Moog Minitaur

The Minitaur is a good product, no question about that. However, it's kinda limited compared to for example the Doëpfer Dark Energy for about the same price. So you might want to reconsider when you can buy only one. Funny fact is that the Dark Energy MK1 actually sounded a lot like the Moog Minitaur does now. But after they redesigned it to the MKII, the Doëpfer has a very different sound. I think that the Minitaur and the DEII make a nice combo. The Moog is pricy but I think it's a good buy nonetheless.

I got this synth primarily for overdubbing electric bass on a project that was heavily inspired by 70s prog rock. Needless to say, it's absolutely superb for that role but it's also great for a lot of other stuff.

It definitely sounds like a real Taurus. I'm sure some subtle differences can be found if comparing them side by side but for all intended purposes this IS a Taurus, just without the pedals. But it's also a lot more versatile than the old Taurus. You can definitely get the old school Taurus sounds but there's a lot more on offer too, much more tweakable.

Some of the controls are only available when connecting to a computer via USB. Personally I don't like this way of controlling an analog synth but I guess it can just be seen as an extra bonus feature. To include all the controls on the physical unit would probably have raised the price too much. And the "extra" controls aren't necessary to get great sounds out of the Minitaur. The real physical knobs on the unit have all the functions you would expect on this kind of synth so the USB thing isn't really a problem, it just makes me feel like I'm paying for something I'll never use.

It's a shame that Moog has limited the range (MIDI notes 0-72) of this amazing synth though. I can't see any reason for this other than Moog not wanting it to compete with their more expensive models. The bass tones certainly are unique but within it's limitations the Minitaur can be a great lead synth as well. To limit it to bass duties is a ibit of a waste in my opinion. Still, no other synth (except the original Taurus) can produce these kind of FAT bass sounds so bass will always be it's main feature. And even with it's limitations the tonal range is wide enough for lots of stuff besides bass.

Build quality is amazing, light years ahead of Volcas, Roland Boutiques or similar "toy-like" plastic synths. I would have absolutely no hesitations about tossing the Minitaur in a bag and use it extensively for gigging.

Highly recommended if you need the fattest sounding synth bass in the world and can live with the limited tonal range!

There is no hype behind the Moog brand: what they produce are nothing but outstanding products.

This is probably the cheapest Moog synth you can buy, and I feel like saying that, if you can afford buying only one synth, make it this one. Its biggest, and in my opinion, only limitation is the number of octaves it covers (it is a bass synth, after all).

You may want to try some of the built-in factory presets, but honestly after 30 minutes of playing with it, you will forget about presets, plugins, and any digital witchcraft (that the Minitaur supports anyway): you will just want to turn knobs! It will be at this point that you understand what they mean when they talk about 'shaping the sound with your hands'. All the controls are so intuitive and responsive, that you just know what to do.

And it because of its great responsiveness and intuitiveness, that I also use it a lot as a modulation filter on practically anything. This is probably not as complete and featured like the Moogerfooger MF-101, but until I can afford buying one, the Minitaur will act as an excellent stopgap.

One last note: with the latest firmware revision, the Minitaur can also work as a MIDI2CV converter. This is not listed among the feature in the product description at the time I wrote this review.