Moog Music Forum

I have Software Version 2.5 on my Voyager AE.. Usally when I adjust the nobs, I get a digital reading of the nob in the preset display area. But when I turn the fine tune nob, nothing reads out.. Is something broken?


Count

No nothings broken but for some reason the voyagers fine tune doesnt send a reading to the screen/software. Its really hard trying to work out if the voygager is exactly in tune without this and i reckon it should be implemented asap as its pretty important.

Ok good.. I just got my Moog back, and I thought it was broken or something.. Well yeah, I really rely on those Dial Displays... my favorite feature of the moog. Not really but its up there.

Count

Fine tune is not meant to be stored with a patch. This is common on every synth out there.

Note that like every other synth (excluding modulars) VCO1 does not have a detuning knob. You "fine tune" the Voyager to A440 (or whatever standard in your country) using VCO1 by itself. As long as you always use VCO1 in your patches, your patches will be in tune.

I think the fine tune is real analog without any digital converter checking its setting. There is really no need (from the tech point of view) to get the value displayed, because its not stored. And the needed hardware to do so would add extra costs.

If the fine tune is off position then vco 1 will be off as well. For example if the fine tune dial is set at minus 4 cents ( as a guess as we don't really know ) then even if vco 1 reads 0 in the display the voyager will be globally out of tune by minus 4cents.From a performance point of view it is essential to have the display finetune feature implemented in future software revisions,if u use the detune dial live how do u know when uve got the voyager exactly back on pitch without a tuner.answer is:you don't.

All instrument used on stage willl tuned to one reference pitch. This might be a piano (how to tune that to a different pitch within minutes) or other instruments not able to be tuned.
This GLOBAL tune should not be mixed with the detune which is detuning (hence the name) the oscillators 2 & 3 a bit for different width of sound to chords tuned here.

The very best way of using the tune knob is LISTEN to the pitch of the Voyager and to other instruments played on the same stage or same recording studio.

Because analog oscillators all suffer a bit on different enviroment temputeres, a value shown on the global tune (this is tuning ALL oscillators) would be zero for 440 pitch in a heated room but maybe totally off that mean tuning reference in a much colder or warmer place. So showing a value would not help. Atleast not on real analog oscillator synths. Digital will not drift in pitch due to temperatures. So there it does make sense. But if you ever played with a real piano, real organ or real woodwind, or what ever, you will note, that not alll instruments are tunes to 440 Hz for the mean tuning reference note "a". And the pitch of these note (and alll others changed in the last 300 years more and more higher. Today you will find some pianos tuned to 441 to 442 Hz on stages. And these pianos are not detuned at all. Just the reference was set different. And this reference maybe changed from the tune knob. And onlly this. So trust your ears and check the (main) tuning of your synths with your ears. Its not difficult to do. If its detuned, you will here a fast beating from osc 1of your Voyager compared to the other instruments. But be shure to turn of ALL oscillators that got a detune parameter on all the synth you got. Otherwise you will hear a beating within the sound you listen to as reference. And this does not make tuning instruments to match each other not easier.

I know real analog synth that had a read out for this master tune parameter. Even the Moog source had this parameter as the only parameter not shown as a data readout in the display. Not shure about the Memory Moog. But this synth got some autotune routine and therefor it was atleast fixed to a knobn pitch (440 Hz) after autotune. And then it would make sense to show a value. But this value might have been wrong within a few minutes during the warm up. And then the value of the master tune parameter would not make sense anymore til the next auto tune.

To make a long posting short:
Moog was again very right on showing no parameter value of the master tune knob. And it is done like that an all analog synths without autotune feature I can think of. Afterall its a relative value not an absolute setting like the detune.

Good info Qwave,but the voyager is meant to get to stable pitch in a very short period of time and stay stable with little drift,if any at all. I would therefore say that as the voyager is probably at ideal pitch regardless of its surroundings(due to the digital control of vco stability) that the global tune dial on the voyager should show a display reading. in an onstage situation i have had problems pitching synths numerous times as stages can do strange things to our perception of correct pitching especially when guitars/bass are slightly out .I want to know at all times what the tune dial is doing and it should have a readout.

I also own a source, and that drifts plenty so i can see why that has no readout,but the voyager is totally stable and should have a global tune display.

The lack of a Fine Tune display doesn't bother me in the least. It's never occurred to me to even wish for one.

I mean, if you're gonna tune your instrument with your eyes -not your ears- you might as well make sure that your guitar's in tune by turning all the tuning pegs to the same angle, right?

-Hoax

most guitarists use accurate tuners that provide a visual reference of correct pitch. the voyager should also have a visual reference in the displa.i would find it very useful having the fine tune displayed. failing that,the fine tune dial should have a centre detent that clicks into position.

A center detent on a fine tune knob is a BAD IDEA. Pitch wheels yes, fine tune no.

why???

It would become next to impossible to get values a little flat or sharp from that center detent. And adding a kind of zero zone next to the center detent would have add a few bugs more. And no one complained about this on other fine analog synths.

Yea good info Qwave. I never really use the Fine Tune knob, mainly cause i don't perform live with others.