Moog Sub Phatty In-Depth – ‘As Much As You Can Stand To Hear’

This video, via sonicstate, offers a detailed look at the new Moog Sub Phatty analog synthesizer.

Moog Product Design Specialist Amos Gaynes explains the story behind the new synth’s design, discusses the design of the circuits and demonstrates the Sub Phatty sound.

Key Features:

  • ‘Vintage’ Moog sound
  • 25 Keys, 31 knobs and 13 switch controls
  • Multidrive circuit technology for a gritty, saturated distortion
  • Powerful square wave sub oscillator for deep thick bass tones
  • Bold unique voice

The Moog Sub Phatty is priced at $1,099, with an expected street price of $999.

37 thoughts on “Moog Sub Phatty In-Depth – ‘As Much As You Can Stand To Hear’

  1. This is probably the best demo I’ve heard of the Sub Phatty and surely changes what I think about it. Amos is the man! .. well in depth explanation with a passion and enthusiasm… all the other demo’s of this is CRAP in relation to this one!

    It really show how beautiful the raw sound of this thing is… I’m impressed. On my wish list now for sure.

  2. “We didn’t know how to call it, maybe a magenta noise”
    This is probably why I like Moog so much! great demo indeed! thanks Amos Gaynes!

  3. I was a bit sad when he said the LFO could go up to 1kHz, because it would have been awesome to have it track the keyboard and use it for FM. Then he showed it doing exactly that. Epic.

    I think their priority should be getting one of those to Marc Doty as soon as humanly possible!
    Only gripe is the name – I have no problem with it, but it suggests that it’s just a phatty’s architecture with a sub oscillator. The sub is by far the least interesting part of this synth.

  4. This demo is for every numbskull who doubts or questions about how truly innovative designers engineer a quality product while keeping true to the legacy of the brand. Amos and the guys at Moog show me concretely why I should pay more. There are more than a couple of features offered in the Sub Phatty that are going to make it a stand out piece of gear.

    I hope all of those negative nellies from the previous posts have fun eating their words after this demonstration. I’m always amazed at all of the animosity projected at a product based upon a picture or video. Don’t knock it until you try it!

    1. I respectfully disagree with you ‘Letterz’. I have certainly been in the other camp of detractors. And not because it is not an interesting instrument or has some niche sonic possibilities.

      Did you personally know Dr. Moog? Do you understand that he was an innovator and well ahead of his time. Yet MOOG is now merely regurgitating his designs, and adding features here and there rather than simply truly innovating. Should apple release the IIc in honour of Steve Wozniak?

      I hope this instrument is successful, yet the question is should be recreate the Model T because it was great for its era? Just like the reissue of the Korg M20, this is akin the movie studios continuously remaking old classics.

      Perhaps we should at some point make an instrument meant for the 21st century. Dare I say the Alesis Andromeda was more interesting than all of these analogue synths combined…save for the Elektron Four.

      1. Respectfully as well….
        There just something about having a know per function compared to the analogue 4 …. And the sound isn’t the same, which is somewhat important maybe.

  5. gawd i love namm season! its like the holidays, part 2. even if i dont
    buy anything, it is fun to see the great new stuff. (tho nothing is perfect… or perfect AND cheap, at the same time!)
    Ya, good job Amos! way to go under pressure! i would have left a puddle on the floor trying to demo a new Moog in front of Mr. Nick Batt.
    !o!

  6. Watching the whole demo I am truly impressed with this. I don’t know if it’s moved to the must buy category, but it’s certainly in the really want category. A desktop version would seal the deal. PLEASE!!!

  7. Actually, based on the brilliant demo, I am convinced that I am not interested. Not even a little. However I have to say that was the best demo I have seen of a product in some years. He is truly an asset to MOOG.

    1. What do you know about synths Vince? 🙂
      Moog and prices is not good no,will the editor be free or …?
      Besides the price ,what does the korg ms 20 make stronger than the new moog synth?
      I played only the software version of the ms 20 and that’s a long time ago,please inform me.

      1. I think it’s a matter of preference. The Sub Phatty has some great sonic possibilities, but the MS-20 is patchable, so you’ve got that additional flexibility. For someone like myself who is more interested in sound design and such the MS is a no brainer, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Sub Phatty. In an ideal world I’d have both quite frankly!

      2. For those that think the MS-20 is more “patchable”, keep in mind that the Sub Phatty has 4 CV ins. Moog updated the Minataur so that the CV ins were routable instead of fixed. If that happens with the SP then and toss a CP-251 in the mix and the majority of the patch advantages disappear (not all of course). All parameters are MIDI controllable, not so on the 20. Editor librarian + Plugin for the SP, not for the 20. In other words, the SP is probably more flexible than the 20. However, the 20 obviously has a very unique voice/character. I’m just not convinced it is more “flexible”. I can see picking up both.

    2. @Vince Clark As a deep admirer of your work, I wouldn’t disagree, but additionally, what you said is true, and I’ve said the similar elsewhere on this forum.

    3. @ Vince Clark…. Shrunken down keys and doesn’t sound as good….IMO but to each their own.

      Surely not made in Japan or US either….

      1. At $600 the shrunken down keys will do just fine. Regarding the sound not being as good. Well we don’t really know that yet, we havnt heard a side by side comparison. But if it doesn’t sound as good it’ll be down to components changing of being brand new, they’ve clearly gone to a lot of effort. But so what? Its $600 for a pure analogue 2 osc synth. Bloody bargain.

    4. Considering, “Vince”, you didn’t even link to the right website, I’ll take your opinion with a massive chunk of sodium chloride. If you are gonna troll and impersonate someone else, at least make it believable.

  8. It’s having a delay on it !!!!!
    A couple weeks ago I posted that I would like an effects section on his synths and now….OMG!

  9. First class demo; hit the essentials and provided good detail. I agree with some posters that the Korg MS-20 looks to have some superior sound-shaping possibilities, but I’ve wanted a Moog since I was 11 so this might just be the one. But if I could, I’d get both.

  10. This moog sounds absolutely fantastic. Warm, smooth and fuzzy but can turn into a tube distorted bad boy. The vst editor, patch saving and automation possibilities make this the dream synth for me. If it had 3 or 4 voices I wouldn’t resent paying £2000 for it

  11. No matter how many features the DSI has it’s all about the sound! Anyone got any good demos of this new ms20 – that 3 minutes was terrible

  12. Very nice demo. I mainly use VSTs, but I certainly appreciate hardware (I just find most of it boring and not as useful as software), but this NAMM has some really interesting instruments. I’m not interested in the Poly12 really, but the Sub Phatty and the MS 20 reissue are really interesting. The Sub Phatty seems to be an extremely well thought out, lovely instrument, I’d love to have one (and this demo put it in a very good light). The MS 20 would also be out of this world to get a hold of.

    Happy gear-porning!

  13. This is a great demo and I love all the technical talk! I don’t understand why some people are detracting so much away from Moog. The ms 20 And Moog are different. I have an ms 10 and love it but I also know the Moog sounds different. Which is why I just bought a sub Phatty-have a wait a while mind you. . Both are certainly amazing. What is nice is that both are fairly affordable and also it gives us all an opportunity to get our hands on an mS 20 or Moog and not paying the stupid prices asked on eBay!! Nice to have the choice and a nice debate to have. The ds prophet 12 looks good and the demo by dave smith is decent but way to expensive for me. Looking forward to the sub phatty.

  14. This is a great demo and I love all the technical talk! I don’t understand why some people are detracting so much away from Moog. The ms 20 And Moog are different. I have an ms 10 and love it but I also know the Moog sounds different. Which is why I just bought a sub Phatty have a wait a while mind you. . Both are certainly amazing. What is nice is that both are fairly affordable and also it gives us all an opportunity to get our hands on an mS 20 or Moog and not paying the stupid prices asked on eBay!! Nice to have the choice and a nice debate to have. The ds prophet 12 looks good and the demo by dave smith is decent but way to expensive for me. Looking forward to the sub phatty.

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