Little Phatty vs. Voyager

Hello, I currently own a Voyager, but I’m also interested in a Little Phatty.

Here’s my question: Is there any point to owning a Little Phatty if I already own a Voyager? I’m basing this off of the sounds/tone the synths can make. Is a little Phatty just a scaled back voyager? Also, a little phatty would be cool for touring, but this is largely a home studio project so I don’t really care about that.

Let me know what you think. Thanks!

Do a forum search, this has been covered extensively here and on gearslutz. As you would imagine, it’s very largely based on opinions. Some people prefer the LP, and some the Voyager. They have a lot in common, and lot of differences, some subtle, and some not so much. They only real way for you to get an answer is for you to try a Little Phatty out, since you already own a Voyager.

A Phatty isn’t exactly a “scaled-back Voyager” ~ they’re very different in many ways; different sound; different (overdrive) filter; an arpeggiator; and a very different interface. The Slim might be a better option for you if you want to save some money and use your Voyager or another controller instead of paying for another keyboard.

They do sound quite different. If you already have a Voyager, there really is no sense in having a Little Phatty though. Buy a Slim Phatty instead, control it with the Voyager’s CV outs.

PS, I’m pretty sure I saw you post this exact inquiry in another thread. I noticed you did that a few times concerning a few different topics. What’s the deal?

As an owner of both, and a few vintage moogs as well, I can tell you the Voyager does not sound like the LP. The LP’s sound is closer to vintage than the Voyager is. So much so that I now prefer the Phatty to the Voyager, soundwise, but the Voyager is more capable in many ways and for me, the more knobs the better. The LP has other things going for it too, like arpegiator and more affordable polyphony through chaining.

Also, I would gig my LP but not my Voyager (which should arrive tomorrow, he-he-he).

A better question is new Moog Sub Phatty vs Voyager

Was waiting for someone to ask this.

I think that’s the $2500.00 question of the week.

The answer will be same. It depends. They share a set of common ground, but with both their specialties they can create a different spectrum of sounds.

I own a Voyager and a Slim, and I can tell you (at least to me) it is worth having both. I sequence the Phatty in my midi chain, but the Voyager stands alone for soloing and effects. Every once in awhile, I’ll chain them together and play them both with the Voyager keyboard. Though similar, these synths offer quite different sound and parameter access. The Voyager you’re used to has 3 oscillators and 2 modulation buses, while the Phatty only offers 2 oscillators and 1 mod bus. The Voyager has an array of knobs and a touch pad, while the Phatty only has a few knobs. However, the Phatty does offer two distinct functions that the Voyager does not: filter overload and an arpeggiator, which are both very cool features. Oh yeah, and the Phatty doesn’t offer S&H as a modulation option, which is a shame. (although I think the new sub phatty does, right?)

So if I could give you any simple, direct advice (which is what we all want, right, ha) based on my own personal experience, I’d tell you to either pick up a Slim Phatty or place a pre-order for the new Sub. If you’ve got the money though, why not get both . . . and a Minitaur. :wink:

Time to give the Gearslutz answer.

Both :slight_smile:

Actually it does through the SOURCE 5 parameter in some menu. It will replace the FILTER ENV modulation source.
Similarily, NOISE can replace OSC 2 as SOURCE 6 parameter.

The SubPhatty does offer is as well.

Get both Sub Phatty and Voyager so you can play both simultaneously like Bernie Worrell here (fast foward to 7:28)

http://youtu.be/tK_tRgnCIWo