LP arrived :)

calyx93 · Post by **calyx93** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:42 pm

Well - I got SN# 0015 today and am(was) very thrilled to own this beauty. It sounds fantastic and is smooth, thick, sharp and raspy all at once. The build feels very solid, the wood is beautiful, the lights and buttons are gorgeous but I have some issues already. And DON'T think that I want to do this.

1) My volume and data knob both feel loose and wobbly - I don't know if they're just loose, damaged (shouldn't be the way the thing was packaged) or just flimsily attached to a circuit board beneath. Whatever the cause/reason - they both feel very fragile. The volume knob wobbles from front to back and the data knob in both directions.

2) The hissing. Hmm - don't quite know how to say this, but whenever there's a key depressed (even with both oscillator's levels at zero) there's quite a high fequency, slightly electrical "hizzzzzzz" on every patch. This really upsets me more than the knobs. I mean really - how can you have a really deep, smooth bass with a thin "zsssssssssssss" over it when playing it. Outboard effects only accentuate it - I don't know what to think. I'm plugged into a line conditioner and a UPS so I have very clean power - even with just the headphones jack used it's there.

Can somebody who's just received there's or anyone else who might have some insight into this please?

Thanks in advance.

calyx93 · Post by **calyx93** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:46 pm

Ugh - there's a 1 or 2 mm "ding" shaped like a hyphen right on the black panel under the topmost key - deep enough to have chipped-off the paint.

Sorry, but I expect MINT for paying this kind of money. (now found out that this must have happened in transit - no offense to Moog Music)

Ted3000 · Post by **Ted3000** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:09 pm

Yikes! Frustrating. Contact customer service about the high frequency noise and the paint ding immediately, that's clearly an issue. No one else has mentioned loose knobs, so that could be your oversensitivity, but it could be some weird assembly problem on just your model.

You can always send it to me, because I totally want one but have no money. (This forum is like a music store window, and I'm the sad orphan kid steaming it up...)

Felt your pain about that hi-freq fizz. That ain't right.

thewaag · Post by **thewaag** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:20 pm

Sorry to hear that.....

I know how much a ding can bother you on a new piece of gear. I bought a brand new ARP 2600 back in the day and didn't want the floor model from the local shop. I paid extra to have a brand new, untouched model shipped for me. It arrived with an extra pilot hole where the handle was attached to the main cabinet. Obviously a screw up by somebody on the assembly line. The dealer wouldn't do anything about it, except to offer me the floor model in exchange. It really pissed me off. Whenever I looked at that 2600, that ding on the top was the first thing that my eyes went to.

You might want to PM geoscience and compare your LP with his. He seems pretty estatic.

I hope that yours is the exception, rather than the rule. Sorry that your's turned out with some problems.

geoscience · Post by **geoscience** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:21 pm

Sorry to hear about that calyx. Sounds like there may have been some shipping damage. All of my knobs are solid and I can assure you they take great care in assembling these machines - they would have noticed a loose knob or a ding in the panel. Also there is no hiss or buzz in mine. Sounds like you know what you are doing, but check your audio out cable - even midi cables! I had similar noise coming from my Nord Lead and it happened to be the midi cable causing the problem! Also, is the sound going through a sequencer as well?

calyx93 · Post by **calyx93** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 8:09 pm

You mean that there's no give at all when rocking your data/volume/fine tune knobs at all? I really hate sounding so whiny, as I'm a very laid-back, even-keeled guy - but my MicroKorg's knobs feel five times as firm, and they even rock a little.

(BTW - I've written Moog. I'm sure we'll work this out.)

I don't know how shipping could have caused that - there was no sign of marking or abuse on the box. The way it was positioned inside - it would take a puncture to move the knobs.

Good grief - now upon inspecting the box - there was a puncture right where the ding is - thank God that's all that happened to the body!

This hissing thing - here's more. It doesn't change pitch and it fluctuates when moving the knobs or wheels. Kind like a digital sort of thin, hissy stream. I've changed audio cables, power cables - it's present in both outputs (headphone and main) and it's driving me crazy. Haven't connected it to anything else. You know what it reminds me of? - sort of like the PPG Wave 2.3's display hiss/whine - constant and annoying, except this one's with each key presss.

I'll shut up now - sorry for being a downer. Just upset.

goldphinga · Post by **goldphinga** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 5:34 am

im really sorry that your intial impressions of the LP have been negative. I know how that feels. The first voyager i bought had lots of issues and it had a similar noise problem that was addressed later by software/hardware upgrades. I really hope the LP isnt plagued by similar issues. Sound like yours has taken a bashing by the couriers and that you are due a replacement pronto through their insurance....

A quick thing to try and to be aware of.

Most analog synths have background whine and this is made worse if say for example you have the volume low on the synth and the gain high on a pre amp.Make sure the volume is high

If its been bashed then theres so much that could have been damaged.Moog would not let an LP with a wobbly volume pot and excessive background hiss leave the factory.

Im waiting on mine arriving at the mo so ill check for all the problems you experiencing. Hopefully it will be here in the next couple o days.

godzilla · Post by **godzilla** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:40 am

that is so harsh, to have functional, cosmetic and sonic defects all in the same unit!

I'm sure moog will sort it out/help to sort it out, it's not really their fault if it was damaged during shipping but they should be able to fix it up at least.

i hope mine isn't going to be like that, it would be such a pain to have to ship it back to moog from the most isolated city in the world

good luck with it all

let us know how it turns out

calyx93 · Post by **calyx93** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 1:49 pm

Oh - i'm not angry at Moog themselves. I'm sure they'd never let something leave their operations in that condition. They've even informed me that the staff are also lamenting over my disappointment too - they're very considerate folks.

I've been instructed to call UPS and report this as concealed damage - culminating in a pick-up by UPS and probably a replacement. I'll keep you all posted. It really is a beautiful synth - I love the entire package, the keys feel great, the unit as a whole feels very solid and tight. And the sound is just what I had expected - great balls-o-bass! Thick and punchy!

At least I can fetch my newly repaired PPG Wave 2.2 from the shop today. That'll at least keep me distracted while waiting for a new LP to grace the studio

Thanks, everyone, for your input and sympathy. I'm glad there's a community of users and enthusiasts that can relate and advise in times like this.

calyx93 · Post by **calyx93** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 7:42 pm

Just wanted to say that Jared from Moog Music called me today and was highly personable and very understanding of my situation - we're both convinced that it did suffer some jarring BUT is very fixable. This was music to my ears, as I really didn't want to part with number 15.

I'll be getting this to them ASAP, as the sound (apart from mine's current hissing problem) is just right

geoscience · Post by **geoscience** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 7:45 pm

Calyx93,

Seems that I am having the same buzzing issue as well? It's stronger on some patches than others. And it seems to be tied to the overload circuit. If you turn both oscillators to zero, and turn up the Overload and press the keys, there is a buzzing sound. Is this what you are talking about? Is this normal???

-Geoscience

calyx93 · Post by **calyx93** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 7:51 pm

That's EXACTLY what happens with mine! I thought that I must have been going crazy, because the volume of the buzz varied with the patch.

Oddly enough - I've even found a couple of patches where it seemed to be non-existant.

I'm glad that mine's not the only one! Thanks for posting this.

Try doing this - turn both oscillators to zero, then crank the volume to hear the buzz loud and clear - then move the mod wheel. I'm hearing some sort of digital hash fluctuating with that movement - you?

geoscience · Post by **geoscience** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:09 pm

Yep mine is doing the same thing. But is this normal for an analogue Moog? What did you find out from them?

( be back in 10 minutes - going to get beer at the store

)

-Geoscience

calyx93 · Post by **calyx93** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:29 pm

geoscience wrote:But is this normal for an analogue Moog?

Not any that I've used - nor any analog I have or have owned. Just plugged mine back in to test the overdrive and the buzz is still quite strong - maybe even more than last night.

godzilla · Post by **godzilla** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 1:18 am

how does it sound without any overload?

i would have expected a bit of noise from something like that, it does increase the gain quite a bit, and you can never do that without introducing some noise

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