. . .But all this talk of tuning issues has me a little spooked. I watched a couple videos with some great, spacy sounds, and was right on the verge of ordering, when I happened to come to this forum and see a bunch of people saying they couldn’t get the instrument in tune and keep it there.
Is it as big a problem as it appears to be, or just a small, vocal group of folks struggling with an unusual issue? I love the sound, and the price is right, but the last thing I need is to fight with a new instrument.
One of the videos that inspired me was the alternate tunings one, so I’m also a little bummed that apparently that doesn’t really work either.
Maybe these synths aren’t for the casual player, but really only for the diehard Moog fans?
Disclaimer- I am not a real musician, or play in a band. As my tag shows, I have a Voyager and LP tribute.
In my opinion, ~any~ instrument that has the sonic capabilities of the SP (for example) is bound to inflict “issues” on users expectations. I seriously doubt that tuning stability is much of an issue because of the way temperature-compensating circuits work. Most agree that a warm-up (normalize) time of 15 minutes is appropriate. The fact that Moog Music has listened to customers who want something other then 12 tone temperment, and have found a way to implement it, shows a commitment of true value; we for them, they for us.
IF-there are actual, definitive ‘problems’ with the SP, I am sure they are being refined out by software. If I had the $$$, I would buy 1 or 2, and a Harken (I think that’s the name) controller. It has no 12TT layout, and 3 control values per pad (key). But that IS $$$, and I’m not confident in my ear training to think I could really make it work (for me).
I have had several keyboards over the years, poly, and mono-phonic. There is absolutely no question in the flowing sonic abilities of Moog instruments. None. Research a good controller (search these boards) and go buy a SP. Be prepared to ~learn~ about the instrument, to invest time, and to explore subtractive synthesis. It’s a wonderful trip.
Disclaimer- I am not an employee, neighbor, relative, lunch provider, or in anyway affiliated with Moog Music.
I’ve had LP Tribute, Stage II, and now SP, not one has given me tuning trouble. I think you might be getting a skewed view by putting too much stock in entries found on this forum, which is generally used quite often as a troubleshooting/venting outlet until the users contact Moog’s support. Rest assured, if there was a major tuning issue effecting hundreds of units, Moog would definitely know about it. I love my SP, and highly suggest it if you’re looking for a mega bass n’ lead machine.
I haven’t experienced any tuning issues (and I don’t always even give it 15 minutes to warm up). I’ve noticed other quirks that, as stated above, will hopefully be sorted out in software updates (such as the “real” process of renaming patches, and the “pot assign” function hasn’t really been working for me). Otherwise it’s been pretty great. No major issues that would really turn me off.
I’ll keep an eye on the tuning issues, but for example we took a 4-voice polyPhatty (1 Little Phatty and 3 Slims) to NAMM and the tuning was flawless on all voices all week. Generally speaking, if you leave the Tuning Mode set to Auto and switch the Phatty on 10-15 minutes before you need critical tuning (e.g. before recording tracks with it), there are no problems with tuning.
As for the alternative scales, I double-checked this last week and it seems to be working fine. I don’t have any evidence so far that there are any problems with the alternative scales other than user error, or an inability to hear micro changes in tonality (some of the alternative tunings like meantone and pythagorean have very tiny amounts of detuning, such that you’d only hear the difference when playing a 3rd chord or the like - you’d have to have more than one unit, or record overdubs to hear this clearly). So, I think I can say with some confidence that this works.
I’m still working on the v3 firmware update for the Little Phatty series, and if I find any bugs or make any significant improvements I’ll incorporate them into a Slim Phatty update as well. The whole family is now running on the same code base, which makes this much easier to do.
Thanks for the replies folks. There doesn’t seem to be any kind of consensus that there are serious, widespread issues, so I think I’m going to go ahead and take a chance and pick one up. I just love the sound too much not to.
Also - I just got my 2010 year-end bonus from work, and it was more than I expected, so I’m actually going to get a DSI Tetra also. How much fun is that gonna be - a new SP and new Tetra all at once?
