2 Slim Phattys or Voyager?

[EricK]

I wasn't exactly impressed with the Phatty when I played one for the first time (Stage I), but none of the construction complaints that I have really are relevant to the SP.

The tiny difference in sound is not enough to pass over the extensive filtering and modulation options, because the Voyager can be fattened up in various ways with patching tricks that simply aren't possible on a Phatty.

The Voyager just offers more for a synthesist in a beautifully designed knob-per-function interface that makes the instrument easy to learn on and it's furniture quality cabinet rounds off the whole package of a professional instrument.

If people are in a position to CONSIDER a Voyager, they should get one. The only way I would choose a Phatty over a Voyager is cost, size, or weight was the most important factors.

I would have appreciated the Slim Phatty more if they put the interface on the front of the instrument, since it is suited to be in a rack.

[anchovyd]

To the guy who said that the Little Phatty was a good beginner's board and out growing it, you are dead wrong sir.

The Phatty and Voyager are similar, they have slightly different sounds but they are like brothers. We are talking shades of grey here, not a black and white difference like between a Voyager and a DSI Mopho. The Voyager has the extra oscillator and aftertouch and more knobs, and more routing capabilities and you can get some different types of sounds on it because of the extra osc but the Little Phatty has a lot to offer too. It is cheaper, a lot smaller and lighter, and easier to gig with. I mean if you're gigging, you're going to have at least a main board like an Electro or Kurzweil and the Moog. Setting up a $3500 Moog and a $2500 main board on an X-stand in a bar full of drunk chicks and frat boys doing the running man would put the worry on anyone. A $1200 Phatty is a little less stressful. Plus it is more convenient to lug around and set up.

Sure I'd like a Voyager but truth be told if I had one it'd probably stay safe at home rather than pub crawl like my Phatty. If you have a studio the Voyager would be great but even then for the cost of the Voyager you could get a Phatty and Prophet 8 and have something with a different sound and polyphony. Don't get me wrong I do want a Voyager but I'll have to wait and it will probably just be something that I compose with at home in my study as opposed to something to gig with.

The argument that the Phatty is something you'd outgrow because it doesn't have as many routing capabilities doesn't really hold water. The Phatty can do a whole lot more than a Model D and you don't see people griping that the Model D is just for kids, also the same argument can be said for the Voyager compared to a DSI Mopho or Prophet. The DSI's have so many more LFO's and so much more routing capabilities compared to the Voyager that it isn't even funny. You can almost do anything you can think of on them, really flexible, but that doesn't mean that the Voyager is a beginner's machine.

Honestly the only two things that are really missed on the Phatty are aftertouch and a noise generator. You really lose a lot of expressive capability without aftertouch and you are missing out on a whole class of sounds without the noise generator. The Phatty would be perfect with both of those but maybe having it would take away some sales from the Voyager.

Swim Fast,
AnchovyD

[Kenneth]

To the guy who said that the Little Phatty was a good beginner's board and out growing it, you are dead wrong sir...

I presume I am the one you are talking to, and I agree with you on most points made here. I think you may wish to review some earlier posts in this thread, as I rephrased my original statement at one point. I, however, stand by my comment stating that I had outgrown the Phatty. There is no way I can be "dead wrong" as it is a simple matter of opinion, and for the style of music I write the Little Phatty did not quite deliver. I think after owning it for four years I am a fair judge of that. The Voyager allows me to play the way I want to, and that is that.

[filtered]

anchovyd wrote:
To the guy who said that the Little Phatty was a good beginner's board and out growing it, you are dead wrong sir...

I presume I am the one you are talking to, and I agree with you on most points made here. I think you may wish to review some earlier posts in this thread, as I rephrased my original statement at one point. I, however, stand by my comment stating that I had outgrown the Phatty. There is no way I can be "dead wrong" as it is a simple matter of opinion, and for the style of music I write the Little Phatty did not quite deliver. I think after owning it for four years I am a fair judge of that. The Voyager allows me to play the way I want to, and that is that.

Man o man, this forum really always seems to boil down to this, and let's just all agree for once and for all and discuss OTHER THINGS:

1- the Minimoog Model D is the end all be all and those who own one are blessed individuals
2- the Voyager is a new classic and deserves every bit of respect the D gets
3- the Little Phatty is its own synth and shouldn't be compared to the Voyager because it kicks ass in a completely different way

can I get a witness?

[Voltor07]

1- the Minimoog Model D is the end all be all and those who own one are blessed individuals
2- the Voyager is a new classic and deserves every bit of respect the D gets
3- the Little Phatty is its own synth and shouldn't be compared to the Voyager because it kicks ass in a completely different way

can I get a witness?

Eyup! I wouldn't trade my Phatty for anything less than a Moog System 55 with no blank panel spaces.

[EricK]

People should not use the word "unlimited" so loosely when referring to the capabilities of something. The Phatty is limited, the Voyager is limited, even a modular is limited.


Even a system 55 is limited when compared to modulars of today.


The Micro is a great synth, VERY limited in architecture, but will provide many wonderful sounds and will provide them very well. I outgrew this after a few years. I won't go so far as to say that I have mastered it (or come close) but it's limitations (or that of any other synth) don't diminish it in any way.

Comparing instruments is sort of silly unless they have the exact same features.