to build a new sound from scratch :wink:

19

From my point of view only two reasons justify the purchase of a Voyager OS instead of a normal one. The price and, but this is to demonstrate, a better sound quality. If the OS sound is better of normal Voyager and then identical to the old model D you have a good reason to purchase it. If you want to save money this is a good reason. Otherwise I see only disadvantages.

20

When you need to go quickly from one patch to another in live performance, the Voyager would be the most logical choice. When working in a studio, the OS would fit the bill.