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Theres so many various opinions of every different synth, it's hard to decide who to believe, multiply that by the subjectiveness of all these opinions and it could all add up to nothing;
But with that said, I want to offer yet another: the Prodigy is way over-priced. it doesn't really "sound" like a "moog" if "moog" means the Minimoog and or Moog Modulars. It's a cool synth, well built, and like most every synth, can make excellent bass sounds. But like the Rogue, it doesn't really come that close to the amazing expressive tone of a Mini. I'm sorry, that's been my opinion from listening to it. Ditto the Rogue. it's too bad though; it would be nice if you could get a synth that sounds as good as the Mini, but for $500.
This doesn't mean they're bad synths, it only means that you'd be way better off with a Korg Monopoly(for instance) for the price of those "budget" Moogs. The Mono Poly's tone is way more expressive, full, and more characteristic. It is also infinitely more equipped. The Mono/Poly is only the top of the list of better synths in my opinion. The Micro and Multi have even less of the incredible tone of the Mini, however they make up for it it controls and patching, etc. This makes them superior synths to me, even though I find them a little thinner than even the Prodigy/Rogue.
I also agree with others who reported the Radio-Shack MG-1 better than the Rogue/Prodigy. It just has a lot more character through some of it's modulation capabilities (bell tone for one, and this cool repeat thing it does, for instance) --although, it obviously suffers from a shabbier build than it's Moogy brothers.
The only other Moog that I feel really deserves an inflated price is the Source, which has a much closer architecture and build to the Mini. Yes, this is more talk of the Mini... but you just can't mess with it. the Mini just sounds like liquid gold/ and the others don't, except the Source. Sorry. I come to these opinions not from a technical standpoint (although I believe that the specs/build would support my argument)-- but from personally owning and playing the Micro, Rogue, Prodigy, and MG-1. I've never owned a Mini or Source, but I have played them enough to know for sure what my ears were telling me.
The only reason I leave this report is for people like me who would be looking into potentially buying one of these synths, and wanting to know what their plus/minuses are from someone who has extensively used one. i don't have any gripe for people who love their Prodigys. I liked (not loved) mine. But it's just super over-priced. You could buy an ARP Odyssey or MS20 and get a really cool synth for the price of a Prodigy. Or, do yourself afavor, and explore some of the weirder less hyped synth like the Mono/Poly-- which is excellent. I mean, it's true, they're all cool and have they're own benifits, but would'nt you rather have a synth that does tons of things rather than one that does very little. I guess it could depend on what your using it for. But a Roland SH-1,2 or 9 is a better alternative for "simple, straightforward" synths, if money is a concern for you. Or the MG-1, if you can get it under $400 (and you can still have your "Moog"!!!).
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