Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue Edition Review

The Moog Minimoog Voyager has been a subject of controversy since it debuted in 2002. Many people said it doesn’t live up to the hype as the successor of the original Minimoog from 1971, while others will tell you it’s one of the most well-designed Bob Moog synthesizers, offering that deep, punchy sound that Moogs are renowned for.

After finally pulling the trigger a few years back and buying the Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue Edition, I have to say that, in my experience, it is one of the most flavorful synthesizers I’ve ever had the pleasure to play. 

In this guide, I want to take a deeper look at what it offers and whether or not it holds its own as part of the evolutionary chain of Minimoogs. 

Overview

Looking at the interface, you get most of the same architectural characteristics as the original, including three voltage-controlled oscillators, the Moog ladder filter, and the dual envelopes. If you’ve ever played a Minimoog in the past, you’ll feel quite familiar with everything you see here.

However, you also get the addition of the Modulation Busses on the left-hand side of the synth, which offer flexible programming possibilities, as well as the Ladder Filter, which has spacing controls for tuning two corner frequencies against one another for a unique sound.

Build Quality

Not only does this iteration of the Minimoog Voyager look great, but it’s also very durable. If you’re someone who’s constantly gigging, you’ll appreciate the strength of the steel chassis and ash cabinet. 

The knobs feel tactile and precise compared to many cheaper synths that use fragile plastic knobs. Then, of course, we have the blue finish with sci-fi-style LED backlights throughout each section, which provide a nice glow in darker settings.  

The 44-note keyboard delivers a responsive, semi-weighted feel that is perfect for the duties of your average monosynth. I like the velocity sensitivity that it provides, though I feel like the aftertouch is a bit aggressive. Rather than progressively moving from ‘soft’ to ‘hard,’ it acts more like an on/off switch. If you’re using the synth for performance, first and foremost, that response style can be daunting. 

The Interface 

The synth is divided into numerous key sections, moving from left to right.

On the far left, just beside the keyboard, you’ll find your standard pitch bend and modulation wheels, which differ ever so slightly from the standard Voyager with their illuminated designs. Other than that, you get exactly what you’d expect. 

 

LFO Section

Above that, we have the dedicated LFO section, which, unlike the original Minimoog, frees up VCO3 for building out sounds. There are a few waveforms to pick from, including square and triangle, as well as four sync options and a Sample & Hold option. When you modulate the rate, you get sounds very similar to what you might expect from the Yamaha CS-80.

One of the main downsides to this section is that you still can’t auto-trigger envelopes like its predecessor.

Modulation Busses

Moving one step to the right, we have the Modulation Busses section, which you can control via the Mod Wheel or an integrated pedal. There are six unique input options, allowing you to change how the modulation signal affects the destination from sources like Oscillator 3, LFO, or Noise/Pgm.

You’ll have to be careful about how you adjust the ‘Amount’ controls underneath, as they are unusually sensitive.

The Oscillator Section

Ahh, the sweet, sweet oscillators — or should I say, the heart of the Minimoog?

The oscillator section is where all of the phat, deep, chewy flavors of the Minimoog Voyager come from. Compared to the original Minimoog, the range for Oscillator 1 is quite wide, and with the ability to variably sweep through the different waveforms and add pulse-width modulation, the versatility alone is hard to argue.

You’ll find similar control on Oscillators 2 and 3, along with your standard fine-tuning controls. Speaking of tuning, it’s worth noting how accurate the tuning is across the keyboard, as well as the tracking.

The Mixer Section

 

The five-channel Mixer Section looks and functions very similarly to the Minimoog’s predecessor. With separate level controls, oscillator on-off switches, an external audio input knob, and a noise mixer knob, you have a decent level of control across the board.

Even with each knob fully driven, the mixer’s output remains distortion-free, giving you that beloved transparency that many purists love about the Minimoog. Plus, with an effects loop in the mix, you can get even more creative with your pre-filter signal processing than ever before.

The design team at Moog did an excellent job refining the noise source, which had some nasty artifacts in the original. As for the actual sound of the noise, it’s somewhere between what you’d expect from a white and pink noise generator.

The Filter Section

The Filter Section was given a refresh, stepping away from the single filter of the original to dual Moog transistor-ladder filters, each of which is capable of self-oscillation, resonance, and CV tracking. With the Spacing knob and Mode switch, you have numerous configuration options for the filters alone.

Thanks to the parallel dual low-pass filters, you can create unique stereo effects that weren’t possible prior. Just note that this synth does not provide for individual filter modulation, which can feel a bit limiting.

If I had to pick my favorite option of the two modes, it’d be the high-pass/low-pass filter mode, which sounds a lot like what you’d expect from a vintage ARP 2600.

The X-Y Touch Surface

 

Dominating the front section of the Minimoog Voyager, we have the X-Y Touch Surface, which might be one of Bob Moog’s finest inventions. 

With one finger, you can control numerous different parameters, including the filter resonance, filter spacing, and filter cutoff frequency, depending on where on the X-Y axis you move. Though the pad itself doesn’t have true pressure sensitivity, you can press harder to amplify whatever effect you’re trying to manipulate, adding another dimension to your modulatory possibilities.

I wish that you could independently link the Touch Surface to other sources, such as the LFO speed, as it’d be nice to alter the modulation without impacting the sound. Even so, it’s perfectly functional and fun to play around with.

Sounds and Presets

As I said before, plenty of skeptics out there will tell you the Minimoog Voyager is nothing like the original Minimoog. And while you might certainly need to make a few minor tonal adjustments to stray from the brighter and sharper characteristic the Voyager offers (akin to the ARP 2600), it offers a surprisingly faithful emulation of the warmth and depth of the original.

Of course, you also get plenty of new tonal features, such as pulse width modulation for each waveform, frequency modulation, and oscillator sync, so to call it a ‘wannabe imitation’ of the original would be short-sighted in the first place.

The Electric Blue Edition has seven banks of presets, each with 128 presets. In total, there are 896 presets, meaning you will never need to build your own from scratch.

You can simply find a sound you like and manipulate it to fit your needs. Many preset banks were even left empty for users to save their presets. 

Though Moog is known for its bass and lead sounds, I’m always intrigued by the additional orchestral and FX presets they’ve onboarded and how effortless it is to get them gelling with mixes without much tweaking. 

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Top-tier Build and Sound Quality: It has a durable, tour-ready chassis and hundreds of great sounds to experiment with, whether you’re a classic synth head or a modern EDM mad scientist.
• Intuitive Layout: With delineated sections moving from left to right, anyone familiar with synthesis will feel comfortable with the synth right out of the box.
• External Connectivity: Placed strategically along the top of the synth (or back, depending on whether you have the front panel propped up), you’ll find numerous inputs and outputs, including MIDI connectivity, which is great for testing out sounds and playing around with filters when sending MIDI from your computer. 

Cons:

• Expensive: If you’re like many musicians, you don’t have a few thousand dollars to throw around, which limits how accessible it is.
• Bulky and Heavy. If you’re looking for a more portable option for gigging, I’d recommend looking at something smaller like the Micromoog.
• Menu-Diving: It doesn’t give you the ability to search presets by category, such as ‘basses’ or ‘leads.’ Finding the ideal preset could mean spending several minutes filtering through hundreds of presets to find the right sound for your project. 

Conclusion

While the Voyager may not appeal to Moog fans everywhere, I still can’t think of another relatively modern synth that quite delivers the same level of quality in all facets, from sound to construction. 

Although the price may be difficult to justify for many, that doesn’t diminish the fact that it’s a work of art that deserves all the recognition it can get.