Roland SH-2 vs Moog Voyager

[chimney chop]

i have a Roland sh-2 that i love for both it's bass sounds and leads but i'd like to have midi and the ability to save presets

i can't afford to have both and there aren't any Moog dealers in town.

if i opt for a Voyager will i miss the sounds my beloved Roland sh-2 makes or will i never look back?

[Alex E]

The SH-2 is cool, but if you can afford a Voyager you probably won't look back.

[Solderman]

Based on my experience, the Voyager will wane in comparison with the loudness of upper harmonics. It's not even a fair comparison in this regard. Voyager is very smooth and far more flexible, but forget about it having any of that lovely brightness and sheen of the SH-2.

[chimney chop]

Based on my experience, the Voyager will wane in comparison with the loudness of upper harmonics. It's not even a fair comparison in this regard. Voyager is very smooth and far more flexible, but forget about it having any of that lovely brightness and sheen of the SH-2.

yeah, i often have the filter wide open on the sh-2 and let the oscillators through unhindered.

lovely sounds


hmmmm, i have some thinking to do

[pflosi]

I love the SH2. Why don't you just buy a midi-cv interface? That would give you midi (watch out though, the SH2 gate needs more than 5V, but I think it should work with most of the interfaces - have not tried myself, I got a Doepfer one but never tried it, sequence it always from the 303 or Acidlab). And presets are really not necessary on such simple monosynths IMO...

[chimney chop]

I love the SH2. Why don't you just buy a midi-cv interface? That would give you midi (watch out though, the SH2 gate needs more than 5V, but I think it should work with most of the interfaces - have not tried myself, I got a Doepfer one but never tried it, sequence it always from the 303 or Acidlab). And presets are really not necessary on such simple monosynths IMO...

yeah, i've thought about getting a converter. probably will go that route

oops, i meant "memory" when i said "presets".
playing live and switching sounds accurately and quickly from song to song is difficult if not impossible with the sh-2. especially difficult when there are sound changes within a song

maybe i'll just get a mopho to use live and keep the sh-2

[pflosi]

Yeah I figured you meant memory... I used the SH2 live and had no problems whatsoever switching between different patches manually - should be easy once you know the synth well enough. You could of course also write down your patches and learn those you need live well - the manual has some example patches, unfortunately no empty patch sheet to print some empty copies out. Maybe you could make your own empty patch sheet out of one of those example patches. It's maybe old fashioned, but you'll get used to it and once you know the patches, it won't take much time to set them up without playing it at all.

Have also used the Mopho live, it is of course more convenient with memory in gig situations - but then again the Mopho architecture is much more complicated than the SH2 (and I tend to use it as polysynth live together with my T4). They surely complement each other nicely, so I don't advise you against buying it

[chimney chop]

Yeah I figured you meant memory... I used the SH2 live and had no problems whatsoever switching between different patches manually - should be easy once you know the synth well enough. You could of course also write down your patches and learn those you need live well - the manual has some example patches, unfortunately no empty patch sheet to print some empty copies out. Maybe you could make your own empty patch sheet out of one of those example patches. It's maybe old fashioned, but you'll get used to it and once you know the patches, it won't take much time to set them up without playing it at all.

Have also used the Mopho live, it is of course more convenient with memory in gig situations - but then again the Mopho architecture is much more complicated than the SH2 (and I tend to use it as polysynth live together with my T4). They surely complement each other nicely, so I don't advise you against buying it

when i'm just playing synth switching patches is not a problem but now that i'm singing lead it's kinda difficult to switch on the fly.

really glad to find someone who's both an SH-2 and a Mopho user. good to know they're complimentary! looking more and more like a Mopho is in my future. do you find you can approximate your favorite SH-2 settings on the Mopho?

i actually do have some blank patch sheets that i photoshopped from the SH-2 manual patch. let me know if you want a copy and i'll email it to you!

[pflosi]

Oh, together with singing it's obviously another story. I wouldn't want to try it

Well, they are complimentary in the sense that the Mopho is complex and can produce a wide range of sounds, whereas the SH2 is simple and produces a limited but always good sounding range of tones. With the filter wide open, the Mopho won't have the power and brightness of the SH2, but for most patches I think you should come close enough to be happy. Most synths can produce most synth sounds, so I guess in the end the decision Mopho vs. Yoyager is mainly a monetary one

[bouzoukijoe1]

but for most patches I think you should come close enough to be happy. Most synths can produce most synth sounds, so I guess in the end the decision Mopho vs. Yoyager is mainly a monetary one

+1

[shaft9000]

i sold my voyager OS - a very nice instrument, but not for me...sitting next to my 2600 and solus, JP-8 etc, it was just too tepid/bland to hang.
i still have a littlephatty for when i need that super round warm polite bass but i never seem to use it; now i'm even less inclined after re-bushing the Solus

i'd say that unless you cannot live without a Moog on your pallette then save your money for wilder gear and let the SH-2 handle the classic/basics

[wiss]

Why not just get a Roland CSQ-600 and sequence the SH-2 that way, it has a SYNC out so you could in theory get a sync/midi converter and slave the midi clock on a modern drum machine.

I had Roland SH-2 and CSQ-100 many moons ago and it was pretty simple to use....The CSQ-600 if I recall correctly enable you to save 4 sequences.