Slim Phatty OUT of tune

[deeait]

Hi guys,

i purchased a slim phatty and had quite some troubles with it so far... Eg Midi often doesn´t work when the arp sync is set to external midi clock. Seems to be a common problem as far as i have read.
Also, even worse, it crashes randomly, and the last time it didn´t even start up anymore afterwards but asked me to install the firmware.
Well so i did, now it works again. BUT now it´s completely out of tune: C1 to C2 takes 13 steps on my keyboard (for an actual C2 i have to press C#2)...
I tried to restore the scale with the ScaleEditor but no changes... Any help is very much appreciated.

Generally, I have to say i'm pretty pissed with moog, i would never have expected a moog to act that crappy. I already contacted my supplyer to take my sp back.

[Amos]

Wait! before you send it back, please try to update the firmware to a new version.
Also, the tuning is very easy to fix. After you update the firmware, which takes only a minute or two,
run the Calibration routines on the Master menu. This should make the tuning perfect again.

Firmware update for you is here:
Slim Phatty firmware v660 update for Windows
Slim Phatty firmware v660 update for Macintosh

See the readme file for instructions; should be very quick and easy, and should resolve your MIDI problems.

Again, the tuning will be fine after you run the Calibration routines on the Master menu, System Utilities.

Please accept my personal apology for the troubles you've had so far, and you are welcome to contact me directly for help if you have any issues with your SP in the future.

Kind regards,

Amos

[deeait]

Thanks for your answer Amos! About the calibration menu: in the manual it says default range is MIDI notes 12-116. However, after the firmware update the display reads 12-124. Which should i use?

[deeait]

I installed the new firmware and ran the calibration routine. Sadly after some time the phatty keeps getting out of tune again and again. Also it has random crashes, sometimes ecrtain or all the buttons freeze, it randomly doesn´t recieve midi... *Arrg* i really love it´s sound, but is so unstable.. Is there a possibility to fix all these things? I`m seriously considering returning it.

[Raaku]

I had similar, yet less severe, problems with octave tracking with my LP S2. I had to run the note calibration process three times in a row, if I remember correctly (without turning the power off), but now it has worked very nicely for some time. Remember to let your sp warm up 30 minutes or more before you start the calibrations.

As for tuning, be sure to use the auto-tune feature, and let your phatty warm up before tuning. I tune my phatty every time before recording anything, like I tune all my instruments. Analog synths are a bit like acoustic instruments.

I don't know about the crashes, I've never encountered any major problems with the software, but I have an older version of the firmware.

[deeait]

Thx for the reply man, i´m seriously depressed here Actually, I own several vintage analog synths like SH-09, Kawai 100f, several Junos etc. But never a moog, altough i always loved its sound. Now, after comparing the sound of vintage moogs like the rouge or prodigy (which also would be affordable to me) i decided the phattys sound could really stand the comparison and got one because of its advanced capabilities (MIDI, LFO sync etc). Soundwise i was not disappointed, but i never expected all those problems with the OS and tuning... None of my analogs has experienced such detuning EVER! Anyway, i`ll give it one more chance. My Retailer was surprised about the problems too and agreed to exchange it for another SP. If that one won´t work neither i´m going straight back to CV

[Gil]

What kind of detuning are you experiencing after running the calibration routine?
Is it a tracking issue, like you had at first, or is it an overall tuning drift?
I've had a Little Phatty and now have a Slim, and I've found out that the Slim needs a much longer warmup time.
Only after an hour to two hours does it get stable.
Try letting it warm up for a couple of hours before running the calibration routine, and then see what happens.
And try to switch it on at least an hour before using it, with autotune enabled.

[Pump City Tropics]

I'm a full note flat after a 1 minute warm up. After my initial tune up to C it constantly drifts sharp for about an hour. For this reason I keep a tuner hooked up to an output at all times. When recording I just retune real quick before each take. After an hour it stays in tune much longer or may begin to go slightly flat again here and there. I love this synth, but I dread the thought of constantly tuning it in a live setting. I do find the quality of sound worth the extra effort. BTW, I use my Slim Phatty in a 75 to 82 degree environment.

[ZenHead]

I'm having similar problems. The osc pot is not stable. It trends in the cc direction. If I turn cc fully I have about three LEDs yet to go. If I go cw, the LEDs max with thitry degrees turn yet to go.

Please advise.