Moog

Moog Minitaur | Reviews
75
that determine which of the waveforms
are currently in play. Departing from
the original Taurus design, Moog opted
to add a wave shaper to the mix here
that allows each of the oscillators to
output square and sawtooth
waveforms. This tweak obviously brings
additional classic bass tones to the
Minitaur’s sound. The VCO2 knob will
let you adjust the frequency of the
second oscillator up or down a full
octave from VCO1 (the center position
being the unison setting). By setting up
an interval, and dropping the gain on
the second oscillator you can create
the effect of adding subtle, yet
attractive harmonics to the sound.
A discreetly implemented
ne-tuning control is also onboard, but
it’s delivered out of the way and
without a knob so as to discourage
accidental use.
Another distinguishing feature is
that unlike the crossfading slider on
the Taurus I (which means you are
never actually turning either oscillator
entirely off…), Minitaur features
separate gain controls for both VCOs.
This means that with both volume pots
wide open you are actually hitting the
wide four-pole Moog low-pass fi lter
(which runs between 20Hz to
20kHz…) a bit harder than the original
beast could and thus making it
possible to get a grittier timbre from
the instrument.
A triangle wave driven LFO can be
sent to either the VCOs or the
Minitaur’s fi lter (via independent
knobs…), working a range that can go
as slow as .01Hz or up into the fast
and ultra gnarly spectrum of 100Hz
where the associated LED appears as if
its having a seizure.
Because of the limited amount of
space available on the panel, Moog
went back even further into their
history and looked to the design of the
Minimoog for the Minitaur’s envelopes.
While using the same three-knob
confi guration of the Mini’s ADSR
envelopes, the release segments of
both the fi lter and the amp envelope
generators are activated by a third
amber switch and controlled with the
same knob used to manage decay.
This is subtly (or too subtly…)
illustrated by the inverted graphics
sandwiched
between the two
Decay/Release
knobs, but in use
the design
becomes quite
clear. The
envelopes on the
original Taurus
1 were actually quite slow as it turns
out, but they have been suitably sped
up for the Minitaur.
While this can lead to clicky, short
attack-like sounds (especially with
lower frequencies…), this
characteristic can be dialed out rather
easily if in if thats not what you’re
Every control that you see
on the Minitaur’s front
panel can be managed
via MIDI. And because
Minitaur speaks MIDI so
uently, you can do
things like send it MIDI
clock messages, which
can be used in turn to tie
the on-board LFO to a
drum track and turn it
into a ‘clock divider’. This
allows you to dial in note
divisions at will, and
make the synth much as
rhythmically friendly
companion to new or
existing tracks that you
feel might need a touch
more ‘oomph’.
All of the panel controls
will also send MIDI CCs
in addition to their
respective parameter
responding to said CCs.
With the added ability
to store any Minitaur
presets you devise via
MIDI on your computer,
the synth keeps its feet
evenly planted in the
both the analogue and
the digital domains.
MIDI Speak
SPECS
LFO Rate: 0.01Hz to 100Hz
range
VCA EG Attack: 1ms to 30
seconds
VCF EG Decay/Release:
1ms to 30 seconds
Pitch CV: quarter-inch TRS
jack accepts 0 to +5V
signal (internally processed
for 1 V/Octave) via passive
Expression Pedals or CVs
Filter CV: quarter-inch TRS
jack accepts 0 to +5V
signal via passive
Expression Pedals or CVs
Volume CV: quarter-inch
TRS jack accepts 0 to +5V
signal via passive
Expression Pedals or CVs
Gate: quarter-inch jack
accepts 0 (Off)/ +5V(On)
Gate signal to trigger the
unit’s EGs
Stereo headphone jack
Audio Out: quarter-inch
unbalanced jack
Audio In: quarter-inch
unbalanced jack accepts
line-level input
Dimensions:
216 x 140 x 76mm
Weight:
1.2kg
The synth easily matches the aural
heft of the Taurus 3 while being 18
odd kgs easier to tote around
Traditional control
voltage patch points
for modular
connectivity
Earbud friendly via
use of mini jack
(sorry, no quarter
inch) headphone
connection
Standard and Type B
USB MIDI
connections to allow
for remote operation
and DAW integration
CV Inputs
Headphone
MIDI
FMU250.rev_moog.indd 75 2/1/12 5:26:28 PM