SO so so dissapointed! Now 2 dead OSCs on VOS

[Synthtron]

Anyone else have issues with their Voyager Old School. I bought mine new back in 2012 and out of the box it had a dead oscillator. Sent it in under warranty it was repaired. I should have fought harder to get a different unit or money back but Humbucker Music was insistant on me getting Moog to fix. I had not used it in about a month to two months and now 2 dead Oscillators! I am hugely dissaponited and sick over it. Now it is out of warranty. Great!

[thealien666]

A dead oscillator out of the box from the store is not normal. Moog Music test each and every single one of their products before shipping, and insures that they are fully working when shipped to dealers and stores. Each unit goes through a "burn in" period where the device is left powered on for many hours to insure that no weak electronic parts will fail prematurely. Of course that doesn't guarantee that it can never happen after that, but that's why there's a one year warranty.

If your Old School was defective out of the box, I suspect that maybe you were passed a floor demo model for a brand new one, carefully repackaged as brand new. A dishonest practice that too many music store are still doing today.

Anyway, I personally would have asked for my money back as soon as the first oscillator wasn't working out of the box on a $2K + electronic instrument, and would have informed Moog Music about it.

Because if, like I suspect, your VOS is a floor demo model passed as a brand new one, there's no telling how many hours it has been powered-on in the store ? Especially since that model came out in 2008 and Moog Music stopped making them around 2010, and you've bought it two years later.

All that being said. I did have a problem with my Old School (serial number in the early 100) back in 2008 (under warranty). The Sample and Hold waveform of the LFO failed. It was repaired but it had to go to an authorized Moog Music repair center here in Canada twice before finally coming back 100% fixed. I didn't pay a cent, and the music store owner was very kind in offering to lend me his own Voyager EB during the four weeks it took to fix my OS.
Talk about great service !!

After that it never failed again, until I sold it to buy a Minimoog D.

There are over 800 different parts on the main analog board inside an Old School. So it is possible that one of them will fail, despite Moog Music's high quality control.

Even if yours is out of warranty, I would still contact them about it though. Their support department is usually very friendly and understanding, and they might come up with a solution...

All the best to you.

Alain.

[Synthtron]

I have yet to contact Moog Music about it. I just turned it on and found out about it today. Moog Muisc was aware of the first issue out of the box and I had to ship it to Moog Music in Asheville NC for the repair. I whole heartedly agree I should have demanded my money back after having received a failed unit. As they say: Hind sight is 20/20. Personally I do not feel like spending any money on it and get something else. I am not sure what that would be at this time. I had a Little Phatty which I sold since I got the Voyager. But that was sent in for a key-bed replacement when I first got it because the key-bed had issues with a couple scrapping keys against something it was annoying. Honestly I have little faith if I got it sent in for repair that it would not happen again. Like you say perhaps it was a floor model or perhaps it is just a lemon.

[Sweep]

A dead oscillator out of the box from the store is not normal. Moog Music test each and every single one of their products before shipping, and insures that they are fully working when shipped to dealers and stores. Each unit goes through a "burn in" period where the device is left powered on for many hours to insure that no weak electronic parts will fail prematurely. Of course that doesn't guarantee that it can never happen after that, but that's why there's a one year warranty.

Do they still test each Voyager? I remember they used to do this, but I can't recall it being mentioned in the last few years, and there's been an increasing number of faulty ones reported here and elsewhere. A friend of mine had a massive number of problems with his Voyager, several of which have been duplicated in reports here - failed oscillators, failed envelopes....

[Synthtron]

I agree even by looking at the forums seems like a number of issues. I think this may be my last Moog. I am not sure three would be a charm and I do not want to blow the $$$ to find out. Sadly, I have no more faith in it.

[thealien666]

I swapped my Old School for a 38 years old Minimoog D, and its electronics has yet to fail...

Maybe the saying "they don't make them like they used to..." rings true ?

But then again, there aren't close to 200 ICs inside a Mini, just 10...and quite a few single transistors.

[Synthtron]

You are right, they do not make them like they used to. I sold a Liberation for my friend several months ago and that thing had never been serviced. It was in excellent condition but I could not say the same for the case which was falling apart/deteriorating.

[Vsyevolod]

Saying something like "this will be my last Moog" implies that you've found a synth with a more reliable reputation.

All synths have the potential to break down, all of them have the potential to break down often.

Now if you're trying to establish a pattern in Moog's quality control based on your individual experience... well good luck finding something of higher quality.

To Synthtron: Saying that "they don't make them like they used to" is an easy thing to say. What basis do you have for saying that? Or are you just using a tired old cliche thinking that it's always applicable?

This forum is not served by emotional rants that are not backed up by real life examples. And by that, I don't mean one or two. We are here to help you through problems, to learn from each other, and to share knowledge. I don't think there's any place for holding your hand and saying "Awwwwww, that's too bad. Yeah, Moog really sucks..."

As the saying goes, a good musician always blames his instrument... (not...)

Stephen




.

[Sweep]

As the saying goes, a good musician always blames his instrument... (not...)

That's a really cheap shot, and also demonstrably untrue. You're implying that the people who've had failed oscillators and failed envelopes and so on didn't really have them, but simply couldn't play their instrument.

I'm fortunate enough to have an early Voyager that's never had any issues. I also know a guy who had so many issues with his that he spent the price of the Voyager a second time on a long series of repairs. I wouldn't be arrogant enough to suggest my lack of issues with the instrument is because I'm so much better at playing it.

[thealien666]

...To Synthtron: Saying that "they don't make them like they used to" is an easy thing to say. What basis do you have for saying that? Or are you just using a tired old cliche thinking that it's always applicable?

In all fairness, I was the one citing this tired old cliché, maybe needlessly ?

The most important factor that remains unknown (at least for me) is, how many Voyagers (including all models for the Select series to the Old School) have been built and sold ?

Because the more you produce an item the more the chances that something might go wrong with some of them grows. It's a statistical law.

I've recently learned that more than 10,000 Minibrute synth from Arturia have been sold since it came out and, aside from a few quirks on the early models (metal weights under the key coming unglued due to a bad batch of glue), very few failures of the electronics have been reported so far, and all fixed under warranty. (source: Yves Usson the creator of the Minibrute and Microbrute)

That's a great track record for a company that is just starting in the hardware analog synth world.

But, again, internally the Minibrute is much, much simpler a design. Akin to maybe the Little Phatty in terms of the amount of electronic components.

I've never understood why there are soooo many components on the analog board in a Voyager. It seems to go against Bob's philosophy of "simplicity elevates"...

[Control_Voltage]

Dear Synthtron:

Andy Hughes, I am the manager of the Service Department at Moog Music. I am terribly sorry to hear that you are having such issues with a new Voyager Old School. We strive everyday to ensure that only the highest quality product leaves our factory, and we stand behind our products 100%.

Please contact me immediately at (828)-251-0090 ext. 221 or you can email me at [email protected] and we can discuss a warranty repair on your instrument. I will do everything in my power to get you back to making music as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Thanks,

Andy Hughes
Moog Tech Support

[sunny pedaal]

so, that's what i'd call Service !
been playing synth for over 34 years now, seen a lot of them, heard a lot.
overall no problems, especially not with moogs.
might be you have a special so called " monday morning" model where unfortunately all badluck things come together.
but to state that "moog in general...", or "all voyagers ...", etc is beyond truth to my experience

[Vsyevolod]

As the saying goes, a good musician always blames his instrument... (not...)

That's a really cheap shot, and also demonstrably untrue.

My attempt at humour. I hope the rest of my post was read and understood...

Stephen




.

[thealien666]

I don't know of many synths companies that would have the head of the service department come onto a forum to offer to fix an issue to a particular customer ! Certainly not huge companies like Roland, Korg, or Yamaha. Although they might have a good track record for customer support also, but not to this extent.

My hat's off to you Andy ! This shows how dedicated Moog employees are to offer the best possible product and the best possible customer service.
Passionate people is what they are.

Best of luck to you Synthtron with your Voyager Old School. Keep us posted.

Alain.

[GovernorSilver]

I don't know of many synths companies that would have the head of the service department come onto a forum to offer to fix an issue to a particular customer ! Certainly not huge companies like Roland, Korg, or Yamaha. Although they might have a good track record for customer support also, but not to this extent.

I've seen posts from Korg people on Harmony Central and Keyboard Corner. One of them put up a bunch of tutorial vids on Youtube that's still up there. I think that was a factor in Korg figuring out that people wanted them to make analog synths again. I think though that Moog Music has been more consistent in maintaining an online presence.

Never saw any forum presence from Roland or Yamaha.