The synth community has been abuzz in recent months with the news that Moog will be releasing a new analogue synth this year, a flagship poly set to replace the soon-to-be-discontinued Moog One as the premier instrument in the iconic brand's product line-up.
Until now, very few details have been shared about the synth, now known to be named the Moog Muse, save for a video of superproducer Mike Dean jamming on the instrument in his studio. Earlier this week, however, MatrixSynth reported that a Norwegian retailer had leaked official - albeit blurry - product images, specs and an all-important price tag for the Muse.
The product listing has since been taken down, but not before details on the synth had been shared widely online: here's what we know so far. The product of more than five years of development, Muse aims to capture the "rich history" of the brand by using vintage circuits from classic Moog instruments and modules while looking to the future with forward-thinking set of features.
Muse is an eight-voice, bi-timbral synthesizer with a 61-key semi-weighted Fatar keybed, equipped with velocity and channel aftertouch. Its two analogue oscillators per voice are said to be inspired by the Moog Voyager's and are capable of both FM and PWM. These are joined by a mod oscillator with selectable waveforms that can be used to modulate the filters, pitch, PWM and VCA, along with three LFOs, one of which is dedicated to pitch modulation.
Muse's oscillators run through dual per-voice ADSR envelopes with looping and variable curves, and dual analogue ladder filters (one low-pass, one low and high-pass) based on the classic Moog 904-A; these can be routed in series, parallel or even stereo configurations. The VCAs are based on the Moog 902 module, and offer control over volume, pan position and pan spread per voice.
That's not all; we've got a CP3-style mixer section with ring modulation and an overload circuit, a digital stereo multi-tap delay, arpeggiator, and 64-step sequencer with generative and probablistic sequencing - new territory for Moog that's also been explored with the recently-announced Labyrinth.
The retailer listed the Muse at 47380 Kroner, which puts it at just under $4400 - a touch above the price of the Arturia PolyBrute 12, and around the same as the UDO Super Gemini.
None of these details have yet been confirmed by Moog. When we know more, so will you.
