My Slim Phatty came on Friday (firmware v3.1, build 672). The sound is everything I hoped for, but I have a couple of tuning issues.
- I think I have read all of the tuning threads on this forum (and several threads on other forum). I understand that the SP is more sensitive to temperature than other production models. So, here’s what I did Saturday. (1) I warmed the SP up for three hours. (2) I calibrated notes. (3) When that was done, I calibrated pitch wheel (PW). (4) When that was done, I calibrated Osc 2. Then I set Fine Tune to AUTO. This works, mostly. But sometimes it doesn’t. Of course I’m paranoid, after reading all of those tuning threads, so I will hit the master button to check the tuning and sometimes I will get a number, and sometimes I will get “—.” What’s going on behind those mysterious dashes? I click “cursor” and sometimes I can see it autotuning. (Yay!) Sometimes, though, it stays out of tune, or even gets worse. A few times, I have watched it drop by half a semitone (.50+). (This was probably after playing with vibrato; see below.) While the numbers are plunging, the display still reads FINE TUNE: AUTO. I have noticed, when AutoTune seems not to be doing anything, that switching to OFF or ON, and then back to AUTO will immediately engage AutoTune. Weird…
What I’d like to know:
a. Is something broken?
b. Is there a way for autotune to be always on, so that I don’t have to switch to ON and then back to AUTO? Or is it me checking the tuning status by hitting the cursor button that turns autotune off? (Cf. opening the refrigerator to see if the light is on.)
2. What really puts my SP out of tune is modulating PITCH or OSC2. After playing for one minute, it sounds off (or I imagine it sounds off), so I check the tuning: sharp by 12 cents. This was after warming up the instrument for several hours, and it happened at least three times. Twelve cents for a minute of playing seems excessive to me. What do you think? I haven’t noticed tuning problems when modulating the FILTER or WAVE.
One more note: please be candid. This unit is out of warranty, so Moog is not on the hook. I purchased it used from Musician’s Friend, and if something’s not right I have 45 days to return it – in which case I’ll probably wait for a sale and get one new.
Finally, a suggestion: if there is ever a Slim Phatty Stage II, move the power supply out of the main box. Nobody likes a wall wart, but I’ll bet everyone would trade that for reliable tuning.