Final Analysis....

[macteacher]

I'm considering buying a brand new Moog One 16 voice while they are still available.

For all you 16 voice owners out there, would you do it again, even in light of possibly no new firmware updates on the horizon?

I'm a cup half full kind of guy, so looking for more positive advice on how it's brought your creativity to a new level, but am open to reconsidered purchasing feedback as well.

Curious what everyone might think of the resale market in 5-10 years too.



Thank you!

[MaxFerency]

I have several Moogs but not the One. My guess is that any quality hand-made in USA instruments before the InMusic era (which would likely include existing back stock of Ones) will have a higher resale value in 10 years because that type of quality will no longer exist at that point.

[macteacher]

Thanks for your thoughts!

I've had a MiniMoog Model D Reissue, a Sub Phatty, a Etherwave Pro Theramin, a Werkstatt,, a Claravox, and a Voyager XL Tolex.

Loved them all, but ultimately felt a bit limited as I think a Polysynth was really what I wanted and chased MemoryMoogs for a while.

Ultimately the Oscillators didn't do it for me, but the Moog One seems to have it all, which I think what was intended in the design. (I don't care about poly aftertouch).

My concern that as the MemoryMoog before it, the Moog One was a big effort to do something new and achieve the ultimate dreams in sound design and functionality, but it ultimately challenged the direction of the company.

If it didn't have so many challenges out of the box on release, Moog might be in a totally different place.

While the LAMM modification for the Memorymoog gave it a brand new life, albeit at a high price, my concern is that the Moog One may not have as fortunate as a champion in Rudi Linhard has been for the Memorymoog down the line after the Moog One is discontinued.

The fact that the Moog One runs on Linux is a big plus I think.

I've been happy to see hacks like those found here: https://www.ryanzachry.com

I'm just concerned about a lasting investment if things go south, even with an extended warranty period...

Thoughts?

[sunny pedaal]

I think it largely depends on the availability of the servicepapers in 10 years. Without them repairs will be near impossible , with them the value probably will be a multiple of the nowadays saleprice .

[macteacher]

This is an excellent point.

What's the history on service papers being released for Moog instruments in the past?

Also I'm not seeing a link to purchase an extended warranty.

Is Moog still selling them?

I think it largely depends on the availability of the servicepapers in 10 years. Without them repairs will be near impossible , with them the value probably will be a multiple of the nowadays saleprice .

[sunny pedaal]

Moog’s history is good, their new owners isn’t
Only time will tell , still hope some moog employees will secure and spread the schemes and other servicepaper material though ….( like we had to organise ourselfs with the A6 too in the past)

If the m-one is still produced or if the nowadays sells are just a” cleaning out of the leftoversparts” will also soon become clear .mho

I’m very happy with my m-one , great synth

[Phileosophos]

For all you 16 voice owners out there, would you do it again, even in light of possibly no new firmware updates on the horizon?

I was on the fence for a long time. I wanted a Moog One since the day it was released for so many reasons, but all the negative reviews kept me from taking the plunge. When I saw Sweetwater was offering 48 month interest free financing, however, I looked at that and figured I could basically cancel a couple subscriptions and pay for a Moog One over time. I took the plunge a few weeks ago and couldn't be happier that I did.

Yes, I'm aware of the troubles with the Moog company. I'm also aware the existing firmware isn't perfect and there are issues with the synth. But I've had almost zero troubles compared to all the negative stuff I read, and almost every sound that comes out of the thing is simply amazing. It takes me back the 80s when I got to fiddle around with a Moog Modular regularly in college. The Moog One is an absolute dream to me, and I'm so glad I bought one.

This is my analog poly synth dream instrument, and I've owned a lot over the years. This is the instrument they're going to pry out of my cold dead hands someday. And I say that about the instrument I have, with all its flaws. It can only get better as the Moog folks get it together or former employees (or third parties) band together to support/extend it over time. And for the record, I trend toward the negative too easily (glass-half-empty-and-is-probably-leaking), so I don't say any of that lightly. Take all that as you will.

[AlakaLazlo]

If you're buying it as a 10 year investment, I'd suggest real estate or T Bills.
If you're buying it to play it just from the keyboard, then it's a fantastic instrument. It sounds great (once you learn to program it) and its UI is superb. I'm concerned about long term repairability, but that's the same with pretty much anything these days.
If - on the other hand - you're buying it to be a central part of a midi studio, do yourself a favor and don't.
I bought mine very early on for a very good price, and can probably sell it for a bit more than I paid for it. But it has never worked properly and while multiple Moog employees and management staff have acknowledged its problems, they have refused to provide any timeline for a possible firmware fix. I continue to hope that at some point, inMusic will update the firmware so the thing can reliably work over midi without hanging notes and a host of other issues, but based on their past practices, I am not optimistic.
I've been a Moog fanboy since I bought my modular in the 70s, and it is the most disappointing musical purchase of my life. No way I'd do it again knowing what I know now.

[macteacher]

Thanks for the responses and thoughts.

Yes, I was looking for it to take over the master controller in my studio so midi flakiness does concern me.

I also have a pretty good price quote on a new 16 voice, but it's still pricey of course.

Not looking to make big bucks on a resale, as it will go back to the retailer if it doesn't do it for me and will be returned quickly after I take a deep dive, but always have in mind a resale in the future if something else comes along.

I'm just not confident that Moog will remain to be the Moog we all know after this acquisition...

I am also very concerned about not being able to find an three year extended warranty to buy like I did for my other Moogs..

Anyone know about that?

Also, I will say that I was told by an unnamed source that a post 1.5 firmware update is in the works, albeit with no mention of a timeline, so I feel better about that part as I trust that person, but please don't quote me, and I have no idea what a possible firmware update might address anyway and if that effort will be squashed by the new corporate structure...

So much potential in the Moog One, especially if it is able to be supported moving forward, but we all know the fate of legacy products.....

When a labor of love meets economics, things can certainly get dicey...

I'll decide this week, so if anyone else wants to share some thoughts, I'm all ears...

Thank You All and Happy New Year!

[Matthias Adloff]

I want to add to @AlakaLazlo that using the Moog as controller in your studio will work just fine. He was mentioning the use as a central part of a MIDI studio, and yes, this is unfortunately not a good idea. The Moog One is still not really stable when it comes to MIDI input, especially on more complex, multi-timbral presets. But not output! The keyboard is very good, MW and PW are superb. The only issue is that using a continuous controller for sustain will not really work as expected, since it doesn't allow to output 127. Might be a bug in my machine, but just to mention it.

So, what's the problem with MIDI input in detail? Well, most important is that you will almost definitely experience hanging notes. Furthermore, the Local On/Off policy is very confusing, to say it friendly. To say it less friendly, it won't work at all. GrooveSynthesis has shown that it can be implemented in a cool way, but that's not what we find in the Moog One.
The timing is also not as accurate as you might wish. Say you output a 5 note chord sequence that runs perfectly from the internal sequencer, record it in the DAW and play it back to the MoogOne... it will be anything but tight.

Yep. That's the bad news. The good news is that the MoogOne is the most versatile, dense and creative synth ever built. My opinion. The OS is fantastic too, but not mature. And it will unfortunately never be mature, so you must decide if you can live with the status quo.

EDIT/ADDENDUM: I have quite a lot of synths (41 at the moment). The MoogOne gives me the greatest joy of them all when I just want to sit, program and play. For productions, it's only used when I do not find something elsewhere OR when building complex sounds or soundscapes. Definitely not for standard pads or brass

[macteacher]

Thanks for those specifics..

Controller is where it would be for me.

I do have a Behringer Model D and a Korg MicroKorg XL mostly for bass, but they won't be controlling the MO.

I also use a lot of virtual instruments, so again, if the MO is good for controlling those, that's my intended usage.

It would of course be nice to record MIDI and then play back a different sound from the Moog One and record it, as you can with most synths, but it's something I can sacrifice for everything else it brings to the table.

I think...

[rtcstudio]

If I had it to do over, knowing everything I know now, I’d still do it.

Ever since I was a kid mesmerized by Keith Emerson’s mammoth Moog rig, and the music of EL&P, Tomita, Carlos etc I have dreamed of having a big Moog rig. Over the years I did have great experiences with 2 Yamaha CS-80s, a MemoryMoog Plus, ARP 2600, Jupiter 6, Roland MKS80, D50, various Roland and Akai samplers and even a Synclavier.
But now, in the 16v One I have a Moog system with 16x the oscillators Keith had, many times more filters and envelopes and a Mod Matrix that’s virtually infinite.

Even if it never got another update, I will still have a lifetime of sound exploration and can still use it in my film scores and productions.
Yes, there are midi deficiencies.
But I wouldn’t use the One as my main controller anyway. I need an 88 key semi-weighted controller for that. So I never intended the One to be that. And I can get around a few of the midi issues anyway.
$$ don’t matter to me at this point, but my One is already worth between $1k and $2k more than I paid for it.
I did buy an extra power supply for it once InMusic took over.

I have heard, too, from reliable sources that another firmware version is in the works.

Also, you may have a better price, but Sweetwater includes a two year warranty on most everything they sell, including the One. If something breaks, you have to send it back to them, but they then hassle with the manufacturer to get service done.

Extremely happy here with my Moog One acquisition.

[macteacher]

Thanks for all that!

I have ordered gear from Sweetwater before and the two year warranty is great, especially now that Moog isn't offering their extended warranty any longer, but over last weekend, they were a bit MIA during the holiday, so I went with my other favorite retailer so I could potentially write it off for 2023.

From everything I've read, most issues revealed themselves within the first year of purchase, so barring a major departure from everyone's experience here, and my own experience with my other Moogs and having bought the extended warranties, the write off won over the second year of warranty.

The good thing is that the MO has been around for a number of years now, so there's lots of varied experience out there and lots of opportunities for components to fail in varied environments which is why I started this thread in the first place...

I do wonder how the MO will survive the Moog's acquisition, both in future builds, (what there may be), and support for the instrument.

I too didn't want to miss the chance at deep exploration with the MO, after all my experience with other Moog instruments.

I will have a few weeks to dig in to see if it's a keeper, with the opportunity to return it, even though a few weeks is a short time to wrap your head around it.

Emulating other synths as well as creating new sounds is my focus.

I've been scouring the forums and web for challenges and tasks to work on and welcome any that folks might have.

Thanks again for all the input!

[rtcstudio]

You probably have, but search this forum, and other Moog One groups on Facebook, plus Google search for Moog One Presets etc.

It has helped me to find great presets out there and reverse engineer what the sound designer did. While I love starting from scratch making my own sounds, the Moog One is so deep, especially the Mod Matrix, that it helps to see how a really good sound designer patched things together.

You might check with your current retailer to see if they also have their own warranties to offer.

Have a blast!

[macteacher]

thanks and great idea!

what preset packages have you tried so far?