Does anyone, who owns the Voyager, hate it?

JSRockit · Post by **JSRockit** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 8:35 am

Thanks for your help everyone.

northern hope · Post by **northern hope** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 6:12 pm

I never hated mine in the least, but I ended up selling it after almost two years. The reason? TOO MANY features I never used. I don't use software so all the internal features that catered to that were lost on me. The one thing I really disliked was the touchpad.....thought it was gimmicky and took away from the overall appearance. I also really disliked the glow in the dark mod wheels and the blue background lights.....again, too gimmicky and modern looking for my taste. The memory was nice, but again, it's something I NEVER used because I automatically record a patch once it's created.

Now, the LP....I absolutely love it. It has more of the kind of "limited" qualitites that appeal to me in a synth, but still has the exact same sound as the Voyager. Asthetically, I love it's simplicity and compactness.

goldphinga · Post by **goldphinga** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 5:58 am

I hear what you are saying about the simplicity of the LP, and i love mine.Its a great studio/performance synth.

BUT The voyager is a sound designers dream.The touchpad is great and ive come up with riffs that couldnt have happened with just the keyboard. Further to this the backlighting and blue wheels are not just aesthetically pleasing-they serve as a godsend on dark stages.

Dont mean to make you feel bad, but i think you'll regret selling it........

GregAE · Post by **GregAE** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 6:02 am

northern hope wrote:I never hated mine in the least, but I ended up selling it after almost two years. The reason? TOO MANY features I never used. I don't use software so all the internal features that catered to that were lost on me. The one thing I really disliked was the touchpad.....thought it was gimmicky and took away from the overall appearance. I also really disliked the glow in the dark mod wheels and the blue background lights.....again, too gimmicky and modern looking for my taste. The memory was nice, but again, it's something I NEVER used because I automatically record a patch once it's created.

Now, the LP....I absolutely love it. It has more of the kind of "limited" qualitites that appeal to me in a synth, but still has the exact same sound as the Voyager. Asthetically, I love it's simplicity and compactness.

At its simplest, the Voyager can be used solely as a 'preset' box with 706 patches immediately available. But you can go way beyond that if/when you wish - all the way to using the Voyager as the basis for a CV controlled modular system. The choice is yours.

The Voyager's touch surface seems to be more of a love it/hate it kind of thing amongst users. Personally, I really like it, but I do wish it was placed on the left side with the other LHCs instead of in the middle of the panel.

I'm not sure what to make of your comment about the Voyager's glowing pitch and mod wheels, since the LP has them as well. Of course, the LP does have a nice grippy surface on the rim of the wheels that the Voyager doesn't (wish it did).

Glad to hear you're happy with the LP. Sometimes having just the right amount of features and ease of use makes all the difference in the world.

"When it's right, it's right"

- Greg

rico1980 · Post by **rico1980** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 7:57 am

I just wanted to comment on an earlier exchange. A previous forum member had stated:

[It is almost three monthts ago that I purchased my Voyager and I am still not able to use it the way it is supposed to. The first day I used it oscillator 3 broke down. Two months later I got a replacement, I turned it on and after a quarter of an hour or so, oscillator 1 broke down. I am still waiting for a decent solution...]

Another forum member then accused this person of "flaming" Moog. That's absolutely ridiculous!! Someone started this chain by asking for honest, open feedback about peoples' experiences with the Voyager. How can you slam somebody for simply saying that they haven't had a fanstastic experience? Is this a forum or a cheerleading chorus?

I bought a Voyager almost exactly a year ago, and I've had a mixed experience with it. It sounds phenomenal is a really well designed instrument. But a couple months after I got it, one of the modulation busses started randomly shifting its setting. It seemed to me that there was a loose connection in the board. (Not surprising since the synth had been a floor model at a Sam Ash store and had probably had some rough treatment from customers.) I contacted Moog. They agreed it was probably a bad connection and asked me to send it back. When I did I also asked them to give me the 3.0 update.

When I got the Voyager back, Moog had performed the 3.0 update, which sounded great but the loose connection had not been fixed. I contact Moog and they admitted that they dropped the ball. They asked me to send the synth back on their dime. I did and they fixed it.

I got the Voyager back in April at almost exactly the same time I purchased a refurbished/recalibrated Arp 2600. It's been a blast playing the two together. The Voyager was performing great until a few weeks ago when I noticed that Oscillator 1 had become detuned. That was surprising. The synth hadn't been moved from my home studio since I got it back in April. And I was disappointed that a 30 year old Arp has held its tune longer than a Voyager. So, as the unit is still under warrantee, it's back at Moog getting re-tuned and calibrated.

I'm not posting this stuff because I'm attacking Moog, I'm just relaying my experience. To have to send the synth back to the factory three times in my first year with it is not good.

That said, there have been lots of positives. As is often mentioned in the forum, Moog's staff are always friendly and helpful, and everyone from the president of the company on down are willing to talk to customers, which is very refreshing. It's obvious that customer satisfaction is important to them. Also, the Voyager IS an amazing sounding synth. It has unbelievable presence, punch and dynamics (let alone vast sound capabilities). The keyboard is one of the best I've ever played on an electric instrument and the precision and control over sound it gives the user is comparable to that of the finest musical instruments - acoustic or electric.

So would I buy a Voyager again? Yes. It's simply too good an instrument to pass up - even with the disappointments I've had. That's my two cents. I just hope that I now have a long trouble-free stretch with it.

[/quote]

goldphinga · Post by **goldphinga** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 10:34 am

i hear what you are saying but you posted detailed info about the problems you had whereas the other guy didnt. He also hasnt returned to give us any more info to go on.

dth · Post by **dth** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 3:13 am

"Another forum member then accused this person of "flaming" Moog. That's absolutely ridiculous!! Someone started this chain by asking for honest, open feedback about peoples' experiences with the Voyager. How can you slam somebody for simply saying that they haven't had a fanstastic experience? Is this a forum or a cheerleading chorus?"

I am happy to read that there are still non-fundamentalist "believers" on this forum. I am the guy who got accused of flaming of "flaming" Moog and because of this accusation I decided to not give a reaction. For clarity's sake, I am a big fan and admirer of the achievements of the late Robert Moog so I am a "believer" myself. I regard criticism as normal within a free society and on this forum and I think Dr. Moog would have been one of the last persons in this world to deny me of this right...

Begin July of this year I purchased a Voyager. The day it arrived it appeared that oscillator 3 malfunctioned and that it was not possible to update the software. I reported the problems to my local dealer, who answered me that within a few weeks he would provide a solution and would contact the distributor of Moog in Holland. Nothing happened...

So after 1 month I decided to call upon Moog about the matter. Amos Gaynes replied very fast and promised to make an arrangement with the distributor to get things fixed. So again I waited...

In between, the LCD-display of the Voyager was also having it's difficulty's and will probably stop functioning in the near future. I regarded the scratches on the knobs as minor and not worth mentioning...

One and a half month later, still nothing had happened so I called the distributor, and two weeks ago they swapped the old Voyager for a new one. According to the serial number the new one is from the same series as the old one.

I plugged it in, put on a headphone and after a quarter of an hour oscillator 1 made some crackling noises and died. Exactly the same problem as with the old one... I instantly informed the distributor and again I waited..

This week I became tired of waiting and I decided to contact the distributor and they reported that a broken capacitor was causing all the trouble with my old Voyager. According to the problems with my new Voyager, I suspect the problems with my new Voyager have the same cause...

So after three months there is still no real solution and I am still stuck with a broken Voyager which I can swap for my repaired (oscillator) old one which is probably still having an almost broken display.

Due to all this trouble I still have not been able to use the Voyager as it is supposed to and although not being a "Moog-fundamentalist" I think I have a "fundamental" right to be critical about the construction of the Voyager and the way the problems are handled. Every time I have to take the initiative otherwise nothing will happen and worse, even after my own efforts is seems that nothing happens. I don't call that a good service...

Sweep · Post by **Sweep** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 3:46 am

I don't regret buying mine at all, but I do think money is a factor.

I've sometimes wondered whether the cost was justified. On the other hand the sound does justify it, ultimately. It probably depends how much I like the Moog sound at any given time.

I was talking recently with someone who recorded some very highly respected MiniMoog solos. (I won't say who because I never mention names when commenting on private conversations. This comment is neutral enough to mention, though.) He said he thought the Voyager was overpriced. I'd have thought it compares with what he must have paid for his Mini, but he was also taking into account other synths that are available now. Maybe he's simply been there and done that already, but I thought it was interesting.

I suppose it depends what you want to do. My Roland V-Synth cost less than the Voyager, and it's awesome. They're both totally different, though. I'm glad I didn't have to choose one or the other.

Finally, the thing that really opens up the Voyager for me is layering the sound with the Arturia Modular V, which makes for some beautiful and complex sounds.

So regret, no, but I can understand why someone else might. But if you've got the money for what you need, then go for it. The sound's worth it if you want that sound, and how expensive is it if you compare it with a good violin or cello? These are complex and personal factors.

goldphinga · Post by **goldphinga** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 3:54 am

If i had two broken voyagers from the same series i wouldn't be waiting for a response from moog anymore.id be insisting on a replacement and that they look into a possible bad batch of capacitors. Moog have been really busy with the launch of the LP so no matter how much you think they should be getting in touch with you, just pick up the phone and get on the case. Speak to Linda Pritchard or Siobhan Robinson and you'll get the result you are after.

peas

Sweep · Post by **Sweep** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:23 am

northern hope wrote:The one thing I really disliked was the touchpad.....thought it was gimmicky and took away from the overall appearance.

I don't use the touchpad much, but when I do it gives something I can't readily get any other way. One prime example is an effect I got that sounded like a swarm of bats. That was the filter self-oscillating, if I remember rightly, brought in with the touchpad. I've never got quite the same kind of thing with another synth controller.

In fact your comment has reminded me to experiment with it a bit more.

It's also very handy when editing patch names.

JSRockit · Post by **JSRockit** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:00 am

man, now you guys are scaring me.

MarkM · Post by **MarkM** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 11:02 am

I really like the touchpad. I use it frequently.

MC · Post by MC » Mon Oct 09, 2006 12:45 pm

The touchpad is one of my favorite features of the Voyager.

earsmack · Post by **earsmack** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:06 pm

I use the touchpad to play rhythmic effects such as filter cutoff, etc. The fact that you can tap it with your finger and come up with some awesome effects is really nice. It allows you play counterpoint but instead of the counterpoint being another note, it's a manipulation of the sound itself. Very cool.

OysterRock · Post by **OysterRock** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 4:51 pm

I too love the touchpad. As is apparent from many of Bob's products, he was very much about exploring new ways of interfacing humans to circuits. Not at all "gimmicky", IMHO, but a very useful way of exploring sound.