Moog Music Forum

I primarily play guitar and bass, and I'd like to start taking keys a bit more seriously. My only experience on keys is piano lessons as a kid and messing around with a Roland Alpha Juno a few years ago. I've been getting more and more interested in classic prog rock sounds (ELP, Yes, Genesis, etc, plus more modern stuff like Spock's Beard, Glass Hammer, et al). That seems to indicate something like a Minimoog, but that's a bit out of budget and a big more keyboard than I'm looking for right now.

The Alpha Juno taught me the basics of subtractive synthesis, and also that I prefer something with one knob per function - no interest in navigating through menus if I decide the filter cutoff needs to be tweaked a bit. I'm trying to keep it around $500.

I've been looking at Ebay, and the MG-1 and Rogue are going for around $450. I've also toyed with the idea of waiting a while and picking up a LP. Any reason to recommend one over the other, or should I just make the best deal I can? Any ideas about how to find one of these synths other than haunting Ebay and the local Craigslist?

I personally say save your money and get an LP. The Rogues and MG-1's are all aging and will need parts that no longer exist eventually...if they don't already. However, if you find a particularly good deal on a Rogue and you don't mind a bit of repair work, I'd go with that for the sound you're going for. Both of these synths sound great when they work, and choosing one or the other is simply a matter of personal preference.

I'm comfortable with a soldering iron - my only fear would be (lack of) parts availability.

I recently made vey good experiences with a Doepfer Dark Energy. This little analog synth works nicely together with a Voyager (controlled by the Voyager keyboard and Midi connection, audio out from Dark Energy into audio in of the Voyager).
The official list price of a new one is below € 400.-. There are no menues or digital displays but many knobs and even patch cords for a real modular feeling. The sound is also very good, although only one VCO is available. And the "moogy knobs" of it suits to the Voyager (or MiniMoog D) as well.
However if you have a chance to get a Rogue, do it. My Rogue is now almost 20 years old and apart from a defective power connector at the rear side it works perfect. And the sound of it is still simply great.

Copy+Paste from a previous enquiry:

I have a Rogue, but looking at the MG-1 there are distinct advantages.

OK, things are oddly named on the MG-1 for 'pro' users (eg. Attack and Decay are Rise Time and Fall Time respectively etc.), but here are the features i see that it has over the Rogue:
1. Individually switchable waveforms for each osc (rather than ganged).
2. Individually switchable octave for each osc (rather than ganged).
3. Ring Mod sound source (called Bell Tone).
4. Extra poly section. This is supposed to be a bit of a crappy 'organ' sound, but hey it might add something.

The only things the Rogue has over the MG-1 are:
1. Performance wheels (the MG-1 has sliders for mod depth but no pitch bend ability from what i can see).
2. Fully variable keyboard tracking (the MG-1 has off, half, full - switched).

I would mod the MG-1's outputs for 1/4" if i had one.

Whichever one you get be sure to factor in that you may have to remove the internal black felt that decays into goo if it hasn't been done - and if it has been done you may have goo in the sliders. I replaced all my Rogue sliders and switches recently due to this, so there may be some additional cost involved in your purchase. Replacements available from technology transplants.

Thanks for the input guys - pitch/mod wheels are a point in the Rogue's favor.

The Dark Energy does look interesting, and it's definitely along the lines of what I want - I'll have to see if I can demo one somewhere. Unfortunately most of the demos I see on youtube are sequenced dance music, which isn't what I'm looking to do with the synth.

There seems to be a Rogue or MG-1 coming across Ebay every few days, so if I can get one for the right price, I'll snag it.

You might also want to search this forum for posts about the black foam goo the crops up with the MG-1 and Rogue. In a nutshell, they were made with this black foam on the circuit boards that breaks down into goo over the years. Some folks leave it alone, some folks take it off.

Since the Dark Energy was raised as an alternative, what about waiting a few months for the $800 DSI Mopho Keyboard edition?

I'm aware that there's a difference in sound beteen Moog and DSI, but if you wanted a 2 oscillator knobby analog monosynth with mod wheels that wasn't an antique, that looks like an option...

keithb wrote:Thanks for the input guys - pitch/mod wheels are a point in the Rogue's favor.

The Dark Energy does look interesting, and it's definitely along the lines of what I want - I'll have to see if I can demo one somewhere. Unfortunately most of the demos I see on youtube are sequenced dance music, which isn't what I'm looking to do with the synth.

There seems to be a Rogue or MG-1 coming across Ebay every few days, so if I can get one for the right price, I'll snag it.

If you can raise enough dough for a Little Phatty, do that (that's how my madness began; bought a Tribute from eBay for $1,000 and the seller was local to my house so no shipping issues).

But if you can snag an MG-1 for $300, do that instead. Am sure you've seen the Marc Doty vids (he has 4 of 6 posted)... lots of great stuff in there which can be made fatter still with some Foogers and an expression pedal or even other Guitar pedals that you might already have. And a few years down the road, you'll always have the MG-1. It seems like that sort of a keyboard.

It's a slice of Moog history that will most like not go down in value.

The Dark Energy looks nice and all but you're up around $650 U.S. and at that rate you may as well have a Phatty, then add Freq, etc etc.

The one thing that the Doepfer has over anything Dave Smith produces in small format is that it has a wealth of CVs and is all "up front" (ie no menus or LCD, etc).

You've likely seen these. This bloke is good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLs6XQxO6uE and if you know German http://electronicablips.dailyradar.com/ ... 00-system/

Let us know how it goes.

-Mike W. from NJ

I could save for the LP, but the $1000+ price tag puts it out of the "just do it" range and into the "hmm, let's think about it" range for me

I have been watching the AutomaticGainsay videos - I'm very interested to see the last two.

Ich habe zwei Klassen genamen(?), aber mein Deutsch ist schlecht

your german is not so bad. However for the Dark Energy english would be fine.
Actually this little synth brings you in a "where no one has gone before"-mode. It's hard to stop the sound investigations when you turn the knobs and connect the patch cables. Again, no numbers or characters on a display and no presets limits your freedom. Only quantum mechanics will be your master.
Well, I just love analog devices...

Picked up a less than fully functional MG-1 on Ebay for a reasonable price. The service manual lists repairs for the symptoms described by the seller, so hopefully the fix will be straightforward.

Has anyone ever seen a pitch/mod wheel grafted on to the MG-1? I understand it's basically the same design as the Rogue, so I'm hoping to adapt the pitch/mod circuits from there, assuming I can find the relevant schematic (the only Rogue service manuals scans seem to be missing a few pages)

just wanted to put in one for the mg1. i love this synth to bits. the poly section is only cheesy with the filter all the way open, which is rare for me. otherwise ive used the poly on tons of recordings and it sounds like an amazing simple polysynth. also, sliders instead of wheels? not a big deal for me. my prodigy has wheels and the mg 1 has sliders, and guess what, love them both. both ca do funneat things that the others cant. never heard of an mg1 owner not loving his/her synth with whole heart. i say go mg1 for 300 or rogue for 400. also i got my prodigy for 350, so thats something to consider.

Got the MG-1 today.

The issue it's having is that it plays the same note no matter which key on the keyboard is depressed. The service manual suggests faulty glide slider, faulty pitch jack, or a pair of ICs.

I cleaned the glide slider, and it's producing the correct resistances. Checked the pitch jack by eye, and it seems fine, but I'll try de-soldering it tonight. I have ordered the two ICs recommended by the manual. The keyboard seems to be producing the correct CVs (as measured at the pitch jack), so I'm guessing it's a fault in U1007 - any expert opinions?

On my Rogue, if i have something is plugged into the CV/Gate jacks i think it only plays the same note. Perhaps check the jacks are 'normalled' properly with nothing plugged in.