Moog Muse

[LPF83]

I've learned before, never say never when  it comes to buying synths.  I've stated on this forum before that I didn't need to buy a particular synth, then a year passed and I found myself buying it

There could be one of these in my future... sometimes a synth is out for quite some time before I hear a certain sound out of it and/or learn of features that make it a must buy.  Not to mention, as we see with the 3rd Wave, sometimes a synth becomes something much more over time and firmeware updates than it was at release time when all the reviews came out.

Overall, I think early adopters of this synth will fall into the category of folks who were highly interested in the Moog One but turned off by the price or sound.  Folks who probably were drawn to the sounds of MemoryMoog and similar..   Me, I never was really into Moog's poly sound, most of the Moogs I like the sound of were monosynths.

One thing they could do that would get my attention is turn it into a killer, generic MIDI controller in addition to the synth it already is.  I have good MIDI controllers and I have good synths, but none of them are really both.  And by a killer controller I mean they could use that screen to do things like custom templates for controlling other instruments, etc.  Not holding my breath though.

[LPF83]

This is the first mention I've heard of this..  apparently the panel isn't screen printed, but instead is a vinyl overlay -- I guess that's a cost cutting measure. 

Not really a fan of that approach, as it doesn't seem like something that will go the distance and hold value.  I'd have similar concerns about heat that this YT'er mentions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjgb6QWfEo0

[Elric]

I GAS'd one the other day.  -  ...wait!
Sounds pretty great. Thinner than I thought it would be? from playing thru the presets, but...

It's got a couple of issues.

The keybed seems kinda lame? - I know it's a Fatar, but maybe a cheap one.
It "drops" notes sometimes by not catching the velocity. (They end up quiet/soft.) It plays fine from my Kurzweil.
I can't figure if it can send a start/Stop for my drum machine, Pro3. It seems to not?  :/
Also, I hear Lag. Playing too many notes quickly, as chords, they don't trigger right away. (Here's a vid. [not me])
..Processor lag?  Or note stealing lag? ...

Don't sell your/my Pro3! 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQyepDZaC9k

It does seem to pretty much nail the Minimoog patches I dialed into it. (And there's 8 voices!)
I used some things I learned from the Pro3 for the Mod matrix. Fun stuff, and they have functions!
They have a mod source called Trig(ger) that gets an attack click. (And Gate, that gets 2.)
They don't have a constant (DC) source!
Decay and release aren't all that long.

Anyway, first notes, day 2...

[Quatschmacher]

Have to say, this discussion reminds of that dangerous day when both the Trigon AND the latest Minimoog reissue were announced. The Muse has a strong "must sell gear and buy this new thing I've not yet even seen for real!" vibe! It looks good, and YT tells me it sounds good. But... I'm still paying for the Trigon, which I bought with the plan to sell off other synths. Those synths remain unsold. This is the synth-fiend's eternal curse, no?

Haha, so true. I did however manage to actually sell my Summit in anticipation of picking up a Muse in the next batch. Sold it to a good friend who has been stuck deciding what to buy for his first synth for literally about five years! I do have a bit of regret as Summit is very good but I wasn’t a fan of the keybed. My friend is very happy and I’m looking forward to gettin something with a keybed that makes me want to play it.

[Quatschmacher]

I GAS'd one the other day.  -  ...wait!
Sounds pretty great. Thinner than I thought it would be? from playing thru the presets, but...

It's got a couple of issues.

The keybed seems kinda lame? - I know it's a Fatar, but maybe a cheap one.
It "drops" notes sometimes by not catching the velocity. (They end up quiet/soft.) It plays fine from my Kurzweil.
I can't figure if it can send a start/Stop for my drum machine, Pro3. It seems to not?  :/
Also, I hear Lag. Playing too many notes quickly, as chords, they don't trigger right away. (Here's a vid. [not me])
..Processor lag?  Or note stealing lag? ...

Don't sell your/my Pro3! 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQyepDZaC9k

It does seem to pretty much nail the Minimoog patches I dialed into it. (And there's 8 voices!)
I used some things I learned from the Pro3 for the Mod matrix. Fun stuff, and they have functions!
They have a mod source called Trig(ger) that gets an attack click. (And Gate, that gets 2.)
They don't have a constant (DC) source!
Decay and release aren't all that long.

Anyway, first notes, day 2...

Constant DC source can be achieved with square wave LFO at lowest speed, which is completely static. Manny Fernandez said he used this technique to adjust ratios when programming his FM patches.

[pfrf]

Well I picked up a Muse recently. Now I'm considering selling my OB-6 because I really don't need two analog polysynths. The Muse is pretty much everything I've wanted in a polysynth.

It sounds huge, it sounds wilder than the OB-6. Side by side the OB-6 sounds more organized, tidier. I've been replicating patches made on my OB-6 on the Muse and it's pretty easy to get close except for patches I've made on the OB-6 with the filter type set somewhere between LP and Notch, or patches that modulate that knob. And I realised that I do both of those things a lot when programming the OB-6.

The OB-6 has that sound, though, with the top end fizz. The Muse has an icy top end, kind of shiny, and can get resonant, a little boomy, in the low mids even with resonance turned down. I get why they put an extra HP filter at the end of the signal path.

My Muse is not as buggy as some reports I've read. The tuning is fine, everything works. I haven't heard the chirping someone posted about at GS, I haven't had freezes or lock-ups. The build quality seems a slight cut above the OB-6, it's solid.

I have had a few stuck notes. When sending MIDI from Logic the problem was solved in Logic by checking the box to send cc123 (I think?), note off. But I also had stuck notes using the internal sequencer. I made my own favorites bank and eliminated any of the patches that were getting stuck (there were two) and any sequences that caused stuck notes (three) and I haven't had the issue since. But I'm wary of it.

Some of the OG presets seem to highlight problems and appear to have been created before the synth OS was finished. There are presets with clicking LFOs and those clicks can be eliminated easily with the current OS. I felt that while some of the presets are very sweet, many of the sequences are unmusically confusing to say the least.

I have a "good" OB-6 with no issues, no wobbly knobs. It's a D.S.I. version, I like that Dave's signature is on the synth. It does have a very different sound from the Muse but I just don't know if I'll play the OB-6 much anymore. It's appeared in every track we've recorded since we bought it. I just don't know. I'll keep it a while, anyway, to make sure the Muse is solid. Rambling thoughts...

[Soundquest]

I like the instrument, sounds beautiful, and love the delay. 

1) As mentioned previously by others, velocity sensing on keys is causing notes to miss or be unexpectedly quiet.  This is a pretty big issue for a keyboard instrument.  But I have just read on-line that Moog is aware of this and fixing in a upcoming update.

2) The screen turns off unexpectedly. Its easily turned on by just pressing a button, like shift, but its an annoyance.  No pattern to it,  so its not like its not a screen saver type function.  While watching a recent video by Ben Jordan and Venus Theory, I saw it happen to them too.  So I'm not alone.

3) They added a midi panic soft key in latest OS, which is good ...as the sequencer notes lock up occasionally.

4) Tempo not accurate and odd latency.  Again, Moog is aware of this and an upcoming update will fix this.  As it is now, if you try setting its internal clock at 120bpm, and after 60 seconds its already 0.3 seconds fast!   They have an adjustment for external clock compensation, but that control does nothing for the internal error. 

5) In a temperature controlled room I'm finding that I need to tune (quick tune button) like three times in a row each session, otherwise 440 is sitting at 443.  I may opt to do the full cold-start reset tuning and see if that helps.   May not really be a 'bug" per see , but just a little work around like many of us OB6 owners learned

[pfrf]

Apparently, according to a Moog rep, the Muse screen shutting off is meant to be a screensaver. It does seem kind of random to me.

I've not had any real issues with the Muse. I read that the velocity issues are related to CPU overload with patches that have lots of modulation. I've been able to find settings that make the keys play better for me. I do hope they optimize the code, though.

The keybed feels very much like the keybed on the OB-6. The OB-6 has the issue of not triggering very quiet velocities. The velocity curves offset that a bit but don't completely fix it for me.

Besides that, with my first wish already fulfilled (saving keyboard layouts), I feel like the Muse is excellent the way it is. If I could ask for a couple of things I would like to be able to create a 16 step sequence then duplicate that, creating a 32 step pattern, make variations, etc. I would also like to be able to shift the sequence forward or backwards one step at a time.

I brought my OB-6 into a consignment shop last week. It was a tough decision, I still enjoy it but it's time for a change and the Muse is what I've been hoping for in an analog synth plus a whole lot more.