Moog Sub Phatty

The sound is what truly matters here, and there it excels in all ways. It sounds fat, big, bassy and dirty. Great Moog sound you expect and get. What I didn’t expect was the side panels to slowly over time decay. Eventually they outgassed so bad that the rubber material was sticky and would leave black residue on my hands if I touched it. The keys have also turned from bright white to slight yellow due to fire retardant in the plastic. I replaced the side panels with wood side panels so now I love my synth again even if the keys are not beautiful bright white like they were before. Eventually I’ll fix that. But the sound is just great. So yeah, I have to give a very high rating with a point off for poor build quality on exterior elements.

This synth is outstanding. It can be tricky to be subtle with it, as it'll rip your head off. But if you're looking for some proper old- school-ballsy-moog bass, this synth is the one for you.

a moog that sounds like its been thru post production before you even hit record! the keyboard sucks, but its MIDI capable so who cares. This synth is one of the best sounding new analogs out there and I am so glad I bit the bullet. Good for more than basses though I haven't used it for anything but bass yet in a recording. I only dock this synth a star for the cheesy keyboard.

2020 revision: loved this intensely for a while (still in love when I wrote the review) and I just kinda drifted away from it. I'm so into the ARP feature set or vintage polies.... I let it go as the value climbed following its discontinuation. I will probably regret this later and buy another.

I love every sound I get from this but if you aren't trying to plug it in via USB and use the file manager and vst version to change things like the bend range you're going to find yourself wondering how to count 24 vs 25 while hoping you remembered the right button combo. The Sub 37 fixes a lot of this but I feel like I'm seeing a lot of these below Lil Phatty Stage prices despite it being a more competent synth. Not great at farty Moog tones because the whole Multidrive/Resonance interaction is all MS20 style roughness or TB303 bite. It's bright rather than warm and it knocks but you won't get classic Minimoog Funk basses out of it in the same variety as a Voyager because it's a different beast. You'll get similar tones, but once pushed they howl.

Time is the true measure of how good your Moog is. Sub Phatty seems to age exceptionally well so far. It’s modern hard edge sound and envelopes coupled with vintage Moog modulation and silky cream as fuck filter makes it an excellent go to for immediate punch on bass or leads.

With all that said this little bastard also has flexibility and synthesis surprises if you dig further into the non-labeled options. I thought when I bought a Grandmother my sub phatty was doomed to be sold, but to Moog’s credit it still has a character to it that you wouldn’t even get from another Moog. Also I originally saw it’s small amount of presets as a detractor, but it actually changed me as an artist into being more open to organic creation(or you can set up more presets in the sub phatty app on your computer if you’re not looking to make that journey). I expect that 10 years from now sub phatty will be considered a unique piece of monstrous work in the history of Moog pantheons.

The first move you make when you're playing the Sub Phatty, is to grab that multi-drive knob, and crank it. Pull down the OSC1 and OSC2, and bump a little SUB OSC. Delicious, right? Well if you haven't gotten your hands on the SUB Phatty yet, you need to hear these unique timbres that shine on this synth. Deep, heavy, and gritty, but go up a couple octaves, and you'll notice this synth has a sort of finess you might not expect at first, but will love at first listen. Underpriced for the Moog standard that never fails to impress. Oh! And don't forget the free amazing software editor and librarian that work wonders for the workflow.

I have used this moog for about a year now and all I can say is, it's so much better than any keyboard and synth combo can ever achieve, due to its perfect analog sound! If you are in need of a analog bass sound, you have found the right machine.

Contrary to Moog's marketing, the Sub Phatty doesn't go very far into gritty territory; its overdrive is much tamer than, say, a MiniBrute. However, it does indeed have the exalted Moog sound, which, while limited, is worth the price of admission (along with the synth's high build quality). Those worried about the hidden functions should note that few of them are settings that one would fiddle with regularly. USB/MIDI integration is excellent.

The Moog Sub Phatty is one of my favourite Instruments in my Set-Up. I use it for deep Bass-Lines to create a shocking and punching bass sound together with a bass player. But even in the high notes, the Sub Phatty can be used to create synth-solo sounds, which is very nice if you ask me. The whole Instrument is very easy to handle if you can relate to basics of synthesizer electronics and techniques. A must have for all the key-playing-mad-scientists out there ^{^}

Really getting into synth and keys taking 5 keys to gigs now MADDENING