The Borg 1 (white knobs) employs slower vactrols, allegedly giving it a mellower sound and longer decay than the more aggressive, black knobbed Borg 2. I'm a big fan of the Plan B Model 12, but sometimes find it's response to CVs either too linear or lazy, so I was keen to hear the Borg 1 for myself.
Here's a fairly representative recording of the difference between these filters:
(Borg 2, Borg 1, Model 12)
I really liked the Borg 1's soft edges and muted tones. Its response is slower than the Borg 2 and this makes it a more natural sounding LPG. It might even have the edge on the M13, which tends to lose the initial transients. I don't find either Borg particularly useful for BP or HP duties and this is where the M12 shines. I tried patching both Borgs in a BP series, but didn't find the results as interesting as the dual-peak BP mode of the Cwejman MMF-1. That said, both Borgs are fantastic LPFs with attitude and character. Sonically, the B1 sits squarely between its more aggressive sibling and the rubber-funk of the M12.
You can download the full set of recordings, including the obligatory LPG 'thwap' test, here (3.2MB), but be careful with your speakers on the 'rumble' MP3!
Thanks to Schneidersbuero for the loan of the module.
2 comments:
nice! i assume i'm to just simply replace "borg 1" with "borg 2" in your mention? having never experienced another lpg, i keep going back and forth on the relevancy of my qmmg. i do love that thing though...
I second the impression that Borg 1 and 2 are mixed up in the text here and in the PDF of the zip package that's linked above. The first example in each comparison seem to respond slower then the second ones, so it's probably #1 = Borg 1, #2 = Borg 2?
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