Surface mount components in pro audio

I haven't had the need or opportunity to design anything with SMD but I agree with the capacitors. Good audio designers will use quality capacitors where they count. Even in SMD designs. Rupert neve designs come to mind.

Interesting and very cool!

But tonally is it really like an original Mini?

I think it's very close. One of the key aspects is the drifting oscillators. The vintage ones are very unstable, but if you tune them too tight now, you lose the fat character.

Here's what clusterchord says. He's the resident cork sniffer on GS and the muffwiggler modular forum.

"i agree this is the best sounding minimoog concept in eurorack. as far as accuracy goes it hits on the target much better than micromac (which also sounds wonderful). compared to my old oscillator board mini, my first impression is its just a tad more hifi - less hairy and saturated in low with a subtle tilt in the top end. but this is a very subtle impression, not night and day.

for anyone who wants a minimoog and can't afford one, or maintain one, this is pretty much it."

Btw micromac is through-hole.

There is a through-hole reissue minimoog now, and it also sounds very close to the rev 2 original it replicates, but it can't do some of the things modular format offers. That said, having a beautiful self-contained instrument with wood panels and name Moog on it is what I'd choose, but I don't think SMD compromises the sound.

Another comment from kipervarg on MW

"I have the AJH modules (a full voice + ring sm). The AJH modules have a different tone and are based on the early RA Moog MK1 design which had different VCO and VCF circuits. I think Moog had trouble with stability and moved to a different design after the first few hundred were in production.

The AJH modules are lovely enough in tone and CV functionality for things like pulse width, resonance, etc that I am going to keep both. When I purchased the reissued Minimoog I had in the back of my mind that I might sell off the AJH modules, but that went quickly out the window when I heard the new Minimoog. This is not a knock against the reissue, just acknowledgement that the tone between the very first Moogs and the model the reissue was based on are different in character. They sound wonderful together.

If I have some free time this month, I will post a video comparing both of them. I can't say enough good things about both AJH and the reissued Minimoog. I am lucky to be able to afford both."

I did the same and based my decision on what the information provided by Dallas Uptown-the owner of Vintech - who said, "The mic preamp transformers and circuits in the X73 and X73i are basically identical." I bought the X73i, but have not heard the X73. So, I couldn't tell you if they sound different. Have you heard both? I will say that I have had a few times, when recording female guitar players who played extremely softly, where I could have used the 10dB of gain the X73 has over the x73i.