moog voyager vs sub 37

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Moog sub 37.

• Synthesizers

Moog’s latest synth, the Sub 37, sees the company return to the form that made their reputation back in the 1970s.

Once reborn from their Big Briar incarnation, Moog Music’s first synth was the Minimoog Voyager Signature Edition, which immediately garnered a cult following. Released in the UK in 2003, it wasn’t quite finished, but was quickly followed by numerous updates to operating system and hardware that sorted out its shortcomings. Hot on its heels came the Performer Edition and, in 2004, another limited edition, the Anniversary model. Then, in 2006, Moog changed direction by releasing the Little Phatty, which cost less than half the price of its illustrious sibling. Of course, this affordability came at a price (if you see what I mean) that was paid not so much in its sound but, in large part, in its unusual parameter-access programming system. I wasn’t a huge fan but, despite my reservations, I have to admit that others were. Next came the Voyager Old School, followed by the excellent Taurus 3 bass pedals, and then the Voyager XL which, prior to the launch of the Emerson Moog Modular earlier this year, was the reincarnated Moog’s finest moment — a synth of such inherent sexiness that it’s sometimes hard to stop admiring it and begin playing it.

In 2012, Moog released the Minitaur, a bass module that, sonically, sat somewhere between the Taurus 3 and the Little Phatty. Reviewing it in May of that year, I commented that “it seems obvious that the Minitaur would sing as a lead synth too”, and the chaps at Moog must have agreed, because the next stage was the Sub Phatty, which took the character of the Minitaur and transplanted it into a diminutive keyboard synth. I rather liked this, but was unable to recommend it unequivocally because of its short keyboard and profusion of hidden functions, some of which could only be accessed using arcane combinations of key-presses or the associated software editor. So I suggested that a Sub Phatty with a wider keyboard and everything revealed on the control panel would be a fine instrument, especially if it sported additional performance capabilities such as aftertouch. Again, it seems that I wasn’t the only one thinking along those lines, because this brings us to the present day and the Sub 37, which draws upon the technology of the Voyager, the Minitaur and the Sub Phatty, and seems to offer everything that I hoped it might. I wonder if it does?

The Technology

The Sub 37 is an analogue/digital hybrid with an analogue signal path controlled by digitally generated modulators and contour generators. Physically, it’s based around a velocity- and pressure-sensitive three-octave keyboard and, with its steel chassis and wooden end-cheeks, plus a control panel that bristles with knobs and buttons, it looks and feels like a ‘real’ synth. A small screen suggests that there are still some parameters to be found in menus, but even a quick glance reveals that all its major facilities should fall immediately to hand.

The Oscillators & Mixer

Superficially, the dual oscillators on the Sub 37 are similar to those of the Sub Phatty. They share the same continuous spectrum of waveforms running from triangle to sawtooth to square to pulse waves, the same 16’, 8’, 4’ and 2’ footages, the same square-wave sub-oscillator one octave below Osc1, the same hard sync, and the same ±7 semitones detune of Osc2 with respect to Osc1. They also share the same Beat Frequency of up to ±3.5Hz (which provides a consistent detune rather than scaled detune across the whole frequency range) and the same KB Reset function that initialises the oscillators each time that you press a key so detuned notes are reproduced consistently. Less superficially, the Sub Phatty’s underlying oscillator architecture — a Minitaur oscillator core followed by the Voyager’s variable waveshaper — has been retained.

This is all good news; I have always felt that the Sub Phatty’s oscillators were superior to those of its Little and Slim grandparents. But it’s far from the whole story, because the Sub 37 also allows you to play its oscillators independently using the type of duophonic mode introduced on the ARP Odyssey in 1972. You can allocate Osc2 to the higher of the two notes played, to the lower, or disconnect it from the keyboard to produce a drone at a frequency determined by the Frequency knob, which now has an extended range of three octaves.

Turning next to the Glide section, there’s the expected knob that controls the rate, and you can select the type of portamento you want on a patch-by-patch basis. The options are linear constant rate, linear constant time and exponential, the last of which gave some vintage synths a desirable character that is less common today than it should be. You can apply the portamento to Osc1 or Osc2 or both (which is another nice touch) and the glide can be gated (it stops when you release the key) and/or legato (meaning that it only occurs when both the start and destination keys are pressed contemporaneously). All in all, this is an impressive range of options.

The Mixer section has five inputs: Osc1, Osc2, the sub-oscillator, noise and the signal from the external signal input. As on previous Moog synths, oscillator levels clockwise of 12 o’clock or thereabouts will overdrive the filter’s input, and this is also true of the pink noise generator, which can (intentionally) sound a touch grainy and distorted at high levels. But it’s the last of these inputs that should grab your attention because, in the absence of a cable plugged into the Audio In socket, this acts as a feedback loop that routes the output from the mixer section back into its input. This concept is based upon a trick that was discovered on the Minimoog in the early 1970s, whereby players would plug a cable between one of the synth’s outputs and its external signal input to obtain anything ranging from a mild thickening of the sound to the insane scream of tortured components. On the Sub 37, the most extreme feedback setting remains controlled, but in a DC Comics sort of way... the mild-mannered sound finds an unoccupied phone box, removes its spectacles, and turns into Superpatch, stopping speeding guitarists in their tracks and leaping over unwary rhythm sections at a single bound. Or maybe it’s The Hulk. You get the picture.

The Filter, Contour Generators & Output Section

The Sub 37 has a single filter that Moog describes as a “classic 20Hz-20kHz Ladder Filter”. Again, the similarities to the Sub Phatty are legion. All four cutoff slopes are retained (although you no longer need to remember arcane key presses to access them), and all four modes will self-oscillate when you set the resonance high enough. Keyboard tracking (from zero to 200 percent) is retained, and the cutoff frequency can be swept with positive and negative polarity by the dedicated contour generator. In addition, the Sub 37’s Multidrive uses the same two distortion circuits as the Sub Phatty, one lying before the filter, the other after it. However, without the extra gain and distortion made possible by the Sub 37’s feedback, the earlier synth’s overdrive was tame by comparison.

Although the Sub 37’s dual (filter/amplifier) contours are digitally generated, they’re passed through analogue low-pass filters to ensure that the ensuing CVs are smooth and continuous. I discussed the pros and cons of this with Amos Gaynes, the Product Specialist at Moog Music, and he described them as “virtually analogue”, explaining that the decay and release contours emulate a capacitor charge/discharge circuit. He then pointed out something that I had noticed, but not remarked upon: you can adjust the generators’ parameters and hear the results while holding a note, which is not always the case with other hybrids or VAs.

For decades, ADSR contours have been accepted as the best compromise between simplicity and flexibility, but many sound designers prefer more complex shapes, and I must admit to being a fan of the Sub 37’s six-stage contours. If you want to approach the generators as conventional ADSRs, the standard eight knobs are where you expect them to be. But if you want to take things further, there’s a button labelled Knob Shift that invokes a second function for each. These are Delay (a delay between pressing the key and the start of the Attack), Hold (holding the peak level between the Attack and Decay stages), Velocity Amount, and KB Track (which determines the amount by which the contours become quicker as you play higher up the keyboard). The manual tells you that the KB Track affects the Decay and Release stages only, but that’s not correct; it also affects the Attack, which is vital for imitative sounds. I was delighted to find that you can determine whether the Attack phase of the contours is linear or exponential, and do so independently for each. This is a rare and highly desirable feature.

I tested the durations of the contour stages, all of which are quoted as having a range of 1ms to 10s. At the fast end of the spectrum, I found them to be very snappy indeed. In fact, when I patched a simple AD click, it was so fast as to be almost inaudible. One unexpected consequence of this is that you can create AM and FM sounds using looping contour generators to modulate the self-oscillating VCF and the VCA. At the slow end of the spectrum, I found the Attack, Hold and Release stages to be around 10s as quoted, and the Decay to be closer to 20s. You might think that this precludes really slow, languorous sweeps on the Sub 37, but it doesn’t. Patch the contour times as destinations in the modulation matrices, and you can program sweeps that will last for much of your next album. This is all good stuff.

Modulation, Arpeggios & Sequences

If there’s one area that might be less than intuitive to non-Moog aficionados, it’s the Sub 37’s Voyager-style dual modulation sections. Each contains an LFO that generates five waveforms — triangle, square, saw, ramp and S&H — and ranges from either 0.1Hz to 100Hz or from 1Hz to 1kHz, which suggests the possibility of all manner of additional AM and FM sounds. Two buttons provide keyboard reset (which reinitialises the LFO cycle each time that you press a key) and synchronisation to the internal clock or MIDI Clock, and two knobs determine the amount by which the LFO is applied to the pitches of the oscillators (Osc1, Osc2 or both) and the filter cutoff frequency, with either positive or negative polarity in both cases. Underneath these lies a section that allows you to direct the modulation to a third destination: the waveshapes of Osc1, Osc2 or both, the noise level, the VCA level, or the rate of the other modulator. (You can even modulate Mod1 using Mod2, and Mod2 using Mod1, for all sorts of wibbly mayhem.) An associated knob determines the modulation depth, again with either polarity.

So far so simple, but the Sub 37 has yet deeper capabilities. Within each modulator, you can bypass the LFO and select one from a list of 10 additional modulation sources, and one from 83 possible destinations. You can then determine the amount by which the mod wheel, velocity, aftertouch and a fourth controller (currently fixed to MIDI CC#2 — breath control) affect the modulation depth. For the moment, the amounts of any active controllers are multiplicative so, for example, if the mod wheel amount is set to 100 percent but the wheel is fully toward you (ie. at zero) you won’t be able to create modulation using (say) aftertouch, but an additive mode is scheduled for a future update.

In my review of the Sub Phatty I stated that, “I can imagine some potential users bemoaning the lack of an arpeggiator or step sequencer,” so I’m pleased that the Sub 37 offers both. The arpeggiator offers the expected rate, tap tempo and sync options, with Up, Down, Up/Down, Note Order and Random modes, and a quick read of the manual reveals a handful of other tricks in the menus — gate lengths, clock divisions, how ‘end notes’ are handled in back/forth arpeggios, and so on — all of which add to the flexibility of the system. I particularly like the Invert button, which plays each note across all the selected octaves before playing the next, and creates a whole new set of patterns.

Of course, you can synchronise everything in this section to the Sub 37’s internal clock or to MIDI Clock. So, if you want to run arpeggios or sequences in which the notes, the modulators and the contours are synchronised to one another, perhaps with different clock divisions, you can do so. If you would prefer some aspects to be sync’ed while others are free-running, that’s no problem either.

There are many additional bits and bobs in the Sub 37 worthy of special mention (as well as many others that you’ll have to discover for yourself). Of particular interest to the widdly-widdly brigade is that you can determine the note priority on either a global basis, or (woo-hoo!) on a per-patch basis. I like synths that allow me to select between high-, low- and last-note priorities, and to be able to choose this and simultaneously select either single or multi-triggering on a per-patch basis is a treat. Add the Sub 37’s duophonic mode into the equation, and my cake is well and truly iced. Back in the 1980s, my band played a track called ‘Tabasco’ that contained a synth line of such fiendish speed and complexity that I couldn’t lift my fingers quickly enough to make it sound smooth in both directions. My ARP Odyssey was the only synth on which I could play it convincingly because — being duophonic — it produced each new note (in either direction) at the right moment, even if the previous one remained depressed for a fraction of a second. I recreated this sound and setup on the Sub 37 and it played beautifully.

None of this would be worth a hoot if the Sub 37 was a pain to program and didn’t sound good, but, once you’ve gotten your head around the modulation sections, everything is straightforward, there are no hidden functions to get in the way of your creativity, and it sounds superb. When you first get your hands on one, hold the INIT button to initialise the patch to a simple beep. Now turn the Osc2 and sub-oscillator levels in the mixer to around 12 o’clock, add a smidgen of detune using the Beat Frequency knob, and drop the pitch by an octave. Now play. If that isn’t fat enough for you (and it would already need a hoist to get out of bed) dial in as much feedback and Multidrive as you want and play the result with a smidgen of reverb to smooth out the beating. It has been a long time since I set up such a simple patch and exclaimed, “Holy sh**!”. You can even set the feedback and Multidrive amounts to be modulation destinations, placing them under the control of things such as velocity, the mod wheel and aftertouch. You’ll like this a lot.

Of course, not everything has to have the sonic footprint of Godzilla and, like many Moogs before it, the Sub 37 can produce some lovely, sweet patches. Play a single oscillator with a little vibrato and PWM and experiment with the various filter cutoff slopes and you’ll find that you can emulate the characters of many vintage synths from early Korgs and Rolands to ARPs and, of course, Moogs. As on the Sub Phatty, there’s something rather appealing about this filter in its 6dB, 12dB and 18dB-per-octave modes, and there are some excellent sounds to be discovered here. And as for bread-and-butter sounds such as solo brass and flutes, I obtained these more quickly and more intuitively on the Sub 37 than on any other new synth that I’ve used recently. Happily, with 256 memories now provided (the Sub Phatty offered just 16) there’s room to store all of these and more.

I should also mention that, if you have the cash and the inclination, you can connect multiple Sub 37s to create a monster polysynth. I don’t know whether anyone will ever do so, nor whether it would be wise. Philosophically, it would be equivalent to an Oberheim 4 or 8 Voice, especially if you used SysEx as a substitute for a physical programmer for all the synths in the setup. But the Sub 37 isn’t an SEM, and I suspect that, without taking great care to keep the sound in check, the resulting instrument could be too ‘big’ to mix.

Finally, I have to find something to criticise and, other than a few slightly wobbly pots, I’ve only found one issue. If you play a sound based on AD contours with a high value of contour tracking, there comes a point at which the contours go from being quick on one note to being virtually instantaneous on the one above it, meaning that higher notes turn into quiet clicks and, in any musical sense, disappear. Moog’s engineers are already looking into this to verify my findings, and it’s possible that they will have fixed it by the time that you read this. And that’s it! That’s my criticism. Either I’m losing my touch, or the Sub 37 really is a damn fine synthesizer. Of course, a 44- or even a 49-note keyboard would make it even finer, but that’s a discussion for another day.

Conclusions

Moog’s President, Mike Adams, once described the Sub Phatty as “the grittiest Moog synth ever”. If he wasn’t wrong then, he is now. The Sub 37 can snarl like no other Moog, but it’s equally adept at gentler sounds and classic patches. Does it eclipse the Voyager? I’m not sure. On one hand, comparing it to a no-compromise triple-oscillator, dual-filter synth offering extensive analogue I/O might be inappropriate. On the other, it’s more immediate than the Voyager, and you can now obtain the Moog sound from a powerful ‘hands on’ synth without the added expense of facilities that you may never use. So, finally, we come to the question of price. There are some excellent low-cost synthesizers out there and, with a list price of  £1249 $1499 , the Sub 37 isn’t for those on a tight budget. Nevertheless, I recommend that you try it. I still love my Minimoog, and the Voyager XL remains in many ways a dream machine but, were I to take a Moog synth on stage tomorrow, the combination of the Sub 37’s diminutive size, its almost all-encompassing note priority and triggering options, its duophony, its performance facilities, its ability to become stable just seconds after switching on, plus the sheer quality of its sound, make it almost irresistible. I have a feeling that Moog Music really listened to their customers when designing this one. Big tick. Gold star.

Check out the  SOS Tutorials video course on the Moog Sub 37 .

Alternatives

This is a golden age for analogue monosynths. Recent releases have included innovative designs such as the Arturia MiniBrute and MicroBrute, recreations of classics such as the Korg MS20, and there’s even a clone of the ARP Odyssey on the horizon. Elsewhere, you can find numerous digital and hybrid synths that offer much of the sound and feel of analogue synthesis. But is there anything that competes directly with the Sub 37? One obvious contender is the new DSI Pro 2, which has just arrived for review, looks beautiful, and seems to offer much that overlaps with the Moog. But, with its four oscillators, dual filters, on-board effects, enhanced analogue I/O, wider keyboard and four-voice paraphonic mode, is it a direct competitor or something more? I’ll know more when I’ve had a chance to burrow into the Pro 2’s innards, so watch this space.

The Side Panel

I was rather critical of the Sub Phatty’s I/O panel because its black legends embossed on a black background made it impossible to tell which hole was which. This has now been rectified, and the Sub 37’s sockets and their associated legends are now to be found on a brushed-aluminium panel that makes everything clear and easy to find.

For power, Moog have resisted the urge to go down the low-cost route, and the Sub 37 boasts a welcome IEC mains socket for an internal 100V-240V, 50/60Hz AC power supply. Alongside this lies the audio I/O, which comprises a single quarter-inch output plus a single quarter-inch input that allows you to mangle external audio signals. (A headphone socket is provided to the right of the control panel.) There are four analogue control inputs: 1V/Oct pitch and filter CVs, an amplifier CV and a +5V Gate, but no CV outputs, which some potential users will bemoan. Finally, there’s the MIDI section, with MIDI In and Out on five-pin DIN sockets and USB. Happily, you don’t need specific drivers for your computer to recognise the Sub 37. Just be aware that the USB carries MIDI only, not audio.

The Sub 37 Editor

The Sub 37 should have been shipped with a software editor, but the chaps at Moog are still working on it and, at the time of writing, there wasn’t even an alpha version available for inspection. When it arrives, it will operate along the same lines as the Sub Phatty editor, and will come in both stand-alone and VST/AU/AAX versions. In addition to editing and managing patches, it should also provide automation when run as a DAW plug-in, and the Minitaur’s excellent CV-mapping options (which allow you to control parameters other than the pitch, filter cutoff frequency and volume using voltages applied to the pitch, filter and volume CV inputs) are also promised.

The Sub 37 offers extensive MIDI capabilities. These include all the basics such as choosing whether the five-pin DIN sockets, the USB sockets, or both, are used, which channels are used for MIDI In and MIDI Out, which types of data (if any) are filtered from the synth’s output, and whether incoming data streams are merged with data generated within the synth itself and then echoed to the chosen output(s). I was pleased to find that changes to the control panel knobs and buttons can be transmitted as either MIDI CCs in 7-bit or 14-bit format, and that every parameter in a patch (there are about 150 of them!) can be transmitted and received as an NRPN, which means that performances can be automated. Additionally, this means that, if you have the right gear at the other end of your MIDI cable, you can use the Sub 37 as a powerful controller. SysEx is provided for dumping and recalling the current edit buffer, the current patch, all patches, or the whole of the synth.

Abridged specification

• Type of instrument: Mono/duophonic hybrid subtractive synthesizer.
• Keyboard: 37 semi-weighted keys, velocity- and aftertouch-sensitive.
• Sound sources: Two oscillators, one square-wave sub-oscillator, one noise generator, one external/feedback input.
• Filter: Low-pass, resonant, 6-, 12-, 18- and 24dB/oct, with overdrive.
• Contour generators: Two DAHDSR with sync’able looping, reset, latch and sync.
• Number of modulators: Two.
• Modulation sources: Sync’able 0.1Hz to 1kHz LFO (triangle, square, sawtooth, ramp, S&H) plus 10 programmable sources.
• Modulation destinations: Osc1 & Osc2 pitch, Osc1 & Osc2 waveshape, noise level, filter cutoff frequency, VCA level, rate of other LFO, plus 83 programmable destinations.
• Arpeggiator: Up/Down/Up-Down/Ordered/Random, sync’able.
• Sequencer: 64-step, programmable per patch, sync’able.
• Screen: Backlit 128 x 64 pixel LCD.
• Audio output: Quarter-inch mono out, TRS mono headphone output.
• CV & Gate inputs: Filter CV, pitch CV, volume CV, Gate.
• MIDI I/O: In & Out over five-pin DIN and USB.
• Memories: 256.
• Weight: 10kg.
• Although reasonably small, this is a truly grown-up synthesizer.
• A proper control panel. Thank you!
• Velocity and aftertouch sensitivity. Thank you again!
• And, of course, its sound.
• With just three buttons to do so, navigating the menus can be a bit clunky.
• There are a couple of facilities and bugs to be tidied up.
• There are no analogue CV/Gate outputs.

Some people are going to view the Sub 37 as a Sub Phatty with its Hidden Functions revealed on the control panel, but it’s much, much more than that. I hope that I’m not easily impressed, especially by a monosynth, but I’m impressed. This is a good ’un.

information

£1249 including VAT.

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www.moogmusic.com

Moog Music +1 (828) 251 0090.

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Moog Sub 37 review

When pro audio musicians hear the term “ analog synthesizer ,” they might get a little grin on their face. It’s probably because they’re thinking of the legendary Moog synthesizers. What they’re familiar with is possibly the fattest, warmest analog synth sound on the market available today. What they might not know is that the story actually begins nearly fifty years ago.

Robert Moog, the namesake of the Moog synthesizers, actually started when he was a student in the 1960s. Only he wasn’t making synthesizers. He actually started by making theremins. Theremins are devices that detect the motion of your hand and correspond with a frequency. Robert Moog took this idea and transformed it into a more practical level, and while you can still get theremins today, the synthesizer has become vastly more popular, and a lot of people attribute that to Moog’s work.

So I’d like to review the Moog Sub 37, a newer version of the analog synth that put synthesizers on the map for mainstream music back in the 1970s. Since then, we’ve seen a lot of amazing synth creators out there, such as Dave Smith, for instance.

I’d love to tell you about how the Moog Sub 37 is one of my favorite analog synths, what I love about it, what I feel like other synths do better, and how it compares to synths like the Dave Smith Pro 2, the Moog Voyager, the Minimoog Model D, and the Moog Sub Phatty (which is exactly what we’re going to do today).

I’ll be focusing on each of these synths features, their sound, their weight and portability, and their prices in order to help you when it’s time for you to get an analog synth when you’re ready to jump in.

Before we move forward, please take a moment to compare the Moog Sub 37 to other notable synthesizers that are currently on the market:

The Flow of the Sub 37

Now when I demoed the Moog Sub 37 in order to prepare for this review, one of the most striking characteristics is how it seems to glide . The keys, the frequencies—everything just sort of flows together.

So when you run a quick C scale across its 37 key keyboard, it’s like running your hand across the water, making little ripples. That might sound too poetic, but I think you’ll understand what I mean. It’s really easy to play.

Better yet are the filters. Your standard cutoff and resonance filters are extremely potent. Turning the cutoff filter all the way up turned the saw waveform into a buzzing chainsaw. Turn it down and you’ve got a chimey, muted round sound that could put a baby to sleep. 

Now, what I like to do, when I’m testing the filters, is turn up the cutoff and resonance all the way, leave the resonance up, and roll off the cutoff slowly. It achieves a sci-fi sounding sweep down different steps in the frequency range, and it sounds like you’re making music in space.

So, I know that if it sounds clean and precise, the filters are good. If it struggles with this, you know they could have designed it a little better. The Moog passes this test of course, but I never really had any doubt about it. If you get something cheaper like a Korg Volca synth, you’ll see it’s not quite as clean. But, it’s literally a tenth of the price at around $150, so you get what you pay for.

Below, please quickly take a moment to view some of the best-selling synthesizers currently on sale online:

Sounds, Presets and the Moog Arpeggiator

So, I appreciate the value of a good monophonic synth, meaning you can only play one note at a time, and while this synth is excellent at that, I really appreciate the poly mode which turns the synth into a polyphonic synth, meaning you can play more than one note at a time. For me, this is always useful when I want to play synth chords, and with a mono synth, you cannot play chords. As a synth and keyboard player, a good fifty percent of what I need requires chords, so it always feels good to have that option. Even though it’s only a 37 key synth, there’s still enough room to hit those bigger chords.

If you’re not familiar with oscillators, they basically manipulate the soundwaves that come out of your synth. The Sub 37 allows you to run two oscillators at once, something only made possible in recent years. So, if you’d like to combine a saw and a square, you can totally do it.

My favorite combo is the sine wave, a smooth round sound, and the sawtooth, the famous edgy synth sound. This rounds out and thickens the flavor of the whole sound, which only adds to the famous Moog fatness.

Let’s talk presets. I scrolled through most of them and there are more than enough. There’s around 250 of them and they’re all pretty great. The only thing about the presets though is that they’re so specific, if you don’t immediately want that exact sound, you’re going to have to do a little bit of editing to get it the way you want it to sound.

However, once you start to get familiar with synths, you’ll know how to make it do what you want it to do. For instance, if it’s sounding too buzzy, you can turn down the cutoff filter or even change the oscillator to a different waveform if you want something radically different.

The Moog arpeggiator is one of my favorites of all time. There are options to do tons of different patterns, and there’s also a step sequencer where you can gradually add in notes in order to sequence melodies. I love using these kinds of features for writing and music production, and I would recommend you do the same if you’re ever interested in utilizing synths in recording and production.

I’m going to talk a little more about the price later on in this review, but two of the most important things to me as a synth enthusiast are the portability and playability element. The Sub 37 weighs 22 pounds, which is not light for me, but it’s far from heavy. If you pick up this synth, I’d definitely recommend getting at least a soft case for it, as you don’t want to accidentally drop it.

As far as playability goes, I appreciate that there are both audio and headphone outputs, with the option to change the volume separately for each output. So for instance, if I wanted to mute myself on stage but pick a new sound and test it, I could do it. Their website goes into detail about all of the features and all of the really technical specs, if you’re interested in reading up on it.

With that said, here are a handful of notable specs for the Sub 37:

• Monophonic /Duo-Paraphonic
• 37 keys, velocity sensitive
• Delay, Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain, Release envelopes
• 256 Presets
• Syncable Arpeggiator and Step Sequencer
• Cutoff and Resonance Filters
• Audio and Headphone Outputs

This press release shows a little more details on the specs, as well.

Sub 37 vs the Competition

The Moog Sub 37 costs about $1,579, but I want to wait to talk about the price of this synth a little later because I first want to discuss some of the other analog synthesizers for sale on the market today, and how they compare to the Sub 37.

Sub 37 vs the Pro 2

Dave Smith’s synths are arguably some of the Moogs’ strongest competitors. As one great synth comes to power, so will others, in hopes to conquer the synth market. The Pro 2 is one of these competitors. Like the Moog Sub 37, it’s both monophonic and paraphonic , meaning you can get up to a four note polyphony when you need it.

As I mentioned before, for analog synths, this is a great option for me. It doesn’t look nearly as original as the iconic Moog shape, but a lot of people like the fact that it’s flatter and arguably more portable, at around 18 pounds.

One trade-off for this synth is that you get more keys, 49 to be exact. However, those keys will cost you, as this synth costs around $2,000 on average. Sound-wise, it’s really thick, maybe not quite as fat as the Moog, but definitely analog. The keys feel smooth, and they’re also velocity sensitive. So, if you basically want more of everything, with similar quality, check out the Pro 2 .

Moog Sub 37 vs Sub Phatty

With some products, the competitors are still made by the same people. So, how does the Moog Sub Phatty do against the Sub 37? Well the sound is comparable, definitely. This thing sounds amazing. Everything I love about the Sub 37 can be found in the Sub Phatty.

However, there are actually some huge differences. There are only 25 keys, for instance. It’s only monophonic, which for me is a deal breaker, but tons of people who play synth bass only use mono synths anyway. It’s just not for me. But the filters are the same powerful ones, and the sound is just is crisp, punchy, and thick. It’s also only $839, so it’s nearly half the cost of the Sub 37. If you’re into synth bass, this is a beast you’ll want to pick up.

Moog Sub 37 vs Minimoog Model D

Near the top of the price range at almost $4,000 ($3,749 to be exact) is the Model D. The Model D is the vintage 1970s Moog synth where most of the spacey sci-fi scores came from. Its vintage sound is unparalleled, when it comes to all of the Moogs. There are three powerful oscillators, with detailed variations on waveforms to choose from, as well as two noise generators, whereas most synths only have one, if any.

It has 44 keys and weighs 32 pounds, which means it’s still very portable, and definitely has more than enough outputs, including MIDI IN/OUT and the control panel can actually lower down for storage purposes. It’s gorgeous to look at, and definitely maintains the vintage sound, arguably more than the Sub 37. But it’s fetched at a pretty penny, so you need to be serious about it if you’re interested in picking one up.

Moog Sub 37 vs the Voyager

Lastly, let’s talk about the Voyager. The new Voyagers are based heavily on the original Model D, but with a few modifications. One important distinction I’ve noticed is the X/Y expression touch pad you can find in the center of the console, in between the oscillators and the filters. You can mess around with it in order to modulate existing tones based on a parameter you’ve selected. This is a really neat feature, and it definitely allows you to play the synth in a way that you wouldn’t have been able to play it in the past, which can help you transform synth playing into something new.

It’s great to see this kind of innovation and while Moog didn’t invent this style of pad, it’s a great addition. Like the Model D it also has a lot of options for voltage control, which is something you can’t really do as easily on the Sub 37. The Voyager is $3,995 and you’re paying for some of the best quality sounds on the market, if you pick it up.

In Conclusion

There are a lot of great synths out there by several different companies, but Bob Moog’s synths are some of the best, the Sub 37 fits perfectly in the Moog lineup as something a serious synth enthusiast would love for a price under $2,000. It’s portable, it’s accessible at home and on the stage, and it’s really fun to play.

It might be missing some of the features found on the more expensive Moogs, but it also has more features than something like the Sub Phatty, which is a better choice if you’d rather play synth bass and monophonic melodies, rather than chords.

But my favorite thing about the Sub 37 is that it manages to feel great while simultaneously sounding both old and new. There will always be ways to expand on the classic synth sound, and the Sub 37 gives you the tools to do it. I give the Sub 37 a 4.7 out of 5 stars, because it’s relatively affordable compared to top tier models but does so much great stuff.

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Moog Sub 37 review

Big, bad, limited-edition synth.

• £1249

MusicRadar Verdict

With a richer set of features and far fewer operational hurdles than its predecessor, the Sub 37 is superb.

Can be used in duo-paraphonic mode. Syncable Arpeggiator and Step Sequencer. Two assignable (source/destination) modulation busses.

Not much, given the price.

MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.

Moog Sub 37

Little more than a year since the arrival of the 25 key Sub Phatty, Moog has released its successor, the Sub 37. It's bigger, meatier and easier to pilot - the Sub 37 user gets (for a nominally hiked price) a keyboard poised to be the most exciting member of the Phatty line.

Extra toppings

The Sub 37 looks markedly different to its predecessor. There are more keys, more knobs and more switches. Once you've removed it from the box, you quickly get the sense that you're in for a different ride entirely.

The hallmark Moog wood panelling is employed on either side of the synth, with the left cheek being the location of all the unit's patch points (Power, Audio In/Out, MIDI, Pitch/Filter/Volume CV, KB Gate, and USB).

The sturdy chassis is a steel/ aluminium combo and the 37 keys that give the synth its name feature both aftertouch and velocity sensitivity.

"If there was a hallelujah moment it might have been the news that Moog decided to add a full-on arpeggiator

Since we're on the subject of keys, we might as well tackle the subject of the keyboard's Duo Mode or paraphonic capabilities. This means the Sub 37 can play two independent pitches (one from Oscillator 1 and the other from Oscillator 2), both of which are then sent through the much-desired Moog 20Hz-20kHz ladder filter.

This differs from a polyphonic synth in that polyphonic is defined as being able to play 'more' than two notes at a time. Switching between the Duo Mode and the monophonic side of the synth's personality is achieved by simply mashing the Duo Mode switch in the Oscillator section.

Sound sources include the two aforementioned oscillators, a square wave sub oscillator, a pink noise generator, along with an external source control that doubles as a way to feedback the mixer output into itself to fatten up the sound (a la legendary Minimoog of the '70s).

While busier than the Sub Phatty, the rest of the Sub 37 follows the Moog tradition of laying out its operational panel in a simple, logical fashion.

To the extreme left is a small (1.5x1in) but welcome LCD display that heads up the synth's Programming Section. You can use this to manage any of the 256 presets (16 banks of 16 patches), of which the unit ships with 134 designed at the factory.

You can browse presets by type (bass, leads, etc) and you can use the Compare button to contrast any tweaks you have made to a patch to an existing preset. With Compare lit, the preset is locked and can't be altered until you again press Compare and exit that mode.

Similarly, you can move from Preset into a Panel Active mode when you want to strike out with a patch of your own creation. Presets for any bank can also be accessed quickly via the 16 preset buttons available just above the keyboard.

Hallelujah!

If there was a hallelujah moment attached to the announcement of the Sub 37 it might have been the news that Moog decided to add a full-on arpeggiator to their newest creation (something not even included on the flagship Minimoog Voyager XL).

Included in this section are a rate knob (conveniently labelled in bpms) and a companion Tap button in order to have the synth fall in line with whatever tempo the user desires.

The arpeggiator will run -2/+2 octaves but if you double tap either of the up and down octave range buttons you will move into a mode where the arpeggiator "will play all the notes in the original octave, the second octave, the third octave" before heading back down in the opposite direction.

Patterns available include Up, Down, Order (notes are triggered in the order they were played), and Random. Arpeggios can be latched so as to be played continuously without holding down any keys, and the Back/ Forth and Invert buttons add additional pattern variation.

"A big plus that the Sub 37 brings to the table is two modulation busses, both of which have a wide range of routing destinations"

The Sub 37 also includes a 64-step sequencer. Creating sequences is largely a doddle and while in the Duo Mode, the sequencer will actually allow you to enter two separate pitches per step, which presents the user with some interesting pattern options.

If for some reason 64 steps aren't enough, each preset can be stored with its own sequence, thereby offering the possibility of recalling different patterns that use the same sound.

The Glide Section is similar to that of the Moog Minitaur, where the portamento effect can either be based on the interval between notes (LCR), a fixed time as set by the position of the Time knob (LCT), or an exponential rate of fast to slow (EXP).

The effect can be assigned to either oscillator or both, with CV keyboard gating and legato added via the specified switches.

Meet the mods

A big plus that the Sub 37 brings to the table is two modulation busses, both of which have a wide range of routing destinations. Five waveforms (triangle, square, sawtooth, ramp, plus sample and hold) are on offer as well as a sixth position for the filter envelope or a controller option.

A Hi Range switch in either of the Mod Sections lets you add frequencies in the audio range to the Sub 37's LFO, while a bipolar +/-5 Pitch Amount knob can be directed at either or both oscillators.

A similar +/-5 knob is available to determine the amount of deviation added to the filter's cutoff frequency. The Mod Dest switch can take aim at up to seven destinations including one or both of the oscillator waveshapes, the rate of the other LFO, VCA, the noise level, or EG time. But you can also expand the range of either buss destination by hitting the Controller's switch and deciding how much impact the use of velocity, aftertouch, or the modulation wheel have on the modulation.

You can even use MIDI CC external to the Sub 37 to tweak modulation depth. The mind boggles at the possibilities.

With the Sub 37 being built upon its predecessor's sound engine (down to the inclusion of the Sub Phatty's lauded MultiDrive saturation circuit) and also inheriting its DAHDSR envelope functionality (see Outside The Box), what principally distinguishes the newer synth is its ease of use and flexibility.

Moog did well to liberate all the 'under the hood' functions to the front panel and then expand the instrument's key range. And while you might not be inclined towardsa monosynth, the Sub 37's Duo Mode is an intriguing addition to the onboard sonics as opposed to a gimmicky substitute for polyphony.

Tack on the arpeggiator and the sequencer and you have a very useful and roadworthy piece of kit that's bound to see you through years of creativity.

Interested? Well, don't sleep on the Sub 37 for too long. Moog apparently has it set to be a limited edition, and this may be one of the best keyboards currently available at this price. You have been warned.

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