Forget the Cold War, this video – via Marko Ettlich at Retrosound – pits the raw firepower of the US Moog Minimoog synthesizer against the military grade design of the Russian Polivoks synthesizer.
Yes – it’s a analog synth war……
Ettlich unleashes an apocalyptic bass barrage, starting with a first strike from the Minimoog and matching it with a Polivoks response strong enough to tear down walls.
The only détente to be found here is on the mod wheels.
The synth war escalates with massive dual-oscillator Moog filter sweeps – nearly enough to disrupt the balance of power. But the Polivoks delivers an earth-shaking response that refuses to be contained.
Fortunately, before you have to say “cancel the Olympics”, Ettlich demonstrates what happens when these cold war classics work together – it’s mutually assured synthstruction. Duck and cover, kids!
Check out the video and let us know what you think! Meanwhile – we have a missile gap in our synth studio to address…
Playing the keybed on the Polyvosk is an experience…
In what way?
The Polivoks probably has the most noisy, clunky, plasticky keybed in synth history. Even though it’s very reliable, it plays like it’s built from legos!
does it mean if you step on one it will hurt real bad?
That synth got more dope than a Russian athlete.
Wow, what a war! Well I need to replay The video to make my choice.. Filters are so different and both great! I love the warmth of polivoks but minimoog’s sound richness is all in the last percussive square lead patch. I’d like to be the commander at the front (panel) line and we all need more epic battles like this.. Maybe the best thing could be a “Make your own war” double synth bundle pack?!
The MOOG has an edgier sound at the top of its filter sweeps than the Polyvosk. The Polyvosk definitely has a solid midrange but seems to go slightly out of tune. The MOOG’S filter modulation sounds clearer (more refined or sharper) than the Polovosk. And the MOOG’s percussive square sound sounded divine with the short echo on it — the Polyvosk’s percussive square, on the other hand, had an annoying note-off sound (which could possibly have been eliminated with a slightly longer release on its envelope.
Since the Mini has 3 oscillators and the Polivoks only has 2, the real fair US-Soviet battle would’ve been with the Aelita. But who the hell owns an original Model D and an Aelita in good condition…
For reference : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p_KdPQ_GkY0
I have an Aelita in mint condition but I don;t know how to use it lol
So it’s well that America won the war….but we miss the Russians..
The Polyvoks is a very nice sounding synth but I’d have to go with the Moog. I’ve been spoiled rotten by my Voyager and Sub-37. 🙂
Besides, the Russians don’t have Baseball & Apple Pie. :-p
I’d take hockey and vodka over baseball and hockey any day but I’ll be keeping my Moog.
The Russians do have baseball and apple pie, as well as synths, but Americans perfected all three.
I think it would be more proper to compare the mini to Altair 231:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U55B1f4n8wg
but I have no Altair. 😀 give me one Altair and I make a video.
the PV and the Mini are different synths I know that. read the description of this video. 😉
I would show identical sounds with both of the most popular synths from US and USSR.
thanks
I kinda like the polivoks’s filter better – but the osc’s sound cleaner and more modern which I am not as big a fan of
I know many people who own or have owned Polivoks. They all say one thing – it is impossible to get it in tune. For that reason these synths mostly collect dust.
I’ve heard this so many times about the Polivoks, yet mine stays in tune without any problem. I think a lot depends on which revision you own and whether the thermal calibration is still ok.
Omg laughed so hard. Thats the best part of the Polivoks – it always drifts a little and it makes it morr alive. So get back to school, sun 😀
I have to say I’m impressed with the Polivoks. While nothing will ever compare to the mighty MiniMoog, I always assumed (in my usual American way) that it would have been laughably bad in a Cold War-era way. I’m impressed with how close they got–I think they are in the 90% accuracy range here to the Mini and that’s nothing to sneeze at.
I prefer the sound of the Moog, yet looking on eBay a minimoog is currently selling for around £5k and that Polivoks selling for less than £500 – so unless I pull off that sell-out world tour sometime soon then I don’t think I’ll be going the minimoog route.
My friend, your purchase of a Moog will _guarantee_ that sell-out world tour you are craving.
I’ve never played a Moog, nor the Polivoks, so
my ears are not biased.
My ears favored the Polivoks
Damn that Moog at 4.03 sounds HUGE…bugger me….
I’m not quite sure what this teaches us – that the Russians have always been quite good at copying Western technology (badly), or that one synthesizer is quite good at emulating another (if only it would stay in tune).
Lol, if you would of done your homework you would know that Polivoks has its own unique filter which frankly to me sounds better than most lower moogs
Lol, I’ll let your grammar speak for our relative attention to our homework. What’s a “lower moog”?
That’s the only thing you can comment on? Regarding grammar I suggest you go to some middle school next your house, this topic concerns the Polivoks. If you were familiar with the Moogs you would deduce that I mean such models as Prodigy, Rogue and so on.