slim phatty out of control

[gverstraete]

Hi there ,

I noticed that my little phatty suddenly changes parameters without touching any button.

For ex the filter cutoff goes to max , or the envelope sustain goes to max.

Even when i don't connect to midi or usb the problem persists.

Only when i disable local control , everything stays ok ...

When it's changes i just have to go forth and back in program number and i have again the original sound , but after a few minutes it happens again , somethimes very quick , somethimes after 10 min.

I reinstalled the latest firmware without success.

Is my little phatty broken now , or do i have an configuration error ?
Please help me out

Kind regards

[CZ Rider]

Is my little phatty broken now , or do i have an configuration error ?

Check for a ground loop. Could be the Phatty is getting two different grounds, one from the audio out to your amp/monitor, and one from the grounded AC inlet. Try eliminating one to see if this solves the issue. See if disconnecting the audio out stops the Phatty from changing parameters. Probably not the best solution, but I just use one of those ground eliminator adapters on my AC plug. This made it stop on a very basic setup with just an amp and Phatty connected to the same AC inlet, and nothing else. Unless someone comes up with a better solution, my Phatty always has a two prong AC plug.

[Voltor07]

Unless someone comes up with a better solution, my Phatty always has a two prong AC plug.

That's not a good solution at all! Have you tried plugging the LP into an isolation transformer? I would think that would help.

[Rosser]

Gverstraete-
This sounds like a ground loop to me. You will want to do some of the basic ground loop troubleshooting:

-Make sure that your LP is plugged into the same outlet or power strip as all your other powered gear in the setup (amps, mixers, speakers, computer). All of these have different ground planes and will need to be tied together in one strip to prevent a loop from happening with the neutral buss in your home.

-Make sure that the equipment I mentioned above has grounded cables, and there are no two prong power cables in your chain.

-Use short cables, and never run them parallel with power cables.

If you are using USB MIDI while this happens, try disconnecting it to see if that improves the scenario. If none of this helps you, contact [email protected] and you will be taken care of.
Thanks,
Rosser

[Sore_Knee]

i initially found if i disconnected the power supply from my laptop, the problem stopped. the switching noise from the PS was bleeding through the audio card and USB (ground) to the LP. not a good solution really, so i made a cable with a 3 pin plug with just a ground wire, connected on end to the sound module (FA-101) and plugged the 3 pin plug into the same power board i was running all my gear off.

i had tried other things like USB isolators and DI boxes, but grounding the sound module was the single biggest improvement to the point i don't use the usb isolator or DI box anymore.

[gverstraete]

Hi there ,

thnx for your answers or suggestions

In fact i still think there is something wrong with the slim phatty i talked about.

I have in fact two

The other one was acting as slave (two voices 2/2)
But i switched them and the problem is gone , with the same cables , power, everything is the same exept for first slim is now second and second has become first

I'm happy now , i can play whole night without any worries about things that don't work (i was getting frustrated with my gear)

On minor problem is still there , everytime i start up the slim phatty's i must adjust volume for the second one because it's all down by default , so i only here one voice
Twisting the volume knob on the first (sending volume cc to the second) solves it , but it's kind of weird

thnx to you all for answering -)

[Voltor07]

That IS strange. Glad you got it (mostly) working, though!

[David Smyth]

Hey there,

I'm also having the same problem. I also have 2 Slim Phattys (as well as a Little Phatty St. II - but the LP doesn't have the problem). I have the problem even when only power is plugged in to each unit. The problem became apparent when I moved to a new apartment. I use 3-pronged leads everywhere and have tried different wall plugs, different power leads/mulitboxes, surge protection, an isolation transformer, a power conditioning UPS, and a Furman voltage regulator/power conditioner, plus multiple combinations of all of the above.

Last night I took one of the Slim Phattys to my parent's house and it happened there too! So now I think I may have been barking up the wrong tree about the problem being my new apartment's power quality - it might be the units themselves.

Did you manage to fix the problem of the parameters changing by themselves somehow? - if so, how?!

I feel like I've almost exhausted what I can do to try and solve the problem.. My setup has been plagued with this problem for a while now..

Regards,
David Smyth
NZ

[Voltor07]

Hey there,

I'm also having the same problem. I also have 2 Slim Phattys (as well as a Little Phatty St. II - but the LP doesn't have the problem). I have the problem even when only power is plugged in to each unit. The problem became apparent when I moved to a new apartment. I use 3-pronged leads everywhere and have tried different wall plugs, different power leads/mulitboxes, surge protection, an isolation transformer, a power conditioning UPS, and a Furman voltage regulator/power conditioner, plus multiple combinations of all of the above.

Last night I took one of the Slim Phattys to my parent's house and it happened there too! So now I think I may have been barking up the wrong tree about the problem being my new apartment's power quality - it might be the units themselves.

Did you manage to fix the problem of the parameters changing by themselves somehow? - if so, how?!

I feel like I've almost exhausted what I can do to try and solve the problem.. My setup has been plagued with this problem for a while now..

Regards,
David Smyth
NZ

That is VERY bizarre. Don't know what to tell you there, except mabe the SP's are grounding to each other?

[David Smyth]

That is VERY bizarre. Don't know what to tell you there, except mabe the SP's are grounding to each other?

It happens with only one SP by itself too..