Moog Music Forum

So I've owned a Little Phatty for probably 6 months now and I love it. The design is absolutely flawless and the oscillators are mega stable.
I was thinking however, that there are quite a few people out there that prefer total analog control. While the Little Phatty is an analog synthesizer, it sports a digital control inteface that personally, I am very fond of.
The Voyager Old School was designed with the analog purists in mind, and I enjoyed playing with it when I had the chance.
I think it would be absolutely wonderful if Moog released a Little Phatty "Old School" model, and based it off the design of the Rogue, or better yet, the Prodigy. I'm not sure I would buy one, seeing as I already own a stage II, but think of the people who want to buy a vintage Moog, but are apprehensive about the aged oscillators or the infamous "Moog Goo".
-The Little Phatty "Old School" would be a great alternative!

Problem is that the entire phatty face is designed for digital controlling, that's how they managed to get so much in such a small space! When you consider how big the voyager is (knob per function), it'd be sort of futile to do something like that, as they'd have to redesign the whole thing just to make a similar model.

I personally am hoping for a RME version.

I see your point, but see, the point would be to sort of recreate something like the Moog Prodigy, which is much smaller than the Phatty.
Most of the size issue I think could be resolved by utilizing sliders instead of knobs, like the Prodigy and Rogue to name a few. The end product most likely would have all the great modern features the LP has, but that's why its old school!

Kenneth wrote:I see your point, but see, the point would be to sort of recreate something like the Moog Prodigy, which is much smaller than the Phatty.
Most of the size issue I think could be resolved by utilizing sliders instead of knobs, like the Prodigy and Rogue to name a few. The end product most likely would have all the great modern features the LP has, but that's why its old school!

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the OS style stuff, but consider the state of the US economy, and necessity for EVERY moog product to be commercially viable, and well, let's put it this way: they discontinued the Voyager OS.

Your best, closest bet for a Phatty OS is going to be to get a Voyager OS on ebay, which should cost not too much more than what a Phatty OS would new, if one were built.

Otherwise, maybe check out the Future Retro XS. It's got a midi section in it, and multimode filter is 12db, 2 oscs, and a combo ring mod/sub osc, but it's got a knob per function, no presets, no LCDs. Just honest to Norris ANALOG awesomeness.

I think the Voyager OS was discontinued mainly because it was just a limited time thing, but I agree with you on the economic necessity of all new musical products, and I truly believe an OS Little Phatty could work wonders there. Think of it: A stripped-down, 2 oscillator synthesizer, very similar to the Prodigy. It would have the same basic filter and mod parameters as the Phatty, but it would be much cheaper, more affordable. The perfect synthesizer for someone who wants the Moog sound, but can't quite afford the Little Phatty or Voyager. True, it would be a gamble, but with a limited time offer, Moog could efficiently guage the marketability of such a product.

Would it be cheaper? Perhaps not. It's digital encoders eliminate the need for a bunch of expensive pots. Voyager already had most of the pots on board for all its functions. Eliminating the operating system and other digital entities reduced the price. I think if the Voyager OS was profitable, they would continue production. Moog would have to add to the already stripped down Phatty.

I think I vaguely remember someone in a thread called "Sliders vs Pots" always talking about how sliders were invented to collect dust and grime. I think they were totally advocating the absolute discontinuance of sliders on Moog stuff lolol. Hate to tell them about the Murf.

Eric

MarkM wrote:Would it be cheaper? Perhaps not. It's digital encoders eliminate the need for a bunch of expensive pots. Voyager already had most of the pots on board for all its functions. Eliminating the operating system and other digital entities reduced the price. I think if the Voyager OS was profitable, they would continue production. Moog would have to add to the already stripped down Phatty.

It may be cheaper, it may not. That would all depend on the design; how it was built; what functions were included, and which were omitted. Moog may not have been making enough profit off the Voyager OS to continue production, but in my opinion it would be worth a shot. I think it would make for a very interesting new model, and hopefully make the Mook sound more affordable. If not, however, they could always cease production like they did the Voyager Old School.

Kenneth wrote:

MarkM wrote:Would it be cheaper? Perhaps not. It's digital encoders eliminate the need for a bunch of expensive pots. Voyager already had most of the pots on board for all its functions. Eliminating the operating system and other digital entities reduced the price. I think if the Voyager OS was profitable, they would continue production. Moog would have to add to the already stripped down Phatty.

It may be cheaper, it may not. That would all depend on the design; how it was built; what functions were included, and which were omitted. Moog may not have been making enough profit off the Voyager OS to continue production, but in my opinion it would be worth a shot. I think it would make for a very interesting new model, and hopefully make the Mook sound more affordable. If not, however, they could always cease production like they did the Voyager Old School.

To put a more recent spin on things, consider the new Taurus pedals, to even justify producing a run they needed a base number of people to preorder.

I could see something like that for a LP OS, but when you consider how long the LP has been out, it's not especially likely that'd go that route until much further down the line. The Voyager was out for a really long time before the OS was even a twinkle in Moog's eye, and then, look at what they had to do to make it: little change to the Voyager design. It's feasible to think that someone had the idea, and after the engineers qualified that they could do it w/o a metric crapload of r&d, it was made.

Creating an entirely different LP would probably be very expensive and time consuming, they would have to start from scratch more or less and build it from the ground up in a new circuit board, new casing, etc. When you consider how niche the market would be on it, I just don't see how they could justify making one.

Yes, that makes sense. As of right now it may not be realistic, but it would be interesting to see something like it take flight. Altogether I think I'm just speculating at what Moog is up to.

i still advocate for a 3 voice expander...it would appeal to all existing phatty, voyager and future taurus owners and negate the need to design a poly. :)

Cheers

DL

Id rather just see the Phatty RME.

Then a Cp251 style 4 chan audio mixer, vca, dual env gen dual trigger delay dualing envelope follower.

Cp251 Style Expansion box for Phatty

Mf 106 Touchpad Controller

and since they did it on the software

Dualing cp251 sized Multimode FIlter.

dlearyus wrote:i still advocate for a 3 voice expander...it would appeal to all existing phatty, voyager and future taurus owners and negate the need to design a poly.

Cheers

DL

Agree. I personally wouldn't mind a Little Phatty Old School, but I eagerly await the LPRME and/or 3 voice expander.

Kenneth wrote:Yes, that makes sense. As of right now it may not be realistic, but it would be interesting to see something like it take flight. Altogether I think I'm just speculating at what Moog is up to.

Moog is probably up to the Taurus pedals, latest LP operating system, first update for the MP-201 with bug fixes, and meetings about when to hold meetings to work on the Enterprise Polysynth. Not to mention all the repairs and modification orders going into the factory. Notice how Amos isn't here as much as he used to be.

I am certain that a Little Phatty Old School is way down at the bottom of the priority list.

Enterprise Polysynth? Have I been living under a rock or are you just being hopeful?
Also, what exactly is meant by "RME" ?