I recently purchased an old oscillator board Model D in superb shape, which had been stored for ten years! Having owned a Voyager for a few years, now having the Mod D in my midst has made me appreciate aspects of the Voyager, especially the lead tones, which I feel have more "color" than the leads on the D. The D's bass is "punchier" and somewhat "fatter" and "warmer", but in my opinion the Voyager is a superior "sounding" lead machine. I don't think this is a result of my particular Mini, as I tried two others, and also listened intently to Jan Hammer's sound on his Mauhavishna albums, and it was basically the same.
The mini has a bright, kind of "yellowish" tone for want of a better term (a "sunflower" type sound - Its pulse wave can also sound annoyingly "woody" at times.) The Voyager on the other hand, has more hints of "blue", "red" and "green"; more of a" rainbow" tonal characteristic.( I am not trying to be hippish about this, but can't find any better way of describing it.) I understand the Voyager "sound", was modelled after the first 200 or so "R.A". Moog Minis that I am told have that greater tonal "color" as opposed to the others, including the new osc boards, that to my ears do sound somewhat more Arpish, but are just as punchy on the low end. I am also told that the "Rockford" Mini sound is indeed the early fully discrete sound. It makes me very satisfied indeed, that the Voyager, despite being sonically less dense than the original R.A. Moogs, has preserved its inimitable and delicious tonal color. In this area, it is quite superior to the vast number of Model Ds.
BTW - Running with the "color" metaphors, I am starting to hear synths in general in such terms. The Yamaha CS series strikes me as kind of 'yellow to orange/red". The Arp Odyssey, one of my all time Favs, "Golden". The old Korg monos, unfortunately, "Colorless to grey/bluish". The new Omega 8, very "Bluish to shimmering silver"; Prophets, Yellow to Lighter Blue Oberheims, irradescant, the color dependant on the patch, and the Voyager of course "Rainbow".
Thoughts? (Old Hippies are welcome to particapate - I understand on Acid you can actually "see" such things, so your remarks could be quite useful!)
