Nope! Otherwise it’s amazing!
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Like some other synths, it does not like the MIDI Clock or Note off (Velocity=0) messages from the Octatrack. But otherwise I like it.
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Sonic Lab review is up.
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Some absolutely massive sounding patches in that.
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Nick is one of the best. Knows what he’s talking about, doesn’t plaster his mug all over the thumbnails, and demonstrates the gear with some truly beautiful patching.
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Plus he’s an OG if not the OG. Been making videos about gear since at least 2010.
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I broke down and ordered a Taiga. Listening again to that acid demo @phading posted pushed me over the edge.
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@m0ld not very proud to induce shopping but… reading this on a bad day warmed my heart 
thank you! I hope Taiga inspires you too (and I hope the envs don’t drive you half as mad as they do me)
check more of my music :-)
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Received mine a few hours ago!
First impression after about an hour of use (yes, I know this kind of thing is useless, but it’s fun):
- It sounds really good.
- Knobs are a bit too close together, but I think I can live with that. I’ve seen that mentioned before, but having tiny hands I didn’t think it’d feel quite so cramped.
- I’m definitely going to need to learn how to utilize the LPG/ dynamics module - time to dig into the manual!
- It’s been a long time since I’ve used a semi-modular synth, this is definitely the most intimidating one I’ve used yet.
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Has anyone successfully used the OT to send a midi cc message to the Taiga for the assignable cc? I’ve followed the instructions in the manual and ruled out other problems but the Taiga will just not ‘read’ the cc message from the OT. It will accept and remember cc from other devices, just not the OT.
I’d like to know if anyone succeeded with the Taiga + OT and + DFAM please.
FYI - Taiga Keyboard users!
Firmware update - v1.0
(near bottom of page where the Docs links are)
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I’m super curious about the Taiga Keyboard. I had been considering a Moog Grandmother, and am now on the fence. Looking forward to hearing your experiences.
Does anyone know the physical dimensions of the Taiga keyboard unit?
Details of recent 1.1 version update below:
Firmware Version 1.1 Changelog:
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USB MIDI Added
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Corrected USB device name to “Taiga_Keyboard”
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Added some slight slew limiting to Aftertouch control to make it more expressively usable/eliminate some signal noise.
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Rescaled keybed velocity to make use of the full output range.
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Fixed the pitch bend wheel so that it only sends Midi data when outside the center pitch, and also it always returns to zero.
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Pitchbend in Paraphonic Mode Fixed
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Fixed MIDI clock subdivision; was previously not subdividing the MIDI clock.
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Added random wave mode to the oscillators
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Added random filter mode to the filter section
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Edit button now adds an arp note when running the arpeggiator in hold mode.
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Clock properly handles MIDI clock microstepping so that the ARP will deterministically trigger on midi pulse 0 (out of 6) after receiving a MIDI clock start command.
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MIDI mod-wheel CC command is scaled to the value of the mod controller output rather than just outputting the position of the mod wheel, giving access to the mod controller functionality to outboard midi gear when using taiga keys as a midi controller.
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Rewrote the mod wheel functionality to make full use of all 13 scalings for each mod mode, and added more behaviors to the mod modes that are selected with the octave buttons:
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0-5v Mode
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Added 4 Sub-Modes
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0-5-0v center low, edges high
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5-0-5v center high, edges low
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5-0v Inverted
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0-5v
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LFO Mode
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Increased the range of the LFO, and fixed the phase relationship, also made the LFO update after changing rate rather than after finishing a full cycle to make it more responsive at low frequencies. Also, added 4 Sub-Modes
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Sine Wave
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Triangle Wave
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Saw Wave
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Square Wave with PWM control rather than gain control
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Envelope Mode
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Fixed envelope length so that the mod mode value changes the length of the envelope, rescaled the envelope lengths for all 13 values. Also, added 4 Sub-Modes
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Percussive Envelope
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Swell-y Triangle Envelope
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Reversed Percussion Envelope
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Sustain-y Envelope
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Random Mode
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Increased the number of different randomness timings, and increased the range of these timings, and made them be more useful values that scale the randomness in a more naturally musical way. Also, added 4 Sub-Modes
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Soft Random Expression Generator
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Triangular Random Expression Generator
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Sawed Random Expression Generator
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Sample and Hold Generator
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Think I’m leaning towards Moog Grandmother now + a case to grow into at some point. Taiga Keyboard’s Euro rack depth (44mm) appears to be too shallow to accommodate an Expert Sleeper’s Disting EX (50mm). These are revelations of someone new to Euro. Taiga Keyboard still seems super cool.
Put the two on an equal basis, the extra rack is extraneous as you could add that to the TK as well.
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I have a Taiga desktop and a Grandmother (and Matriarch).
Taiga is a very cool desktop unit. I think it’s laid out very nicely and more so than other semi Modular’s it feels like you can completely rewire the thing how you want with the patch bay, and most things have patch points and built in attenuators which is nice. The knobs are definitely a little close together though.
I’m not really a fan of the analog filter on the Taiga. It’s not bad by any means and not my least favorite analog filter, but it’s not exciting to me. Sure, it doesn’t lose low end when increasing Q and the resonance is tamed pretty well so it doesn’t get and ugly squelch like some can get but again, it just doesn’t wow me that much. It also doesn’t fully close in Low Pass mode, so you gotta rely on the LPG / Amp to stop the oscillators from droning, not a big deal just a note.
I like the LPG a lot more than the filter. More fun to work with and of course works very well for percussive sounds. Definitely the more unique aspect of the synth, not a lot of synths have low pass gates today especially in this price point.
The analog delay is pretty meh. As a delay it’s almost worthless. I dont care for it. It’s mushy and gross and analog and that’s neat but it doesn’t really do much for what I’d want as a delay. To push it into feedback territory and using it as a sound source and feeding it back through the mixer and stuff, that’s where I’ve had the most fun with it. But it’s no where near the Matriarch delay, of course, but I’d also say I think the Korg Monotron Delay, the $50 little keyboard oddity, is a better delay.
The second mixer sections and overdrive and utilities are all really good, though the only free running LFOs are a bit of a disappointment and you’ll need to buy some eurorack modules if you want tempo sync LFOs. You can use the oscillators as LFOs (well, maybe just the third one goes lower I think). You can sync the oscillators but I don’t think they can be tempo synced.
Edit: correction, there is a LFO that can be synced to an external midi source in the control section. Totally forgot about that cuz for the most part I’ve only used the taiga with other eurorack gear. Doesn’t change that I wish the other two LFOs could sync as well.
The Oscillators are really cool and complex and honestly, I find one to be more than enough for me most times, at least for raw sound, using the other two for modulation. But yeah, three of those oscillators is kind of a steal in eurorack form. If they were modules you could easily spend the same amount as the synth for just those three oscillators.
All that said, I like the Grandmother more. I think the raw tones and the classic sound of it all just sounds more appealing. I think as a unit it looks better, and I do think that matters even if it’s superficial. The filter is incredible. Even though it has less overall utilities and features it more than makes up for it in overall sound. The spring reverb is very one note but I still find it more usable than the delay on the Taiga.
If you were to ask whether you should get a Mother 32 or Taiga I would definitely say Taiga but between the Grandmother and Taiga I gotta go with the Grandmother, even comparing the added benefits of the Keyboard taiga coming with extra eurorack space (also on a side note I do not recommend Disting Ex…)
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Another lens to view this comparison through, a timbral lens, is wavefolding.
Moog someday may bring their wavefolding experiment from the Mavis into a system.
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Wavefolding is definitely one of the things the Taiga has going for it that would be missing in a Moog Grandmother. Perhaps that’s a module that can be that could be in a tank later on though, like a Mavis. It does sound pretty amazing how it’s integrated in the Taiga, especially when set to random.
It’s a bummer that Moog never went all in on Eurorack. I know people were speculating that they might start making modules. Same with Arturia. Would have been nice if other bigger companies went into the space. Instead we just got the biggest company and they aren’t doing anything creative.
A very nice demo from Starsky Carr.
Glad that someone is showing the Taiga Keys in a musical context.
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