Moog Little Phatty

[SWAN808]

From the sounds Ive heard the Andromeda's always seem to sound a bit harsh compared to the vintage analogues...not that warm...

The Little Phatty is limited-but what sounds it does do it does VERY well. Thats the point.

[Dogboy73]

From the sounds Ive heard the Andromeda's always seem to sound a bit harsh compared to the vintage analogues...not that warm...

The Little Phatty is limited-but what sounds it does do it does VERY well. Thats the point.

I don't know - I'm listening to these;




And almost wetting myself!!

This now to me looks like the ultimate analogue synth. It's new, still availale, can do all the Moogy type stuff anyway (I'm sure) yet so much more besides. It even has a ribbon controller! Someone mentioned it does a good CS80 emulation. That's me sold already! I recently saw a CS80 sell on e-bay for £15,000!! Suddenly the Andromeda looks like a bargain at £1500!! i feel like I need to get in quick before Alesis eiter stop making it or decide to put the price up! I want me an Andromeda A6!!

[psychematic]

From the sounds Ive heard the Andromeda's always seem to sound a bit harsh compared to the vintage analogues...not that warm...

The Little Phatty is limited-but what sounds it does do it does VERY well. Thats the point.

The Andy has an incredible range... harsh to mellow. The two filters were unabashedly modeled after the Oberheim and the Moog. In fact I believe the design team had a Moog modular and pretty much spec'd out the A6 to it. And you have the ability to turn off the auto-tuning for major warmth and osc drift from the olden days.

In fact, I'd say the Andy is almost too warm, in that the tones I haven't quite got out of it are the dry, clinical ones from analogs like the SH-101 or the Pulse.

But tone is very subjective and varies to taste. All I know is that the raw, basic sound of the Andy without effects or fancy modulations is very, very nice. It brought me back to why I fell in love with synths in the first place.

[fac]

And if your wife objects, tell her it's the last analog synth you'll need to buy. That's what I did, and so far it's been true.

I wouldn't lie to her like that. Maybe I could tell her it's the last 16-voice analog synth I would buy?

I guess some of us succumb easier to GAS than others. I'm still trying to find a way to buy a Prophet 08 and a good drum machine (XBase888/999, Machinedrum, LinnDrum II) without my wife divorcing me.

[deastman]

From the sounds Ive heard the Andromeda's always seem to sound a bit harsh compared to the vintage analogues...not that warm...

The Little Phatty is limited-but what sounds it does do it does VERY well. Thats the point.

The Andy has an incredible range... harsh to mellow. The two filters were unabashedly modeled after the Oberheim and the Moog. In fact I believe the design team had a Moog modular and pretty much spec'd out the A6 to it. And you have the ability to turn off the auto-tuning for major warmth and osc drift from the olden days.

In fact, I'd say the Andy is almost too warm, in that the tones I haven't quite got out of it are the dry, clinical ones from analogs like the SH-101 or the Pulse.

But tone is very subjective and varies to taste. All I know is that the raw, basic sound of the Andy without effects or fancy modulations is very, very nice. It brought me back to why I fell in love with synths in the first place.

Agreed. There is nothing harsh about the Andromeda... unless you want there to be, in which case it does have distortion you can switch on. Its just about the warmest, richest sounding analog synth around. If you didn't get that impression, then you clearly haven't heard enough of it. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I don't want to steer the discussion too far away from real analog synths, but if an Andromeda proves too expensive, the Alesis Ion is nothing to laugh at. Although a totally different product, it does share a lot of common functionality with the A6. For a VA synth, it sound pretty damn good... at least until you hear the Andromeda. Anyway, I have both.

[Dogboy73]

It's just about the warmest, richest sounding analog synth around. If you didn't get that impression, then you clearly haven't heard enough of it. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I must say when I heard some of those samples on the YouTube vids I thought it sounded very old school analogue in sound quality, which is obviously a good thing if you want that sound. There's a huge amount of character in the sounds & that even comes across on the crappy audio quality in those vids. I'm hooked!

[mao]

... and if you are asking yourself if the Andromeda does the classical Wendy Carlos sounds... here you find the answer (prepare yourself and get a chair):

[Dogboy73]

... and if you are asking yourself if the Andromeda does the classical Wendy Carlos sounds... here you find the answer (prepare yourself and get a chair):

That's awesome. Sounds very much like the Carlos original, which was of course all done on a modular Moog bigger than the room I'm sitting in right now!

[typhoonsounds]

I have owned a phatty for a few months and sold it after being really dissapointed by this synth.
In my opinion, the phatty does not compete with the previous moog synths, it sounds nice of course but for the price you can find much better.

Might be just my taste, I was really expecting good things about this synth, and all I heard was something almost similar to moog vsts.

If you want the real moog sound, I suggest getting a used vintage moog.

[SWAN808]

but for the price you can find much better.

such as?

all I heard was something almost similar to moog vsts.

whoa! thats way harsh.

[fac]

but for the price you can find much better.

such as?

Depends on your personal tastes, but like I said before, I would rather get a FutureRetro XS, or a DSI MEK, than a Little Phatty. For that kind of money you can also build a small modular system with the same specs as the LP or better.

[deastman]

To be honest, I was tempted to get a Little Phatty, but I'm more interested in the Mexican version:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordita

[fac]

To be honest, I was tempted to get a Little Phatty, but I'm more interested in the Mexican version:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordita

Oh, yeah. I know those! Actually, I might just have some for breakfast.

[Dogboy73]

I dodn't know who this guy is in these videos but there are a whole series on YouTube with him talking about & showing off the Little Phatty.

[Uncle E]

+1 on the Andromeda, it's one of the best sounding keyboards ever made. It deserves to be amongst the ranks of the CS80, Jupiter 8, and Prophet 5. I'd take it over a 2600 any day of the week. You can get stepping with the Andromeda because of the digital encoders but they enable it to use presets and won't wear out like traditional analog potentiometers will, a well worthwhile trade-off, IMO. The ribbon controller is luxurious. Unfortunately, Alesis hasn't made any new Andromeda's in years and finally just took it out of their catalogs.

Dave Smith is a great guy and the Evolver's and Prophet 08's can do a lot of amazing stuff not available with other synths. However, for bass, the Little Phatty kills it and the Voyager is better still. You have to hear these things side-by-side to really appreciate just how significant and not-subtle the differences are, playing a Moog is simply more of a visceral experience.

btw, of all the praise laid upon the Little Phatty, I haven't seen anyone mention the digital components. Moog really did digital right in this case, utilizing it for modulators and controllers where things don't need to be true analog. Not only does this mean the Little Phatty will last decades longer than other analog synths (including the Voyager) but the digital components are also software upgradeable, which is how you're able to add the arpeggiator, new LFO shapes, and other new functionality to even the discontinued original version.