Got m00g?

[Cruel Hoax]

I've got a Moog Voyager, and have used it for some time. I used one for a while before I decided to buy one, so I don't think that it's my "invested money" talking.

I love it. Of course, it is fat and warm, smooth and buttery. But, in my opinion, the true worth of the Voyager (as opposed to, say, the Minimoog) comes when you explore its evil side (Comprehensive mod matrix, control via touch pad, linear _and_ exponential FM.)

Hardware-wise, it's exceptional. Rock-solid, good-feeling knobs. Larger knobs (for the most part) on those parameters likely to be played live. Extensive control voltage in and out.

Sound-wise, there are no words. Of course, it can do Minimoog-type stuff, and well. It's not as drifty as the original Mini, but you can simulate this with Smoothed S+H->pitch or Sm.S+H->Waveform (Smoothed S+H is equivalent to the Virus's Sample+Glide) However, Big Fun and Evil can enter thuswise: a patch cord to connect input back to output. On the original Mini, this was used to both increase level to the filter section (thereby increasing yummy filter overdrive) and to skew the filter response (filter output, fed back to filter input, filtered further, sent to output, fed back to input, for a steeper slope.) On the Voyager, you can do this in a few ways: feeding the main output (in mono) back to the filter, then tapping the Filter2 output for main signal (or headphone jack, to maintain stereo signal) Or, stick a patch cable one-click-from-entirely-inserted into the Mixer Out/Filter In insert patch point for bright distort-y goodness. (This is my personal favorite.)

The nice thing here is the nice thing about analog as opposed to digital in general: In the analog world, feedback paths are instantaneous. In the digital realm, any input/output, including feedback paths, are subject to A/D-D/A delay, and are, therefore, subject to resonation determined by the input and output stages. No arbitrarily exaggerated notes in real analog.

The true analog pots are digitized at 14 bits (as opposed to, say, the Alesis Ion's much-touted 12 bits, or MIDI's standard 8 bits), and I've only been able to produce stepping in one case.

Dedicated hardware controls for mod wheel source/destination, additional ("Pedal") source/destination, extreme flexibility, excellent tone.

I realize that it's not for everyone, but I love mine. It does things no other piece of my gear can do, and it sounds great. Not only that, but it, erm, _responds_. My digital gear feels like I'm controlling it. My Moog feels like I'm working with it. Intangible, perhaps, but unmistakable.

Just my opinion.

-Hoax