Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One?

Polyphonic Analog Synthesizer
maxfeller
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Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One?

Post by maxfeller » Fri Apr 19, 2019 8:05 am

Hello there,

I have some serious internal debate and I need some information to make a decision, so your feedback is highly valued. As 99.9% of you, I want to get a Moog One. As 99.9% of you, I don’t have $8000 to splash on a Moog One. But I have a synth that might help me to cash on to get my One. Long story short: In 2011 I got a Minimoog Voyager Select Series. What’s special about this Voyager is that it’s the one and only Brian Eno played at 2011 Moogfest. I even have the pictures of Brian playing it (from the wood panel’s grain you can check it’s my Minimoog). I also got a VX-351, an original hard case, the original dust cover and even the goose lamp to accompany my Voyager.
So, after seeing the One coming out, for the very first time, I thought about selling my Voyager. However, my main concern is about losing the gorgeous Moog sound that I can achieve with my Minimoog. Since Moog has developed new oscillators for the One, I don’t know if the sound will differ from a Mini. So, my question is: will I lose THAT Minimoog sound if I get the One. If I set the One on mono mode, will it sound exactly as a Minimoog? I am aware that I could get like a million things on top of a Voyager if I get the One, but my main concern is about losing that sound.
I live in Chile and there’s only one One in the country for sale, and it’s very likely I won’t get the chance of trying it before buying. Extremely-lucky One owners, I really appreciate your answers.

Many thanks,

Max
Max

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till
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One

Post by till » Fri Apr 19, 2019 12:30 pm

A Minimoog Model D (vintage or reissue), a Moog (Minimoog) Voyager and a Moog One do not sound exactly alike. There are sometimes (depending on the sound you try) very easy to hear differences. And some of these Voyagers double VCF sounds are not doable at all on the Moog One. But these are not the sounds the original Minimoog Model D was able to play.

I got all these here to proof this. Not even all vintage Minimoog Model D revisions sound alike (3 different oscillator boards).
keep on turning these Moog knobs

Sequence:
Prodigy * minimoog '79 * Voyager * MF102 * MF103 * MF104z * MP201 * Taurus 3 * Minitaur * Sub Phatty * MF105 * Minimoog 2017+ MUSE * One 16

SER
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One

Post by SER » Sat Apr 20, 2019 8:51 am

Nah, It will not sound like a Minimoog.
Don't expect the Moog One to sound like a Moog. Because it doesn't.
Regardless whether its the vintage D sound / re-issue / Voyager series.

if you're really happy with the sound of your Voyager I'd stick to that synth if I where you.

Iaamusic
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One

Post by Iaamusic » Sat Apr 20, 2019 11:21 am

Don't expect the Moog One to sound like a Moog. Because it doesn't.
That seems an odd thing to say. I can make my Moog one sound very similar to my model D, not exactly for the reasons Till mentions, but the tone certainly.

Ian

SER
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One

Post by SER » Sat Apr 20, 2019 1:53 pm

Serious, thats great then.
Must be beyond my knowledge then because I can not make my M1 sound like my mini at all.

Iaamusic
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One

Post by Iaamusic » Sat Apr 20, 2019 2:55 pm

What sound is it you’re struggling with, happy to help?

SER
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One

Post by SER » Sat Apr 20, 2019 5:31 pm

I'm not struggling with any sound in particular, but super nice of you to ask. Thanks so much.

I have been having a nightmare with the One which just kept on crashing/freezing every 10 to 20 mins or so. Horrible.
The way the synth works is clear to me though. Endless possibilties and very straight forward to use.

I've now deleted every single preset, and started a new complete clean userbase and have not yet had a major crash yet the last 2 hours. (only hanging notes and so forth)

I did ofc also try to emulate my Mini, but if you get a crash every ten minutes you'll REALLY quickly start to dislike a synth. (I've spent days on this issue already.....Was in contact with Moog. And trying things over and over again...Driving me bonkers.I came close to the point of just packing it in the box and putting it up in the attic.)

If I finally get a stable machine, I'll try to make a minimoog sound again. But to my ears to one has a much lower bottom end (I think), and that rich alive fuzziness of the Old Mini is not to be found in the One...Or at least...I didn't find it yet.)
When you crank up the mini's output the distortion sounds lovely. If you crank up the Moog one it sounds like an MP3.
I'm sure everything will be sorted by Moog, and I'm not giving up that easy. But it kind of feels that we the first users are the Beta testers of their not finished product....Which is mega cool if they send you a free Moog One and have you BETA it for them, but NOT if you've paid good money for a synth and then spend days and days trying to sort out WTF is wrong with the thing.

Anyhow, I'm staying positive. Sure everything is gonna be allright soon.

Hopefully Moog will get back to me on Monday (I've sent them my patches / sent movies of the crashes etc etc.) so yeah...fingers crossed.

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till
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One

Post by till » Sun Apr 21, 2019 12:05 pm

SER wrote:...
and that rich alive fuzziness of the Old Mini is not to be found in the One...Or at least...I didn't find it yet.)
...
You get the full sounding Minimoog sawtooth using the sawtooth mode on the oscillators and by setting the wave angle to something near a 60 µs up-ramp slope. The fully left or right ends of the triangle mode wave angle is not like the Minimoog at all, although it might look more or less identically on the three little OLED screens.
But I am missing partly the saturation to slight distortion of the Minimoog filter on my Moog One.

Sorry to hear about you problems with the Moog One. Mine had no crash in the last 4 weeks using firmware 1.03 (and 1.04 for a couple of days).
keep on turning these Moog knobs

Sequence:
Prodigy * minimoog '79 * Voyager * MF102 * MF103 * MF104z * MP201 * Taurus 3 * Minitaur * Sub Phatty * MF105 * Minimoog 2017+ MUSE * One 16

TubeAmpNut
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One?

Post by TubeAmpNut » Sat Feb 12, 2022 9:31 pm

You can get some filter overdrive by running the filters in series and opening up the SVF all the way, but it's not like mixer distortion on a Matriarch.

golden beers
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One?

Post by golden beers » Thu Feb 17, 2022 7:14 am

No you can not.

The simple fact is that the amplifier chain is completely different.

As a start every poly synth must mix voices before output. This necessitates headroom to correctly sum all voices without distortion.

A monosynth does not have this limitation and needs no voice mixing stage. that coupled with extremely high fidelity ICs in the moog one compared to very basic OP amplifiers in the moog give you an inherent difference in sound. This before we get into noisy carbon vs clean foil resisters in the signal chain.

And forget about the feedback trick, the one wont allow that and even if it did I'm sure the resultant clipping would be an ugly mess rather than the sublime harmonics found in the feedback from the minimoog.

yes you can make a great bass sound. no you cannot 1:1 recreate a minimoog.

SteveModana
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One?

Post by SteveModana » Sat Feb 19, 2022 4:36 pm

I have the Voyager and the One. You can, if you want, make it sound very close, but for me that’s not the point. The One is a new synth in new times - it‘s a decision you make. Use it or not. It sounds marvelous !! From supersaws to prophet pads. It’s all in there.
Moog One, Moog Voyager RME, SEQ Prophet 10, DSI Poly Evolver PE, Behringer Neutron+Pro-1, Access Virus TI Polar, iMac i9, UAD Apollos, www.begemo.com

yvawoo
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One?

Post by yvawoo » Mon Feb 28, 2022 12:05 am

I have both Moog One and Minimoog. These are the basic differences. Minimoog oscillators have true low register as "LO" below 32' range, but Moog One goes as low as 32'. Minimoog oscillators #2 and #3 can be adjusted 1 octave lower or higher from the note pitch by turning the tuning knob. Moog one's tuning knob can go only perfect 5th higher or lower. So, that aggressive low notes of Minimoog seems hard to achieve with Moog One. But, Moog one has more keys and octave adjustment. So, truly low aggressive bass can be done by playing the low register keys. So, you can use saw wave with some adjustment of wave forms and play at low register with 2-3 combination of oscillators to create pretty similar sound as Minimoog. Make sure you turn Mono on, and also some adjustment of Glide rate. Unison uses too many oscillators at once so, the sound is too thick to be similar to Minimoog.

For, higher register, pretty straight forward. Both synth has similar range and pulse shapes.

Besides, the differences of oscillators, Minimoog knobs do not store their positions as digital values. The position of knobs indicate the actual value. So, the joy of manipulating analogue instrument is much enhanced with Minimoog to the level of true exhilaration and possibly Nirvana. You don't get that immediate gratification from Moog One.

I hope this helps.

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stiiiiiiive
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One?

Post by stiiiiiiive » Mon Feb 28, 2022 7:03 pm

I think the Minimoog's oscillators 2 an 3 can be tuned 7 semitones below or above their octave setting.

yvawoo
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One?

Post by yvawoo » Mon Feb 28, 2022 9:38 pm

My mistake. I think Minimoog oscillator goes 8 semitones higher or lower. It has number -7 to +7. From C it can go to Ab (high) and E(low).

Thank you for pointing that out stiiiiiiiive.

benabbiana
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Re: Can I synthesize Minimoog sounds (exactly) on a Moog One?

Post by benabbiana » Mon Apr 11, 2022 3:07 pm

IMO you can get really close with distortion pedals, mono mode (obviously) and programmed instability.

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