May I post a counter-trend idea?
It is a totally biased and personal point of view, but it could maybe help our friend.
I was an early model d adopter (sold it years ago), then I bought and kept for some months a voyager, but I later sold it,
and now I bought a slim phatty.
I'd rather use that than the voyager.
Here's the rationale:
a) if your pockets are infinitely deep, and your setup must never move, and you have infinite space... buy a voyager. Stop.
Or: buy a voyager and a model D. Make that two. Stop.
Such is the quality and the magic of one.
Nothing sounds like one.
But:
b) if your budget and rig have physical limitations, you have two choices:
b/1) you will need the moog sound every day, in every gig, in every song
b/2) you like different sounds as well [this is my case]
In the latter case, the voyager is a demanding mistress.
Its sound takes a lot of "space", it heavily conditions your palette. It is not the kind of synth you'll be able to keep in the background for some time if you decide you'd rather use different timbres for some time.
If you gig live, and if your pockets are not infinitely deep, leaving a voyager in the background while still owning it and still carrying it around is a tough choice.
This is why I gave up the voyager. I freed a lot of money and a lot on space in my rig, for a couple of different machines, and for a very efficient masterkeyboard (the voyager is not a heavy-load master, and anyway using it just as a controller is heart-breaking
I felt very dumb when I played a sampler solo on the voyager
I am afraid the audience was as well)
On the other hand, you can't live without "the" moog sound.
This is why I bought the slim phatty.
I don't ask a lot out of it. I don't care about arpegiators, I don't fiddle live with knobs, I just buold my patches, dial in the sound I want, and solo.
I'll just use three spaces in my rack, and have "real moog" in my palette. At a moderate price, which won't force me to give up using obie sounds, arp sounds, prophet sounds, digital sounds.
So, I love the moog sound, but chosing the phatty rather after having tasted the voyager was rational for me.
The voyager is mind-numbing.
If you buy it, you will spend the nights with it for a months, and will write songs around it.
It is a pleasure to play with, to listen to and to watch at.
Then you take a step back, listen to your music, and sometimes say: "I need that guy to step back, other actors have to say their lines too, or the plot won't go on".
"The guy" is fat. Either you have a room to lock him in for some time, OR your will have second thoughts.
If I can get the car sold, I'll have enough for the Voyager. Ever since day one, have always wanted a MiniMoog. Little Phatty with CP-251 would also be good. Lots to sleep on, which is bad considering I don't get much sleep.
