Moog Voyager v Studio Electronics SE1 v MFBsynth2/Kraftzwerg

[memory cords]

All these seem to have almost the same feature set although the prices vary considerably...

I'd love to hear any owner's experiences, good and bad.

Thanks in advance.

[wiss]

I was thinking about the little phatty vrs the studio electronic se

[meatballfulton]

I own the Kraftzwerg.

No one would mistake MFB for a Moog, esp. when trying to get creamy sounds. Not built as well, wall wart supply (ugh), buggy MIDI interface (will hang notes if fed too much data) with no CCs other than mod wheel, no velocity or AT.

Of course it's only 1/4 the price of a Voyager.

My advice: if you want a Moog, you will not be happy until you own a Moog.

[memory cords]

I own the Kraftzwerg.

No one would mistake MFB for a Moog, esp. when trying to get creamy sounds. Not built as well, wall wart supply (ugh), buggy MIDI interface (will hang notes if fed too much data) with no CCs other than mod wheel, no velocity or AT.

Of course it's only 1/4 the price of a Voyager.

My advice: if you want a Moog, you will not be happy until you own a Moog.

Thanks for your reply.

So what are the good/strong points of the MFB for you (apart from the lower price)?

[Yoozer]

I have the Voy OS and the SE1x.

The SE1x seems to go deeper in the bass range, the Voy's envelopes are faster and it's slightly "brighter". The precise tuning control on the Voy is great - you can get some really subtle detune going.

Love 'm both.

[nvbrkr]

The precise tuning control on the Voy is great - you can get some really subtle detune going.

You can?

My experience of the Voyagers with the digital UI is that the detuning is never really "subtle". Either the oscillators are tightly locked up - which results in the typical singing / phasing tone of the Voyager - or quite considerably detuned. When they're detuned it's hard to get them to sound pleasant. In fact, anything beyond the readout -3/+3 tends to sound quite iffy. Maybe there's a difference between the OS and the Voyagers with the digital operation system in this regard?

[Shleed]

I've an MFB Synth II. It can sound quite "Moogish" to my ears, but I don't own any kind of Moog to compare it.

[SWAN]

the MFB stuff does sound quite Moog-like. Just the quality of tone is not quite there - but its really pretty good for the money. I havea kraftzwerg and I had to do a bit of testing to determine that my Moog Source had superior tone-but yeah the Moog Oscillators are softer and more musical whereas the MFB ones just are a bit 'hard' and the high end of them is a bit more raw and harsh - but only comparatively with a vintage Moog so.... Also the Moog envelopes were much more musical. I would advise a Voayger over an SE1x. I had an SE1x and ATCxi and I just think Moog stuff is better - in sound, and build.

[meatballfulton]

So what are the good/strong points of the MFB Kraftzwerg for you (apart from the lower price)?

As the thread gets brought back from the tomb

Good:
tiny
fully patchable but normalizations are well chosen
sounds good

Bad:
some control tapers make useful adjustment range too narrow
no patch memory
no velocity, aftertouch or CC support
max EG times are short
fine detuning of VCOs is difficult
not a Moog

Buy it if you need a cheap modular, if patching is not a prime goal get something else.