Sonic LAB Moog Minitaur Bass Synth Review 

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Very cool that Moog proposes a real analog synth whith the real Moog sound , for a not too high price. This man always proposes very good demos.He is entousiastic , that gives top his videos a sympathic touch. Sorry for MY RUBBISH english,I am Frog eater ( frenchie).

Not sure why people complain about the limited range of octaves on this when it obviously says BASS synthesizer on the front in bold white letters.

Really comprehensive review Nick - Thank you! I didnt know about patch recall & that makes it VERY interesting indeed! Great integration with your modular gear so that is also a big plus. It is going to be tough to decide between the Brute or Taur! I would like to finally have 'that' Moog sound (software not withstanding) so this review is a Godsend - thanks!

Another top-notch review! Cheers.

Thanks for the review nobby x Peace and love from Bristol, England

Great in depth review, as ever! Liked.

Makes me curious. Gonna check it out. Great vid! Cheers!

Brilliant review, thanks mate

Thanks Nick! Very informative.

Thanks for the very detailed review.

So much choice for affordable Analogue Synths now, I'll be watching the Minitaur. Thanks again Nick for a great review.

@soupforare The CV example I used was V/Oct - the Doepfer module outputs that.

Great review!

@telesynth ll the knobs are bolted to the front panel. they have nylon shafts and feel pretty robust

Thanks! very helpful review.

Great review! you got me hooked sir :)

best review of this synth!

also the new update gives you more lfo sources and shift key from hardware like glide and lfo rate . also the minitaur can be transposed to trick it to be a minimoog type stuff and also responds to hold pedals or cc#64 or glide + decay. btw to minitaur users my work flow is create sounds and then save them in the order i need them to recall them on hardware dial without having to dial in the sound

@sonicstate Here you go: NastyMono will be $59,00 USD, shipping price still the same $24,00 USD flat rated worldwide shipping. It features a fixed passive LPF to cleanup the feedback path

Even though I'm from the States, I first came upon Moog when I was just a young lad via England, and I inevitably pronounce it Moog (as in mood) also.

very good review!

@DesenlaceDesastrozo honestly cant say I didnt notice anything from tuning

New OS adds hard sync, various LFO waveforms (including S&H and vfc env) and the possibility of modulating only osc2 from the LFO.

just got one yesterday, massive bass sound outta a tiny black box, very cool, bass station2 was tempting a bit but i made a right choice :D

@sonicstate Probably worth mentioning the benefit of (Hz/V) over (V/Oct) is improved pitch stability. It negates the need for the tempco resistors that (V/Oct) synths need to try to compensate for drift caused by changes in temperature.

Nice vid. Thanx man.

Hello ! As usual very interesting review, thank you very much. I just wonder between this unit and the Doepfer Dark Energy for instance, which is best ?

@sonicstate Great review. One question I have about the software portion is when you set something up in the software and then disconnect the Minitaur, does it store the changes that were made using the software, or do the software exclusive controls reset to the default value?

@davidgtr I am still deciding as well. Guessing the Moog is a bit more thought out... Though the filters are totally different, and so is the sound... I'd get both, I guess.

I quote: reason is that the oscillator core is linear (Hz/V) instead of exponential (V/Oct, a la Minimoog etc.)… what this means is that as you increase in pitch, your pitch CV has to increase exponentially instead of in a linear fashion. This means that by the time you hit note 72, the pitch CV is up near 13 Volts (which would be dog-whistle territory on a volts-per-octave setup) - given the 12V power supply, this is the limit the pitch CV can put out

as always great explanations straight to the point and valuable ! I am struggling to read the presets via the editor and therefore to store them to the hardware as well ..perhaps u could help please ?

Great review, thanks. Will you be doing a minibrute review anytime soon? Not sure which one to get...

Yeah, pretty much. It's more of "blending" waveforms to get a sound, and i believe the sub-osc is just a bit of circuit trickery that divides the signal into either square or sine and 1 or 2 octaves below the original signal. the downside of it only being one oscillator is that you can't detune them...the benefit of multiple oscillators. however if you have any other synth you can run a waveform or osc(s) through the minibrute's auxiliary in, allowing you to detune, etc. LOVE my minibrute

Thanks very much for getting back to me, thanks for the advice! Do you know what synths have a sub oscillator>??? something affordable>? Cheers.

good review

cool stuff!

Would the Nose Volume/Expression Pedal or any external volume pedal have the same effect as the amazing machine's feedback control. thanks.

in this case what's the difference between the "nastymono" and just using a volume knob/pedal?

The key range limit is interesting. Does anyone know what happens when you tune OSC2 up and then play the highest key? Or use the pitch bend to move up an octave past C72?

Need some help please...Is the Minitaur the best for the really SUBBY / SMOOTH / DARK basslines u hear in DnB >??? Cheers!

Hi there, if you had the choice would you go for the minitaur or the doepfer dark energy? I have an Analog4 and want something to control via CV. Love all your videos by the way. Thanks.

thanks for the review....Im not sure if to get this or the minibrute

Moog does have quite a full line of synths available. This one has plenty of knobs but the patch storage is quarky. Phattys have patch storage but not so many knobs. Voyager does it all if you can afford one. I saved my money and purchased a Voyager, no regrets here. Also take a look at the Waldorf Pulse, Doepfer Dark Energy, Arturia Minibrute and DS Mopho. I have an old Waldorf Pulse and it shakes my house. The Pulse is the "Bass King" in my studio.

Luke Vibert (English) and Jean Jacque Perry (French) both pronounce Moog this way on their Moog Acid album. As do I.

@verve92 Minitaur stays in tune like a champ. The Hz/V oscillator cores are extremely stable.

@Xend54 there is one, and its range is off to approx. 200% (max gain of 2). So you don't need any other kit, strictly speaking. The NastyMono does however allow you to drive it an insane amount more than that if you want to. :) BTW I'd recommend using an insert cable (y cable) with the stereo end to the headphone output and one of the mono ends to the external input... that way you are not shorting one of the headphone channels to ground, as you would with a mono cable plugged to the phoneout

@Cynosure48 I can tell you that the software maintains it's own 'notion' of where the controls are and they match the Minitaur unless manipulated elsewhere (ie. if you tweak Minitaur from a keyboard or by playing a track that contains CCs into Minitaur, the values between what software thinks and what Minitaur knows will differ. But a "Capture" will refresh the software). But to your question, if you disconnect the Minitaur and continue to tweak the software (or not), you can still save, etc

when you get the minibrute, you should go cv out of the mini brute to the cv in of the minitaur and experiment with their aux ins. that would be great.

@sonicstate Can you actually feed Hz/V into the CV ins or does it expect V/Oct? I'd say that some of the things left off makes it seem pretty low rent.

Love Moog products, & they are worth every cent, but most of their products are way out of reach for the average joe...unless you save up for them...The only times i get to use them is when I go to a music shop and ask the salesman to let me try it out.

you're right though, minibrute is ultimately more versatile considering the arp, the waveblending, lfo routing, and FULL note range. However, it doesn't do bass that well, although it's definitely possible. minitaur doesn't try to or need to be versatile. it's main purpose is to provide amazing bass and it's unique, taurus filter really does wonders to the bottom end... probably my next purchase.

They keep updating the firmware. Now you can use the editor an an AU plug-in in your DAW.

By the way , loved your bit on the Kooooorg microstation ! Nike .

Can you use a Sonuus b2m midi converter to use this directly with bass-guitar? Or do you have a have a small keyboard?

What is the samplerate of sending 14-bit CC's from measurement CV-inputs? And how they implemented those 14 bits? They send 2 separate MIDI CC's with lowest byte and highest byte, as it implemented in Theremini?

would it be suitable for plugging a bass guitar into? (either via audio interface and MIDI or through the audio input)

I really want one.

the new OS Firmware upgrade changes A LOT of the "it only has this option"... . it seems the analog engine driven by digital control allows for some AMAZING upgrades with this piece. Knobs are giving completely new features etc. Check out the Moog site for more info on the upgrade

Hello. I like very much your work. Well, but can I do all the minitaur sounds with a Slim Phatty? I've one, will the minitaur give me extra power bass tones? Thank you.

Great review, thankyou. Was all set to go shopping... then saw the price. Ok I know it's a Moog and it does sound lush, but... I'll just have to forget I ever saw it :(

Hi! I'm looking for something like the Minitaur, but I want triangle and sine waves too, not just sqare and sawtooth. When I mean something like the Minitaur I mean that it has no keys, just midi in but physical knobs and analog sounds. Can you help me?

Would you say that the bass frequencies of the Minitaur are more substantial or fuller sounding than the Slim Phatty? How does the low end compare between the two?

Nice Goldfrapp bit!

yes yes please answer this! like what would offer the deepest of bass?

great review Nick, thanks reminds me a lot of the Analogue Solutions "Leipzig-s" another analogue synth with a smooth Moog like filter, have you ever played the Leipzig-s Nick?, sounds great but a bit expensive watch?v=KEdj4A818XU

I think the moo-g pronunciation fits nicely with the bovine theme of the mini Taurus.

btw.. GREAT REVIEW!

Want to know why they cutoff the top end notes? So that you'll buy a little/slim phatty or voyager.

@thebaggytrouseredone Just asked them about that will get back to you

According to Bob himself, (the interview is somewhere on youtube) some members of his family pronounce it moog rather than mouge depending on their own pesonal preference.

Do you need an analog synth to use it or can you use midi or digital?

@sonicstate I'm torn between picking up this or the minibrute. Which is more bang for the buck?

How did you mount the minitaur to your controller?

Since it doesn't have presets, is there a way to have a midi sequencer record them and dial them in automatically?

Can I connect my DJ controller through the input on the synth and out to my audio interface for live real time stereo music trax sound effects .

Does anyone know which midi controller he uses?

When triggered via cv/gate, will it go beyond the 4 octave range.

How is the Tuning stability? I have a Slim Phatty and is very difficult play with other people for its tuning, if I don't play for a while the slim phatty is out of tune again (sorry for my english)

Oh and by the way again (2) I met Bob Moog at the Frankfurt Trade Fair 1995 and asked whether it was Moog Or Mogue and it's Mogue and now I hate myself even more. Feel free to leave various hateful posts, I'm gone from here now, never to return. It's Mogue though.

the little phatty doesn't have as much of a problem with that(I think only the slim phatty does), and I don't think tuning stability has been a problem in any recent moog products overall, didn't notice any tuning issues with it myself.

new to these synths, can i control this with a usb midi controller such as a launchkey?

The Minibrute? Didn't know that... So you just use the sliders to create a waveform that's for instance 25% saw 75% wave? That would still make it a bit more versatile then the Moog tho...

MOOOOG. Love it!

I own a Volca Bass, and MS20 mini, a Bass Station II and a Minitaur I bought a couple of week ago... I can tell that nothing touches the Minitaur... and although its range is crippled there is something about its sound (subsonic frequency perhaps) that can't be replicated by any other synth (I have)...after using the Minitaur all the others sound anemic... to the point that I'm getting rid of the Bass Station very soon...it's like a 3D sound...and the REV 2 allows the storage of 126 patches...

Pair this up with a Moog Mother 32 and Korg MS-20 for a portable analog rig and good to go!

How hard is it to implement this sound using software?

Oh, so this has true OSC retrigger on note on?? Or does he just mean it syncs the oscillators together? (8.45mins)

I see you have an Axiom, would you consider upgrading to the V2?

Does anyone know if this thing drifts in pitch?

10.53 I love you x Peace and love from Bristol, England

No PWM is such a shame.

No patch storage in the harware, are we back in the middle ages?

Thank you for a really thorough explanation! I think it's funny though that when people present these synths or other gear they are always discussing how limited the synth is. I think limitation (synth-wise) is relative when it comes to its intuitiveness. For me, being a noob on analogue synths I think that the limitation is something good! It is much easier to learn it that way. Then, of course, I know that the limitation and price goes hand in hand ;) How much do I get if I spend X amount of cash? // FLX

@sonicstate so does the MiniTaur stay in tune or not? I had to return my Slim and I hear it is being discontinued as it should be. Many, many tuning issues. Moog really cut corners with the SP.

Awwww yeah!

So I gather I can use this with a 49 key midi controller?

@thebaggytrouseredone I am also looking for it. It seems nobody sells it. :(

Squarewave but no PWM? Dual oscs but no audio-rate interactions (sync or xmod)? At that price point I'm a little but suprised. When you look at the Minibrute, or the MFB line, they've packed so many features in. I guess it comes down to whether you must have that Moog sound (which these days, is not beyond compare IMO) and to a certain extent, the Moog name and hipster image. Just my opinion, anyway. Great review!

MOOG RHYMES WITH VOGUE. It's not up to preference, sorry. It's how Robert Moog said he wants his name to be pronounced. Shall I find my own pronunciation for your name?