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I just got a mint Z1 (MOSS to the max) several weeks ago, and I am blown away by it. It is NOTHING like Radias or Kronos. Each are great in their own way....but MOSS has an "organic" character which I don't hear in Radias or Kronos. Both Radias and Kronos are newer....and therefore more "refined" and more "precise" in its character. What I love about the Z1 (and the MOSS cards I had in both Triton Studio and Karma Workstation) is the un-refined nature of its synthesis.

Its a true synth....VERY "touchy" when tweaking (you need to watch your speakers because the filters can explode on you at any time!), which results in genuine "happy accidents" ala Moog style....yet with its digitial character which is very evocative.

I also love its hold parameter.....turning almost any patch into a droning soundscape, and its X/Y and other real time knobs and controllers (that's Z1 specific, but you can program similar results in the Triton or Karma WS).... Though it excels at acoustic modeling as we all know......its brilliance is in its abstract synthesis and sound design possibilities. Its mod matrix is extreme, with hundreds of destinations and diverse sources. Very easy to program for a classic hardware synth with a menu system. The sonic results are unique and fantastic.

MOSS was way ahead of its time.... I love is how time has revealed a totally different side of the synth.....few if any synths have exceeded its architecture so many years later. Its one of the classic great hardware synthesizers!

I love my MOSS card in my TrEX. It's not very inviting to program because it's so complex and has no dedicated controls (yet, how could it, with 13 oscillator models?!) but it never disappoints me whenever I do dig in. These days I use it mostly to model other synth sounds (lot of cover stuff) but even using just the analog model the results I get usually surprise me (in a good way).

Interesting pointers there Mandala, thanks. And nice to hear others info. Still weighing options up here.
john

mandala music wrote:BTW you can modulate MOSS patches in your Korg Triton by using the X-Y controller of the Z1.

People often forget about the Z axis of the Trinity/Triton ribbon controller (pressure sensitivity), which can 'kind of' make up for the missing Y axis - hence you'll approach nicely (albeit less accuracy/control) an XY controller with a well-programmed XZ ribbon of the Trinity or Triton. Just thought to chime in on the XY issue...

synthjoe wrote:

mandala music wrote:BTW you can modulate MOSS patches in your Korg Triton by using the X-Y controller of the Z1.

People often forget about the Z axis of the Trinity/Triton ribbon controller (pressure sensitivity), which can 'kind of' make up for the missing Y axis - hence you'll approach nicely (albeit less accuracy/control) an XY controller with a well-programmed XZ ribbon of the Trinity or Triton. Just thought to chime in on the XY issue...

Only the Trinity had XZ ribbon. Triton's ribbon sported X, but not Z.

Timo wrote:Only the Trinity had XZ ribbon. Triton's ribbon sported X, but not Z.

Sorry, I thought it was the same - I never actually checked a Triton for Z axis, was it really abandoned after the Trinity? Shame...