Moog Mavis

As one of their most affordable semi-modular synthesizers to date, Moog’s Mavis is equally at home as a standalone instrument, companion to the Mother series, or active member of a bustling Eurorack system. Shipped as an easily assembled kit, the excitement of putting together your own instrument gives way to a wonderful journey of sonic exploration.

Mavis packs all of the essential elements of a full synthesis voice into a compact package—oscillator, filter, ADSR envelope generator, and VCA—as well as some special surprises, including Moog’s first-ever wavefolder! Best of all, everything is accessible through 24 patch points, overriding the internal normalled connections and putting Mavis’s signal flow under your control.

As with all Moog’s best synths, Mavis begins with an all-analog VCO, with this particular design featuring a blend control crossfading between sawtooth and pulse waveforms. PWM and pitch modulation are available with independent level controls, and may be shaped by the LFO, envelope generator, or a mix of the two. The hallmark of any Moog synth, the resonant lowpass ladder filter, makes an appearance on Mavis, and may be similarly controlled with the LFO and/or envelope with positive or negative polarity. As for the VCA, leave it wide open for drones or shape it with the ADSR for lush swells or snappy plucks.

Mavis subscribes to the same modular philosophies as Moog’s legacy instruments as well as their hit Mother series. With the 24-point patch bay, additional elements are available to coax more interesting patches out of Mavis. Split and distribute signals with the multiple, inject uncertainty with the sample and hold, and balance audio or control signals with the DC-coupled mixer. Most surprising of all is the inclusion of a diode wavefolder—the first such design on any Moog instrument—bringing a touch of West Coast-style waveshaping into their world of traditionally subtractive designs.

Though Mavis can exist totally independently, it shines in collaboration with others. Place it on your desk alongside your other patchable instruments, or remove Mavis from its enclosure and mount it in a Eurorack case as a 44hp module for highly nested interactions. Mavis ships with a handful of patch cables, overlay sheets, and a protective plastic dust cover for when the instrument isn’t in use. Whether you’re just starting out or looking for a fully-featured Moog synth voice, Mavis delivers in spades.