Moog Music Forum

I have been wanting to get an analog mono synth for some time and my search brought me to the Little Phatty, it seemed intriguing; but only when i had a chance to try one out at my local GC did i realize that was the synth for me. I have been pining for a LP for quite some time and i am now lucky enough to be able to afford one. Before pulling the trigger there are a couple of minor questions i have:

Can anyone give any experience on how much ambient light is given off from the leds when using in very dark environments? I would like to know how easy it is to read the controls when playing in low-to-no light, and also do the blue and amber lights give off more/less than the other?

EDIT: Couldn't take stalling any longer. I just ordered my LP today! Now i just have to distract myself so i don't go crazy waiting for it to arrive...

I have a LP Stage II and two SP's. They both have a mix of orange and red LED's, and although the buttons/lights shine well themselves, you will probably need a light of somekind unless you can remember where each function is. I play in the dark quite a bit but I like having some kind of external light source.

I hope this helps!

Regards,
David Smyth
NZ

Thanks for the info! I have one more question.

I found a thread from a while back stating that the blue LEDs go out quicker than the amber LEDs. Is this true? And if so, about how long of a life do the blue/amber LEDs have?

Dont mean to double post, but i wanted to let you guys know my first impressions.

This thing has serious balls! I am coming from a software synth back ground and i am blown away at how powerful my LP can be, but also capable of making smoother sounds. I did find that the stock sounds were pretty bland and uninspiring, but the moment i start making my own sounds, thats when it truly shines. I am definitely %100 satisfied with my new analog synth.

BTW: Is there any way to disable the fine tune knob?

Yes, through the Advanced Preset Menu. The parameter is called "Tuning Mode". See the manual for a complete descritpion.

grapeflavor wrote:Dont mean to double post, but i wanted to let you guys know my first impressions.

This thing has serious balls! I am coming from a software synth back ground and i am blown away at how powerful my LP can be, but also capable of making smoother sounds. I did find that the stock sounds were pretty bland and uninspiring, but the moment i start making my own sounds, thats when it truly shines. I am definitely %100 satisfied with my new analog synth.

BTW: Is there any way to disable the fine tune knob?

Congrats on getting a LP.

Maybe it would be a good idea to read your user manual first to learn how to use your new toy... Start by looking at page 29 under Tuning...

Just thought i would stop by and share a couple of my pennys with you folks. Maybe this will help others who come here looking to see if they should make the investment.

1. The build quality is great. Everything on my Little Phatty feels solid. The knobs could use a little extra reinforcement, but i actually prefer the quicker feel of the Phatty knobs vs others.

2. I disagree with the opinion that the Little Phatty is "too phat" and harder to work in a mix than alternatives. IMHO, it takes up just the perfect amount in my mixes, and the overload function serves as a great way to control the "phat"ness.

3. The sound is nothing short of amazing! (I know you diehard old-school and modular synth guys will probably disagree, so i have already prepared my flame-suit. ) I can get quite a wide variety of sounds and hitting that sweet spot on a custom patch is what keeps me day-dreaming about it whenever i am not near it.

The only thing that i could possibly think of to make it better is to be able to separately set the amounts for the 2 possible destinations of the LFO. Overall, i am very satisfied with my purchase and anyone who is thinking about buying a LP/SP should go ahead and take the leap as long as you are aware of what the Little Phatty is and isn't.

A scalar or two separate settings for LFO amount on the two destinations would be great. Amos from Moog Music has commented on here in the past that it is not possible to add it through a firmware upgrade.

If you are looking to add external LFOs, Moog makes the CP-251 and used to make the MP-201. The purest will always go with the CV route (necessary for any high rate modulation without stepping). I enjoy using MIDI LFOs as I can send them to any parameter. Being able to sweep the RES and the filter at the same time is great as well as modulating the amp ENV decay and the filter ENV attack. I use an Elektron MachineDrum (16 MIDI LFOs on board). The big advantage of the MP-201 has over it is it sends 14 bit MIDI so it can be smoother at higher rates. I am really hoping Moog comes out with a desktop version.

Sir Nose wrote: I use an Elektron MachineDrum (16 MIDI LFOs on board).

Niiiiiiice!

Sir Nose wrote:/snip/If you are looking to add external LFOs, Moog makes the CP-251.

There are a couple MF's that have LFO's. I like using the 102 and CP-251 LFO's in conjunction with the CV ins on the LP and Taurus. However, it's very addictive. When you get one MF, you want the rest of them.