Moog's Source was their first to offer patch memory storage as well as some other new features. It boasted 16 memory locations so you could finally save and recall your synth patches. A casette-tape jack was also implemented to transfer your patches to and from an external tape and free up the on-board memory for additional new patches. But in an effort to modernize with the eighties, the Moog had replaced all buttons, knobs and sliders with flat-panel membrane buttons and a single data-wheel assignment format. At the time, this may have seemed far-out, but in all actuality it is the Source's downfall.

Parameters are edited not with hands-on sliders and knobs but by assigning a selected parameter to the dedicated data wheel. This is very tedious and does not allow for true hands-on tweaking during performances nor can you adjust different parameters simultaneously or while playing. These days, the membrane buttons don't always seem to work quite right either. However, those famous monophonic Moog sounds are still inside this synth which has two fat analog oscillators and the legendary 24 dB Moog filter.

The Source has been used by Tangerine Dream, Jan Hammer, Depeche Mode, Devo, Vince Clarke, New Order, Ultravox, Josh Wink, Front Line Assembly, Moog Cookbook, Kitaro, Imperial Drag, The Cars, Phish, The Rentals, King Crimson, Blur, and Gary Numan.

Alex

May 21, 2011 @ 2:35 pm

the worst looking synth ever

phil

April 22, 2011 @ 4:54 am

I think VSE for this synth didn't tell the truth!
the source is the most amazing machine I ever played!
it sounds great, very close to a mini (I own a mini from '75), better than a prodigy
and the feature are very useful and funny, the seq is digital type so it reproduce exactly your execution (without quantizing ) and arpeggiator is a programmable quantazed seq like the pro-1. To program it is everything but tedious, very fast and easy you create every kind of genuine moog sound and memorize it! I highly recommend this synth, also to everyone who have a minimoog model D.

Danalogue

April 16, 2011 @ 8:03 pm

The Source is an under rated synth. It sounds amazing and has that nice buzzy overdriven tone which the minimoog has. Once you get past the concept of no pots it's very easy to use. It misses the 3rd osc from the mini but gains 2 adsr envelopes, osc sync, 16 memories, arpegiator, s/h. It sounds amazing and is more versatile than you might think once you scratch beneath the surface. Very expressive and has an amazing quality to the sound. Oscillators are sweet. Filter great and the envelope generator is extremely responsive. I think the article does not do it justice.

Knarf

December 15, 2010 @ 2:09 am

I saw and listened the french group Air on december 15th, playing at Espace Pierre Cardin in Paris. On stage, there were two Moog The Source, and Nicolas Godin (who also played electri / acoustic guitar, bass guitar and vocoder) used one to make and incredible and huge solo at the and of "Sexy boy".

RetroSound

September 23, 2010 @ 2:39 pm

For me one of the best monophonic synths ever. The sound is very deep, perfect for nice bass sounds.
Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaZofv6Xur0

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