My 2 Cents: MOOG Muse Well, those who frequently follow my 2-cents-rambling (for whatever reason) might know that I have a love-hate relationship with MOOG synths. I'm always thrilled during the first two days, but then the honeymoon phase ends, and my euphoria drops to a level of "great synth - but not for me." Knowing my sound preferences a bit, I wasn't super excited when I first heard of MUSE, to be honest. And when the loaner finally arrived, my first impression was even more biased as I literally struggled to get the unit out of the super-tight packaging (at least without tearing it apart, as I didn't want to pay for it). Given my MOOG-sound-prejudice and moderately annoyed by the unsolicited unboxing workout, I was already sweating in a hot summer flat when I finally lifted the surprisingly heavy instrument onto my desk. Going through the factory presets (most of which are likely built with "real" musicians in mind and are great for Top 40, Pop, and Rock) didn't do much for me, so I started to create some presets from scratch. Soon after, I realized that the MUSE, at least for me, might be one of the best instruments the company has released so far. But who am I to say? After all, I haven't been a super big MOOG fan, so you should take my positive feedback with a large grain of salt, as it comes from someone who doesn't fall for Moog funk leads etc. On one side, there is the sound that totally speaks to me: huge basses, broad pads, experimental stuff. On the other sound it offers a very nicely done user interface, envelopes with shapeable segments, a good delay (which can also do reverb-like things with its diffusion), and so much more. Also, it is a great piece for sound design with a lot of modulation sources and possible targets - with more to come in a future update (hopefully). The oscillators are based on the MOOG Voyager series and provide a great sound, featuring also FM, sync, and Ring Modulation. You get three digital LFOs with different waveforms, two envelopes, and useful features such as stereo spread, two independent filters (with HP/LP mode), plus another Low Cut for the main out which - on its own - is a very useful feature. Bi-timbral with split and stack modes, up to eight voices, and 16 Banks with 16 presets. Yes, it is pricey, but it certainly offers a lot in that price range. TLDR: My favorite MOOG synth so far which sound is definitely more on the modern side and this maybe disappoints those who search for the classic MOOG sound. For me it is one of the best poly analogs that have been released over the last decades. But that's just my perspective. Check it out if you can.
this upload surprised me, I must say! Still haven't seen it hit the interwebs that muse is announced or even available, and low and behold your sweetwater link takes me to a page that says it's in stock! so I just went and ordered with your link. thanks for the great sound demo, as always!
I know we are all still in the Honeymoon phase, but from what I am hearing and also what I am seeing in terms of the architecture and how the UI works, I would go so far as saying it is one of the most groundbreaking analog polys we have seen in a very long time. It's pretty clear whoever worked on this did it with a lot of attention to detail and love for the outcome. That they managed to bring it in at the price they have is also incredible. They really read the room. If I wanted to criticize, obviously, it would be nice with a polyphonic aftertouch keybed, but it's minor in the scope of the whole thing. This is a real players instrument, and I can see it becoming a modern classic. Thank you for your product demo and honest opinion. Great job.
First, awesome work as usual by Limbic Bits. He's given me much inspiration on my other synths. Second. this release blindsided me last night and almost sent me deeper into debt. Luckily, I waited until this morning so I could do some "cooler head" research. I have wanted a Moog poly ever since I had to sell my Memorymoog way back in '97 but nothing came up. The One was not in my price range. I finally broke down and got the Trigon as a substitute last month. Third. I just played this and most other YT clips back through my studio system and A/B'd with the Trigon. While the Muse is way more feature packed and I think it is an amazing synth, I do not regret getting the Trigon. Perhaps YT audio is compromised(always a debate), but the Trigon really pleases my ear in a much bigger way. And I do mean Bigger. As has been mentioned, Sequential may be forced to lower their prices now... if they do, I may have to pick up a desktop unit to get 12 voice polyphony:)
That would be a hard choice for me, too. I also liked Trigon 6 a lot, but I guess I would rather choose the MUSE if I were on the fence between these two. The good thing is, it's all a matter of taste. And even better: I don't have the space for either of them, so I don't need to face that decision. 😉
I don‘t like the Trigon that much; it sounds too tight and aggressive to my ears. Instead I bought a GSMusic e7 last year to get the Memorymoog vibes. It sounds fantastic but lacks many classic mod options while it has some other, pretty unique ones. I guess the Muse is what i really want.
@@RayyMusik Thanks! At the risk of veering way off topic here... I checked this one out and !! Very nice. Stealth Gem. They could they not have squeezed 1 more voice in there? :) These type of synths suite me, I don't need a ton of mod options, I like working with limitations. I have had a Take 5 for a year and say I'm going to sell it once a week. It's very tight, as well. I see there are not many options for purchase here in Scandinavia. 1 blue version in Germany. EU shopping is a must, import duties are brutal. I'll have to mull it over. Any bugs discovered since you bought yours?
@@dllortsher Let’s continue to go OT with the (blue) e7: I like limitations = challenges as well, but at least filter/amp modulation with noise should be possible. Delayed LFOs would be nice as well. 7 voices are more than I‘m used to from the P5, P6, OB6, and PB6. No complaints in so far. I got mine from Enlo-1 in Spain; only other retailers were in the UK back then. Apart from the customs issue, I wanted an EU warranty. Bugs? Yes and no. It went wild last autumn: at first voice #5 was dead, and later it sometimes completely froze. But only for 1 1/2 days! There seems to be a self-healing AI onboard - not the slightest issue since then and before. Also worth noting: I asked Guido Salaya what to do with the dead voice, and he instantly came up with an ingenious workaround providing smooth 6-voice operation. Very competent and nice guy!
@@RayyMusikagain thanks for the comparison between the GS e7. I was really struggling for which one to pick. But it seems that the Muse may be the way to go.
There's a shocking amount of negativity here, especially from the Berhi Boys (though that's nothing new). This seems like a great sounding and deep analog poly to me, and I love the implementation of the motion control, sequencer, and arp. Those are things that just don't exist like this on Moogs. Not sure if I'll buy it given that I'm already heavy on hardware, but if I was looking for a new synth, this would probably be the one.
The dual filter configuration reminds me of the voyager, which I own. The sound is rich, and although it has the usual moog heft, it also has a clarity and mid range which i wasn't expecting. A lovely sound pallette (your presets are great, btw), and it's ts bitimbral. It's a bit noisy (unless this is specific to your unit), but it's a winner.
Segmented envelopes , I wish my pro 3 had these. I like to be able make my drums on a synth , there a handful of drum synths I actually think are useful , so I tend to roll my own , but for that you need a lot of control over your envelope. I really didn’t like my Sub phatty it had this weird distorted lower mid that just hurt my head frankly, I’m glad to hear this has the Voyager Osc.
Finally! Yours is the first video I saw great video thank you so much and I appreciate your two cents! I’m not much of an arp person but to me so far, the tone sounds great. Been waiting for a proper 61 key as the PB 12 didn’t do it for me. How’s The key bed ? Gonna have to listen to some more demos and hopefully perfect circuit will have one to play with but I think this is definitely for me.
The UB-Xa is ok but I'd save for the MUSE or even a TEO-5 (if you prefer the Oberheim sound). But of course, it's a significant higher expense. Anyhow, it's worth it, imo.
I know it can’t be compared but muse seems sounds thicker and wider than Teo 5 but Teo 5 has that deep character. I make techno music and hard for me to make the decision haha ❤
Came here from Matt's demo, whose sound selection was rather disappointing. This here is more of my alley, although still it seems the sound of the synth is rather blunt, somehow dirty and lacking the grabbing emotionality of Moog's mono synths.
OB-6 (along with the Matrix 1000) is still my favorite analog poly synth. Muse would come dangerously close, but I haven't had much time to check it in a real musical production.
Actually, now that you point it out, I can hear a little bit of it. Someone in a synth group mentioned this too Spose with this though you’d get the fancy delay, you’d get a fancy sequencer and the moog/minimoog-esk bass on it though.
is it me or doesn't it sound good for afterlife like techno? It sounds so "clean" but a bit shitty at the same time? Not so powerful as the subsequent 37 or moog one. I somehow do not like this moog.. Own a slim phatty and subsequent 37 + prophet X with deepsampled moog one inside and tbh the prophet X moog sounds sound better than this tbh. Could be me but i'm not feeling it no matter how many demo's I watch.
@@tomphillpotts moog one is also poly but sounds better and sound a lot fuller than this imo. Prophet X deepsampled moog one pack also sounds better to me. Idk it's not ticking boxes personally and my music revolves mainly around moog sounds. its again (personally) not a wow factor. Expected more but maybe this specific unit is just not my cup of tea.
@@Chikeko_Lee its whatever floats your boat but idd I'm not feeling this one, probably more for other side of music makers :) it's fine, way too expensive anyway. Only bought my prophet x cause i got it for 2k which was a good deal since it covers so many synths very, very closely
yeah i get you. i made multisamples from a BH model d and loaded them in a Waldorf Quantum... way thicker... the dub chords once you know how they are not so hard to make . i do like some of the polypads. for me its hard to judge a synth via youtube...it sounds fine though.
@@daguy7575 That would be great but you'd also need a different hardware keybed. So you'd need to build in a different one with poly At (might be around 600 € / $, a skilled technician and your will to loose warranty).
@@limbicbitsnot necessarily, lot’s of Us already have poly aftertouch synths around, Ensoniq ESQ-80 and EPS, Waldorf Iridium Keys for example can the Muse take Poly Aftertouch via MIDI?
The UB-Xa is an awesome synth as well. At leasty it has Poly AT, unlike the Muse. That said, I did order the muse ;) Here's hoping that it supports poly AT over midi!
Arps are a dime a dozen -- what is new regarding the SOUND capabilities of this instrument - from the demo here it sounds just like "yet another" subtractive synth
In that regards not so much new but a lot of things very well done. And then again, most analogue synths share the same “old” technology. And that’s exactly a lot of people ask for. If you’re up to completely new approaches, you might better look at boutique manufacturers or software companies that can afford a possibly risky endeavor. Big companies usually have to go the “safe” route. And especially MOOGalways has been more on the traditional side (which isn’t bad at all)
The thing the Muse got right is that it's doing what the Jupiter 8 did in the 80s. It gives you most opf the functions you need, while sounding great. It'll be the ultimate analog workhorse, I'm sure. There are few really good analog polys out there of course, but all of them have a little something that's not quite there. The P5/10 only has 1 LFO and is mono, the One is too pricey and just too much for many people to handle, the Polybrute is nice but sounds a bit thin.. etc etc. This one's got it all right it seems!
Nothing here special. But if you are a Moog fanboy who was looking for a more portable and affordable up-to-date poly synth, you finally have your wish!
I don't know what the MOOG staff are smoking, but their new gear are just not unique and great anymore. You can clearly see that they're producing gimmick-gear for the simple-minded mainstream instead of producing extraordinary and complex gear for real musicians. They are desperate and trying hard to save MOOG, but they're walking on a wrong way. The only thing about MUSE which is typical MOOG is the high price.
My wild guess: "Real" musicians usually don't want super complex and extraordinary gear. That's more for sound designers and synth nerds like me, who need to compensate for a lack of skills with sound design. 😂 Real musicians are usually looking for an intuitive user interface and accessibility to avoid getting lost on stage. And the funny thing is - most of Moog's products have been successful exactly for that reason. Moog legacy products certainly wouldn't come to my mind first when thinking of extraordinarily complex gear. The opposite would be the case: a thoughtfully limited set of features paired with great sound to avoid overwhelming their users. Because of that, the Minimoog turned out to be a blueprint for dozens (maybe even hundreds?) of synths to come. And that's exactly why for me the MUSE stands out: It offers a great user interface but can also be a really complex synth and that's why I like it so much.
I’m not sure how to feel about it. I was genuinely excited for it, your patches I like quite a bit, but many others I feel kind of…bored? I’m not sure why, on paper I thought I’d be super excited by it. Maybe I need to try it in person. From the demos, minus the overdrive stuff I actually prefer the Ones sound for a lot of things - But I much prefer the interface on this, the overdrive is great, the core tone is great, so many nice things about it. I’m in a weird category though, I somehow have a One I got 1/5 on the Facebook marketplace (honestly thought it might have been stolen at first; after checking with moog turns out it was just a guy trying to sell thing quick.) if my current gear broke down it’d be something I’d probably get, but I was hoping I could move on the ONE to make a little cash and save some space since it’s so huge. But I dunno, I’ll stick with it I think. I do like the core sound of it, but there’d certainly be things I’d miss if I sold the moog I have by sheer luck. This would be the moog I’d get if I didn’t one though, easily.
I think the nice thing about this Moog from the demoes I've heard so far is that it's so flexible it can do all of it, be it 'disco funk' , 'techno', '80s synthwave' or Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis style synth soundscapes . Whatever analog sound you like, it can do it!
Behringer has possibly the worst keybeds from any manufacturer, also their MIDI implementation is a massive failure, then there is their general QC. At least Moog keeps their value. So much for Behringer with Moog written on it.
Agreed, more or less. And In defense of Behri: The keybeds are quite usable for the price. I've had two in my studio for awhile, and I just keep using them on my recordings. Have also used both of them live.
