Moog Music Forum

Hello everyone!

This is my first post on the forum,
and I'm very happy to be aboard with you!

I recently bought my first Moog, the DFAM, but due to its sequencer, and the lack of digital interfaces (MIDI / USB), I've also got myself a Korg SQ-64, a 64 steps sequencer very similar to the BeatStep Pro: 3 melodic + 1 drums sequencer tracks with CV output.

It works, I'm able to output a melodic track using the manual's recommended voltages:
SQ-64's Gate out to DFAM's Trigger (10V), Pitch out to VCO1 CV (1V/Oct), and Mod out to Velocity (5V).

I'm providing the steps' velocity @ 127 (MAX on 5V), but everything is really quiet compared to using the internal sequencer @ full velocity... As the SQ-64 allows for output voltage adjustment, I tried raising the voltage to 9V instead of 5V, and I was able to get it to sound closer to the sequencer output! Then I turned it back to 5V 'cause I don't want to damage it (recommended voltage for velocity is 0 - 5V)...

I'm a little bit confused about this "issue": is the Velocity output from the sequencer also normalled to other patch points simultaneously? is my device defected? Am I missing something? Is the Velocity input on the DFAM also 10V tolerant? Aliens?

I hope someone has a suggestion on the subject, I'm not a modular expert and I don't want to damage my DFAM, but also the device's sequencer is too poor for my desires.

Thank you for any advice or suggestion!

The VGA EG has a toggle switch for fast/slow. Not sure whether the external velocity bypasses this, but setting it to fast might help.

As for the voltages, it's interesting to see that velocity is the only CV input with 0 to 5V range, while all others are either -5V to +5V or 0 to 8V. Could this be a typo in the manual? Even if not, I would assume that the patch bay is designed robust enough to patch any output to any input, with some outputs (e.g. VCO EG out) 0 to 8V, so anything from -5V to 8V should give no issues.

hi there. new moog studio owner here with dfam and sq 64 setting similar. any patch solution provided for a noob like me in these circumstances ? i mean: what to connect correctly on the patchbay to raise velocity and volume ?

You can pump up the volume and snap by patching VCA-EG out to VCA-CV in. Effectively, this doubles the VCA envelope.
Caveat: there is some risk of clipping if the internal signal path is already close to maxed-out... so you may have to dial back the VCO1/VCO2/NOISE-EXT level a bit.