New XL owner. Questions...

Tips and techniques for Minimoog Analog Synthesizers
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Lymtronics
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Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2012 2:33 am

New XL owner. Questions...

Post by Lymtronics » Thu Jan 26, 2012 2:55 am

I just got a Minimoog Voyager XL, my first in the Voyager line. I've noticed that when I select a patch and use the touch screen, it sometimes causes various filter controls to jump to a new position and stay there until I move the knob back. When this happens, it's only after my first press of the TS and doesn't occur on consequent presses. Sorry if this is a common problem that has been addressed before.

Also, I was wondering if it was a bad idea to plug the headphone out into the external in for overdrive. I haven't attempted this yet, but read in a post on the first couple pages here that it will make your Voyager "sad" due to impedance mismatches. Is this true? Should I use one of the stereo outputs instead and sacrifice paraphonic audio when aiming for overdrive? I have an LP aswell, so I could rely o. That for dirtier sounds, but thought it would be nice to get nasty with the Voyager.

Thanks for reading. I'm looking forward to being a part of this community for the many years of Voyager ownership ahead of me.

Mr Shave
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Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2011 9:35 pm

Re: New XL owner. Questions...

Post by Mr Shave » Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:59 pm

Not sure about the touch surface issue...

As for the headphone out to the input mixer, i've done it, but i dont really like the way it sounds. It def distorts the sound, but i Dont think it sounds as good as the LPs overload.... at low mixer input volumes, it can add more beef, but it doesnt sound right to me...

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thealien666
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Re: New XL owner. Questions...

Post by thealien666 » Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:07 pm

Your touch screen is working properly. When you touch the screen anywhere else but the lower left (the touch screen is an X/Y grid with values 0,0 at lower left), values of the destinations where the modulation is sent (most likely the filter cutoff) will jump to where you are on the touch surface. Depending on the setting of parameter "T.S. Memory Global", the last value will either be kept when you remove your fingers from the surface, or return to zero.

Have a look at page 60 of your Voyager XL user manual. Under item 5.3 T.S. Memory Global.

As for the headphone out, I'd suggest you rather use one of the line outs instead. You'll likely get better results for overdriving the mixer/filter.

TIFWIW.

Al.
Moog Minimoog D (1975)
DSI OB6
DSI Prophet REV2
Oberheim Matrix-6
Ensoniq SQ-80
Korg DW8000
Behringer DeepMind 12
Alesis Ion

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latigid on
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Re: New XL owner. Questions...

Post by latigid on » Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:28 am

You can still have stereo, but you'll need a TRS plug with the tip and ring contacts shorted.

Plug this end into the Mixer Out socket and the other end (can be regular TRS or TS) into the Ext. In.

It is pre-filter, but you can still get some very good overdrive out of it.

(Tip from SteveD IIRC)

SteveD
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Re: New XL owner. Questions...

Post by SteveD » Fri Jan 27, 2012 12:54 pm

Hi -

@ latgid on - thanks for remembering that tip - it works pretty darn well - and because it's pre-filter the extra fatness from this way of getting feedback doesn't get affected by the settings of the filter or output VCA...

@ Lymtronics and Mr Shave - I really don't recommend using the headphone output as an input to the mixer for the feedback trick.

When you plug a TS cable into the headphone jack you short one of the headphone channels to ground. Though the device is designed to withstand such abuse, it's just not good practice. You can however plug a TS cable 1/2 way into the headphone jack to avoid this short - but remember the headphone output is not designed for driving the Ext Audio In - it's designed for driving headphones - quite a different load!

If you're using your voyager w/ a mixer just take an aux send from the mixer back into the external audio input (make sure the return of the aux send is turned down on the mixer).

This way you can get the feedback trick and maintain your stereo outs w/ no need for special cables.

Cheers
Steve D

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