Voyager Master Volume Doesn't Go To Zero

[scotteh]

Hi

I just got a used Voyager RME and everything seems to work fine (GREAT, in fact!! Blown away by this thing!! Makes the slim phatty I got last year seem like a toy! But I digress...) except the master volume knob. When I turn it all the way down then play a key, I can still hear sound. Generally on synths the master volume turns the sound completely off so it seems that something might be wrong here.

This happens on all patches.

Can this be fixed?

Thanks!
Scott
www.scottfromcanada.com

[thealien666]

Probably a bad contact from the wiper on that potentiometer. Have you tried turning it many times from one end to the other ? Even if it doesn't sound "scratchy" there still could be some oxidation on that wiper preventing a proper contact with the ground side of the pot.

[scotteh]

Yeah I just tried it. Might get a little quieter for a second but Not much. No change after working it for a while. It feels really clean, I doubt it's that. Maybe a cold solder joint, I don't know. I have some deoxit I could spray in there if I open it up. No hurry though. I'll see if anyone else has any ideas before I try that.

[thealien666]

Yeah I just tried it. Might get a little quieter for a second but Not much. No change after working it for a while. It feels really clean, I doubt it's that. Maybe a cold solder joint, I don't know. I have some deoxit I could spray in there if I open it up. No hurry though. I'll see if anyone else has any ideas before I try that.

No Deoxit !!! It will dilute the silicone gel that makes the knob feel smooth.

If what I suggested didn't resolve the issue, it could be a cold joint on one of the legs of that pot. Or maybe a loose connector from the panel to the PCB.

[RL]

When you turn the pot on the left side and the display says "000" the pot is OK.
It must be a broken part in the VCA.

[scotteh]

Yeah, it does say 000.

[Just Me]

The VCA needs calibration.

[thealien666]

The VCA needs calibration.

Yep. I concur. Not a pot issue, obviously.

[Spitfire]

Guys, just a thought here...

I think it could be the filter. My Oberheim SEM is not perfectly silent when volume is 0 except when I have not played a single note since turning it on. I don't remember if my voyager does it too... I will check it later. I think I have heard this referred to as filter bleed. If that is the case, it could just be normal of your RME as it is on my SEM.

Are you going through a mixer or cranking a preamp your RME is going into? That could emphasize any filter bleed you're hearing. Is the residual volume you're hearing very faint or loud still?

[scotteh]

I agree with calibration. I hope it's something I can do myself. I have a feeling I'm going to be using this thing every day from now on. I don't really want to be without it for a week or two.

Filter bleed? Nope. It's the full sound of a note being played. Envelopes and all. If I play no notes, there's no sound.

As for the SEM thing, nope. My SEM-Pro is dead quiet when the oscillators are turned down. Again, I think it needs to be calibrated if yours is making sound. Email Tom Oberheim and ask him.

Scott
www.scottfromcanada.com

[Spitfire]

Tested my Moogs and Oberheim SEM...

The Moogs are perfectly silent, but the Oberheim SEM has some filter bleed. I am running it through an old Mackie mixer, so I presume the preamps are making the filter / free-running oscillator bleed a bit more noticeable (though it is veeeery faint and completely unnoticeable in the mix). It is certainly not full volume though like your RME, Scotteh. So, it's no prob here.

Ahhh, analog synths. Gotta love 'em!!!

Good luck with the calibration buddy.

[scotteh]

New info, just FYI....

First, just to restate, it's not at full volume, it's quiet, as if the master volume is still at 1, or maybe even lower. It's a problem for me because I have 5 synths on the same midi channel. I've found it's much easier to keep the ones I use the most all together like this and just turn up the one(s) I want. Still reasonably easy to get around by muting the channel on the mixer or just turning off the oscillators in the RME, just annoying. Pic of that stand is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scotteh/67 ... hotostream

But the new info is this: The release of the VCA envelope never goes longer than 1 second! I tried switching the release setting in the menu and it didn't fix it. So it looks like there are 2 (or more) things that need calibration in this unit.

Again just FYI, it is a used one I got from Musiciansfriend. They described it as "level 3" and showed a slight dent on the back casing and a slightly bent headphone level knob and one missing screw from the back. Those things are completely unnoticeable to me. Even the headphone knob turns almost perfectly. So far everything else seems fine but I haven't had a lot of time with it yet. A couple of calibration issues isn't a big deal but it would have been nice if they'd mentioned it.

Also, one interesting thing; when it arrived and I was turning it over inspecting it I heard something moving around inside. I opened it up and found a little black box that was moving freely in there. It said something about "thermal" on it and I assume it checks temperatures and keeps the oscillators in tune. It has 2 sticky pads on it and just sticks to the inside of the case. The pads were dried out a bit because of the cold. I stuck it back on and it hasn't moved since, but maybe when it was moving around it hit something and caused the calibrations issues.

Anyway, I'm still not at all upset about it. It sounds so fantastic I can't be mad! From now on I will be advising everyone to buy a Voyager before anything else. It truly is the king of all synths!

Scott
www.scottfromcanada.com

[thealien666]

From what you've described, this thing had been seriously mistreated and knocked around.

Missing a screw on the casing indicates that someone had already peeked (and possibly poked) around inside, and that's not good news. Usually, qualified techs don't forget to put back screws if that unit had been repaired earlier.

Trimpots can't move by themselves enough to reduce release time to only one second. Especially not multi-turns like the ones in the Voyager. The low audio leak of the volume knob could be, however, just a small miscalibration of the final VCA.

If the small black box you've mentionned that was freely moving around is made of metal, or has exposed wires, it could have made contact somewhere on the PCB and phucked-up something, indeed.

Even though you've probably got a low price online because it was "used", and could not take the unit in yours hands and hear the rattle inside, that's the main reason why I prefer to buy stuff second hand in person. And whenever I hear something loose inside a device, especially a synth, I usually stay away or reduce the price A LOT. Explaining to the seller that I'm taking a huge risk.

Anyway, I hope for you that not too much damage has been done already...

[hofi]

I bought a few days ago used Moog Voyager Blue Ed.

I have a problem - I set Master Volume to "000" and Headphone Volume "000" and continues rightly faint sound.
How can that be? I Moog Sub 37 and how I set the Volume to zero, it is absolutely quiet.

I ask for help because I am concerned? Do I have something broken?

[RL]

Hi hofi,
the trim pot RP8 on the analog board is wrong calibrated.
Turn the pot clockwise till the sound stops - that's all.

Rudi