Moog Music Forum

There are a few concerns/ questions that I imagine the moog ppl have encountered in their discussions about a polysynth:
1. what are their rivals making? in terms of analog polysynths (or partly analog, anyway), there's the dsi stuff, and what else? And by rivals, I mean stuff you can get at guitar center or sweetwater. It's obvious that moog are aware of their competition (as well as the eurorack etc scene, more esoteric stuff), but what do they think is their main rival/ what are they designing a polysynth to compete against in the market? a dsi tetra? a prophet 08?
2. what is moog's target market? It has to be cheap enough to sell a bunch to mainstream consumers, but meaty/ feature laden enough to appeal to heads/ experts/ dorks like most of us. you see how the aficionado community has received the sub 37, I think it's a good start for a poly
3. if they make a new polysynth at a competitive price, will they mess things up for their other products? for example, if the polysynth is too cheap, will it eat into sales for voyagers? It seems like they have been releasing products i. different price ranges lately- 500$ minitaur, 900$ subphatty, 1500$ sub 37; maybe they will cut the old voyagers adrift (They must have met sales goals/ the used market is saturated), reintroduce a topshelf monosynth (sub voyager w multidrive, beat freq, etc) at no more than 2500$, so that a 3000-3500 polysynth is the only item they sell in that highest range.
4. what expectations exist for the moog polysynth? it has to be, spec wise, no less complex than the memorymoog. if it's not going to be 8 voices, how will they compensate for that? I think that moog will be able to sell a 4 voice polysynth if it has intuitive controls, has interesting split/ multitimbral options, and something like a 4 track sequencer.

For a polyphonic synth, I'm wondering if Moog could use the same sort of structure as Studio Electronics do with the Omega 8 / C.O.D.E. 8: put voices onto expansion cards and sell a unit that has space for multiple cards so you could start out with, say, two or four voices, but be able to upgrade in the future. Clavia also did something along these lines - albeit in digital form - in the past with the Nord Modular G2: you could buy an expansion board that added four extra DSPs to double your voice count.

That'd certainly help with the initial price of the synth, and would give them a market for the upgrade boards too. The question is whether it could be made sufficiently robust, and whether there would be consistency issues between the voice cards; years back I had that problem with an Oberheim OB-Mx which used the same concept, but hopefully things have moved on since then.

I know this (and little else)...

In a couple of weeks I will be buying a DSI Prophet '08 - because I want a polyphonic analog and I think the Prophet has what I want.

Moog should get into this market.

The Memorymoog is a beautiful instrument that makes beautiful sounds, and if I had $10+ grand to spend on a mint used one, I would. So - Moog should build a new model, updated, just like they updated the Minimoog.

The Schmidt Synthesizer looks amazing - but $20K is insane (even if it is worth it). I'll buy a Buchla instead.

Roland should reissue the Jupiter 8 - with some updates like MIDI and stabilized oscillators. I tell them this on regular basis. They ignore me.

Moog has a faithful following. If they come across with a stable polyphonic analog synth that can equal what Dave Smith is doing - they will sell them, so long as they are under $6K. I think $4K is an even better target price.

More than any other piece of gear, I want a polyphonic Moog in my toolbox.

If Moog builds it, I will buy it.

I wonder what the most expensive synth at guitar center is? I doubt that they will want to much more expensive than that with a new poly. i think 4 grand is the top end of how much it can cost if it's going to sell in high numbers. But I could be wrong, I am often.

they could make a 49 key version, 4 voices, call it the opus 4. It would be a 4 voice sub 37, the panel would look the same but with enlarged sequencer and programmer sections. there would be panel- mode buttons for each of the 4 voices, you could have all 4vs stacked as a monosynth, split left/ right as two 2 octave monosynths, or open keyboard with 4 voices, etc. They could promote it as a poly, or "the most powerful monosynth ever," or something. a great 4 voice sequencer, emphasize live performance modes. they are good at promoting seemingly small advancements (herb deutsch video where he is so blown away by a sub- osc, etc); they could talk this up. and while the original opus 3 wasn't a true poly, it was para-poly and this one would look like it. they do reference old products (mmv, taurus), so...

The Opus 3 was my first synth. Wish I still had that little beauty.

I think the Voyager XL is probably the most expensive synth sold through Guitar Center. $5K+
A few others are in the $3.5K - $4K range.

i'd love to get a polyphonic-moog, probably like alanC describes.
but a modular would be great too.
to be honest what moog brings out, always enjoyed me, so i'm full of confidence with the moog team, anyway i give it a thought in the next few days.