Moog Music Forum

I'm seriously considering selling my Voyager and getting an original Mini Moog. I like the Voyager but I've decided to go with the simplicity of the original. I also need to make a little money for other equipment so here's what I'm hoping for:

1) If any one out here has an original Model D in mint or near mint condition and would like to get a Voyager I might be willing to trade. Of course the Model D is a lot less expensive (about $1,000 USD on eBay) compared to the price of a used Voyager which goes for about $2,500 USD. I would be willing to take a Model D (in very good condition) plus about $1,000 USD for a trade. If you have any accessories for the Model D I might be willing to go for a lesser dollar amount. Modifications are welcome if they've been done right. Also, if the Model D in question isn't in near mint condition but works fine then I might be interested if you can offer more money for the trade.

Or...

2) I'd be willing to sell my Voyager (through eBay if you'd like) so that I can purchase a Model D on my own.

Thanks for reading. This is still just an idea so if any one can think of a reason why I should keep my Voyager over a Model D then please let me know.

i dont think u should sell your voyager. the voyager is sonically so much more versatile, but can sound like the original mini with a little bit of effort. there are too many reasons to keep it. i cant see a single reason to sell the voyager. id hardly call it a complicated instrument to use. keep your voyager it wins hands down against the mini on every count. i dont think u really know why you wanna get an original mini!

I can definitely understand the allure of the Model D.

I've had a Voyager for over a year and just recently bought a Model D to keep it company. But then I've wanted a Model D since I was about 13 and Moog was first making them. Now I have the best of both worlds: the sonic versatility, reliability, and patch memory of the Voyager, and the nostalgia factor and raw power of the Model D. Life is very good.

Why not do the same?

But if finances are an issue, for goodness sake, don't sell the Voyager to get the Model D. Sell something that's guaranteed to be worthless in coming years --- your car.

MW wrote: But if finances are an issue, for goodness sake, don't sell the Voyager to get the Model D. Sell something that's guaranteed to be worthless in coming years --- your car.

HAHAHA! I thought about that but right now I kind of need it to get around. I just really want the simplicity of the Model D. I also think that in order to get the sound you want out of the Model D you really have to know the instrument so that appeals to me as well. Sure, the same is with the Voyager to some extent but you can always save once you've stumbled on to some sound you like. With the Model D if you find a sound you like you have to know "how" you got that sound and remember how to do it again. That forces you to really know how it works on a different level than the Voyager. I'm still considering it so we'll see. I want to use the extra money for more gear because I really need more equipment. I lost $300 USD on ebay trying to get a Roland Tape Echo and that's set me back quite a bit. Anyway, the offer still stands.

You don't have to Save a sound on the Voyager once you find something you like, in fact you can erase all the presets and then forget it's even an option. . In the old days I used to write some patches down on paper to then get "close" to dialing it back up. Other times, and I still do today, I simply dial it up as I go from memory or experieince. For me though I like being able to store them .

Brian G wrote:You don't have to Save a sound on the Voyager once you find something you like, in fact you can erase all the presets and then forget it's even an option. .

This is true but who's actually going to do it? I don't think I could ignore the save option. I have to be forced not to use it you know? If it's there I'll just choose the lazy way out and save. I guess my main reason for wanting to do this is to get some extra cash but still have a MiniMoog.

Selling a voyager to get more money is silly. sure,you save a little cash but you lose a lot of features. the mini is a great synth but its sound has been used so often. i think u should stick with the voyager and really get to know it instead of being lazy. the simplicity of the mini is obvious but the scope of sound is also limited. think about losing the 3rd osc to use as an lfo, no midi, tuning probs, no preset storage,no continuously variable waveshapes, no velocity sensing, limited modulation capabilities,no touchpad, no variable filter modes ,...... like i said b4,keep your voyager as u dont know what you've got till its gone and with the voyager i know this will be the case.the voyager is the best monosynth for todays musical environments and integrates so well. the mini doesn't interface anywhere near as well. keep it.

In the old days I used to write some patches down on paper to then get "close" to dialing it back up.

Today we use digital cameras. Hey at least it is "digital patch storage"

I have lots of non-storage gear that I store patches with a digital camera. Comes in handy when the little ones visit my house and they go "oooo knobs to tweak buttons to push fun fun fun"

MC: Digital are a LOT simpler than writing all those settings down . I haven't written anything down for the non patch storage synths in years, but I've thought of the digital camera storage way also .



A lot of time on the Voyagers I'll just dial something up play for awhile, then move on with out saving, or go thorough things I have programmed then saved. I was just down in the studio a little while ago, dialed up something on the voyagers form scratch, played for awhile then shut down...

I use one for the contemporary service at church to play bass lines on a few selections, being able to quickly go from one bass patch to another is important. In other situations there may be time to dial something up each time, but it's nice to have your "best" sounds there set to go , you can always tweak it as you play and then not save it , but what ever works best for you is the main thing.

Brian

Fenix Le wrote:I'm seriously considering selling my Voyager and getting an original Mini Moog. I like the Voyager but I've decided to go with the simplicity of the original.

But is the Voyager really lacking in simplicity? Personally, I don't think so. I was creating sounds as soon as I got mine, and find the layout very easy, especially when compared with synths from the eighties, where everything is hidden behind nested menus and woefully small LCD displays. The Voyager is more versatile certainly, but not massively complex, as far as a can see.

Also, to use an analogy: If you were a farmer, would you really sell your tractor in favour of a team of horses, with which to plough your fields?

To me, selling a modern, superb piece of kit, in favour of something thirty years old, which goes out of tune easily and is highly likely to need running repairs (at a very high cost), cannot store the patches you create and has less creative potential is nothing short of sonic-masochism!

In short, please don't do it!

Hello All!!! I havent been active here lately. But now's as good time as any to get back into it.

I am thinking of selling my Voyager also, but for different reasons. I understand the rationale behind those that say dont sell, because the Voyager can be pretty bad ass, to say the least. But i can also understand the rationale behind wanting to go "simpler"

To The Unknown: That was a good analogy, but here's another take on it: I live in California, and we have this guy on PBS, Huell Howser, and he goes all around Cali showing interesting things (the show's called california's gold). Anyways, he went to this farm were the family who owns it is still using the old fashioned equipment.They made hay and whatever it is called before it becomes hay. They do in fact have a horse-drawn machine to do the plowing, or whatever its called when you make the rows. They also had a horse drawn contraption to gather the hay into bunches before its collection and baled. All machinery they were using was upwards of 90 years old! The equipment they used needed constant upkeep and repairs, yet they still wanted to use it all. It was hard work requiring special touches, that are lost on the newer generations.

So why would they use all this stuff when they could go the easy way and get tractors with air conditioning and a cd player and a bunch of other modern conveiniences? Well, put simply, the nostaglia of the old times that were gone long, long ago. They obviously appreciate the simplicity of the old archaic and "backwards" equipment, and they wouldnt have it any other way. And they got a lot of satisfaction and family togetherness out of doing it that way also.

A less fitting analogy: Why would someone give up things like electricity and runnning water all to go live out in the forest and live off the land? Well simplicity of course! Well, is it actually "simpler" to go this way? Hell no! Its very tough and lots of hard work, but there are people out there willing to do it, for "simplicity's" sakeall the time.

Why do people go around searching for and buying antiques, when they could have the latest and greatest fasion made from space-age materials and the latest in ergonomic design? Why do people spend countless hours and money searching for parts to cars that arent made any more? Why do they bother driving cars that were made in the 20's, with no power steering, no A.C., no air bags, no seat belts? Why does Jay Leno own and drive a steam powered car? Why do people buy, much less look at, art that is hundreds of years old? Why do people use vintage cameras to make films? Why do photgraphers use those old cameras with the drapes? Why do people listen to classical, blues, country western, the "oldies but goodies", when they could listen to some techno made with the newest equipment with all the bells and whistles (though even then you have those that will only use the classic synths). Call it nostalgia. Call it "backwards" Part of it has of it definitely has to do with simplicity. All these things have a little "something" that the newer version can't capture. It might be tangible. It might be intangible.

The new Voyager is way more complex the the Old school Model D's. Even though they basically almost have the same basic components. The Voyager has many things the oldies don't: XYA touch pad, multimapping of pots, stable oscillators, patch memory, LCD display, Two filters, MIDI, an operating system (that right there is a biggie, allowing unlimited different features) am i missing anything? There's some others, but im not too familiar with the D's to make an adequate comparison. Did the Model D's have the oscillator sync, and FM?

You can get a whole new world of sounds with the Voyager and expression than with the Model D. Are you maybe limiting yourself? Possibly. But through self-imposed limitations come the most creative moments, at least in my opinion. You could have a warehouse full of synths and come up with utter crap. You could have 1 shitty Casio keyboard and come up with jam after jam. Its all how you use what you have. People are most creative when they have very little, just look at any bum town or a homeless person's "house" and tell me they aren't really really creative. Even how these people survive is creative! (despite some of the destructive habits many have)

So Fenix Le, if you want to go out and sell your Voyager in favor of the old "backward" Model D, I say go for it!

There's something to be said of something that is going on 40 or 100 years old that you still can use everyday and it functions the same is it did when it first was made, even if it needs a little more TLC from time to time. And the old equipment, and music always has more "soul" in it than the newer ones, due to the simple matter of passing time and all the man hours and people that touched it in its lifetime, and gave a little of themselves to make it do what they wanted it to do. Those limitations and hardships are worth it and will give you a greaer sense of satisfaction.

And as for music today, who will argue that alot of the stuff coming out today is missing alot of that soul that the older stuff has? I dont mean to say all music today has no soul, because some have a little, but never as much as the older stuff.

Well, those are my two cents.

-patrick

Wow. I didnt realise I types so much!!! Sorry.

With regard to much of today's music having no soul, I'd agree absolutely. However, this has more to do with the people producing it, than the equipment involved!

Give me a Voyager and I'll create music with soul. Give a manufactured boy-band a Model D and they'll probably use it as a doorstop, because they won't know how to play it. Sad, but true in many cases. Shoot the lot of 'em I say!

Haha, they probably would use it as a doorstop, or a stool.
I totally agree it has nothing to do with the equipment used. Voyagers can be damn soulful, just depends on the user. Yea i say shoot em all too!!

Good man!!

You're right, though - it is a matter of what pleases you when it comes to the old or new. I just feel the benefits of the Voyager make it more attractive than the limitations of a Model D, especially as MIDI is so important to me, along with the simple convenience of storing patches.

Horeses for courses (or ploughing as the case may be).

JF