Moog One Effects
Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2018 11:52 am
Hello all,
First just wanted to thank Moog for making such an amazing synth. The sound and the UI have really blown me away...it is my dream synth!
I was having some problem with the effects not working correctly and when I started seeing many others having the same problem (on Gearslutz, KVR, Facebook), I did some investigating. I must preface it by saying that 1) multiple people are experiencing the same thing, 2) I have experience with pro sound/mixers 3) own hardware and software fx units by Eventide, Strymon, Lexicon, TC, etc (basically, I'm familiar with how they work, 3) have myself built dozens of effects (fuzz, overdrives, distortion, wah, phaser, flanger, chorus, digital delay, and have even built tube amplifiers, etc). That is all just to say that I don't believe it is user error (although it is always possible!) and the experience of others back this up.
Here is what I posted on Gearslutz, but I wanted to make sure that Moog saw it. Perhaps you are already aware of the issues, but I haven't heard it mentioned nor was it in the known bugs for v1.0.1.
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Premise: chorus, flanging (modulated delay effects) and phasers (modulated phase relationship) all produce a moving Comb Filter. For the effect to sound its best, the mix between dry signal and wet should be around the same volume to have the most traditional sound and wettest without going into vibrato (mix favoring wet).
Just non-scientifically watching the meters in Logic, the bypass fx sound [fully dry] presently is at -2.3db and engaged [fully wet--100%mix and 100% FX gain] is -7.4db. It would stand to reason that best sounding 50/50 ratio is not achievable. I did this with the Flanger in the "Synth Effect" section.
edit: tried with the Master Effects. The Master FX fully wet cannot achieve the same volume as the VCA. When I matched volume (by db) the flanging sounded the best, but it is still weak. Any budget flanger pedal does better than what the One is doing right *now* (thank goodness for software updates!). I definitely think there is some sort of gain-staging and/or mix problem going on.
2nd edit: listening to the phaser fully wet (mix 100%, gain 100%) on synth effect, it seems to have dry mixed in. A fully wet phaser shifter sounds like vibrato. This sounds like a regularly mixed phaser, but the volume is way dropped compared to bypass.
3rd edit: I dialed up an Eventide Hall with 1500ms pre-delay (100% send, 100% gain and 0% VCA) to see if wet and it seems to be working correctly, so I think this is a software issue with just the Moog effects.
-----
It seems as though there might be a gain-staging problem with the effects and also a problem with the wet digital signal carrying a dry with it in some instances.
If Moog could confirm there is a problem it would be really appreciated and I'd let like to let the others know. I'm so glad the effects were added and I'm looking forward to using them. Thanks to Amos and the gang for being so transparent and for letting us know what is coming--and for the quick updates you all have been doing!
thanks,
Cryss (Synthient Sound)
First just wanted to thank Moog for making such an amazing synth. The sound and the UI have really blown me away...it is my dream synth!
I was having some problem with the effects not working correctly and when I started seeing many others having the same problem (on Gearslutz, KVR, Facebook), I did some investigating. I must preface it by saying that 1) multiple people are experiencing the same thing, 2) I have experience with pro sound/mixers 3) own hardware and software fx units by Eventide, Strymon, Lexicon, TC, etc (basically, I'm familiar with how they work, 3) have myself built dozens of effects (fuzz, overdrives, distortion, wah, phaser, flanger, chorus, digital delay, and have even built tube amplifiers, etc). That is all just to say that I don't believe it is user error (although it is always possible!) and the experience of others back this up.
Here is what I posted on Gearslutz, but I wanted to make sure that Moog saw it. Perhaps you are already aware of the issues, but I haven't heard it mentioned nor was it in the known bugs for v1.0.1.
-----
Premise: chorus, flanging (modulated delay effects) and phasers (modulated phase relationship) all produce a moving Comb Filter. For the effect to sound its best, the mix between dry signal and wet should be around the same volume to have the most traditional sound and wettest without going into vibrato (mix favoring wet).
Just non-scientifically watching the meters in Logic, the bypass fx sound [fully dry] presently is at -2.3db and engaged [fully wet--100%mix and 100% FX gain] is -7.4db. It would stand to reason that best sounding 50/50 ratio is not achievable. I did this with the Flanger in the "Synth Effect" section.
edit: tried with the Master Effects. The Master FX fully wet cannot achieve the same volume as the VCA. When I matched volume (by db) the flanging sounded the best, but it is still weak. Any budget flanger pedal does better than what the One is doing right *now* (thank goodness for software updates!). I definitely think there is some sort of gain-staging and/or mix problem going on.
2nd edit: listening to the phaser fully wet (mix 100%, gain 100%) on synth effect, it seems to have dry mixed in. A fully wet phaser shifter sounds like vibrato. This sounds like a regularly mixed phaser, but the volume is way dropped compared to bypass.
3rd edit: I dialed up an Eventide Hall with 1500ms pre-delay (100% send, 100% gain and 0% VCA) to see if wet and it seems to be working correctly, so I think this is a software issue with just the Moog effects.
-----
It seems as though there might be a gain-staging problem with the effects and also a problem with the wet digital signal carrying a dry with it in some instances.
If Moog could confirm there is a problem it would be really appreciated and I'd let like to let the others know. I'm so glad the effects were added and I'm looking forward to using them. Thanks to Amos and the gang for being so transparent and for letting us know what is coming--and for the quick updates you all have been doing!
thanks,
Cryss (Synthient Sound)