Slim Phatty - Out of tune

[o.f.]

Hey Guys,

Been having some tuning problems with my Phatty. I did a full calibration yesterday after which the synth was in perfect tune but after I woke up this morning the synth was off by one and a half semitone. Fine Tuning is off so I haven't touched the dial by accident.

I let it warm up about 1o minutes and the tuning did rise a abit but was still off by a semitone. Is this normal behaviour for the phatty?
I know theres a warm up time but this seems a bit drastic.

P.S. Phatty has been off for 20 minutes and the tuning is rising but it's still way of pitch (half semitone)

-Oliver

[David Smyth]

Hi Oliver,

You say Fine Tune was "Off", you could try setting Fine Tune to "Auto".

Once that is set to Auto, turn the unit off and on again and try this:

What I normally do as soon as I turn on my LP/SP's is go into the Master Menu and scroll to the Fine Tune function (but not click into it). Here you can monitor when your LP/SP hits 60.00 (Midi Note for middle C, I believe - it uses this note as a tuning reference). Even if it does hit 60.00 I would normally leave the LP/SP for 30mins or so, then hit the preset button and you're ready to play.

Fine Tune's "Auto" mode means any time you don't touch a key for 10seconds, the unit will work to correct/update it's tuning.

I hope this helps,

Regards,
David Smyth
NZ

[o.f.]

Hi David,

Thanks for the tip, it took my unit about 5 minutes to get to 60 via fine tune set to auto, started around 58.65, but the intonation is still off at that point. Think I need to start getting used to warming the synth up for 30 mins---> before playing, which is a drag. I'm too used to digital convenience I guess

-Oliver

[David Smyth]

Sounds like your SP is climbing up to 60.00 from a similar position and at a similar rate to my SP's.

After leaving it for around 30mins or so, is the intonation fixed? If it is, then I think your unit is working as normal, as the tuning/intonation is always a bit wacky at first until it has warmed up for a while - which is a bit of an inconvenience, but I've got used to switching them on a bit early for later.

Some notes about "Auto" Fine Tune:

- You don't have to worry about bumping the fine tune knob changing your tuning, unless you've clicked into the fine tune function in the menu.
- Make sure you don't use Auto Fine Tune mode if/when using the CV Pitch Input (as it will try and correct for the external pitch voltages).

Regards,
David Smyth
NZ

[zac darmon]

I sent the moog back to the shop, they wanted to see if something was actually wrong with it, then they sent it too moog in quebec or something? so i guess they figured something is wrong with it. Anyways I'll get back to y'all with how it goes when I get it or a new one back

[David Smyth]

Thanks for the update! I was wondering how you were getting on with the tuning issue..

I hope you can survive in the meantime without your Moog!

David Smyth
NZ

[xombiexplox]

I'm sorry for your loss :[

I'm sure that once that bad boy gets back from the factory you'll be shredding it up in no time!

I would like to say, for all the Google'ers out there who stumbled upon this thread and are on the fence about getting a Slim Phatty due to tuning issues...

Don't be discouraged! BUY ONE I purchased mine a few weeks ago and it holds it's tuning like a ROCK. Takes about 10 mins to warm up and we're golden.

[Spartan X]

Takes about 10 mins to warm up and we're golden.

10 min!? I envy you.

My SP is in tune after 20-30 min of warm up (both VCO:s that is). But it's not rock solid until it has been on for about an hour. Lucky for me I'm used to analog machines so it's not really an issue.

[zac darmon]

ok so, this is my first analog synth. So, forgive me if I'm wrong but... first of all, does the auto tune turn off o/c 2 or something? how come when I switch it to auto tune it makes it sound pretty much like a normal square wave?

Other than that it sounds pretty in tune I'm not sure how long I waited but i'm just happy i can make some music now :p

Honestly I wasn't 100% sure if there was something wrong with the moog when i sent it off but it was the last day before I had to pay for the shipping myself if I returned it so I rushed and sent it off.

One more question. When I set it to auto tune and it shows the "cents" I think... when I hit middle C it should be at 60 correct? then down an octave it should read 48? and an octave higher than middle c should read 72?

Anyways this one seemed to tune up to my keyboard pretty quickly, I didn't check how long it took though

[muksys]

does the auto tune turn off o/c 2 or something? how come when I switch it to auto tune it makes it sound pretty much like a normal square wave?

When you first activate the Auto Tune and see the values on the screen, the current preset is automatically switched to the "calibration" preset (OSC 1 square only). Thats all you will hear when you are playing notes. Once you leave leave that page, the synth automatically reverts to the previous patch settings.

[conradk]

Where did this end up? I was hoping to see the update after service. I'm guessing 10-30 minutes warmup to be in tune and wandering tuning could be normal. I had a mini moog in the 70s and for some reason don't remember tuning issues like this.