SonicLAB: Messenger - Landmark Synth For Moog

In some ways although its not the flagship of their range, this synth is a major milestone for Moog under InMusic, its the first synth to be designed and built under their ownership and Moog are keen to show that its not falling under the lowest common denominator approach many feared.

With new Oscillators (with folded waves, and a variable wave sub Osc), and a new Filter, its a big departure from the usual Moog instrument.

The filter is the same ladder 24dB with multi-mode LP LP2 pole, Band-Pass and High-Pass modes, but the big news is that it now has bass compensation (Res Bass) which is nicely done, resonance no longer drops the bass - unless you want it to. Its nicely done.

Add to that some other nice features, Keyboard S&H, parameter recording on Sequencer steps,  loopable envelopes, easy to use modulation routings, as well as 16 banks of 16 patches, it's got plenty going on.

I can confirm that it does not disappoint, and I expect to see it as a monosynth of choice in many a live setup. Moog has also ensured their control-law is part of the experience - first 1/4 turn of some parameters allows for fine control of smaller values etc.

All in all, I think they've done pretty well here, it's capable of some massive bass, driven filters (via the Feedback/Ext knob) and a wide variety of other sounds.

In the UK its priced at around £699 which is a fair price, given most Moogs come at a premium, this feels like a good price point.

My only gripe is I wish it could be duo-phonic (paraphonic) though Loopop has built a nifty WEB MIDI app for that (https://apps.loopopmusic.com. And it would be nice to route some of the assignable routings to multiple destinations.

Good job team Moog.

18 Sample Instruments for this on our Patreon

https://www.moogmusic.com/synthesizers/messenger/

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