Hi all,
My Muse just arrived yesterday. I followed all the advice I've seen about letting it sit for a time, warming up, etc.
Since then, nothing I do will tune voices 3 and 7. I've even done the full tune and calibration cycle, following all of the tips about turning it off for an hour first, etc.
I will say that it seemed to be way off before I did that, now all is perfect except voices 3 and 7 -- and for clarity I mean when playing a note, you see the numbers 1 thought 8 light up on the programmer window. All are perfectly in tune except for 3 and 7. Running the quick tune does not fix this problem.
- Is there a way to physically retune voices? On my Minimoog Model D I can actually turn trim pots to do so--I don't know if there's a similar thing available on the Muse.
- Are there two dedicated oscillators assigned to each voice number? Or do oscillators rotate between voices. If so, why is it always 3 and 7 that are out?
Any thoughts would be appreciated. I love the sound the Muse and it is a fantastic addition to my stable of synths, but I want to know if I got a bad one or if I can tweak myself.
Thanks!!!
Brand new Muse - tuning issues
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- Posts: 2
- Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2025 11:00 am
Brand new Muse - tuning issues
My keyboard gear:
- Minimoog Model D
- Moog Subsequent 37
- Oberheim TEO-5
- Sequential Prophet 6
- Nord Stage 3 HA88
- Fender Rhodes Mark 1
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- Posts: 45
- Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2024 4:58 pm
Re: Brand new Muse - tuning issues
The oscillators do not get randomly assigned to voices; each voice exists on a voice card. The cards attach with connectors similar to RAM in a computer. There are people who have had units where these cards were either loose, or not well seated in the connectors upon delivery. Depending on your comfort level you could try removing and reinstalling voice cards 3 and 7. Or, unfortunately, return the unit for a replacement as it sounds like you've done pretty much all of the less invasive troubleshooting. Here is an image of the inside of the unit showcasing the voice cards: https://yamahamusicians.com/forum/downl ... b8dadb942c
If you decide to dig in you could swap the voice card from one of the voices that won't tune to one of the other slots. If the problem moves, then you know you have a voice card problem. If the problem stays put the issue is someplace else in the unit. Either way I'd open a ticket with Moog first; see if they'll agree to you taking these actions so that you don't void a warrantee or anything silly like that.
If you decide to dig in you could swap the voice card from one of the voices that won't tune to one of the other slots. If the problem moves, then you know you have a voice card problem. If the problem stays put the issue is someplace else in the unit. Either way I'd open a ticket with Moog first; see if they'll agree to you taking these actions so that you don't void a warrantee or anything silly like that.
Re: Brand new Muse - tuning issues
I found i had this problem with my brand new unit and the only thing that fixed it was time. My suspension is that the thermal expansion stabilizes over time. My tuning was terrible at first but over time it got better. Maybe send it some complex midi that uses all the voices for a few hours each day, then from cold do a full tuning. Then the next day from cold do a full auto cal. After that your tuning should be good. If not i would exchange it.
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- Posts: 2
- Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2025 11:00 am
Re: Brand new Muse - tuning issues
Thank you both for your responses!
I went back and forth about it and ultimately returned it and ordered a different flagship polysynth.
The Muse is an amazing instrument and it sounds terrific for folks who have them in good working order, but a few things stacked up to turn me against it. Let alone being unhappy that my best hope was waiting and constantly tending to it in order to maybe get it to work right, I was extremely frustrated with the update process.
Mine shipped with 1.20. Trying to upgrade to 1.3 took eleven tries. Every time I connected it in Disk Mode, I had 15 seconds max to get the old .bin file out and the new .bin file in before the Muse disconnected on its own. I tried it with two different computers and the same thing happened on all three. (Two MacBook pros and a Windows machine). So, trying to swap in the bonus patch set was a no-go.
Finally, one of my two other Moog synths is the Subsequent 37, which I bought new in September of 2024. In December it went goofy and constantly retuned itself to other pitches. At first Moog was really responsive, and after working me through various attempts at updates and resets, they promised to ship me a new LHC board. (The thought being that the same issue that plagued some Sub37s was plaguing my Subsequent). Then they never shipped it for over three weeks. I gave up and sent it back to Sweetwater to be fixed and eventually they had to give up--nothing would fix it. They are supposed to be sending me a new one, although I've yet to get it back, and it's been almost two months without it.
For good or ill, I'm burned on Moog at the moment. My Model D remains my favorite synth ever, but I think I needed the Muse to be far more reliable out of the box than it was.
TL;DR--I sent it back, but thank you so much for the replies.
I went back and forth about it and ultimately returned it and ordered a different flagship polysynth.
The Muse is an amazing instrument and it sounds terrific for folks who have them in good working order, but a few things stacked up to turn me against it. Let alone being unhappy that my best hope was waiting and constantly tending to it in order to maybe get it to work right, I was extremely frustrated with the update process.
Mine shipped with 1.20. Trying to upgrade to 1.3 took eleven tries. Every time I connected it in Disk Mode, I had 15 seconds max to get the old .bin file out and the new .bin file in before the Muse disconnected on its own. I tried it with two different computers and the same thing happened on all three. (Two MacBook pros and a Windows machine). So, trying to swap in the bonus patch set was a no-go.
Finally, one of my two other Moog synths is the Subsequent 37, which I bought new in September of 2024. In December it went goofy and constantly retuned itself to other pitches. At first Moog was really responsive, and after working me through various attempts at updates and resets, they promised to ship me a new LHC board. (The thought being that the same issue that plagued some Sub37s was plaguing my Subsequent). Then they never shipped it for over three weeks. I gave up and sent it back to Sweetwater to be fixed and eventually they had to give up--nothing would fix it. They are supposed to be sending me a new one, although I've yet to get it back, and it's been almost two months without it.
For good or ill, I'm burned on Moog at the moment. My Model D remains my favorite synth ever, but I think I needed the Muse to be far more reliable out of the box than it was.
TL;DR--I sent it back, but thank you so much for the replies.
My keyboard gear:
- Minimoog Model D
- Moog Subsequent 37
- Oberheim TEO-5
- Sequential Prophet 6
- Nord Stage 3 HA88
- Fender Rhodes Mark 1
Re: Brand new Muse - tuning issues
I feel you on that. I went through that emotional cycle many times. My first one had a USB port that registered connection but would no work for MIDI at all. Swapped it out for a new one and it worked so it wasn't a firmware issue.AnalogKid42 wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2025 6:53 pm Thank you both for your responses!
I went back and forth about it and ultimately returned it and ordered a different flagship polysynth.
The Muse is an amazing instrument and it sounds terrific for folks who have them in good working order, but a few things stacked up to turn me against it. Let alone being unhappy that my best hope was waiting and constantly tending to it in order to maybe get it to work right, I was extremely frustrated with the update process.
Mine shipped with 1.20. Trying to upgrade to 1.3 took eleven tries. Every time I connected it in Disk Mode, I had 15 seconds max to get the old .bin file out and the new .bin file in before the Muse disconnected on its own. I tried it with two different computers and the same thing happened on all three. (Two MacBook pros and a Windows machine). So, trying to swap in the bonus patch set was a no-go.
Finally, one of my two other Moog synths is the Subsequent 37, which I bought new in September of 2024. In December it went goofy and constantly retuned itself to other pitches. At first Moog was really responsive, and after working me through various attempts at updates and resets, they promised to ship me a new LHC board. (The thought being that the same issue that plagued some Sub37s was plaguing my Subsequent). Then they never shipped it for over three weeks. I gave up and sent it back to Sweetwater to be fixed and eventually they had to give up--nothing would fix it. They are supposed to be sending me a new one, although I've yet to get it back, and it's been almost two months without it.
For good or ill, I'm burned on Moog at the moment. My Model D remains my favorite synth ever, but I think I needed the Muse to be far more reliable out of the box than it was.
TL;DR--I sent it back, but thank you so much for the replies.
It's pretty sad how bad this launch was handled. This product was rushed out before it was ready.
I'm keeping my muse but I'll likely NEVER buy another Moog again.