Little Phatty Tribute vs. Little Phatty Stage II vs. SEM

[~Sinedrifter~]

Hello all.

Recently, I wrote a track and posted it on Soundcloud titled "Signals" https://soundcloud.com/sinedrifter/signals It is mostly a filter comparison, but became an experimental polyrhythmic track in the process.

My aim here was to compare the filters in the Tribute Edition, Stage II, and my Oberheim SEM. I purchased the Tribute Edition back when it first came out and noticed it was "noisy." I called Amos at Moog and we talked for a while about this a few years ago. Originally, the TE had what was deemed a "design flaw" by TE owners, according to Amos. The issue we discussed over the phone that day was exactly this "design flaw" I discovered in my unit: a low level, yet clearly audible high frequency buzz that is most prevalent during the release stage. He explained that this is due to the fact that some kind of EGR circuit was too close to another sensitive circuit and introduced this artifact to the TE's signal path. For a time, Moog offered free service to upgrade the circuit and thus rid the TE of this noise; for anyone reluctant to ship their TE, Moog also introduced a function in one of the TE OS's that allows you to completely shut off the EGR circuit and thus kill the noise. That also meant you lose the release stage, though!

I was on the fence about what to do, and during my second talk with Amos, we discussed how this noise is a unique nuance of the TE and Amos kind of liked it. I figured yeah, this is actually pretty musical and thought that if distortion can be musical, so can this so-called "design flaw." My TE remained all original and retains this sonic nuance, which is audible in this track especially at the beginning and end of "Signals" when the mix is a bit quieter.

As for the SEM, heheheh well it just sounds great.

So, for anyone wondering if the TE and Stage II sound different, I say yes (at least mine do). True, all analog components are quite organic and vary from unit to unit, but I must say that the Stage II has a better noise floor and the filter opens up juuuuust a bit more than my TE. Most of all, though, my factory original (no EEPROM upgrades, no EGR circuit "correction") TE has the high frequency buzz that adds an extra flavor to its signal and when the filter is completely open and makes it sound truly unlike anything else out there.

I have since sold my Stage II LP and now retain the services of my TE and Voyager, which accompany the SEM you can hear in this piece and other analog/digital axes in the studio.

Seeing as how we are all analog enthusiasts here (I assume), I hope you all enjoy this bit of info. Your feedback on the track would also be appreciated.

[stiiiiiiive]

OK, I remember having listened to that a few days ago, not being in the right mood.

This is really good. I'm about to go to bed, the house is silent, and this atmosphere is gorgeous.

Bravo

[stiiiiiiive]

Ooooh... I found out: it was on EUsers

[~Sinedrifter~]

Hey thanks Stiiiiiiiiiive! I appreciate you setting the right mood for listening to Signals and for offering the nice words.

[EMwhite]

I'm not an expert, but I think the 'noise' in the Tribute (I have one) is due to the scanning of Envelope Generator buttons; essentially RF noise caused by very high data rates which as you said are too close to audio path circuits. But you don't lose SUSTAIN stage by setting EGR to auto, you just have to hold the new desired parameter button while wiggling the Pot. Once the code sees movement and a new switch depressed it honors the fact that you are going to tweak a different parameter.

I first noticed the noise during a very quiet preset and went crazy trying to find the noise in my system. It's a high frequency buzzing. I have a fair amount of older (early 80s) gear so it's usually my Matrix 6 to blame or my Opus. Once I set EGR to Auto, everything was nice again; I never thought about leveraging it to add to the soundscape.

I owned a MidiSEM for a short time and have to say that it is so versatile and primal. It's a must-have for any synth buff. Not only for historic purposes but also because the Filter is so wonderful. With the absence of any menus, firmware, or presets/display, etc. I have to think that it's just playable very much like what the Sub Phatty will be. I didn't have the patch panel version, just the Midi version (I bought it second hand in great shape) and sold it when I THOUGHT I would shortly be getting a T.O. 2 voice. When that didn't materialize, I bought some modular sequencing gear and a Minitaur; and here I am a year later with the same dilemma; I want a Tom Oberhaim 2-voice but it's not yet complete/available.

There are some pretty convincing Oberheim VSTs out there but nothing like the real SEM. If you don't have one, you should buy a used one (they are changing hands all the time).

For me, my Phatty Tribute w/CV outs is indispensable because it provides my modular with two envelope generators, an analog arpeggiator, a Midi to CV gate output, a keyboard with CV out, and a multi-waveform, midi clockable LFO via the ModBus CV out. I might be able to get $1,200 for it but right now, I'm finding tons of use for it, forgetting about the sonic capabilities.

[~Sinedrifter~]

@EMWhite

I had the same experience when I first heard the TE's noise. I was like WTF is that coming from!

Man I don't know what I'd do without the SEM! It sounds so awesome and has this subtle cuteness about it; it looks like a little wedge amongst flashy synths in our studio, but it is even more special as not only was it signed by Tom himself (before he started signing all of them), but he personalized it for me, too. Tom is so sweet... and very helpful with tech support, too. We spoke on the phone once about what seemed like a malfunction which, as usual, turned about to be user error.

[stiiiiiiive]

Hey Mooguys,

I zombify this thread to know whether one of the SEM users here have tried an Analogue Solutions Telemark yet.
I kind of drool over this one -as well as the Leipzig-SK for that matter-

I don't know much about the SEM and never tried one so I'm not especially after some comparison. Just a testimony about sound and fun factor.

Thanks