Moog Music Forum

Hey all and anyone who might be able to help me decide if i need to act on this or live with it.

I been drooling over many different moog products over the past year or so and finally decided to head out and buy one. been mostly working with digital instruments for the past year, and none electronic instruments prior to that mostly stringed guitar banjo lute piano sax etc.

anyway bought it brand new from the local music store about 4-5 days ago and ya its been great, other than i notice after about 10-20 minutes of use there is a rather obvious and pretty unpleasant crackle when i toggle between wave forms on either of my oscillators. i noticed that if i gently sweep by hand (and i mean gently) i can make a full rotation without making it crackle, and i also notice that if i use a modulation source to sweep through the different wave forms then i tend to notice it less. although i cant really determine with any success if its happening at a faster modulation rate just do to higher randomness harder to catch it. oh i should also add, i can rely on it to stop after a certain amount of time left off. but it needs a good amount normally its like over night. (i haven't really taken more than 5-10 minutes away from it since ive owned it other than work and sleep)

anyway my question is as follows. is it normal to hear a minor to moderate amount of crackling when your toggling the wave form knob from side to side?

i mean i guess i would be open to the idea that analog signals are temperamental or maybe i have to learn "the touch" but on the other hand i just paid 2400$ after tax for this instrument and i would prefer to act sooner than later if this sounds like a problem...

anyone's feedback is greatly appreciated.

No, I do not believe that crackling is normal. If it is only happening when you turn a knob, it may just be dust or hair or some such detritus in the pot shaft. A can of De-Oxit and possibly careful removal of the knob for a gentle cleaning of that shaft housing could be the ticket in that situation.

If its happening when the wave shape is swept automatically by modulation, and no physical motion is occurring, then it may be something worse. Still though, any time I hear crackle when I turn a knob on an analog synth, I consider dusting out the shaft an almost mandatory first troubleshooting step.

To make it clear:
No, a crackling noise when using the waveform selection knob or by modulating the waveform selection automatically by f.e. a LFO is NOT normal. There should be absolutely no crackling sound when doing that. As your synth is brand new I would suggest to return it to the music store where you have bought it for repair or replacement!