I just bought a Sonic Six for $175

writeroxie · Post by **writeroxie** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 11:52 pm

Yeah.

brunning · Post by **brunning** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:25 am

great score. where'd you get it?

i owned one of these suitcase synths for a few years, fun to screw with, great for weird experimental noises, but i never found too many practical uses for it. sure looks cool, though.

writeroxie · Post by **writeroxie** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:59 am

some kid got it from his highschools basement and posted it up on craigslist towards a trade for a Nintendo DS. Which is only worth $130. I jumped on that immediately! Offered him some cash and everyone was psyched! Nice to hear it came from his school, and he wasnt selling his dads beloved moog or something terrible like that.

I have a feeling mine is going to need some service though. it has a never-ending sustain and the overall output sounds a little noisy. i have the white and pink noise gen off, but it's still a little crackly.

as for the sustain, i just cant figure it out... but i seem to remember reading a post (here?) where someone laughed saying that if you dont know about a certain knob(s) you'll never get the thing to stop. i think this may apply to me, cuz i'm lost. i think i need the manual... haha

so far i hear lots of potential... some really crazy delay-esque effects going on with the dual rate sliders on the waveforms.

brunning · Post by **brunning** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 5:01 pm

it's been a few years and i don't recall the specifics on what does what, but what struck me about the board when i first used it was that it would just keep making noise ad naseum.

i ordered a copy of the manual (which reads like a grad thesis on analogue synthesis) from someone online and it all made sense when it was explained.

not long after i got it, i had a party where i set it up in the corner with the little onboard speaker (which is the coolest part) on, some colored lights around it, and the synth just bubbling away with weird little sounds.

writeroxie · Post by **writeroxie** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 12:31 am

do you recall if the oscillators ran ultra-low on this thing? i have both osc's A & B set to +2 on their octave switches, and the the keyboard still sounds like an "idling dirtbike" when i press the middle C. I'm surprised that there isnt a master tuning knob on the sonic six either.

hmmm, this thing is definately tricky to get into. i may be a little premature after having it for only 24 hours, but the patching/triggering capablitlies on this thing seem very flexible... and a little overwhelming

i got it to stop however. apparently that whole 'direct output mixer' is sort of pointless. when you have any of those knobs up, the thing just sustains endlessly. i cant see a use for them unless you want rhythms and soundscapes to loop for eternity... which DOES sound pretty bad-ass.

i've read many reviews of the sonic six where people say its more of a sound effects-y "out-there" studio moog than a peformance synth. So far I agree, but i've actually gotten some pretty fat basses and interesting leads. I'll have the manual next week, maybe then i'll know what i'm really doing. haha!

GregAE · Post by **GregAE** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 10:26 am

writeroxie wrote: ... that whole 'direct output mixer' is sort of pointless. when you have any of those knobs up, the thing just sustains endlessly. i cant see a use for them unless you want rhythms and soundscapes to loop for eternity... which DOES sound pretty bad-ass.

i've read many reviews of the sonic six where people say its more of a sound effects-y "out-there" studio moog than a peformance synth. So far I agree, but i've actually gotten some pretty fat basses and interesting leads.

The Sonic Six was intended primarily for educational use, which accounts for some of its features (like the direct output mixer) and the fact that's packaged into a portable carrying case. In fact, I read that it was Bob Moog's favorite synth for use in lecture demonstrations. It's not going to sound like the Voyager (or the Minimoog) because the design was inherited from Musonics, a company that pprovided financial assistance to Moog in the early '70's. The 'Six is probably the least 'moogy' sounding synth in the Moog line up.

Incidently, I recall that there was also a Sonic Five (labeled 'Sonic V'), that predated the Sonic Six. Not sure if the Sonic V was a prototype or an actual product, but it had a panel legend and layout very similar to the 'Six.

- Greg

writeroxie · Post by **writeroxie** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 12:48 pm

Although Moog was only a 'step-parent' to the Sonic Six, i'd have to say that it still sounds extremely Moog-y to me. Almost maybe more than the MG-1. But that's another step-child too i suppose.

The filter is nice and that X/Y modulation is tripping me out. If only they put that function into all moogs. It really forks this thing down a million roads.

It's funny how people point out that certain moogs dont sound like the mini. Not just Greg, but in a lot of reviews I've read on the Sonic Six etc... I think that's a given: Only mini's sound like mini's. Nothing else. Ever.

Boeing 737-400 · Post by **Boeing 737-400** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:33 pm

I'd be interested to hear that in action!

MC · Post by MC » Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:38 pm

Serial number 1265 and higher have the Moog transistor ladder filter, earlier Sonic Six (and Five) have diode ladder filter. Before Musonic acquired Moog, the diode ladder filter was a dodge around the patent on the transistor ladder filter.

writeroxie · Post by **writeroxie** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 2:31 pm

yeah my six is in the 1800's so i guess i lucked out.

PHLEX · Post by **PHLEX** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 8:12 pm

HI THERE ! is ther any possibility to buy this sonic six from u?
im realy searching long for it and it would fit to my sound,tho i did got to manage to buy any old moog synth,
id be so happy.
salute
daniell
www.myspace.com/t3xnt3rok

Trigger · Post by **Trigger** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 11:44 pm

PHLEX wrote:HI THERE ! is ther any possibility to buy this sonic six from u?
im realy searching long for it and it would fit to my sound,tho i did got to manage to buy any old moog synth,
id be so happy.

One...MILLION DOLLARS!

EricK · Post by **EricK** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 12:48 am

THats right on up there with Montoya's $20 polymoog.

Great score!

E

Kevin Lightner · Post by **Kevin Lightner** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 3:18 am

Fwiw, this thread was started almost 5 years ago.

sunny pedaal · Post by **sunny pedaal** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 1:14 pm

i have a sonicsix.
did some modification on it :
1 a small switch underneath the speaker ( instead of the little screw there ) to get a a normal singletrig and retrig function , like on mini , + the same with no release. that besides the free-floathing mode it already has
2 the headphones output can be switched to insert-in/out before the amp/speaker : thereby i can insert an reverb ( alesis picoverb ) which makes it sound like playing on a kind of ems-synthi
3 the 3 direct out pots on the right top are replaced by 3 push/pull pots . when pushed they behave as normal, when pushed they route : a. osc 2 to vcf cutoff
b. noise to osc2freq and c. rm-out to osc1 freq

this way optically it almost looks the same but it's more "playable as a liveperformance instrument/ dronemachine.
i love it !

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I just bought a Sonic Six for $175

I just bought a Sonic Six for $175

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