Moog Music Forum

I am currently looking to purchase a Little Phatty, which will be the Stage 2, new from the shop.

A friend of mine has a Stage 1 which i am, somewhat, familiar with.

As far as i can tell, visually they look identical. I am aware that there is a software update for the stage 1 that gives it most of the features of the Stage 2, but I am not sure exactly what that means...

In other words, what features does the Stage 2 have that the Stage 1 cannot have even with an update? Are there any physical/hardware differences?

Many Thanks,

Will.

The stage 2 has a usb jack on the side panel, which I believe can be added to the stage one.

This is something I'd really like clarified too. This weekend I played a Stage I withthe V.2 software upgrade next to the Redback (based on the Stage II).

Personally, I liked the sound of the Stage I better. They're very similar, but the Stage I seemed a bit more 'vintag'e to me. The Redback sounded very clean... but also I felt the Stage I had a more 3d/dynamic sound somehow... I was comparing them preset to preset on the same headphones... I'm sure noone else will agree with me, I think the dealer was very surprised that I liked the LP Stage I even better than the Voyager. But to my ears, this is what I preferred, it's what made me 'fall in love' staight away.

I would like clarity on whether the Stage I with OS 2.0 gets arpeggiator. I'm pretty sure it does; MIDI Sync, Arpeggiator - all that stuff i *think* is software upgrade. The only hardware missing is the USB port as mentioned earlier. The Redback also had CV in and out.

Also whether it has S+H or noise on OSC 2? (I know the Tribute didn't have this but i can't see it on the interface of either Stage)

This PDF for some reason not hosted at Moog, does say the Stage and Tribute can be upgraded to v2.0 and will get all the mentioned features.
http://media.zzounds.com/media/LPOS20_A ... 46bcf6.pdf

Yes, the stage 1 runs the exactly the same as the stage 2. All functions of the 2 exist on the 1, except the usb port. As far as the same preset sounding different on a stage 1 compared to a stage 2, there are small calibration differences in mod amt, filter cutoff, res, ect. The two patches could get to near exactly the same on two LPs if you fiddle with the knobs a bit to overcome those differences. The sonic differences you heard between the stage 1 and stage 2 are most likely a result of the individual nuances of each instrument and would likely occur between a stage 1 and another stage 1. I'd go with the stage 1 purely out of cost difference. You can't use both the midi and the usb ports at the same time anyway, if I remember correctly. I'm not 100% on that as I have a stage 1. Another hardware difference is the stage 2 got an small upgrade of the keybed that supposedly improves the feel.

CV out upgrade installed new from the factory, like the redback, would be a lot of temptation for me to go with a new stage 2 over a stage 1.

You can use the usb at the same time as the midi. One can even plug other midi devices into the phatty and use the usb as a midi interface for a computer.