Moog Minitaur Desktop Analogue Synthesizer

Add Some Classic Moog Richness to your Modern Rig!

The Moog Minitaur is a super-fat compact analog bass synthesizer that you can control with MIDI, a USB interface, or with your computer. The design is fundamentally old-school -- intended for those who want an authentic analog alternative to synths with long digital menus and parameter settings. To that end, the Moog Minitaur is specifically one-knob-per-function, which means that you come to understand and use the knobs as part of the instrument. It's built rock solid, feels great, measures a wee 8.5 x 5.25 inches and weighs in at less than 3 pounds. The Minitaur is a great way to get in touch with a true analog circuit flow and create killer patches, while still integrating seamlessly with your digital production and/or live rig.

Analog Output, Digital Control When You Want It

The sound aside, what really distinguishes the Moog Minitaur is the ease with which it interfaces with both analog and digital signal inputs and outputs. The LFO is completely MIDI-syncable via the standard DIN MIDI input on the back, and can be MIDI-controlled not only for Pitch, but for Rate, VCO LFO Amount, and VCF LFO Amount. There is also a USB input for plug-and-play interface with USB-driven controllers and keyboards. Just plug in your controller and start tweaking knobs!

The Analog Control section on the rear panel gives you four TRS jacks that allow you to use a 0 to +5V signal to control Pitch, Filter, Volume and Gate. You can use the Moog EP3 or CV to connect and control your Minitaur with everything else in the Moog line.

Sounds Moog-y In Here!

The Minitaur's sound is pure Moog: rich, complex, ethereal, and searing by turns. The two Moog oscillators onboard deliver the famous punchy sawtooth and square waveforms that have made these synths integral for decades of music making. The oscillators can be blended on the fly, and then manipulated with the two Mixer VCAs for VCO level control over the individual oscillators.

The VCA is outfitted with a Minimoog-style ADSR envelope generator used to modulate the VCA. The time length on the Attack, Decay, and Release can be set anywhere been 0 and 30 seconds, yielding some intensely rich and long-evolving waveforms.

The fat Moog Ladder Filter has an adjustable resonance that sets the gain off the output of the VCF, fed back to the input of the VCF. This yields a peak at the Cutoff Frequency that can be increased to generate everything from microbursts of tone to repeating rhymthic groove type sounds.

Features:

- One-knob-per-function interface
- Two oscillators with Sawtooth (Original Taurus) and Square wave-shapes
- 2 x Mixer VCAs
- Moog Ladder Filter
- Two Minimoog style ADSR Envelope Generators for modulating VCF and VCA
- MIDI-syncable LFO with Controls for Rate, VCO LFO Amount, and VCF LFO Amount
- DIN MIDI and MIDI over USB inputs
- Analog Control inputs for Pitch, Filter, Volume and Gate
- External audio input for processing external audio through the Mixer and Filter sections
- Headphone output
- Rugged steel construction

Front Panel Controls:

- VCO2 Frequency - Sets the frequency offset of VCO2 from VCO1 from -1 Octave to +1 Octave. Center is unison with VCO1.
- Oscillator 1 & 2 Saw/Square Waveform Selector - Selects a Sawtooth wave (LED OFF) or Square wave (LED ON) Signal for VCO1 and 2.
- VCO1 Level - Sets the level of VCO1
- VCO2 Level - Sets the level of VCO2
- VCF Cutoff - Sets the Cutoff Frequency of the 4-pole Moog Lowpass VCF from 20Hz to 20KHz
- VCF Resonance - This sets the gain for the amount of signal from the output of the VCF fed back to the input of the VCF. This creates a peak in Frequency response at the Cutoff Frequency that can be increased all the way to self-oscillation.
- VCF EG Amount - Bi-polar control sets the (+) or (-) Amount of Envelope Generator modulation of the VCF. Center is no Envelope Generator modulation.
- LFO Rate - Sets the frequency of the LFO. Range is from 0.01Hz to 100Hz
- LFO VCO Amount - Sets the Amount that the LFO modulates the VCO
- LFO VCF Amount - Sets the Amount that the LFO modulates VCF
- VCA EG Attack - Sets the attack Time of a Minimoog-Style ADSR Envelope Generator used to modulate the VCA. Time ranges from 1 msec to 30 seconds.
- VCA EG Decay/Release - Sets both the decay time to the sustain level and release time of a Minimoog-Style ADSR Envelope Generator used to modulate the VCA. Time ranges from 1 msec to 30 seconds. The Release segment of the EG is enabled by the Release On/Off switch.
- VCA EG Sustain - Sets the sustain level of a Minimoog-Style ADSR Envelope Generator used to modulate the VCA.
- VCF EG Attack - Sets the attack Time of a Minimoog-Style ADSR Envelope Generator used to modulate the VCF. Time ranges from 1 msec to 30 seconds.
- VCF EG Decay/Release - Sets both the decay Time to the sustain level and release time of a Minimoog-Style ADSR Envelope Generator used to modulate the VCF. Time ranges from 1 msec to 30 seconds. The Release segment of the EG is enabled by the Release On/Off switch.
- VCF EG Sustain - Sets the sustain level of a Minimoog-Style ADSR Envelope Generator used to modulate the VCF.
- Release On/Off Switch - Enables (LED On_ or Disables (LED Off) the Release segments of both Envelope Generators.
- Glide On/Off Switch - Enables/ Disables the Glide function
- Glide - Sets the rate of Glide when the note controlling the MINITAUR changes.
- Volume - The Master Volume of the MINITAUR's synth Engine.
- Fine Tune - Adjusts the frequency of the VCOs +/- 1 semitone.
- MIDI Indicator LED - Indicates incoming MIDI activity
- LFO Rate Indicator LED - Indicates the rate of the LFO.

Back Panel:

- Audio Out - 1/4" Unbalanced jack.
- Headphones -- Jack for stereo headphone output.
- Audio In - 1/4" Unbalanced jack accepts line-level input.

Analog CV Inputs:

- Pitch CV - 1/4" TRS Jack accepts 0 to +5V signal (internally processed for 1 V/Octave) via passive Expression Pedals or CVs.
- Filter CV - 1/4" TRS Jack accepts 0 to +5Vsignal via passive Expression Pedals or CVs.
- Volume CV - 1/4" TRS Jack accepts 0 to +5Vsignal via passive Expression Pedals or CVs.
- Gate - 1/4" Jack accepts a 0 (Off)/ +5V(On) Gate signal to trigger the unit's EGs.

MIDI:

- MIDI (DIN) - Standard DIN MIDI input for MIDI Control of the MINITAUR
- MIDI (USB) - Type B USB connector for connecting MINITAUR to host for USB MIDI.