Version 2 OS Updates • Anniversary Edition • VX351 • CP251
Reviews : Keyboard
Since the release of the Voyager analogue
monosynth last year, Bob Moog's company have been busy producing OS
updates, special-edition versions, and accessories. We bring you up to
date with a look at the lot.
It has been nearly two years since Bob Moog's
Voyager first hit these shores, and it has been developing ever since.
The operating system has now reached version 2.3, with the last four
updates addressing almost all of the points that I raised when I
originally reviewed the instrument in SOS June 2003 (see www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun03/articles/moogvoyager.asp).
There have also been two hardware additions to the family. The VX351 CV
Expander is specifically a Voyager expander, while the other, the
Moogerfooger CP251 Control Processor, has wider application, but is
nonetheless happy to act as a member of the clan.
Photos: Mark Ewing
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In addition to all of these, there's also a new
version of the Voyager — the Anniversary Edition (pictured throughout
this review), which is a limited edition that celebrates Bob Moog's 50
years in the music business. In fact, although it's cosmetically
different, the Anniversary's internals are no different from the latest
standard Voyagers being produced, so we can treat it like the latest
version of the instrument. Given that the original review is now
hopelessly out of date, I reckon that it's high time that we returned to
the Voyager to see what the latest hardware, the changes in the
operating system, and the add-on boxes mean for both new and existing
users.
You may recognise the table on the right — it's the
list of future updates that were promised for the Voyager at the time of
my original review. Happily, these have now all been carried out,
although some of them didn't happen until the version 2 OS arrived, as
you can see.
Over the course of the past year, I've acquired my
own Signature Edition, so I've followed the Voyager through its various
upgrades, even before the Anniversary Edition arrived for review at SOS. So let's see what's changed...
One of the most annoying things about the original
Voyager operating system was the way the cursor buttons worked. When you
pressed Up, the selection moved Down, and vice versa. I was
delighted when this was corrected in OS v1.5. What's more, OS v1.5
introduced numbering of each mode's menu items, which helped users to
navigate the system. More significantly, it introduced scrolling of the
'+' and '-' buttons, with acceleration if you held either button for a
few seconds. Other small but welcome improvements included the Voyager
powering up in Panel Mode, and it remembering and returning to the sound
you were using before you switched off.
VOYAGER UPDATE SCHEDULE STATUS IN VERSION 2 OS (SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2004)
Hold -1/+1 buttons to scroll through values Done (OS v1.5)
Upgrade touch surface destinations Done (OS v1.5)
Add filter pole selection (12dB-per-octave) Done (OS v1.5)
Local control On/Off Done (OS v1.5)
MIDI In On/Off & MIDI Out On/Off Done (OS v2)
Receive MIDI CCs, Note On, velocity and aftertouch Done (OS v1.5)
Transmit MIDI CCs, aftertouch and pitch-bend Done (OS v2)
Receive MIDI Clock for LFO sync Done (OS v1.5)
Send and receive single memory via SysEx Done (OS v1.5)
Transpose MIDI output Done (OS v2)
Add filter envelope gate sources Done (OS v2)
Add amplitude envelope gate sources Done (OS v2)
Updates to modulation buss PGM shaping Done (OS v2)
System Reset Done (OS v2)
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OS version 1.5 also saw the arrival of MIDI Sync for
the Voyager's internal LFO. Of course, this is not MIDI Clock control
of the LFO rate, which would be tricky to implement using an analogue
oscillator. Instead, it is 'hard sync' of the start point of the LFO
cycle, with seven options ranging from one 'sync' every two MIDI Clock
beats to one sync every quarter of a MIDI Clock beat.
Other upgrades in OS v1.5 included Local On/Off,
Program Change On/Off, and Merge, which merges incoming MIDI messages
with those generated within the synth, and then transmits the resulting
stream from the MIDI Out. This revision also received velocity and
aftertouch over MIDI. But just as important as this was the ability to
Dump and Load single patches via SysEx. This made it possible for the
first time to save and restore individual sounds, and to build banks
from disparate combinations of existing sounds.
One of the biggest problems with the original
Voyager was the hard-wiring of the touch-screen to the filters' cutoff
frequencies, spacing and resonance, and the fact that the position
memory applied only to the values sent to the modulation busses, not to
the filter destinations. Things improved in OS v1.5; the fixed
destinations were disconnected, and three of the touch-screen's degrees
of freedom (X-axis, Y-axis and Area) appeared to offer four
independently assignable parameters: Destination, MIDI CC transmitted,
Direction (the 'polarity' of the parameter) and Amount (the MIDI CC
transmission didn't work under OS v1.5, but this has now been attended
to — more on this in a moment).
No fewer than 32 touch-screen destinations were
added (see the table above), but the Amount parameter was less flexible
than you might think. This offered just three options — 0 percent, 50
percent, and 100 percent — meaning that the maximum amount of control
exerted by X, Y or A was zero, half of the destination's total
variability, or 100 percent of the destination's total variability.
This improvement introduced a problem of its own,
although it only affected owners who used patches created on earlier OS
revisions. When loaded into an upgraded Voyager, pre-OS v1.5 patches
lost their fixed touch-screen destinations and ended up with random
settings. These patches sounded correct until you touched the screen, at
which point strange things could happen. Not a fundamental flaw, this
nonetheless required a frustrating hour or two spent reassigning the
touch-screen parameters to get back to where you started.
Another problem concerned the new global
touch-screen memory and modulation buss touch-screen memory functions.
These were supposed to remember where your finger was the last time you
touched the screen, and to continue to apply the appropriate 'X' and 'Y'
CVs to their destinations after you removed it. I found it extremely
difficult to remove my finger without shifting the position of final
contact slightly, so that the magnitude of the remembered CV was always
slightly more or less than I wanted it to be. But after a while, I began
to think that the fault was not mine alone, and a couple of tests
showed that the screen does not hold extreme values correctly; it
substitutes values that are closer to the 'centre' of the screen. This
means that, in almost all cases, sounds glitch slightly when you remove
your finger from the screen, and glitch again when you next touch it. If
anything is going to be done about this, it still hadn't happened
following the OS v2.3 upgrade.
TOUCH-SCREEN DESTINATIONS
SOURCES
 Oscillator 1 level.Oscillator 1 octave.Oscillator 1 waveform.Oscillator 2 frequency.Oscillator 2 level.Oscillator 2 octave.Oscillator 2 waveform.Oscillator 3 frequency.Oscillator 3 level.Oscillator 3 octave.Oscillator 3 waveform.Noise level.External audio input level. |
AMPLIFIER
VCA attack.VCA decay.VCA release.VCA sustain.Volume.
FILTERS
Filter cutoff.Filter keyboard amount.Filter resonance.Filter spacing.Filter envelope amount.Filter attack.Filter decay.Filter sustain.Filter release. |
MODULATION & CONTROL
Glide rate.Keyboard pitch CV.LFO rate.Mod wheel modulation buss amount.Pedal/On modulation buss amount. |
One OS v1.5 upgrade significantly expanded the sonic
character of the instrument. This was the long-awaited inclusion of
12dB-per-octave filters. Indeed, the Voyager's manufacturers went two
steps beyond their original promise; the Voyager now offers 6, 12, 18
and 24dB-per-octave slopes independently for both the high-pass and
low-pass filters. This is no trivial upgrade, and it allows you to
sculpt sounds with characters reminiscent of many other synthesizer
manufacturers. I noted in last June's review how the Voyager's
high-pass/low-pass option lent itself to the creation of Korg-y and
ARP-ish timbres, but the new slopes take things further, making the
Voyager a true sonic chameleon.
Regrettably, the filters still lacked some features
in OS v1.5, and these have not yet been added in the current revision.
Firstly, despite many users' requests, it remains impossible to control
and modulate the filters independently; you can't sweep one and leave
the other unaffected, or have one on the edge of self-oscillation while
the other exhibits zero resonance. Secondly, there's still no option to
place the filters in series in dual low-pass mode. And thirdly, there is
still the on-going problem, mentioned in my previous review, that Glide
cannot be made to affect the filter cutoff frequency.
One of the most interesting facilities promised by
the Voyager's original sales blurb was MIDI control over all the
Voyager's programming parameters. This appeared in OS v1.5, with the
synth responding to no fewer than 53 messages that control almost all
aspects of its sound. Transmission of continuous controller
information did not become possible until the version 2 OS arrived, but
now that it has, the Voyager has become a feast of MIDIness. You can
transmit CCs from the left-hand controller panel (pitch-bend and
modulation), you can transmit aftertouch, and you can send a CC from
every front-panel control with the exception of the fine-tune and
headphone volume knobs. Even more excitingly, you can now program the
touch-screen to transmit the CCs of your choice on all four degrees of
freedom (X-position, Y-position, Area and Gate). This is no small
benefit, and opens up all manner of possibilities for innovative control
of instruments such as digital workstations that suffer from more
limited control capabilities.
Although more subtle, other MIDI updates in OS2.x
are just as useful. These include MIDI In On/Off, MIDI Out On/Off,
programmable SysEx ID (which allows you to control more than one Voyager
over MIDI simultaneously), the ability to dump any patch via SysEx, and
three velocity curves for the output MIDI velocity. Another improvement
that I've been requesting since the Voyager appeared involves MIDI Key
Transpose. To their credit, the Voyager's programmers have surpassed
themselves here, implementing not one, but two Transpose functions:
keyboard transpose (which affects the note emitted by the Voyager itself
when you play it from its own keyboard) and MIDI Key Transpose (which
affects the MIDI Note Numbers transmitted when you play the Voyager
keyboard). Among other things, this means that you can now use the
Voyager to program or play rhythm parts on standard MIDI note numbers.
The touch-screen in the centre of the Voyager was
previously hard-wired to fixed parameters, but is now freely assignable,
and transmits MIDI continuous controllers.
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The most recent upgrades also include many tweaks to
the menus in Edit Mode and, for me, this is where the most significant
improvements reside. Let's start with a couple of minor ones. 'Compare
to Preset' allows you to decide whether to overwrite the sound being
edited, or find a sound that you don't mind losing. There's also the
addition of a factory setup (reset) menu, which allows you to reload the
factory patches and reset various performance parameters to their
default values.
Next, we come to a new method of naming patches, in
which you can use the keyboard as an alphanumeric keypad. More
significant is the 'User Definable Pitch-bend Amount', which allows you
to define the amount of pitch-bend, rather than being limited to a
handful of well-tempered options. As we shall see later, this helps (in
part) to sidestep an extremely annoying fault in the hardware of early
Voyagers.
Another important addition is the introduction of
alternative Gate sources for the filter and amplifier envelopes. In
addition to the standard sources, these now include the Gate signal from
the touch-screen, the LFO square wave, and MIDI Clock. Provided that
you remember to switch the Env Gate switch to On/External, these sources
should be enough for all but the most arcane requirements. The
touch-screen Gate signal now has many other uses, too. You can use it to
switch the Glide and Release switches on and off, as well as every
switch on the front panel. I'm not immediately sure how I might use
this, but I can think of numerous ways in which it could be useful.
Moving relentlessly up the scale of significance, we
now come to the addition of two more 'Shaper' sources, one for each of
the modulators. There's a huge list of sources for these (43 in all)
that includes many of the front-panel controls as well as conventional
sources such as velocity and aftertouch. Having four Shaper sources
makes possible a huge number of complex modulation options that, in many
ways, echo those of a modular synthesizer. However, these still don't
allow you to use the Shapers to introduce modulation where none existed
before... they only allow you to modulate the amount of an existing
modulation, as explained in my original Voyager review.
Last on my list, but most significant among the
upgrades for me, are the oddly named 'Pot Mapping Source/Destination'
parameters. These provide four new modulation paths that are completely
independent of the modulation busses. This is quite something... it
allows you to send (for example) aftertouch directly to mod-wheel
amount, keyboard CV directly to LFO rate, velocity directly to filter
cutoff frequency, or choose from hundreds of other Source/Destination
combinations, without being subject to the complexities and limitations
of the mod wheel and Pedal/On busses.
There are 40 sources and 40 destinations in the Pot
Mapping system, and four modulation maps available at any given time,
which means that there are, umm... 1600 to the fourth power
combinations, which is... over six and a half trillion
source/destination combinations. I'm suitably impressed, especially
since each of the four modulation paths can have positive or negative
polarity and an 'amount' of 0, 25, 50 or 100 percent. Silly numbers
aside, the great thing about these paths is that they're simple to
understand and use. What's more, by allowing you to direct a single
modulation controller (aftertouch, say) to four destinations
simultaneously (for example filter cutoff, amplifier gain, LFO depth and
LFO rate), pot mapping makes the Voyager extremely responsive and
musical.
Following in the footsteps of the Signature Edition,
the Anniversary Edition is another limited-edition Voyager. It comes in
a stunning black finish, but the most noticeable thing about it is the
illuminated front panel on which all the controls' annotations glow at
you in an almost actinic blue. The intensity of illumination is
controlled by a small knob set into the small wooden strip immediately
to the right of the keyboard. Turning this knob anticlockwise to its
minimum switches off the backlight, and turning it progressively
clockwise increases the intensity until the illumination of the panel
legends becomes visible even in daylight, which equates to being
dazzling in a darkened studio. Unfortunately, at anything higher than
minimal intensity, the system emits an annoying whine. This is not going
to be of concern at a gig, but in my studio it renders the backlight
almost unusable. I also wish that the designers had sited the intensity
knob more sensibly — I kept catching it with my fingers when playing at
the top end of the keyboard.
Moving back to musical matters, the Anniversary
Voyagers — and, I assume, others of this vintage — have been cured of
two of the hardware faults exhibited by earlier versions. The most
obvious of these concerns the quiet but annoying noise emitted by some
Performers and Signatures when you turn the Master Volume knob past '5'
in either direction. This has been eliminated.
A more significant fault on early models concerned
pitch-bend. No matter how you programmed the values in the menus, the
pitch-bend interval was far from what was promised. What's more, the
whole instrument went flat when you increased the pitch-bend range.
Happily, the upward bend on the Anniversary is
exactly what the menu promises, even over large bends of two octaves or
more. The downward bend is not quite right — a two-octave bend
is sharp by a few cents — but the error isn't noticeable when using
musical intervals of a handful of semitones. Furthermore, I found that
when programming the pitch-bend using the new Pitch-bend Amount
parameter, the upward and downward intervals were identical.
The previous hardware fault with the Voyager's
pitch-bend wheel has been attended to on the Anniversary Edition. The
attractive blue backlighting of the Anniversary is also visible
emanating from under the wheels in this shot.
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But there's bad news for owners of older Voyagers.
The errors in the pitch-bend intervals in early models were not a
function of dodgy software; they were the result of a hardware fault.
This means that, even if you upgrade the OS of a Signature (as I have
done) or one of the earlier Performers, you still cannot obtain the
correct pitch-bend intervals without returning your pride and joy to a
workshop for a hardware modification. How is that a very expensive synth
can suffer from a hardware fault as easily spotted as this?
This is where the 'User Definable Pitch-bend Amount'
parameter can help. Take, for example, the '1 Octave' pitch-bend
setting on my Signature. Pushing the wheel fully away from me sharpens
the pitch by 13 semitones, but pulling it fully toward me flattens it by
just 11 semitones. A user-defined pitch-bend value of 104 sharpens the
pitch by exactly an octave (12 semitones). Having said that, the same
value flattens the pitch by ten-and-a-bit semitones, which is useless.
So you can now make your older Voyager more useable than before, but
it's still a sorry state of affairs.
Fortunately, it is now possible to correct
all Voyagers of their tendency to go flat when you increase the
pitch-bend range. You need to remove the controller panel to the
immediate left of the keyboard (it's not as hard as it sounds) and
adjust a trim pot while watching a parameter value on screen. I set up
my Signature according to the method described in the documentation, and
it was cured of this problem.
Another fault with all Voyagers concerns the
Envelope Gate switch. When set to On/External, this should hold the VCA
permanently 'open' at the Volume Envelope Sustain Level, but it doesn't.
What actually happens is that the Level starts at the correct point,
but immediately enters a very slow decay.
Next, I would like to point out another slight
deficiency that has become apparent on all Voyagers. The synth's
manufacturers claim that the 12-bit A-D converters used to translate the
positions of the front-panel knobs into digital values, the
interpolation of those values when the CVs are generated, and the
scanning speed of the front panel are all sufficient to ensure that the
Voyager is indistinguishable from a pure analogue synthesizer. However,
this is not the case. To discover this for yourself, just sweep two
knobs simultaneously while listening to a patch. If one of the
parameters you're adjusting makes obvious changes to the sound — say,
the filter cutoff frequency — you will hear audible stepping. To be
fair, the amount of 'zippering' is very small, and will bother almost
no-one, but it's there nonetheless.
A final fault that is cured neither in the
Anniversary Edition nor by upgrading my Signature Edition concerns the
nature of the aftertouch response. This was always like on on/off
switch, and so it remains, making it extremely hard to introduce
modulation progressively without using a VX351 and a CP251 to smooth and
attenuate the response. This is very unmusical behaviour for an
instrument of this value. However, it provides the perfect excuse to
move on to discuss... the aforementioned VX351 and the CP251. For the
background and basic functionality of these two add-ons, see the boxes
below and over the page respectively. For more on using them with the
Voyager, read on.
Putting Everything Together
I received the VX351 and CP251 some months before OS
v2 existed, so my first experiences of them were with my Signature
Edition Voyager running OS v1.5. I installed the required piggy-back
board (see box below), connected the VX351 and CP251, and was ready to
start experimenting. This was when I noticed how useful the optional £50
CP/VX rackmount kit would be. The kit converts the two boxes into a
shallow, 3U rackmount assembly, and allows the Voyager to power the
CP251 through the VX351.
My first use for the VX351 was to route control
voltages back into the Voyager in otherwise unavailable ways, and this
allowed me to overcome a number of limitations in the synth itself. For
example, it was obvious how to patch the VX so that the Voyager could
trigger its envelopes using its own LFO. This is now no longer necessary
thanks to the new facilities in the version 2 OS, but the principle
remains valid. Likewise, I eventually worked out how to use the VX and
CP to overcome the Voyager's maddening Modulation Buss problems...
To recap this problem briefly, which is described in
more detail in my original review; the Shaping options in the
modulation busses do not allow you to introduce an effect from zero,
which is a remarkable limitation in so expensive an instrument. But if
you add the VX and CP to the equation, it becomes relatively simple.
Let's hypothesise that you want to use aftertouch to introduce and
control vibrato. The solution works like this...
You patch the Pressure
output on the VX through the CP251's slew generator to slow the almost
instantaneous 10V sweep from -5V to +5V that occurs whenever you lean on
a key, and then route the modified aftertouch CV back to the Voyager's
Mod1 buss input, whereupon it acts as a multiplying factor for the
Amount control in the Pedal/On buss.
Having patched the devices, you must now set the
Voyager's Pedal/On source as the LFO triangle wave (which generates the
vibrato) and set the destination to Pitch. The position of the Shaping
control is irrelevant (although I suspect that it's best set to 'On'),
but the Amount must have a non-zero value, or no modulation is produced
by the buss. You can now set the mod wheel to zero (ie. fully towards
you) and use aftertouch alone to introduce pitch modulation into an
otherwise unmodulated signal. This certainly works, but why does it need
to be so convoluted?
Now, you might say that the pot-mapping facilities
introduced by the Voyager's version 2 OS render all of this unnecessary,
and for the most part you would be right. However, leaning even gently
on the Voyager's keys causes the aftertouch value to jump from zero to
'lots', so that the pot-mapping destination jumps almost instantaneously
from one state to another. Patching pressure sensitivity through the VX
and CP produces a more pleasing effect, because of the slew you can
introduce into what is otherwise an almost on/off response.
Once I'd got used to the low-budget feel of the VX
and CP's connectors and sockets, and had used both units to overcome two
of my biggest complaints regarding the Voyager, I started to feel
rather more enthusiastic about them, and used them to cure the Voyager's
inability to apply portamento to the filter cutoff frequency (which
still exists, even in OS v2.3). I did this by directing the VX351's
keyboard CV output to the CP251's slew generator and returning the
resulting signal to the synth's filter CV input (remember to set
keyboard tracking in the Voyager to zero, or you'll get 200-percent
tracking when you try this). It wasn't possible to match the filter
portamento precisely to the keyboard Glide, but I found that all manner
of interesting sounds were now available, primarily by forcing the
self-oscillating filter to track the VCOs, with different amounts of
glide on each. I also created some interesting effects by setting the
amount of slew differently for playing up the keyboard than for playing
down. Unfortunately, you can't apply this trick to the oscillators
themselves, because you can't disconnect the internal keyboard CV, so
the patch always generates 200-percent tracking, which is — for melodic
work — useless. Even setting Oscillator 3's tracking to 'Off' does not
work, because this also disconnects it from the CV input.
I found that, with the 'aftertouch patch'
permanently in place, it was no mean trick to keep track of the
'virtual' patching within the busses themselves, as well as the physical
patching between the three boxes. But once I had got the hang of
things, creating traditional modular synth effects became
straightforward. For example, I used the CP251's LFO and sample-and-hold
facilities to trigger the Voyager's envelopes and modulate its filters,
while at the same time producing slow pitch sweeps and pulse-width
modulation effects using the Voyager's internal LFO. This took me deep
into sound effects territory, but the combination of the three units was
equally at home creating musically interesting patches that are often
the preserve of modular synths and their software equivalents.
While experimenting, I found that the Inverter in
the CP251's Mixer proved to be an unexpected bonus, and I ended up
wishing that there were more of these. It's useful to be able to
modulate one parameter upwards while another is sweeping downward 180
degrees out of phase. Likewise, I became accustomed to having the CP's
and VX's attenuators at my disposal, finding that these tamed the
Voyager's performance CVs, thus making it possible to create patches
that were more subtle than those available on the synth alone.
Once I had upgraded to OS v2.3, it was immediately
obvious that I needed the VX and CP far less frequently to overcome
restrictions in the Voyager itself. This then released them for more
esoteric duties. I placed the Voyager, CP251 and VX351 alongside my
Analogue Systems Integrator RS8000 modular, and started cross-patching
between the two systems. Suddenly, the Voyager leapt into life as the
(almost) modular system it had always promised to be. Using the VX351 to
direct pitch CVs and Gates to the Integrator, I found that the RS
oscillators tracked perfectly, and that its envelopes and VCAs responded
exactly as one would wish. Remembering to use the VX's and CP's
attenuators to protect the Voyager from the Integrator's meaty ±10V
signals, cross-patching was a doddle, and I finally realised why I — and
all other Voyager owners — will eventually have to cough up for the VX. Why? Because it makes experimental synthesis with the Voyager fun.
Imagine playing both synths simultaneously, directing the Integrator's
output to the Voyager's external signal input so that you can filter and
re-filter it using the Moog's filters as well as its own comb filters,
EMS Synthi filters and on. The resulting sounds are big. Really big.
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The CP251 Control Processor
Although part of the Moogerfooger range, the CP251
can also be used as part of a Voyager system, although it requires a
separate power supply when used as a stand-alone unit. The module offers
seven distinct sections: a four-channel CV mixer, a slew or lag
generator, a dual-waveform LFO, dual attenuators, a four-way multiple, a
noise source, and a sample-and-hold section. Five of these offer TRS
sockets that allow you to use expression pedals if desired. These
sockets are denoted by the red, rather than black, retaining nuts. You
can also use conventional tip/sleeve jack plugs in these, but they will
short the power supply to ground, resulting in a tiny current flowing
within the plug itself. There's no risk associated with this, nor will
there be any adverse effects on the operation of the unit, but shorting
any one socket in this way disables the ability of any other sockets to
work with pedals.
The Mixer is in many ways the most interesting part
of the CP251. It combines two inputs with attenuators (inputs 1 &
2), two direct inputs (3 & 4), an Offset control that provides a DC
offset, and a Master knob that controls the amplitude of the mixed
signal, up to a maximum of unity gain, subject to an absolute maximum of
+5V. Oh yes, and there are positive and negative outputs available
simultaneously. The Mixer has a bandwidth in excess of the upper limit
of human hearing, so it's also capable of audio mixing, but there's no
way to use it as a VCA, which is a shame.
Alongside the Mixer, the Slew Generator (or 'Lag
Processor') has a novel twist: independent controls for slewing the rise
time and fall time of a waveform. This means that if, for example, you
direct the square wave output from the LFO to the Slew In, you can shape
it into a trapezoid, a sawtooth, a ramp wave, or a triangle, with many
subtle variations in between. I like this. The fastest and slowest slew
rates are quoted as 1ms and 1s respectively and, although the slowest is
still rather rapid to be considered all-encompassing, it will be
adequate for many synthesis tasks.
This brings us to the LFO itself which, as on the Voyager, offers just
two cyclic waveforms; triangle and square, with a nominal frequency
range of 0.2Hz to 50Hz. However, you can apply control voltages to the
Pedal In socket to extend this down to 0.03Hz at the low end (which can
produce the languorous sweeps I like) and up to 100Hz or more at the top
end, which suggests a number of FM possibilities.
The dual attenuators do their job well, with a
measured output of 0 percent at the minimum setting, and very nearly 100
percent at the maximum. Likewise, the four-way Multiple does what it
says on the tin, although — as on the VX351 — its sockets are merely
soldered together without buffering.
The CP251's noise generator is different from the
noise source provided on the Voyager, being altogether smoother and
'bluer'. If you heard either in isolation you would think it typical,
but an A/B comparison demonstrates how different they are from one
another. Bear in mind, however, that the output is low. At well under
1V, this restricts the CP251's use as a noise modulation source.
Finally, as with the Mixer and Slew Generator, the
S&H section offers somewhat more than is immediately apparent, with
the stepped signal presented at Output 1, and a smoothed (low-pass
filtered) version presented at Output 2. The low-pass filter frequency
is determined by the LFO Rate knob, which is a bit strange, but this
ensures that a consistent response is obtained if the LFO is used as the
S&H Trigger. Regrettably, the maximum sample voltage is of the
order ±3V, which means that you must take care when you use the CP251
with other modular synths. What's more, the sample is triggered by a
falling transient, not a rising one, so you will obtain unexpected
results unless you take this into account.
The seven sections on offer seem to be reasonable
choices, although the CP251 is let down by the lack of a VCA.
Notwithstanding this, if you tried to purchase all of these modules in
modular synth form, they would almost certainly cost more, so I'll sum
up by saying that the CP251 is good value for money, if you want the exact combination of facilities it offers.
A word of warning, however... When I first used the
CP251, inputs 1 and 2 on the Mixer were unusable, refusing to allow a
quarter-inch jack plug all the way in, so no connection was made. Having
first satisfied myself that there was no internal obstruction, I
managed to get a jack into each with a bit of 'encouragement'. After
this, the plugs worked as normal, but it didn't leave me with a good
feeling about the CP251's build quality.
|
Conclusions
We've covered a vast amount of ground in this
review, with two major revisions of the Voyager's operating system, a
new hardware model, and two add-on boxes that you can use in all manner
of ways to enhance your synthesis.
Starting with the operating system upgrades, there's
only one conclusion to be drawn: you would be certifiably insane if you
did not upgrade to the current OS. It doesn't cure all the bugs in the
Voyager, and even ignoring the hardware faults, there should be at least
one further software revision to iron out the remaining problems with
the touch-screen. However, minor faults aside, the version 2 OS has
fulfilled the promises made nearly two years ago. The Voyager is now a much better instrument. In fact, it's excellent.
Moving on to the Voyager hardware, you may think
that I've been rather uncompromising, poring over all manner of minor
defects and quibbles. This may be true, but, at this price, you have the
right to expect something that is finished and works correctly.
Thankfully, we are now much closer to that ideal than ever before, with
the Voyager performing as specified, and with fewer faults than
previously.
As for the Anniversary Edition, it's very nice, and
seems slightly better built than the Signature model that I own. The
switches are a tad more positive, the LEDs are brighter, and there's
that all-important fix to the pitch-bend wheel. However, you'll have to
decide whether you can live with the whine that the backlight emits. If
you can, this is the Voyager for you. If you can't, you can always leave
the backlight permanently off.
Next... I was initially a little disappointed with
the VX351. It promised much, but seemed a bit clumsy, and didn't add
quite as much as I had hoped. It wasn't until I stopped using it to
overcome limitations within the Voyager itself and placed it next to
another patchable synth that the VX proved its worth... which then
proved to be considerable. I still have reservations about paying extra
for outputs that should — in my opinion — be built into the synth
itself, but if you are truly serious about synthesis and own a Voyager,
the VX is almost a necessity.
I'm less convinced by the CP251, but that's because —
in keeping with most players interested in modular synthesis — I
already have access to its functions elsewhere. But here's the acid
test... If I were today offered my walnut Signature for its original
price of approximately £3000, or an Anniversary for under £2000, there
is no contest which I would choose... the Anniversary Edition. It looks
great, works better and, with the money I had saved, I could buy the
VX351 and CP251, and still have enough cash left over for a cheap
holiday in the sun.
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