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Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition

Summary
Price New Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition @ Musician's Friend
Manufacturer URL http://www.moogmusic.com/
Ease of Use 9.1 (15 responses)
Features 7.6 (14 responses)
Expressiveness/Sounds 8.9 (14 responses)
Reliability 8.8 (13 responses)
Customer Support 9.0 (6 responses)
Overall Rating 8.5 (14 responses)
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Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 09/08/2009 at 11:14am by shagedy

Ease of Use : 10
This thng s really easy to use if you have even the most remote knowledge of analog synthesis.
The presets are pretty decent, but why use presets on an analog synth?
Although there isn't a knob for everything the interface is very well though out and intuitive.
If you want to name a patch you need the patch editor software, which is lame.
The arpeggiator is a little annoying to turn on,

Features : 7
It's an analog monosynth, with no internal effects.
midi and USB connectivity.
CV in and out.
Audio In and Out
2 osc's.
one amazing filter.
one LFO.
It's a very stripped down synth.
I bought it specifically for leads, basses, and audio processing.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 9
It's not the Voyager, but is a fraction of the price. The filter sounds great and it's very punchy. It doesn't have a ton of motion, but it's warm and the envelope is tight smooth and snappy. The keys feel nice. It easily cuts through a mix. It does leads and basses fantastically, but If you need anything more than that you're gonna need another piece of gear.

Reliability : 10
it's tank. solid knobs and buttons.

Customer Support : 7
Only had issues with the patch editor, which was eventually fixed but it took a long time. That was a third party company's fault. Moog themselves are great.

Overall Rating : 9
I would most likely replace this if it were ever lost or stolen.
I've been playing since about 1985.
I bought this along with a Dave Smith Prophet '08 to replace my ROMpler and virtual analog gear. I got the two for the price of a Moog Voyager, which was my other consideration. I think I ended up with a setup which covers a lot more ground.
I wish it had another Osc and LFO, but i'm satisfied.
It definitely fills it's role in my studio well.


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 05/08/2009 at 12:50pm by David Slauson

Ease of Use : 8
Easy to learn and use. Down-rated slightly since it does not have one knob per function (a cost-saving compromise), but this compromise was extremely well thought-out. It's very usable, easy to navigate, and easy-to-tweak. The keyboard has an excellent feel and response. The mod and pitch wheels are excellent performance tools.

Features : 9
I was looking for a modern Minimoog replacement.

The Little Phatty is a monophonic analog synth with an excellent feature set, given the monophonic nature of the beast. I have an early Stage model, and have loaded it with the operating system updates. The arpeggiator is great, easy to use, and very useful. The overdrive fattens up the sound nicely, and dials the sound all the way from "fat" to "monstrous".

The original Minimoog had 3 oscillators, while the LP Stage has 2; but the LP also adds a dedicated LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator). This (IMHO) makes the LP almost equal in sonic strength to the old mini, since most patches need an LFO for modulation.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 10
Is there a "Moog sound"? You better believe it! And this thing has it in spades. Warm, full, harmonically rich. Very musical. Go dig through the old record collection and listen to all the old Minimoog recordings. Emerson, Wakeman, Jan Hammer, etc... this is able to get those sounds.

I have owned a number of other synths over the years... none of them quite capture the classic Moog sound like the Little Phatty. And I've tried.

Reliability : 10
No problems in the 2 years I've had it. I love having the auto-tune feature... rock solid tuning stability in an analog synth.

Customer Support : No Opinion
N/A

Overall Rating : 9
I think the Little Phatty may be the logical heir to the classic Minimoog.

There's something special, soundwise, about the Little Phatty. It's usually the Moog Voyager (another great synth) that gets compared to the classic Minimoog, but I think the Little Phatty is a real contender as the modern successor to the Mini. It's missing very little that the old Mini had, and adds several extra features:
- patch memory
- arpeggiator
- sample & hold (from menu)
- overdrive circuit
- MIDI
- continuously variable waveforms
- full ADSR envelopes
- auto-tuning
- lots of blinky lights!

I currently own a Roland Fantom X8, Nord Lead 2X, Ensoniq SQ-80, and a Synthesizers.com analog modular synth... in addition to the Moog. I've owned other Roland, Ensoniq, Korg, and Yamaha synths in the past.
All great synths... but the Little Phatty is a gem, perhaps a future classic. It has a certain Moog-ish warmth and richness of sound that is intensely musical and useful.


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 04/22/2009 at 12:28am by Matt P

Ease of Use : 8
The following is for version 1.03Sc...

As this is a synthesizer, I shall not spend any time talking about presets. You really ought to be creating your own sounds, and that brings me to the editing. It is really quite easy to make your own sounds on this machine, however, it is fairly annoying. The reason I gave this category a 8 despite being a doddle to use, is because you can only edit one parameter per section at a time. I would much rather see a "one knob per function" interface, but in the interest of keeping the showroom price down, I can understand why it is the way it is.

Features : 6
Moog. Everyone who buys one should be well familiar with this name, and what you will be getting with said association. Monophonic, monoaural, no effects, and still the most desirable sound around. The Little Phatty is just what the name implies. It is my go to bass and lead machine. The LP features the following modules:

2 Voltage Controlled Oscillators, with variable waveshaping, starting from a triangle, moving through saw, square, and pulse shapes.

The oscillators, are full, and for a lack of a better term, fat. They have every bit of "oopmh" I was hoping for. The Little Phatty is very musical in nature, and this is in large part to the sheer quality of the sound sources.

1 Voltage Controlled Filter
Design: Patented Moog ladder filter, switchable between 1 and 4 poles (6-24dB), with built in overdrive

This is the money maker. This is what has built the legend of the Minimoog, and it is in full effect here. You're going to have this filter in 4 pole mode about 90 percent of the time, but it is nice to have the flexibility to change it. I have made a nice TB303 impersonation with the 3 pole, and the 2 pole allows you to do some ARP and Obie sounds. The 1 pole is for pure sonic destruction, so use sparingly! I have found that a smidge of overdrive on most patches gives it the effect of looping the Minimoog through itself. A very nice touch, in most cases.

2 ADSR Envelope Generators, one for the amplifier, one for the filter

1 Mod Bus
1 Source, 1 Destination

Fairly standard fare here, but it should be noted that most Moogs do not feature fully articulated ADSR envelopes. So to have the full compliment is really nice.

The LP has MIDI, and it is a breeze to use. You will be making sequenced basslines in no time.

It also has 100 memory locations, which is nice considering most monosynths do not.

This synth scores a 6 for features, but I did not buy this synth for a wealth of features. And neither should you. Quality over quantity is the name of the game, and I don't think I can stress how good the quality is.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 10
The sound is fantastic. It doesn't matter if you have it dry, or add touches of reverb and delay to it. Both sound great.

Make New Order bass lines, Rick Wakeman leads, Kraftwerk-ian filter sweeps, Cars oscillator sync sounds...you name it. It sounds distinctly elegant and distinguished...until you crank the resonance and overdrive. Then it can sound quite nasty, which i like because most Moogs can play Dr. Jekyll, but rarely can it morph into Mr. Hyde.

Reliability : 10
Rock solid, plain and simple. It needs to be tuned from time to time, but what non digital instrument doesn't?.

I would gig this thing to the end of the Earth, as the build quality is great.

Customer Support : 10
Moog is always there for you.

Overall Rating : 9
If my Phatty were taken from me, the thief had better leave me a Voyager. There is no other Moog that will do (besides the Voyager) now that I have been lucky enough to own the LP. I would recommend ditching your Prodigy, Rogue, Source, or MG1 and grabbing one of these. Sure, its not vintage, but the sound is still there. And you get the added features that most Moogs don't have like MIDI, memory, full EG's, and Pulse Width Modulation!

I love the look, and the sound is just as good. I only wish the machine had knobs, knobs and more knobs.

So many synths promise that Moog sound, but they never really deliver. So stop twiddling on your Triton, and get a real red blooded analog synthesizer.


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: USD 1250
Submitted 12/08/2008 at 11:56pm by Jerry Camp

Ease of Use : 9
I've been using the Phatty for about a year. First, the Stage One and now the Stage II. I love the concept that Bob was thinking of when creating this product. In performance it is too easy to grab the wrong dial on the Novation Supernova, for example, under lights; so, the large dials and the rubber light buttons really make it fun to jam live. However, this same setup also limits some combinations. It would be nice to have the same circutry, but have more big dials for certain functions, or even dual destinations and wave forms. Seems like it would be possible.

Features : 9
This is like a saxaphone or trombone. Arpedggiation is great for laying a basic sound, then experiment with pitch, LFO, EG, and filter. Effects? No, why put on-board effects into basic unit? I have a great time using guitar effect pedals. The newer pedals have a ton of easily manipulated presets, 32bit sampling, fairly cheap, and a volume control on the left side! I do find the volume knob placement on the Phatty awkward. My point is that there never was a spring reverb on a Selmer Trombone (now there's a thought). And that is what I believe the Phatty to be: a great solo intrument. Everything you need to manipulate a sound is here. The addition of well, three oscillators would be "more cool." But no, this is not the Voyager, but it is a solid performance tool, and a whole lot friendlier to take on the road.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 9
This is a synthesizer. I believe the sound to be only as good as operator.

Reliability : 9
I had some trouble with the Pitch bend. But it was fixed by Moog.

Customer Support : 9
The Moog people are a little flaky, they do need some left brains in there. But they got the job done!

Overall Rating : 9
I think I will have to have one of these in the synth chain. For my music it is perfect. I love the Rick Wakeman sounds I can get out of it. I love to manipulate the solos on the fly. I hate the volume control placement on the right side. I wish it had more dedicated dials/knobs. I would like a balanced output device that I could kick in to balance presets.


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: 1200
Submitted 10/28/2008 at 11:19am by Slowfinger

Ease of Use : 9
Controlling this synth is quite simple, maybe too simple.

Features : 4
This synth is so simple that features are quite simple. This is why i am beginning to feel bad about it. The best thing is the new arpeggiator feature you can get updating the OS from moogmusic.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 4
I was using a Minimoog Voyager and because i needed some money i changed it for this one. To me, it does not sound good enough. I don't want to say it's crap but when you see the word Moog you think it's going to be great and well, i was wrong with this one. I don't like it anymore, really.

Reliability : 7
It takes some time to get in tune but then it's ok.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 4
Well, avoid it, if you want a Moog and you have money then go for the Voyager. If you don't have enough money think about any other option, this synth does not worth the money.


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: swiss francs 1670
Submitted 08/14/2008 at 09:45am by tez

Ease of Use : 10
Very nice and pretty easy to use, just took some minutes to get familiar
with the "software" part. compared to other synths, this guy is very easy to do!

Features : 7
it's a pretty simple but complete instrument.
monphonic, 2 oscillators, some filtering, it's all!
basically it hasn't got any "pedal" effects (delay, reverb, etc). i recommend the use of an Analog Delay of any sort (the best is the moogerfooger!)

Expressiveness/Sounds : 10
well, no poliphony, no effects, at the beginning it sounds lean and light, but once youknow it, you can juice alot of really Phat and MEAN sounds that digital stuff can't do (ex. korg, roland, and so on). monophonic is a little strange, but fine too! you can do a lot of glides, it's cool and funny.
Personally, the lp can't be played alone, you need some other keyboard to get some support, and some Delay too.
Very good for Rock, funk, electro things, dance.

Reliability : 8
a real though guy! i put it in my car, smash it around... it never changes its form or sound!

Customer Support : 10
very helpful, kind and friendly, you can find almost any spare part or software support. if you need help, just ask!

Overall Rating : 9
if you re looking for a real and natural electronic sound, this is good for you. sounds though and rough, it is born for rock and not for "space" sounds. at the beginning i wanted to buy a synth, i tried some digital ones (compared to this they sound really FAKE!), then i found my own on the little phatty... i wish i could get an Old School one... this should sound awesome!


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: USD 1.180
Submitted 08/03/2008 at 12:14pm by zongada

Ease of Use : 7
This is about the Litle Phatty II : this synth might look easy to use at first glance , but there is no way to set arpeggiator , arp hold I think even midi-clock in a global way , so you have to save these settings in each preset... And I find really most of the presets totally unusable , even after tweaking them .

Features : 5
Monophonic , no effects , no aftertouch , not pressure sensitive , no sequencer and the arp only has up , down and as played (with clock divisions)Moog pretended to have invented the hot water with this clock-syncable arp , but my (15year?)old Korg Prophecy has this too but then the arps are editable , a Novation Supernova has hundreds of arp-patterns that are really playable (as opposed to Karma , where you are playing other peoples melodies )

Expressiveness/Sounds : 5
I'd like to say that it's here that it really shines , but quite honestly , it doesn't : to me the sounds are agressive , even very digital , now I can see that some other people might like this , but then again , for example the Prophecy has a much wider palet of different and a lot nicer sounds , and so have a lot of other synths which you can find easyly for a fraction of the money I payed for the LP

Reliability : 5
Came out of the box totally detuned , takes about 2 hours to tune it. Would never ever take this to a gig . Oh and , along with the LP came a DVD with a Minimoog plug-in on it . Only it doesn't work proprely : random bleeps while you are playing it makes it totally unusable too...

Customer Support : No Opinion
No experience

Overall Rating : 3
One good advice : go to a shop and play this thing before you buy it, I didn't and sold it after 3 days cursing at the machine and at myself for buying this from the net. The only really good thing about this Moog is the promotion-team...I predict there's gonna be a lot of these totally overpriced LP's on ??bay within a year. This synth might have been passable 20 years ago , but hey , it's 2008 now !


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 06/10/2008 at 11:22pm by Popoki Nui

Ease of Use : 8
V1.03Sc. I find the presets interesting, but few of them useful. I'm busily overwriting them with my own! Editing/creating/saving patches is a snap once you get used to how it's done. The LP manual is logical and informative, although probably not in-depth enough for beginning synthesists.
My biggest complaint is the location of the volume control. Every monosynth I've ever used placed it on the left side of the machine, a logical place for right-hand-only playing. I find reaching with my left arm all the way over to the right side a real PITA.
My biggest praise is the LED-lighted controls: I LOVE being able to see a patch simply by looking at the parameters lit up. Makes sound building a treat.

Features : 7
THis is a monosynth, so no polyphony. I find the keys to be solid and quiet, unlike the noisy keys on my vintage synths. The olny built-in 'effects' are portamento, which is easy to access and works as expected. As far as MIDI goes, I do not "do" MIDI...I am an analog-only gal from the 70's. Anyone who mentions MIDI in my home gets their mouth washed out with soap.
NO sequencer. NO arpeggiator. NO noise source. And not long after I purchased my LP Stage, the Stage 2 come out with....arpeggiator and noise. Typical!!!!

Expressiveness/Sounds : 8
As there are very few -if any- normal instrument patches factory-programmed, I can't comment. I have, however, built some decent sounding brass, woodwind, string, and piano sounds from scratch, and some nice drum sounds using the noise source on the optional CP-251 Control Module. My playing is classic rock and electronic (as Jarre, Perrey, Fast, et al), but I can see the LP Stage being useful and happy in any genre. It is exceptionally expressionful (is that a word?), and easy to use in a live performance thanks to the 100 page preset menu, and ease of programming.

Reliability : 8
After eight months of wonership and reasonably hard playing, I have experienced none of the problems reported elsewhere (software, button problems, and so on). While I would certainly use solo it on a gig in terms of electronic and mechanical reliability, I would not like to be without a noise source and an arpeggiator. Thus, unless I pop for an LP Stage 2, I would have to gig up with a second synth that has those features.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Have not had to deal with Moog on anything serious yet, but repeated attempts to buy a Moog t-shirt and hoodie have failed. They just don't seemd to want to respond to such minor matters. And not to pick nits, but after spending $1500, Moog's "free gift" was a Moog sticker worth about ten cents. OK...it's better than no sticker, but it seemed so chintzy. Really.

Overall Rating : 8
If my LP Stage was lost, I'd definitely buy a Stage 2. It's less money, and has more features. Overall, I love my LP, but I HATE the location of the volume knob! Currently my other synths are a Roland SH09 and a Roland Jupiter-4, plus a Yamaha keyboard thingy I use for rythm and the odd preset fill-in sound.
I bought the Moog LP because I always wanted the Moog sound, and the LP definitely has that sound that no other analog synth can match. But I think the lack of a couple of key features, and that darned volume knob issue were major oversights in Moog's thought process. Otherwise, I'm keeping my LP Stage and loving it in spite of those.


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: USD 1350
Submitted 05/09/2008 at 06:13pm by alucheni

Ease of Use : 9
It's pretty darn easy. The presets are good but the magic is that you can use them to study how to get various effects with analog controls. For the performer, everything is designed for quick switching. Patches load instantly at the turn of a wheel. It's great. The manual is good.

Features : 8
It's monophonic. Keys are velocity sensitive - used more for filter changes, not so much volume changes. Keyboard action is solid. There's an overdrive effect. It could have used a built in reverb and delay in my opinion. There's MIDI in-out (I haven't used that much yet).

Expressiveness/Sounds : 10
So many neat sounds... so expressive! In my opinion, you can really tell analog vs. digital when using pitch bends and modulation. I personally love dips\bends\wobbles in all my playing so for me this thing is a dream come true. Great for funk, techno, bass lines, jazz, noise, RnB, analog-type percussive stuff, etc... I am really in love with the way this thing sounds.

Reliability : No Opinion
I dunno. Seems pretty solid. Seems sturdy.

Customer Support : No Opinion
?

Overall Rating : 9
It's expensive. But, it's awesome. This is easily my favorite keyboard of all time. I got it mostly to make bass lines with, but, I'm to a point where I'm throwing a lot of time into chops of all varieties with it. If you're a keyboard player, especially a funky one, you basically gotta have this thing. Other folks will probably like it too. It sounds so cool through delay, so, I do wish it came with that built in. Oh well..


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: USD 1200
Submitted 02/02/2008 at 07:37am by Chuy Rosales

Ease of Use : 10
Really easy to use. All parameters that you need are right in the front panel. The user interface is very easy going, and a very clever one because if you need to modify let's say waveform, you just press the boton and the actual value is shown in the knob led.

I've never owned an analog synthesizer before and also I'm new on substractive synthesis, and this interface is excelent to learn.

I think substractive synthesis have never been easier.

Features : 8
The main features of this synthesizer I think that everyone reading this reviews knows the main features: Two oscilators, monophonic, one filter, modulation section, etc.

Also there is one small downside, and that is that this unit desn't have any effects at all, but that's one of the reasons why we can get the Moog sound at this price tag. This can be solved by an external effects unit.

A nice feature is the Overload control, it can add a very interesting texture to the sound.

And another great feature is the mono input, you can plug in a guitar to pass it through the LP filter and add some nice distortion with the overload feature.

The keyboard feel is great for my taste, it is really helpful to play fast solos.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 10
This is where the LP really shines. With no much experience I've re created some classic moog leads like the Tom Sawyer lead from Rush, the Shine On Your Crazy Diamond lead sound from Pink Floyd, also some Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman classic sounds.

You have very deep bases, and ear shattering leads, don't look to recreate any realistic instrument, this is a Moog and that's it.

I've used some soft synths in the past for preset playing only like Arturia Minimoog and Absynth, but there is nothing compared to the real analog sound, I can't describe whit words what is the difference, you will just have to hear for yourselves.

Reliability : 9
I???ve never used the LP in a live situation, but it feels and looks very solid, this thing seems like is going to last a life time if taken care of. And yes I would gig without a backup.

Customer Support : No Opinion
I'ne never needed to deal with any Moog technician.

Overall Rating : 10
This is a great keyboard, may be you can find some virtual synths for a fraction of the price, but computers get obsolete and old, on the other hand Moog instruments become classics and last a lifetime!! This is a Moog, I can???t compare this to other Moog gear because it is my first, but I???m very happy with this synth because I can recreate some of my all time favorite sounds. Of course this is a little expensive keyboard, but it???s worth it.


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 12/30/2007 at 09:58pm by Jason Last
Email: neuropa2 at yahoo<dot>com<dot>au

Ease of Use : 10
Really straightforward classic analog synthesis with a well designed & uncluttered front panel. Very friendly. In fact, the lack of a separate knob for every parameter actually makes it easier to edit as everything is so clear.

Features : 9
It's features are what you want/need for a classic analog mono sound. Nothing more & nothing less. What I would like is the ability to trade oscillators for voices, ie. instead of a 2 osc - 1 voice, be able to select an option of 1 osc - 2 voices to allow for natural release when playing live single note string lines. I realise not too many people would want that feature anyway & it would detract from the classic mono nature of the instrument, so no biggie.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 10
Oh my. What a joy. I'm no synth starter. I've had dozens of classic analogs over many years & released 6 albums. The LP is great. From Devo & Nitzer Ebb bass sounds to Billie Currie like leads, this cute thang will keep it real in a software world (& I still like software). It actually wants you to play & tweak it. Moog wise I've played or owned a model D minimoog, Multimoog, Source, Studio Electronics ATC1 with moog filter & SE1, Polymoog, Voyager, Liberation, Prodigy & Rogue. As an overall measure of price, sound, reliability & ease of use, it beats them all & that is a very big call indeed. I realise that's a matter of personal taste but it's an informed/experienced opinion.

Reliability : 10
For Moog VCO's the tuning is rock solid & I've never had anything go wrong with it. The build quality is superlative.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never had to deal with Moog but the friendly, personal writing style in the manual is encouraging.

Overall Rating : 10
Buy one if you like synthesizers. So much nicer than software. I can't imagine how awesome it would be if it was 8 voice & multitimbral - it would be like finding a secret vault of all the best porn in the world when you were 16!


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 12/06/2007 at 10:59am by Kevin Nolan

Ease of Use : 10
This instrument is a joy to use. Incredibly easy and straightforward - due to exquisite design. Can't remember the name of the guy who designed it though(!)

With the optional editor/librarian, its completely managable in a DAW environment - your library of sounds grows within the librarian, you can edit the synthe from computer via the exquisite (and scalable) GUI, and upload/download sounds in an instant. Simplicity itself.

The Moog Little Phatty is the perfect combination of 100% Moog sound, analog synthesis and cutting edge computer integration.

Features : 10
Features are also excellent. With powerful VCOs, VCF and VCA plus an LFO with an enormous frequency range (to hundreds of hHz) means that contains enormous depth and breadth with considerable modulaiton possibilities. You'll not find an end to the sound design possibilities.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 10
It's a Moog - what could I possibly add here that hasn't been said by far more illustrious users?

Reliability : 10
Built like a tank; control surface and keys all totally reliable.

Customer Support : 10
Excellent - every email during presales, and subsequently with several queries, all answered same or next day (I'm in Ireland).

Overall Rating : 10
I own many synthesizers, new and old. This is the first Moog I owned (though I 'borrowed' a Moog Prodigy for several years(!) some time back and know the sound intimately). The Little Phatty is all of that and much, much more. Into the bargin it looks stunning.

Its the real McCoy. Nothing more to be said.


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 06/18/2007 at 03:01pm by John

Ease of Use : 10
1.03

Features : No Opinion
1 Voice - 1 Fat voice. The sound is typical Minimoog and just as bright. It does sound a little more refined and fatter in the lower frequencies. The keyboard action is actually very decent and has a nice light springy feel. The Overload feature is excellent and really makes things sound big and aggressive. It has a midi in and out, as well as a momno main output, stereo headphone out, inputs, etc.

Expressiveness/Sounds : No Opinion
This machine has plenty of juice to keep that fattest of users happy. It's basically a fat sounding synth. The bass is impressive. The analog tone cannot be beat. It blows away my other synths for bass and leads.

Reliability : No Opinion
So far, great!

Customer Support : No Opinion
Very good on emails.

Overall Rating : No Opinion
The best analog mono synth for the price.


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: USD 2000
Submitted 05/19/2007 at 11:33am by Tomrummet

Ease of Use : 9
The Moog LP Stage Edition is a very easy synth to use. Push a button for the parameter you want to edit and use the rotary knob above it to change the value. Although I prefer one knob per parameter this works great too!
The Moog LP comes with 100 presets and most of them sounds excellent. It's easy to save your own sounds as well and all of the presets can be overwritten if you like.

Mine came with the (now) latest OS installed - 1.03sb. It's an easy procedure to update it when new versions are avalible as it's all done via midi.

I didn't need the manual to get started but I still recommend to read it to learn the hidden features of your Moog.

Features : 10
As most of Moog synthesizers and vintage analogs this baby is monophonic and is - of course - not intended to be your next Fender Rhodes or Hammond B3.
If you buy a Moog you hopefully have an idea of what you get.
If you want built in effects, a massive memory and more features I would recommend you to look for a VA instead. There is also the DSI Evolver for that kind of fun.

This doesn't mean that the Moog LP is limited in any way! It's just not intended to make involved effects and modulation routings. This is all about leads, bass, sweeps and lighter SFX.
Therefor I give it 10 for the features. It does what it is intended for. If you want more than that then you're looking in the wrong way.
You will miss the Moog sound though! ;)

The keyboard on the Moog LP is a dream to play. It responds very fast and can also be set to be velocity sensitive.
To form your sound you have 2 VCO, 1 VCF (that let you choose how many poles you want to use 1-4), 1 LFO (with "sample & hold" among other waveforms), 1 filter ADSR and 1 amp ADSR. Beside the keyboard there are 1 pitchwheel and 1 modwheel and on the side of the synth there are midi connections.
There are also CV connections on the side (pitch, filter, keyboard & volume) and an input for audio in so external sound can be fed through the filter of your Moog. Thanks to the CV inputs you can expand your sonic possibilities on the Moog LP if you own Moogerfooger effects or an expansion board such as Moog CP-251.

As with all analog synths the Moog LP is sensitive to temperature changes and can vary in pitch. I usually leave it on for 15 min before tuning it. Most of the time however it's in perfect pitch after 15 min and stays that way. If you should expeience problems with the tuning Moog has added a calibration feature. This means that it can tune itself without you and your tech involved with screwdrivers. Great!

Expressiveness/Sounds : 10
Let me say this once; The sound of a Moog is FAT. I usually hate that word for describing how a detuned analog synthestizer sound. But with this machine it can't be described better than that.
It can do most of the old Minimoog sounds that we all love from Pink Floyd, ELP, Yes, Beatles, Kraftwerk, Abba and other giants from the past. The range from soft sweeping leads to fat basses and bubbly effects...it's all in there. Your creativity is your limit. :) This is what I love the Moog LP for - because of this true vintage and genuine sound! Also, with midi it's no longer hard to make fast sequences via Cubase, Pro Tools or whatever you're using.

However I wouldn't have any problems to use this in any kind of modern music as well!

Reliability : 10
I've heard about some bugs in the OS but not in the hardware. This is good as the OS can be upgraded. Hardware issues would be more of a pain to fix. My Moog LP has been a good boy so far.

I would gig with this without hesitation and a backup! Just be sure you have got a good case to carry it in. It's pretty heavy so a good keyboardstand with double bars is recommended!

Customer Support : 8
I haven't dealt with them personally. But Moog is famous for their interest in their customers. You can get help with minor issues directly via their forum.

Overall Rating : 10
Before buying this I've always considered the Moog-fetich among synth-community to be nothing but nostalgica. I was wrong! A Moog is a Moog in wich both sound and hardware are pure quality. You're really buying an instrument - like a Fender Stratocaster or Gibson Les Paul. This is going to serve me well as my nr 1 synth. It's worth every penny!

I have been playing synths since the late 90's and I have owned many different synths - analogs, VA:s, digital and software. Right now I have a Korg MS20 and a Solina String Ensemble beside the Moog LP and I couldn't be more satisfied.

I would buy this again if I lost it in some strange and bizarre way!


Product: Moog Little Phatty Stage Edition
Price Paid: Euros 1369
Submitted 03/17/2007 at 07:35pm by Markus

Ease of Use : 10
The user interface of the Little Phatty is great. It is a pleasure to use this synth. I am not missing all the knobs of a Voyager at all. Every parameter is immediately accessible. And the RAC really works - real analogue control of the most important parameters. Great!

Features : 8
Of all the synths I have owned this is the one with the least features. Two oscillators, one filter, one lfo, two envelopes, noise, glide, sample & hold, a limited mod matrix, monophonic. So what? This synth is a real musical instrument. It feels like a musical instrument. Everything that it does it does with the highest quality of sound. So this synth is fun to play - it is a performance synthesizer - easy to use and also great for controlling other synths - hardware or software.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 10
It??s a Moog.

Reliability : 8
Well, I had to calibrate it two days after I received it because one note had gone completely out of tune. I also had a "fatal error - keyboard overrun" once in only four days that I own it now. I hope Moog Music will fix these bugs. Aside from these software bugs, the hardware looks and feels quite reliable.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Let??s wait and see ...

Overall Rating : 10
The Little Phatty is a monophonic performance synthesizer. It looks cool, it sounds great, it feels great, it is not just another synthesizer, it is a real musical instrument.

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