From what I heard, in all cases here the Moog synths had the standard "moog filter" behavior in that when you increase the resonance, the low end drops out of the sound. None of the non-Moog synths in this video have this behavior to the degree that the Moogs do. Very fun video and I like that you had fun making it. Carry on! :)
@ghost mall that transition between low and high frequencies is definitely the defining feature, i feel like you wouldn’t be able to tell most synths apart in a finished mix but i don’t think the moog filter sweep is very replicable barring just straight up cloning the circuit
Same for me. The Moog filters reduce the low end the more resonance kicks in. While it's nearly impossible to guess the moog without resonance, it becomes very easy the way you performed this test with rising resonance levels. On a side note, I am a little disappointed about the Arp. The filter lacks resonance. Maybe it's the way you set it up, but I barely could hear any resonance.
It's amazing how you can hear in direct comparison, how the Sub 37's filter does not fully open (compared to the other filters), how amazing the Bass Station II sounds, how close the ARP filter is to the Moog filter, and how not-Moog the MG-1 filter sounds. Very eye-opening!
I do think there's a "Moog" sound, but it isn't limited to Moog synths. I think it comes down to having fairly drifty VCO's (or DCO's with a good "slop" algorithm) and a transistor ladder filter, plus the ability to overdrive the filter. So other various clones like the SE-1X/3X, SE-02, Boog, some MFB synths etc. can achieve very similar sounds. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the ladder filter. I think the bass drops off too much at high resonance, and the resonance sounds too much like a "detached" whistle/sine wave rather than being a part of the sound, unless you overdrive the filter to where it nearly breaks up.
Oh it’s finally here!! Well done man! I would love to see “real” moog filter vs virtual analog. Seeing the sub37 vs say the Nord lead, a Korg Kross, a vst, and one of the new behringer clones would be super interesting. Now just to convince you to drop a lot of cash to make video exclusively to tickle my fancy haha. It is interesting to see that the ARP was the one that stumped you the most, which opens up a whole other synth can of worms! Great job like always brother!
There is definately a difference between virtual analog and the real thing. I have the Moog IOS app, which is good, but my Behringer Model D sound fatter, warmer, rounder.
@@lundsweden Yeah, my little B-Model-D steps up to the challenge every time. It sounds better than the Moog Rogue I've had. It's better in every single way except size. *moog gets a ding for using that shitty foam insert that melted into tar directly onto the mainboard.
@@JorbLovesGear Sub 37 is really all that one would need for a mono synth. Too expensive for me though. I’m looking for a mono in realms of 300-400 bucks, with patch storage, so most of Behringer’s modules don’t cut it. Typhon is one option, it’s good because of fx and modulation, but scarce in osc engine. BS2 has all one would need and it’s cheap. I don’t really need an onboard fx too, so..
Moog sound (to me, wearing DT 990s): 1. BIG fundamental when there is no resonance. If you played a note maybe 1 fifth lower, I think it would be easier to tell. 2. Softer harmonics at the top. That honestly was the clearest difference for me between the Arp and the Moog - Arp was beefy like Moog but crispier up top. 3. BIG but pure resonant peak on the filter resonance, giving it a very animated, distinct "quack." Loved this video and love blind tests in general!
I like a lot of different synths also. However let’s just be honest Moog has a definite sound and quality that many synths don’t have. And there are some synths like the ARP 2600 that are just as impressive
I looked away before the Matrix came on the screen, and I got the same results... and I also guessed no. 1 was SH-101. The Filter sweep gives it away every time.
I have no idea why, but I was on the edge of my seat for this video like the way regular people are for major sporting events. There was definitely physical and emotional tension in my soul the whole time. This definitely says more about me than the video. lol
Great job! To me the Moog filter has more worble when sweeping at higher resonance than the other filters that you can hear even over crappy phone speakers.
I think it's everything rapped in one product the sound, build quality, the signal path.. if you take one out of the equation.. you lose that sound .. I just purchased a matriarch and I'm really blown away at just everything .. I know I paid alot but I also feel it won't break in a year or even 20
The Peavey DPM4 was the first soft-synth in a hardware keyboard workstation and had the Modular or Mini Moog waveforms especially the saw and the filter as well, to create polyphonic textures, and that unleashed the vintage and analog retro-wave, when Alice Cooper hired Derek Sherinian in 1990 who showcased the DPM3
Yeah, the lack of bass was really noticeable on the Moog synths when the resonance was turned up. Without resonance though, it'd be very difficult to tell which was which.
This was really fun. I've been looking for a video like this. I'm surprised there aren't many! I love that the Moogs not only sound different from the others, they also sound different from each other. These really aren't mere machines; they are musical instruments. ♥️🙂👍
The "moog sound" isn't unique anymore. I think a lot of it is the filters, but it's associated with Moog because they sounded like that early on. It's like that gibson thickness and fender brightness. None of those are unique to anything at all, but they are historically the source of it.
Great Experimentation! 🙂I'm quickly becoming a fan of your channel. I came for test but was completely entertained by watching you squirm. Lol, lots of fun.
i was at guitar center with a buddy of mine, he had about $800 to burn and wanted a synth. We messed with all the roland botique's and they all sounded great, then he played 1 note on the mother 32 and it like rattled the walls. It was plugged into the same system all the botiques were plugged into, but it just made this magic sound that instantly had him hooked and he walked right out with the moog!
@@JorbLovesGear well...I just ordered my Subsequent 25 and I expect it to shake more than the walls....I have this rotten tooth I need knocked loose and the synth was cheaper used than the surgery.
Okay, so Marc Doty/Automatic Gainsay did a similar thing in attempt to demonstrate that there is a “Moog sound”, except it was the viewers that had to guess blind which synths were the Moog… BUT it totally blew up in his face, because the overwhelming results in the poll were completely wrong, even from experienced viewers. 😂
Everyone opines that the Moog sound is mostly the filter but rarely do people mention the mixer gain. That’s where a lot of the smooshy overdriven suppressed mids magic happens. All of that distortion that then makes the filter sound so powerful.
Damn, nearly perfect suggestions. I am impressed and I could hear a difference. I'd like a Boog in there like someone mentioned before. This would be crazy. Nice Channel Jorb, love it!!!
Impressive! Nice video. To me the "tell" on the overdriven set is there are strange resonant peaks during the filter sweeps in the non-moogs that shouldn't be there.
I've taken up synths as a hobby a little over a year ago and I couldn't tell you which was which. Lol. Good job dude. This is the first video I've watched of yours (Gabe Miller told me to come check you out and I do everything I'm told, so...) and I am pretty impressed. Definitely subscribing.
Just found your channel randomly in my feed. YT algorithm comes through in good way. I’m a drummer but really love synths,sequencers ,drum machines . I have multiple Edrum kits , and enjoy being able to link up lots of different gear via midi and see what creations can be made.
@@JorbLovesGear understandable, sampled drums are great as well. I like the Roland TR-8s b/c you can use sample drums with it along with classic 808/909 with multiple individual tigger outs, audio in for using internal EFX and good sequencer, not beatstep pro sequencer lvl but good. Looking to add keystep pro and moog minituar to my setup in next few months. Got a chance to play that Moog model a few weeks ago and I was absolutely blown away how good it was. The bass tones were so fat!!!! When a piece of hardware gives to the” bass face”(the look of smelling dookie) immediately you know that’s an item you need in your tool belt. Keystep Pro you already know.
Hey Jorb - Another interesting vid! My take-away is that IF there is a Moog sound, it's very subtle. Put one in a mix and I wonder if you'd still be able to tell. But boy, you got good ears 😀
when doing filter sweeps, moog characteristically has a low end drop.. so if you know what to listen to, its doable..however i've never done it myself , and really im quite sure that i would miserably fail if i did, props to you, you've probably spent quite a bit a time behind those symths and in the end i think thats whats important..beyomd brands and such.. anyway cheers to you and your buddy who's mildly effing with you.. making this entertaining...
of course it is. but the Crave may be the best moog-related (or unrelated) synth ive ever heard. love the sub 37 sound too, but never played one, only the subsequent 25. id be interested in if the "roland sound" is real
Dude, thats some hard shit. As if you nailed it in only the second iteration!!!! Good job. The juno thing, i reckon is too obvious, because of that chorus, but, is it? You are a good presenter, good content, relaxing approach. Very, dare i say, human. Thanks bro.
MG1 was my second monosynth and my first 'real' one (Had the CS01 before but that's not in the same league). I've used Moog's most of my life and had never done an AB comparison. I could clearly hear the Moog's versus the others (I listened to the vid not watched). I have a Behringer Model D and it does actually sound like a moog, though I've never played a real minimoog. I've occasionally tweaked the wrong filter when running the Model D and Slim Phatty side by side
I have a Moog Sirin and it's very close to a Moog The Source, it's the only one I have heard in decades that has that 'vintage' sound. Nice upload, a lot of fun and an excellent score.
In my first band, the guy who would eventually be best man at my wedding played keys, and his first synth was a Moog Source. To this day, the sound is very familiar to me. It's just a Moog thing.
I wouldn’t say that Moog synths sound necessarily superior to other brands sound wise but we can’t deny that they have a distinctive sound and it’s apparent in the lower range of the high resonance sweeps.
Cool video! There are two design features that might be part of "the Moog sound.": 1) They don't make a pure square wave. I think that's true of every Moog ever made. If you take an Arturia synth and dial up a pure square you get one. It's that thin, hollow sound. You can't make that on a Moog. If you take the Arturia and add in a bit of saw then you'll get the same wave as the Moog square. 2) Starting with Voyager, the filter knob doesn't open the filter all the way. I'm not sure if every modern Moog is that way, but I know the Sub 37 is and I think the GM and Matriarch are too, based on other's comments. I haven't tested the small semi-modulars. Unfortunately I can't hear past about 12k anymore so I can only figure it out through testing ;-) This probably matters most when you're driving the filter into distortion.
Is the imprecise square wave not just when the mixers are driven? Or are you suggesting there's always some drive in the signal path, or that the squares are derived in some particular way?
@@JorbLovesGear I'm sure it's a design choice. My assumption is that Moog just doesn't want their synths to have the ability to make that thin, reedy sound you get from a pure square. All phat all the time ;-) The Model D, the Voyager, and every Moog made since is that way (well--I'm not sure about the Moog One). On a scope, the Sub 37 square has vertical sides, but slanted top and bottom (slanted opposite the saw). Driving the filter rounds off the front corner (giving it a smoother sound). Adding multi-drive sharpens it again. You would think that somewhere between saw and this square/ramp hybrid wave that it would become an actual square, but it doesn't. There's a point where the top is flat, but the bottom is sharply angled at that point. At the square setting the top and bottom are angled the same amount. Going past there into pulse narrows the gap, but it doesn't change the slope until you get to the extreme setting where the bottom becomes flat but the top becomes a sort of fin shape. Voyager has pretty much the same shape square, but a steeper slope (it's buzzier). While Sub 37 has a nicely formed triangle, Voyager has a humped shape. The path from triangle to square is very different on Voyager. In my opinion, the 37 is more interesting (sonically) in that regard. Mother 32 has a square that is identical to Voyager. Interestingly, if you turn the filter all the way down on the Voyager square you get a close approximation of a sine.
I have terrible hearing, wearing hearing aids but do own 1 moog synth. The first test was difficult but overdriven I could guess each one. So i think there is definately a moog sound, it’s subtle but it does exist
Funny enough, what kind of helped me know what to look for was the various filter options on the Korg Electribe 2. It has a toggle for MG, OB, Prophet, and MS20 type filters and I almost always reach for the Moog-style one for basslines. Wound up referencing that with some of the Arturia stuff, and while much higher quality, still kind of brings those differences to the fore. Maybe you could check the Electribe 2 out at some point if you haven't yet!
@@terminalglimmer I would ~love~ to try an electribe. I'm haven't had a ton of groove boxes, and I'm really into bang for your buck, and stuff that has been sort of glossed over. It's a perfect candidate!
The primary variable(s) is the listener's ability to identify specific sound related parameters (hearing resolution). Some people cant tell the difference between much at all, but dont actually know they have limited hearing ability.
Also *HUGE HIGH FIVE 6/6 FOR BIG SYNTH DADDY JORB* ... Dude of course you're gonna hear a difference. Sometimes in life you actually get what you pay for. This is why we buy Moog. It's butter, Baby!
All the ladies be like, "Spank me, synth daddy." Good job, There's a definite difference. Arp was hard because they tried to come close as they could after copying Moog on the early 2600s and getting sued. I really liked the SH-101.
The only one I would have guessed up front was the SH-101. Not necessarily because of the sound, but because the short throw of those sliders made him sweep the filter much faster than with the knobs on most of the others. Watching the video and knowing which one was the arp, it was apparent that the filter curve on it was different than the other three. I think that Jorb was listening for some other aspect of the sound, but when knowing beforehand the difference was quite apparent.
Really fun showcase, but if you ever plan on doing something like that again, have one more synth than there are 'guess slots', so you can't just go by process of elimination. 6 guesses? have seven synths. So you could end up with 3 moogs vs 3 others, or 2 moogs vs 4 others, etc.
Obviously it' s important to follow along without watching, but I will definitely admit that the Moog synths have a particular quality. It seems like the waves themselves and the filter sweeps are smoother; more rounded if you will. However, whether that' s your cup of tea is a different matter entirely. One could also say that the extra smoothness is lack of aggressiveness. It just depends on the style of music that you make. If I were aiming for a flute, brass or clarinet, I would definitely consider one of the Moog, even if its just an "entry level" model. For strings and more aggressive patches, I would probably go for the Arp. It has some of the smoothness of the Moogs, but retains more of an edge. For electro and industrial music, I would probably go with the SH101, because for me it has a more robotic and hard edge feeling. However, a memorable hook and original unexpected breaks are still more important than the brand of the synthesizer that you use. Some of the VST synths and replicas come so close that somebody who is not a synth freak is not going to notice the difference, simply because they don' t care.
I kinda wanted to be like "nah that's probably not even a thing" but I agree yep, it sure is lol I'd love to see you do the model d to see how close they got!
I have a Moog and I know exactly where the money was spent. spend time with them and nothing sounds like a Moog. some close contenders though. good vid
I know this is a bit off topic, but what is it with Moog's naming of late? Matriach, Mother, Grandmother. Even before that, the Phatty, Sub Phatty. Even the Moog One is boring af!
Grandmother, matriarch etc feels like a nod to moog being the start of the lineage for a lot of synthesis. Phatty stuff is silly, for sure. Moog one, supposed to be the only synth you need! Does it all!
I guess it makes some kind of sense, but imagine how "I'm going to play my Grandmother" sounds! Not in the same league as "I'm going to play my Minimoog"!
best moog sound is not because it is something nonreplicable, but as friend of mine said, "its all sweetspot". It is difficult to put these machines in bad setup. So it's not about sound but interface imho. edit after whole video: I wonder were you wrong if you'd hear bonus round with full resonance up. All the correct answers looked like you realised the answered with blown up resonance.
@@JorbLovesGear Not sure which setting is which... I do have an Odyssey 2810 with the #4035 Moog filter clone and the bottom drops out with resonance just like an actual Moog. In your video though, I don't blame you for getting tripped up on the Korg Odyssey, it definitely sounded closest to the actual Moogs.
I also have a 2810 odyssey with the 4075 filter and can confirm that increasing resonance causes massive drops in bass frequencies, but I also have a Micromoog and the filter on that sounds absolutely nothing like the one in the Odyssey. Interesting, eh?
@@kgbinfo Indeed. Bass drop out with resonance is not unique to only Moog, but it's definitely a characteristic of a Moog filter. I have a Multimoog, so same filter as your micro and there's a known fault with those. They lack bass even without resonance. There's a mod available. Regardless, I agree... synths & their sounds + user perspectives is always an interesting topic ;)
@@SacSynths_Jack_Z interesting that you brought up the "lacking bass issue" in the Micromoog. I've always wondered what people were on about. My Micro has plenty of low end; at least as much as my Odyssey. I wonder if it had the mod done on it by a previous owner. Either that or the whole thing is a myth!
So the Moog sound is most easily recognisable by its loss of bass and overall volume with increased resonance = which is _my least favourite part_ of the Moog Sound!
@@JorbLovesGear Right? Myself, I think I prefer more the Roland type of filter... But Roland doesn’t currently make any nice analogue synths... So I went for Moog. Roland’s loss, I guess.
I was listening along without watching and guessed exactly as you did. So if you were wrong, that would’ve been really interesting. There’s just a certain way a Moog sounds. Even when the Moogs don’t sound exactly alike, you can hear the personality. Automaticgainsay did a similar blind comparison I got wrong. What synth fooled me? It was an Arturia… Matrix Brute I think. But these other synths you’re comparing to all have their own sound. Funny. I was sure the sh-101 in this comparison was the ARP. What do I know?
Great video. I wish you had a Sequential Pro 3 or Roland Jupiter X or Fantom which all have ladder filters. I really can’t pull the trigger on a Moog because I have both.
@@JorbLovesGear the Pro 3 has two different settings on the ladder filter, one that acts like a Moog and the resonance drops the low end, and one where the low end doesn’t drop. It’s a beast of a mono synth (technically a tri-paraphonic? Synth🤣)
ONE note (while sweeping the filter) in isolation is not enough info. That's like plucking one open string on a guitar (while fucking with the output) and expecting you to tell me what brand of guitar it is. A better approach would be to A/B a Moog against a non-Moog, and you pick which one is the Moog. In isolation, you're just making a blind guess.
the Moog sound comes not only from the ladder filter but from all the components of the chain, including the mixer (CP3) and the vca, and, depending on the model, the eg. Doing only sweeps is of no great interest.