Moog Werkstatt-01 Analog Synthesizer Kit - Black

Ok this is an amzing analog synthesizer. It is not a toy. Yes it does not have midi or cv in, its up to you to add that support, but even without an actual keyboard it is great. However, my particular synth was missing the four sheet metal screws, so I had to buy some from home depot. Also, whoever soldered the board was a little sloppy on one of the buttons, and it was lopsided in such a way that the chassis would catch on it and hold the button down. So I had to ream the hole with a file.

Please understand what you're buying before you purchase the Moog Werkstatt-01. This is *not* a complete synthesize meant for musicians, this is not a bench tool designed to delivery perfectly preprogrammed notes like a keyboard.What is the Werkstatt then? It is the coolest toy a hobbyist or maker could ever ask for! Noise fans unite! There's just so much to say. I'll try to hit some of the high points:+ Solid construction. The PCB is gorgerous, the case is pure industrial, the buttons and toggles are top quality. This is as durable as you could ever hope to ask for, for the price. A solid addition to the legendary Moog lineup.+ Fun out of the box. I've already generated bits of 80s sci-fi movie soundtracks and John Carpenter riffs. I've made sci-fi noises from teleporters to laser guns. This is a great way to learn about signal modulation in a safe and controlled manner, so that you know where to go in your future explorations.+ Moog sound quality. You can find demos online of people achieving gorgeous sounds out of this unit. The oscillators have incredible range, and there are a ton of excellent filters to help you achieve that classic, enormous Moog sound. Like so many experimenters before you, you'll realize what was so special about Moog when it arrived on the scene back in the day.+ Amazing for makers and noise fans alike. Several elements of the unit come with manual adjustment pots to either tune the controls or further tweak the output. There's a small but very useful patch board to play around with, which just so happens to match the I/O pins on the Arduino or Rasberry Pi. There are a ton of test pads and solder points inside, including a small breadboard build into the motherboard just in case you want to solder permanent additions inside the case.+ Great support online. The Werkstatt started as a limited release for fans, at an event where they were allowed to build their own units. Production seems to have continued, including Moog maintaining the "werkstattworkshop.com" website where you can find project ideas or join fan forums. There are lots of great ideas on the site- from adding touch-sensitive controls to volume knobs to connecting an Arduino. You're not just getting a Moog synthesizer, you're joining a community of makers.+ Made in America. How often do you find that on electronics anymore?If I had to pick a negative, I'd say that the keyboard is just barely useful. Having only one octave of keys (which may not even produce different sounds or remain in key depending on how you twist the knobs) doesn't seem massively useful. If the unit had half the keys and an extra dial to change the tone it would be that much more awesome. The buttons are also borderline hard to hit, they stick up only a few millimeters out of the case making it clear they're for experimenting and not for "serious" play. But, you could quickly use the patch board to link up to a keyboard if you wanted, so it's one more area of opportunity.To reiterate: All of the negative comments you'll find online are about things missing from this unit, that you'd expect from a "complete" synth. It doesn't have a MIDI input, or a volume knob, for starters. But, there are a million ways to accomplish these hookups- especially for anyone willing to pick up a soldering iron. Get this kit if you're a maker or noise fan looking to do some breadboarding and soldering. Do not get this unit if you're expecting a complete out-of-the-box kit. It's clear that Moog skimped on things you don't really need (MIDI input) in order to deliver astonishingly great components (such as the main oscillator which has an insane range).

I was actually a bit disappointed that this was only available as a pre-soldered kit, but I didn't have to worry, the craftsmanship was so poor that I had to resolder most of the pushbutton switches to be able to assemble the enclosure. Many of the switches had been significantly bent during production. I understand that QA problems like this can happen, but it would have been easy to spot, and seems unnecessary.After a bit of resoldering (low difficulty level) it it has been working great.

I've been doing electronic music since the 60s when unless you were very rich you had to make your own instruments. Over the years I've had the pleasure of using dozens of both homemade and manufactured synthesizers. I had read about these but didn't consider it to be s serious instrument. Then one day a friend brought one of these over for me to check out. Considering what these cost I was floored. Since it was already assembled I can't attest to the kit assembly aspect but the quality of the sounds this makes is unbelievable. While it's range isn't huge what it does do is sonically equal to my old mini moog. I experimented making a drum loop to play over and ran the Werkstatt through a Roland Space Echo and a Electro Harmonix Mel9 melotron simulator. I also used my Moog theremin. It was a very successful experiment that I used the next day in a live performance with a very positive audience reaction. I didn't have the time to play around with the patches much because I had to return it to it's owner. In the next couple of weeks I plan to buy one of these for myself and will probably have more to ad to this review but with my limited experience I most highly recommend the Moog Werkstatt to both anybody wanting to learn about analog synthesis and to old hands looking for another tool in their electronic arsonel.Addendum: I did buy one of these of my own with the 1/8" expander l.p..I mostly use it hooked up to an Arturio Keystep which is easy to hook up with the expander installed. It makes it a lot easier to use in performance than the little bitty buttons it comes with. I love the simplicity of the Werkstatt and find new uses every time I hook it up.

Received in a timely manner."What's in the box?" It's not your girlfriends head . It's a beast! Deep thick analog goodness everything Moog is known for and with mod capabilities. The online workshops are great as well.Which gets me to the 4 star rating. My PCB came with the test points already soldered which means I can't do a majority of the tutorials where the PCB TP are open for jumpers. The moog forum has others stating the same thing.It's 5 stars but I gave it 4 so I'd have your attention. Be sure that what you are buying is what's expected.

The packaging and delivery were just fine. However, I was hoping the keys, though small, would represent a baronial keyboard in key (an octave).Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but as far as I can tell, the key of the note I hit isn't in the normal order like on a keyboard. It's a bit of a frustrating thing as this thing was about 300 bucks.