CP-251, VX-351 or 3.0 Upgrade?

spittingoutteeth · Post by **spittingoutteeth** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 11:09 am

Here's the situation---I have about $500 to spend on gear this month and I want to spent it on upgrading my Voyager Electric Blue, which has become my primary musical instrument. I bought my Moog used, and it came with version 2.x software.

I was originally planning on spending my money on shipping the Voyager to Moog & having them upgrade the software, but I'm having second thoughts. As far as I can tell, the only big advantage of the upgrade is more presets. I play experimental music and rarely use many of the 128 presets I currently have & I don't know what I would do with four banks of them.

My main goal with the Voyager is the maximum range of versatility of sounds that I can get. As such, I've been looking at the CV expander (VX-351) and the Control Processor (CP-251).

Any recommendations on what would work best for me? Are there advantages to the upgrade that I'm not considering? Would I get more range of sound using the VX-351 or the CP-251? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

spittingoutteeth · Post by **spittingoutteeth** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:12 pm

No opinions? Wow....

Just Me · Post by **Just Me** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:12 pm

I have all of the above. I would still do the upgrade first. It adds more versatility to the synth. The pots work smoother and when you tweak more than one at a time it isn't 'steppy'. You get more options to the touch screen. (I use the heck out of my touch screen!) You get more MIDI control over the machine. The aftertouch actually works, etc.

Next would be the CP-251

Then the 351 last.
Once you have them all, you won't know how you ever got along with out them.

Another thing about having 7 banks. You can set up strings of patches and set through them with midi while playing live. I start with a patch, tweak it while playing then select the next patch, run back to the original and then step through some more throughout a song. Makes things easy.

spittingoutteeth · Post by **spittingoutteeth** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:30 pm

Thanks! That's great advice. I was really leaning towards putting off the upgrade, but you've made me rethink that decision. I also use the touchpad a lot, so an advanced feature set would be handy. I also didn't think of just the sheer patch storage size upgrade in terms of creating my own patches. I so often avoid saving my own sounds just because of the limited storage, so having the extra banks could definitely help. Thanks again for your advice!

calvinistsandlutherans · Post by **calvinistsandlutherans** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:58 pm

You can't really go wrong, but I'd take the opposite view: toys now! upgrade later. I suppose my recommendation would be predicated on you having other CV gear. If so, the 351 is extremely useful, as you can use the Voyager (or MIDI data through the Voyager) to control whatever you want. Lots of possibilities there.

If you don't have other CV gear, and are just going to use the two modules to control the Voyager then maybe the upgrade might be better. Though the ringmod would be my choice (over the upgrade) with your budget. My two cents.

bunnyman · Post by **bunnyman** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:56 pm

Since you can get the software update to OS 3.4 for free (and this cures the multi pot turning stepping problem), AND you say you don't need 4 banks of sounds, I'd go for the VX 351 first. Even if you don't have other CV gear, you can still do crazy patching with the 351 and the Voyager back panel. Then start going for Moogerfoogers! I see youre in B-ton. Say hi to Muddy Waters and Radio Bean for me. And the 3 Needs, etc., etc... I lived there from 1997 to 2003 and loved it! Darn, now I want some of Nectar's gravy fries!

MarkM · Post by **MarkM** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:01 am

The VX351 and CP251 are what I would choose (in that order). I have all the banks, but I really just use two banks which contain all my own presets. You wouldn't need to send the Voyager out for the VX351 upgrade. You can do that yourself in about 10-15 minutes. Then again, the extra preset storage is nice when you need it. Sometimes I'll go through the Presets that came with the banks and look for something useful or tweakable.

sunny pedaal · Post by **sunny pedaal** » Sat Jul 18, 2009 5:24 am

upgrade the software is free
i bought the 351 and 251 secondhands for less than500$ together. just be sure that you'll get the adaptationlittle board for inside the voyager too.
i would go for that.

till · Post by **till** » Sat Jul 18, 2009 6:28 am

The 3.x software can be used on all Voyagers except the Voyager OS synths (obvious).
So you can benefit from the new functions and improvements free of charge. Only the additional patch memory is the new thing on the 3.x hardware upgrade.
I would recommend to get the new software version for free and spend the money one of the add-on boxes. Which one? This depends from your goals and other gear.

Just Me · Post by **Just Me** » Sat Jul 18, 2009 10:47 pm

The new key scanner is not a free upgrade and is something I really need to have done.

spittingoutteeth · Post by **spittingoutteeth** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 8:53 am

Thanks for the advice everyone! I had no idea that you could install the 3.x software upgrade without having the physical upgrade as well. I'm going to do that tonight.

bunnyman, I will definitely say hello to Burlington for you! I actually play a lot of shows at the Radio Bean (I have one coming up in few weeks) with my various projects.