Little Phatty VS Korg MS20 / 4 poles VS 2 poles

[mayidunk]

What I've noticed with the Moog filter AGC on my Voyager is that it sucks the low end out of the sound. What I've done to compensate for this is to simply dedicate one osc to back fill the low end.

What I do is lower all of the osc levels to about 1/4 as a starting point. I then set one osc to a lower octave range than the others, setting its waveform to a pure triangle, in order to eliminate upper harmonics. After that I bring the level of that one osc back up in the mix, just to the point where bottom end reinforcement starts to return to the sound. Since that low end reinforcement can be subtle, I try to balance it so that it isn't overpowering the lead oscs. I then experiment with moving that osc's waveform back towards a sawtooth, with the goal of bringing a little edge to the low end without losing the reinforcement it brings to the overall sound. Sometimes I just leave it as a pure triangle. I then tweak and adjust all of the osc levels until I have the balance between them that I desire.

Admittedly, with the LP, you end up with one osc for the lead sounds. However, it might still be worth experimenting with.

I hope this helps, at least a little bit.

Bob

[soundxplorer]

yes, I tried the two pole setting to compare the filter with the MS20 one.
however the phatty is really a good sounding synth, but I think it's overrated.
it lacks features that I took it for granted and that can be found in much cheaper synthesizers like the novation bassstation(!): autoglide and velocity response. big disappointment!

What is auto-glide and how is it different from portamento?
I used to own a Bass Station Rack but I don't remember this feature. Just curious.

Moogs are very expensive compared to most other synths, especially once you start comparing features. That makes them an easy target for disappointment, i.e. the "I expected more!" comments.

It's all about the SOUND though. Korgs sound different, Moogs, Rolands, whatever. Filter poles be damned, there is no way a 4-pole SH-2 will sound like a 4-pole Minimoog. I've owned about 10 different analog mono synths over the past 15 years and out of all of those I'd say I liked the sound of the Novation Bass Station the least, by far. I'd rank the Little Phatty somewhere in the Top 3, along with the Octave CAT and SCI Pro One.

The LP is certainly not for everyone. You have to really want that particular sound in order to ignore its shortcomings.