Voyager purchase

[modulagirl]

Hi, I too am thinking of buying a Voyager, however, after hearing about the bugs that some people have experienced here, I am put off I originally wanted to get a Mini-Moog, but after reading the review of the Voyager I sort of changed my mind. I am going to have to pay around £1500 GBP for a good Mini, and the Voyager more, I think I am going to stick with the Mini, if it goes wrong at least my local service center can fix it ! Can anyone persuade ne differently

Take care,

Sonia.

[GregAE]

Sonia,

Not sure what bugs you're referring to. The Voyager could have problems just like any other mass-produced instrument, but it seems like very few have been reported here. I can only speak for myself, but my one and a half year old Voyager is problem free and still going strong.

While the Voyager cost more than the Mini you're considering, with the Voyager you're getting a proper MIDI implementation, 128 presets, two filters, two LFOs (the dedicated LFO and Osc3) and a great bit of flexibilty through the backpanel I/O, plus the expandability with the VX251 and CP351 Moogerfoogers. When you take this into account, plus the fact that you're getting a brand new Minimoog and not someone else's 25 years old instrument, I think the choice is clear.

It was for me.

Greg

[ClockWorkOrange]

mmm..i'd say get a Voyager, no problems with mine!

[Qwave]

The Voyager got more modulations and performance features then the original Minimoog. I bought a Voyager although I own a Minimoog for 21 years. I had no problem with the hardware. And the missing filter tracking to glide by design (?) is not worth a tear for me. I admit I didn't notice myself, that the Minimoog did so and the Voyager not. And the playing the Voyager with the touch screen and a added pedal for the second modulaion bus plus the velocity sensing keyboard action makes this synth even more expressive. OK, I am missing the WYSIWYH (what you see is what you hear) of a the originial Mini sometimes. But there is a mode that will give you the sound of all the actual knobs positions. I prefer this mode for sound design from scratch.

In terms of sound the Voyager is different then my Minimoog. But my rather young Mini is different in sound from an old Mini too. And not all Strativari do sound a like

[modulagirl]

Hi, thanks for the replies. What I like about real analogue is that the functions are so smooth, with no stepping, this is really important, especially if you are making subtle changes to things, filters etc, is the Voyager like this, or does it have stepping effects ? I also love the BIG sound of the older Moogs, you can use far less "trickery" to achieve results. I can remember creating whole peices just using my Prodigy, because the sound was so full of life and interest. That is why I am still abit wary, I don't wnat To "Voyage" somewhere that I wont like plus it is a lot of cash.

Take care,

Sonia.

[Qwave]

Sonia,

no steppy changes while turning a knob !!!

It uses 16 bit resolution, but will show you only 8 bit (256 values) in the display. The Moog Source had also a better resoluted Detune parameter then the display suggested.

[Demokid]

Hi!

Get the Voyager Sonia. I haven’t found any bugs in mine… at least that I know and a lot less then the Andromeda A6. It’s maybe not as fat as the Model D but it certainly sounds minimoog.

Regards
Demokid

[GregAE]

Sonia -

I'd second what Qwave said about the extensive modulation features of the Voyager, something I overlooked in my first post here.

The Voyager is a real analog synth, albeit with digital control (for preset storage and recall). There are no stepping effects when you turn a knob - any knob.

It has classic Minimoog filters, so it generates the classic 'fat' Moog sound. Does it sound exactly like the original Minimoog? That I can't say because I don't have one to compare to. I think Qwave has the correct sentiment, though ("not all Strativari sound the same"). What it does have is an analog sound. It's the real deal, and playing and tweaking one is a very 'organic' experience that can't be duplicated with a ROMpler, VA or sampler as far as I'm concerned.

That said, it ain't cheap. When it come to synths, there are a lot of choices to spend your hard-earned money on, but if you want the satisfaction of owning the "Lexus" of current keys, this is it, IMHO.

Greg

[Boeing 737-400]

I'd recommend trying one before you buy.

[modulagirl]

Hi Boeing, HA HA !!! you have a picture of one of my fave synths, a Pro 5, mine is a Rev 3.3, with an anoying bug, whenever I use the PWM modulation knob, the whole thing freaks out, and all the lights come on, no one has been able to sort this out for me. But the sounds you can get via the mod routing are pure genius, so it will stay even though it has few probs. I read the review of the Voyager at SOS, I am even more uncertain now, it does seem to have a lot of bugs, pitch wheel calibration errors, EG probs. Pitch wheel probs have to be paid for if you bought a "Performance" model, not such a good deal. I think I will stick with my intention to buy a real Mini.
PLEASE MISTER ROBERT MOOG, don't fall into the trap of a lot of other maufacturers, (Lexicon, Oberhiem, Eventide) and try to please all of the people all of the time, you know you cant do it, you have a reputaiton for what you can do, I would stick to it, no one else can do it better,

that,s the Acid Test

Take care,

Sonia.

[hichakhok]

PLEASE MISTER ROBERT MOOG, don't fall into the trap of a lot of other maufacturers, (Lexicon, Oberhiem, Eventide) and try to please all of the people all of the time, you know you cant do it, you have a reputaiton for what you can do, I would stick to it, no one else can do it better,

that,s the Acid Test

Take care,

Sonia.

Why don't you actually try one before spouting a load of opinions?

best hhh

[GregAE]

"Try before you buy" is always a good idea whenever you can, and I would suggest you do just that with the Voyager - spend some time with it and really get to understand what it can do. Be aware that the current OS is 2.5, which has addressed a number of issues that existed early on. The instrument that you see in the store may not have the latest OS.

That SOS review was probably based on OS 1.0, which was admittedly missing features and had some problems. I would take it with a grain of salt, especially since that review is quite old and the Voyager firmware has been improved since then.

Don't simply base your decision on a single review - any review. In fact, I would suggest you read as many reviews as you can, and then go and check out the Voyager. It may or may not be for you, but you deserve to give yourself (and the Voyager) a fair chance.

Greg

[MC]

I posted a lengthy Voyager review on AH

http://www.retrosynth.com/ah/search/loo ... v0301.1569

It was loaded with OS v1.x at the time - one of the biggest features added since then is selectable filter slopes, you can have 24/18/12/6 dB filter per program per filter.

As an owner of a dodgy needs-a-calibration-every-six-month Minimoog, I recommend the low maintenance Voyager.

[base1001]

you can't go wrong with Voyager IMO. You might want to check out one at ah local shop. I don't see why anyone would post negative ish bout Voyager. I have not came across any problems w/ mine. The only negative side might be losing sleep or finding it difficult to turn off when you know you have to wake up in a few hours go to work.

[Boeing 737-400]

I'd say the Voyager is a great synth, worth every penny! I haven't noticed any serious glitches, but I'm still only on OS 1.0!

Your Prophet-5 seems to have a serious problem, have read somewhere in the past that a bad panel parameter can affect the whole synth! I got a 3.2 personally, and one of the keys isn't triggering properly for some reason. I'm dreading opening it!

Back on topic, I shouldn't think that a brand new Voyager should suffer from the problems you stated. Most of those seem to have been sorted out anyway. Try a real Model D, and Voyager, preferably side by side comparison before choosing!