SE-02 does not lack character fwiw, there’s plenty of modulations for getting that! However there is no RAC on the SE02 like on many moog synths so parameter adjustments are quantized to 127 discreet values. I find this problematic when adjusting the fine tunings of the oscs, and cutoff starts to sound steppy when resonance is close to the max.
Having said that, I bet the SE-02 can do “more” than the minitaur… But if you love the moog sound, you might still want to go for the taur
SE02 is nothing but character. Maybe a little too much at times. It’s heavy. Tweak any knob and it screams.
Hey there, welcome.
As far as I know, as of the most recent firmware update all (or most of) the hidden parameters you’d access in the editor can also be controlled via CCs: https://www.moogmusic.com/sites/default/files/Minitaurv2.2_Addendum.pdf
Thats exactly what I was looking for. Thank you very much!
@tsutek, what does RAC stand for?
and is this filter stepping in the SE-02 really audible? (and by ‘audible’ here I mean ‘annoying’ ;))
also, you mentioned this behaviour is similar to moog synths. do you mean the 'taur also suffers from this?
RAC = real analog control
It’s moogs fancy name of saying “non-steppy parameter editing” which avoids the common pitfalls of quantized control resolution somehow. RAC was featured on the Phatty line of synths and I’m expecting most moogs designed since then have this feature as well (unsure about the minitaur specificlly tho).
The cutoff steppyness on the SE-02 is easily made audible, but luckicly one can use ext CV control to get around it. And with the filter being the way it is, cranking up the reso far enough to make the cutoff steps audible thins out the sound in a major way, so in practice this aint a mega showtopper in any case.
From Phatty manual:
[quote]TECH NOTE: The LP’s editing controls are actually analog potentiometers.
When certain key parameters are selected, the analog control signal is switched to control that parameter directly. This is called RAC (Real Analog Control). RAC gives the LP a responsiveness that can only be achieved with analog control by providing direct access to the analog control signal path; straight to the synthesizer circuits. In the Stage Edition, RAC provides responsive analog control for the Osc 1 & 2, Filter Cutoff, Filter Resonance, EG Amount, Overload and Filter EG Sustain parameters. [/quote]
Phatty also has 14 bit midi resolution…
Ahh, interesting, I actually missed the fact that all controls of a phatty do not utilize RAC. You always learn something new.
Yes, but the ones that don’t still operate at much higher than 128 step resolution, not sure if it’s full 14 bit (16384 steps) but it’s at least 12bit (4096 steps) as available in precision edit…
SE-02 and Minitaur in here. Goofy piece 
https://m.soundcloud.com/djadonis206/2017-1013-fridaytha13th
heyy, a new, kookier side of Adonis! digging it
Reminds me of some ladomat whitelabels I loved collecting in the 90s…
OP, you said no the the Dominion Club, but not for any good reason (Synth II is a fantastic synth btw, nice choice). Since only a handful of people have Dominion Clubs right now, it’s still a bit under the radar. That won’t be true much longer because they are the best deal in monosynths by far at this time. Dominion club will be known as a classic in years to come. I think it’ll be regarded the same way as a 101 or 303 in 10 years.
If I absolutely was forced at gunpoint to choose between the minitaur or SE-02 I’d choose the minitaur because at least it doesn’t sound like a vst.
xdominion sounds cool indeed, but i can’t get over the cheap build of mfb synths (now they’re way better than my mfb synth2 which is housed in a generic phone enclosure, but still…)
actually i bought the se-02 and i’m loving it so far. oh and it definitely doesn’t sound like a vst
I find the notion that the SE-02 sounds like software or VA hilarious. Does rather confirm that Roland could have made a fully analogue 808 reproduction and the people that demanded it still would have said it sounded artificial and/or wrong.
I think its just that people too often base their experiences solely on a lossy compressed audio track on a “casually” produced youtube video. Even when there’s a chance to demo these instruments at certain music stores, people rarely seem to bother.
monologue hands down
There’s maybe one aspect to it that I can understand in the SE-02’s case, which is that the tuning is really good. The oscillators track extremely well over a wide range and the automatic tuning keeps it from drifting over time. So in that sense, no, it doesn’t sound like a vintage synth going out of tune all over the place.
I keep forgetting that typing words into a box is not a good way to convey things like sardonic humor. I don’t think the SE-02 sounds like a vst, I was attempting to poke fun at that phrase, which seems to be so common when it comes to Roland gear lately (specifically the boutique line).
I haven’t heard the SE-02 in person yet, but I think it looks fantastic from the videos and has knob-per-function which is what I like in a synth (usually). I’m happy that you like it @twardowski; I’m curious to hear what you think its strengths/weaknesses are. I’ve heard that it goes aggressive/noisy fairly easily, but with no first-hand experience I’m not sure whether that’s true or not. Perhaps it’s just people blowing through sweet spots due to the small knobs?
As far as the MFB build quality…the club is different (thankfully). Solid metal case that feels very dependable, nice quality power switch (for once), nice buttons, serviceable knobs. I see not a single weakness in the build quality of the dominion club, so MFB have significantly stepped up their game in that department (at least on the club–don’t have any of their other recent offerings).
@finalform- yes, that’s a good point about the tuning. I do actually enjoy oscillator drift (in small amounts, and certainly not on every synth) and detuning, but I also enjoy a nice digital synth which is quite reliable in comparison. I’ve always thought a mix of analog/digital sounds best, though I have to say that when it comes to filters I prefer analog 100% of the time. It’s easy enough to send a digital synth through an analog filter and get the best of both worlds, so that’s what I do with my digital synths.
Haha, sorry, I didn’t clock that. Yes, I have read some pretty sincere Youtube comments to that effect. 
Re: the tuning - yeah absolutely, and it’s nice to see more control over drift and detune coming to VA and digitally controlled analogue synths like the Peak and the Prophet Rev2. Sometimes that’s what you want, especially on a poly.
One of the Studio Electronics engineers stated (in a YT comment) that, while the filter design is basically identical to a Model D, they are hitting the filter a fair bit harder than the Minimoog does. It’s not hard to get it to distort.