Support
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2017 2:05 pm
In a 9-month period, I bought a Voyager XL, (9) foogers, (4) 500-series modules, a System 55 ( #39) and the 953 controller. My nearest estimation I spent over $47,000 on Moog products.
On 3 different occasions I properly contacted Moog tech support for problems I was having with the 55, and they never replied.
I contacted them regarding a flaw that makes the Voyager XL crash, and they were very attentive and helpful.
Since then, I have sold my 55 to a collector in London. While the 55 WAS a romantic purchase, ( I think I can speak for most of us when I say, the 55 was always a coveted item extending back to my childhood), I purchased it to be a functional instrument in my composing studio. At the same time, I also purchased a large system from a wonderful company (horribly named) Synthesizers.com.
I'm not any type hater or flaw-detective, so please don't take this as an opportunity for me to bash Moog. I am grateful and elated that Moog is HERE and seemingly doing well. One only has to closely examine the 55 inside and out to fully appreciate the immense attention to detail and craftsmanship; its remarkable.
There seems to a bit of irony or even a contradiction in the modular re-issues; Bob's modulars stretched the technological limit to what was reasonably available at that time in the 60s. But now we know how to make analog more stable both in pitch and in scale. We also have MIDI which allows for easier and faster triggering, yet alone the integration into a computer, or keyboard or sequencer.(even the new Minimoog D re-issue has MIDI) My point is, Moog could have easily made a unit that still had all of the glory of their vintage/classic analog, while implementing some subtle things that made it more functional in a modern sense, but they abandoned that technological advantage, despite that being the very foundation of which the originals were built upon. Why they opted to clone past limitations and flaws was an unnecessary ( and expensive) allegiance to the original is an enigma. The unit is not really a full modular, as its largely hard-wired and uses a proprietary power supply; so not only other 3rd party modules wont work, but Moog itself did not offer any "newer" designed modules. Remember, the 55 was not originally designed like this, it evolved from other models, as did Emerson's system. Flexibility/adaptability was part of Moog's mantra. I'm sure Bob would have opted for something that made his instrument for usable rather than something collectable.
On 3 different occasions I properly contacted Moog tech support for problems I was having with the 55, and they never replied.
I contacted them regarding a flaw that makes the Voyager XL crash, and they were very attentive and helpful.
Since then, I have sold my 55 to a collector in London. While the 55 WAS a romantic purchase, ( I think I can speak for most of us when I say, the 55 was always a coveted item extending back to my childhood), I purchased it to be a functional instrument in my composing studio. At the same time, I also purchased a large system from a wonderful company (horribly named) Synthesizers.com.
I'm not any type hater or flaw-detective, so please don't take this as an opportunity for me to bash Moog. I am grateful and elated that Moog is HERE and seemingly doing well. One only has to closely examine the 55 inside and out to fully appreciate the immense attention to detail and craftsmanship; its remarkable.
There seems to a bit of irony or even a contradiction in the modular re-issues; Bob's modulars stretched the technological limit to what was reasonably available at that time in the 60s. But now we know how to make analog more stable both in pitch and in scale. We also have MIDI which allows for easier and faster triggering, yet alone the integration into a computer, or keyboard or sequencer.(even the new Minimoog D re-issue has MIDI) My point is, Moog could have easily made a unit that still had all of the glory of their vintage/classic analog, while implementing some subtle things that made it more functional in a modern sense, but they abandoned that technological advantage, despite that being the very foundation of which the originals were built upon. Why they opted to clone past limitations and flaws was an unnecessary ( and expensive) allegiance to the original is an enigma. The unit is not really a full modular, as its largely hard-wired and uses a proprietary power supply; so not only other 3rd party modules wont work, but Moog itself did not offer any "newer" designed modules. Remember, the 55 was not originally designed like this, it evolved from other models, as did Emerson's system. Flexibility/adaptability was part of Moog's mantra. I'm sure Bob would have opted for something that made his instrument for usable rather than something collectable.