I had my heart set on getting a Prodigy. I love the nasty, raw, vintage sound it has. And it’s in my price range. However I know I may have service issues, no MIDI (or higher cost to implement it), maybe no CV / Gate (depending on the model).
I don’t care about presets really. This is just for studio use.
And eventually, sequencing in some capacity is a must – weather it be actual MIDI, or a MIDI to CV converter.
So all that being said, is there perhaps a more modern synth that will be better suited for me?
New or used under $1000 is roughly what I’m looking at.
The Moog Sub Phatty is very interesting, right on your price point $1K and offers more features than a Prodigy, is brand new with a warranty, and has the raw vintage-style Moog sound. Only drawback compared to a Prodigy: only 2 octaves keyboard. But it has MIDI so you can play it via any cheap MIDI controller with more available octaves.
Yeah the Sub Phatty is the one ive been curious about. It’s the only one I’ve seen that gets closer. But does it really get as aggressive and raw as that?
The less keys doesn’t bother me.
Id also splurge for a used Voyager RME but I’ve just never heard the new voyagers get as nasty as that
There are lot’s of video/audio demos of the Sub Phatty by now, and from what I’ve heard so far, it’s as raw and bold as a Moog can be !
Three great demos/reviews by DemonDan (Daniel Fisher of Sweetwater Sound) and extensive 5 parts review by Marc Doty (AKA Automatic Gainsay on YouTube and Museslave here on the forum) and Amos of Moog Music.
If you’re willing to splurge on the voyager rme I would go that route otherwise the subphatty is a fine solution. With all the great new gear coming out I think I’m done buying vintage unless its more for sentimental reasons, like a model d.
I’ll see if I can cook up a quick soundcloud demo of some more aggressive voyager sounds tomorrow for you.
All the sounds you’ve heard in that Prodigy demo (with an added reverb effect not mentioned by Retrosound72) can be done with a Sub Phatty easily (and more). Including the externally controlled sequence from a SCI Pro One.
The Voyager RME can also do all that, and much more…but at close to three times the price of a Sub Phatty…
Does anyone have any videos of this in action? Ive played an original D and a Prodigy, and every time i hear the Voyager im a little disappointed. I find it a little polite..
I would pick a Prodigy over a modern Moog every day of the week and week-ends too. My Prodigy #2 (I got 2, both in top shape) gets more play than my Voyager, LP and Minitaur combined. But then, I am just a vintage freak. I’ll leave it at that.
Yes. But your Prodigys are in good shape and, I assume, well maintained. Finding and buying a Prodigy might result in bad surprises, as well as good ones if lucky…
Well the voyager rme I’ve seen for around 1500 used, so I’d splurge if I could get all the sounds in after, plus modern, plus midi, plus all the sounds I don’t know about
I am an owner of both a Prodigy & a Voyager OS and the Prodigy can get grittier than the Voyager. I have A/B’d the hell out of the two and I gotta say, when it comes to that raw buzzy saw sound, I’m going to reach for the Prodigy first. The Voyager is great for lush, full pads & searing leads, as well as complex modulations, but lacks in grit and balls (don’t flame war this, it’s merely in comparison). I have not played a Sub Phatty yet, but I’d suggest that or the Little/Slim Phatty first. I sold my LP to fund the voyager and I’m planning on buying a Slim just so I can get that dirty sound again!
I had thought of suggesting it, but since the OP wanted an alternative to a Prodigy, which has two oscillators, I thought the Sub Phatty might be more closely related. Although the MiniBrute is certainly a serious contender for gritty, buzzy and bold sounds.
Get a Prodigy in decent shape. Or get a good deal on one and have a good tech fix it up for you. In x number of years you can get what you paid for it and then some. No nonsense, just basic Moog. I’m sure you’ve seen the retrosynth video (it’s on the page of vintagesynthexplorer; am sure you’ve been there).
You can get a Phatty or something else more modern but they are a dime a thousand, you can always buy one later when they come up used at a good price. If you own a Prodigy, play it for a while, then goto a Guitar Center and try out a *Phatty, you can find out if you really are missing anything or if it’s really the sound that you want.
Don’t be afraid of NOT having Midi. You can do so much just with the hands on controls and a Midi->CV converter is cheap (Mutable Instruments is about to release one for about 40 Euro and it will work with iPad!).
Pay market price for a Prodigy and find that you really did want all of the new fancy features, you can always sell it, and quickly. They don’t stay around very long. Just one opinion…
