Altair 231

Altair 231 is an almost identical copy of the famous Moog Minimoog, made in the former Soviet Union. My unit was manufactured (according to the date stamps in many components) in late 1986. I hope the factory wasn't too near Chernobyl...

Miscellaneous facts:

• Biggest difference in sound is caused by different brand of components: Russian equivalents are used everywhere
• The oscillator board is based on the older version. However, the Russians were clever and used multi-turn potentiometers for the scaling controls. Result: Synth stays in tune better.
• The keyboard circuit is somehow different. There's a kind of aftertouch-based vibrato. Except that instead of pressing the key harder, you can move it vertically instead.
• The keyboard feel isn't as good as in the real Mini. This is the biggest drawback. However, if one uses Mini on a studio environment with MIDI (unlike me) this wouldn't cause any problems. And the keyboard is anyway better than on say, my SCI Pro-One.
• Btw., there's no CV or Gate sockets on the back. One could fit pair of sockets if needed; I'd rather MIDI the synth (using a Minimoog midikit) straight away. Maybe I'll do that later...
• The Russians didn't seem to have reverse log pots. Because of that, the resonance control was wired backwards and a regular logarithmic pot was used instead. I replaced it.
• Other than that, the synth seems to be very robust and easy to service - the real Mini schematics come for good help when comparing the component numbers etc.
• It sounds like a Mini! I have a Mini with the newer oscillator board and I think that's the reason for minor differences in sound between it and the Altair.
• It didn't work without the volume pedal attached. I replaced the vol. ped. DIN connector with a regular 6,3 mm stereo jack with switch - now it works without as well.

I can honestly recommend the Altair for anyone looking for the real Moog sound without too much cash. The prices are raising, but there's still really good deals around - I got mine for 500 EUR.

Most sound clips I could find from the net were really poor. Here's a short blues improvisation I made entirely on my Altair except for the drums and added reverb. You can notice that one of the osc's is not exactly in tune. I recorded this before recapping & calibration of the unit. The whistling lead sound in the first part is only the filter self-oscillating. It tracks the keyboard really well!

Some photos of the innards