![]() To work around Moog's filter patents, Zumcheck had originally designed a VCF based on a diode ladder circuit. Later models also had a dedicated headphone output, and it was possible to switch in any combination of the internal amp, the headphone out, and the external amplifier out. Finally, the Sonic Six had a built-in amplifier and speaker. There was also a ring modulator (another feature not typical of vintage Moogs), and a variety of unusual routing options and external I/O. It offered two VCOs, two LFOs that could be cross-blended (a feature found on no other Moog model until the Multimoog), a ring modulator, and a duophonic keyboard which allowed the two VCOs to track two different notes on the keyboard (and it was possible to make one oscillator use portamento and the other one not). Bob Moog decided to market the unit as an alternative to the Minimoog he added a few features (notably a pitch wheel), repackaged the unit such that it was built into a road case a la the EMS Synthi-A, and offered it as the Sonic Six. So the Sonic V, Musonics' only model, wound up being a Moog property. However, in 1970, when Moog was seeking an investor for his company, the person he wound up doing business with was Waytena, who merged Musonics with R.A. Zumcheck's work resulted in a synth called the Sonic V, which Musonics unsuccessfully marketed. ![]() Per a Gordon Reid article published in Sound on Sound magazine in 2002, the design stemmed from an ex-Moog employee named Gene Zumcheck, who was hired by investor Bill Waytena in 1969 to design a synth for his company Musonics. Both its circuit design, and its panel layout and packaging, are radically different from other Moog products of the era. (Despite what the name might suggest, the synth is not polyphonic, although it does have duophonic capability.) The Sonic Six is an outlier among Moog products both in its design and in its provenance, since its original design did not come from Moog Music at all. Photo courtesy of Vintage Synth Explorer.Ī monophonic synth produced by Moog Music from 1972 to 1979. ![]() Many of my issues were resolved by replacing the CA3080s after something probably shorted during the negative voltage regular replacement.Įdit edit: you can change the frequency of the oscillation with the filter cutoff frequency slider and the resonance seems to work.Moog Sonic Six. There’s probably more to do once I resolve this filter issue, but this issue is the one that currently confounds me. The filter worked prior to me unnecessarily replacing the negative voltage regulator on board one…in fact everything worked prior to that point (except oscillator b, but I think that has been fixed in the meantime, though I can’t quite tell with the loud filter overpowering everything). I’m just curious if the loud Filter could be caused by the tantalum or the SG3821 failing. I’ve replaced most active components in the filter section except for SG3821 (I just ordered CA3046 which is the modern equivalent of that chip) and I have yet to replace the 5.6 uf tantalum capacitor (awaiting electrolytic equivalents in the mail). Additionally, the master volume control seems to have no effect on the volume of the synth at the moment. ![]() Unfortunately, now the filter seems to only self-oscillate and it is very, very loud…there’s no way to turn it off and it over powers anything I do with the oscillators (which you can vaguely hear in the background). Then I put in new CA3080 chips at IC14 and IC27 on board two and it seemed to bring the filter back to life. I replaced pretty much every transistor in the VCA/filter/articulator and ultimately when I threw in a new CA3080 (IC21 on board 2) I was able to get the correct sounds by turning on the Direct Output Mixer knobs (but that seemed to bypass the filter, articulator and contour generator which still didn’t work). Well, I must’ve shorted something at that point because when I turned the synth on after I could very faintly hear the synth functioning but it seemed the VCA had kicked the bucket. I successfully changed the positive voltage regulator which had failed and had read that it was best just to replace both because they would inevitably fail. It stems from me changing out IC11 on board 1 (the -v regulator). I’m having problems with the Filter section of the Sonic Six.
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