Is the Voyager worth the money?

ebg31 · Post by **ebg31** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 2:34 pm

Oops! Sorry Mike. I was referring to the possibility that people from Moog Music could be monitoring the message boards. And, I was weighing the odds of the R&D / production staff reading the anti-Voyager posts and a) wondering if they made a big mistake in marketing it, or b) asserting a higher level of pride in the fact that the same players who absorped the Model D have absorped the Voyager.

I guess that it's the same type of situation with someone like Billy Joel, who made truly impressive records, yet was openly criticized in the press. The criticism only fueled his fire, but I'm sure that he was affected in other ways by it. I'm convinced that the situation here is very similar.

miket156 · Post by **miket156** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 2:52 pm

I certainly didn't mean to be offensive either. I'm not terribly concerned about the folks from Moog Music monitoring the forums and not taking kindly to my remarks. I'm in the minority and I mean no offense to Moog. The Voyager has gained wide acceptance from players and is an improvement over the original Mini. I had several and something that's programmable as well as has the features of the Voyager would be a welcome addition to someone's sound palette if they use a mono synth more than I do. Even if the Voyager was only 2000 retail, I still don't use a mono synth enough to justify the cost. There are players that play a lot of lead synth lines and basses and that's where it shines. Sound effects were always good on Moog gear too.

Everyone needs to buy what they need and can afford. It would be nice if Moog offered a poly synth, but based on the price of a Voyager, I wouldn't be able to afford that either.

Mike T.

suthnear · Post by **suthnear** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:50 am

When I bought my voyager I suffered immediate buyer's remorse and would have sold it if I could have. I am so glad I didn't. I have come to appreciate it more and more over time and now it's one of cornerstones of my musical activities. But: I use a lot of software and I have a pretty cool little modular setup and it is these two factors that have really enabled me to get the most out of my voyager. There is a permanent rat's nest (that's good btw) of cables between the voyager and my modular and I record stuff from the voyager all the time to be further processed in cubase sx. It has a sound and presence that remains even after dozens of plugins have been applied to it. Recording also means that I can use my voyager as a polysynth: I have a lot of kontakt patches made using sounds from the voyager.

Having said all of this, I would happily trade my voyager for the little beauty on the left in the second picture from the top here:
http://www.buzzclick-music.com/bcm.html

I think that's the most beautiful synth I have ever seen. Of course, I'd be delighted to trade it for the little beauty on the right, too

Doki Doki · Post by **Doki Doki** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 3:21 pm

Oh my god. I think I creamed my pants.

Doki Doki · Post by **Doki Doki** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 3:34 pm

I love my Voyager, but I wouldn't think twice about giving it up for a Buchla 200e. Ah, if only I had $20,000 to blow....

ebg31 · Post by **ebg31** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:39 pm

Oh, I beg your pardon???

Sure, Buchla is good, but what about all the patch chords? With the Voyager and the CV Expander, all you need are a few of them. How manhy does the 200e take?

Doki Doki · Post by **Doki Doki** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 11:06 pm

You're saying you wouldn't want a Buchla because it uses patch cords? ...to each his own, I guess. Anyway, it can store knob positions and patch cord location by using the 210e router module.

I don't want to start a Moog vs. Buchla type of thing, but the Buchla is no ordinary synth. The Voyager is great, amazing, the best in its class, I can't say enough good things about it, but it is pretty standard as far as monosynths go (3 osc, LP/HP filter, LFO, etc.) The 200e is something completly different.

If the Voyager is the Bently of synths, then the 200e is a space ship!

Of course, all of this is completly irrelevant because I couldn't afford a 200e in a million years!

ebg31 · Post by **ebg31** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 11:22 pm

Awww, that's not what I meant. Only that the Minimoog Voyager / CV Expander appears to need less patch cords than the 200e. I'm sure that the 200e is one incredible synth, but I personally consider it too affluent for my taste.

I'd never hope to impose my beliefs upon a whole class of people, though. That's what we've got George W. Bush for.

Doki Doki · Post by **Doki Doki** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 11:27 pm

Amen to that!

chihuahuaphile · Post by **chihuahuaphile** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 8:31 pm

one thing i find funny is that some of the people on this forum complaining about the cost of the voyager are sitting on a stockpile of gear and i'm sure that it wasn't cheap.

at the time i bought my voayger i was broke and was making payments to a music store layaway. i played the store model and i loved the sound,i was able to create alot of the sounds from old synth records from the 70's. including that stupid numan/cars polymoog patch or close enough to it for a mix.maybe it took a little reverb or plugging into a 69 fender tube amp.but i did it

it seams that some of you forget the appeal of having a real flesh-n-blood moog sitting in front of you to tweak till dawn. that just can't be done with VST or some roland.price is not the issue. it was worth the price to me. and i'm not even a damn keyboardist.

as far as monophonic goes. go and throw out all your miles davis,and john coltrane. mono is out. don't you know you can sample wind instruments and play them VST with full polyphony now. you out of date hacks.

don't forget the model D was mono for that matter.

I LOVE MY VOYAGER!!!

Randy

Cruel Hoax · Post by **Cruel Hoax** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 9:58 pm

as far as monophonic goes. go and throw out all your miles davis,and john coltrane. mono is out. don't you know you can sample wind instruments and play them VST with full polyphony now. you out of date hacks.

Har har! I couldn't agree more. When you've fully exhausted the possibilities of one voice, then you may move on to two.

Me, I'm no Charlie Parker. I've got a lot of work and learning to do before I can claim to have used up the potential of the Voyager.

-Hoax

miket156 · Post by **miket156** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:43 pm

Quote:
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one thing i find funny is that some of the people on this forum complaining about the cost of the voyager are sitting on a stockpile of gear and i'm sure that it wasn't cheap.
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Quite true. If you're happy with your Voyager for what you paid for it, great. The whole point I've been making is how much a given KB instrument contributes to my sonic palette. ANY mono synth is more limited than a poly synth for the music I play. I already HAVE 2 mono synths, a Moog Source and an Arp Odessey, so it would be kinda pointless to own a Voyager. Even if I did have one, I wouldn't take it out to some of the gigs I use to play in my area, too risky for the cost of that instrument.

The Voyager is just about hand built, no one can knock the quality of the instrument. Sure its expensive, but its absolutely beautiful. Anyway Moog, DSI, MacBeth are making analog synths and if they can't make a profit by selling them, they wont be around. So don't misunderstand what I've been saying about the cost vs. the sonic contribution, its just not for me.

Mike T.

martin · Post by **martin** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 12:04 pm

well, to be honest I think it was not worth the money.
I got a faulty one and had to pay up to get it working. Was lectured by the sellers and manufacturer about what *i* should have done etc.
I have waitetd 6 months for it to arrive after ordering. 3 Months of waiting for repairs.
I agree with one of the other posts that it would have been nice to have simple instrument that works, period. THEN it would have been ok.
My posts were previously removed because they were interpreted as "complaints" (which they werent. Just stating facts.)
A 2000 Pound investment should work. And a customer paying that amount of money should be treated well and should not be lectured.
I still own the thing but don't play it anymore. It just siits there and I just can't get any good vibes out of it anymore.
If i sold it I would have lost so much money.
It really was a bad idea to buy it.
And don' get me wrong. I am one of those guys who ALWAYS wanted a moog synthesizer and have listened to moog sounds al their life. I don't want to spread bad vibes and don't want the moog name tarnished.
I believe when they offer something faulty they are doing themselves injustice. My opinion.
If other people want to get a voyager, go ahead, the newer models will probably be excellent and rock solid. It is just that I feel left out of the experience.
When playing music I want fun and good vibes.
I will be looking into getting a groovebox.

ebg31 · Post by **ebg31** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 12:23 pm

martin wrote:well, to be honest I think it was not worth the money.
I got a faulty one and had to pay up to get it working. Was lectured by the sellers and manufacturer about what *i* should have done etc.
I have waitetd 6 months for it to arrive after ordering. 3 Months of waiting for repairs.
I agree with one of the other posts that it would have been nice to have simple instrument that works, period. THEN it would have been ok.
My posts were previously removed because they were interpreted as "complaints" (which they werent. Just stating facts.)
A 2000 Pound investment should work. And a customer paying that amount of money should be treated well and should not be lectured.
I still own the thing but don't play it anymore. It just siits there and I just can't get any good vibes out of it anymore.
If i sold it I would have lost so much money.
It really was a bad idea to buy it.
And don' get me wrong. I am one of those guys who ALWAYS wanted a moog synthesizer and have listened to moog sounds al their life. I don't want to spread bad vibes and don't want the moog name tarnished.
I believe when they offer something faulty they are doing themselves injustice. My opinion.
If other people want to get a voyager, go ahead, the newer models will probably be excellent and rock solid. It is just that I feel left out of the experience.
When playing music I want fun and good vibes.
I will be looking into getting a groovebox.

Hi Martin,

As far as I can tell, that wasn't the fault of Moog's development team. It had to have been the fault of the vender who sold it to you. People will try anything to one-up somebody else, nowadays. If I were a sadistic creep, I'd hunt the poor devil down and break his kneecaps. JUST KIDDING!

No, really. If the one doing the repairs is the same person who sold it to you, I'd collect the recepts from all the repair jobs, do some intensive research on the general failure rate of the Voyager and take the guy into court. Chances are, it wasn't Moog Music's fault that your model failed.

miket156 · Post by **miket156** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 8:22 pm

My experience with most things is never to buy 1.0 of anything. It applies to software, cars, synths, you name it.

I waited until Alesis got the bugs worked out of their ION before I bought one. No problem with it. I kinda laid back on buying some of the other things I bought for the same reason.

I'll do the same thing with the DSI KB Evolver, which is the next instrument I am going to buy. I probably won't wait a year or longer as I've done in the past, but I will lay back 3 or 4 months from the time it starts to ship, because I have to. It will take some time to put the money together.

The Voyager is a beautiful instrument. But again, for me ANY mono synth is not a good investment because I already have two that work fine, and an ION that fills the roll of a lead synth for me, while being a poly synth. Is an ION the same as having a Voyager? NO. But it doesn't have to be. I can always crank up my Moog Source, my Odessey, or my Prophet 5 if I want to play an analog. The DSI KB Evolver isn't going to be built with the same quality of a Voyager. The Voyager has a great wood cabinet and is really well made. Any synth can have problems though, so holding off until they get debugged can't hurt.

I spoke with Dave Smith at DSI the other day. I called him and asked him when the KB Evolver is going to ship. He told me that within the next few weeks they will start getting some in from where they are being made. He mentioned that they were being made "Across Town". Yep, in California. Same with the Voyager, its being made right here in the USA. Sure, a lot of the components are probably from overseas, but that's not going to change any time soon. Bottom line is, Moog and DSI are employing Americans to build their synths, and if it costs more and I can afford it, I just have to suck it up.

Mike T.