Polybrute or Moog Matriarch?

[Torchlight]

I'm thinking of buying these, but can't decide.

[vurt]

do you require poly sounds or only mono?

[Torchlight]

I don't strictly require any. I have a few poly and mono synths already. Of course, poly is better, other things being equal. But it's more about the sound quality than anything else.

[vurt]

fair enough

of those 2 id probably opt for the brute, both lovely sounding machines, but the morph pad and ribbon give the brute an edge for me

[pdxindy]

I have not played a PolyBrute yet (only listened to online demos)... I have the Matriarch. For pure sound quality, Matriarch. With it you get those wonderful analog delays... which can be used with other gear too.

On the other hand, the PolyBrute looks like it would be an amazing controller. It is on my might order list. I've heard enough compelling stuff from it that I might order one to try it.

[Constructed Identity]

I played the Matriarch and wasn't as impressed as I thought, the main feature it has is it's analog delay which is basically a Mogerfoger delay. You have to have wanted a real analog delay to understand the appeal here - I did.
So, for basic features comparison the Polybrute wins, for analog completeness Moog wins.

[_leras]

I have not played a PolyBrute yet (only listened to online demos)... I have the Matriarch. For pure sound quality, Matriarch. With it you get those wonderful analog delays... which can be used with other gear too.

On the other hand, the PolyBrute looks like it would be an amazing controller. It is on my might order list. I've heard enough compelling stuff from it that I might order one to try it.

I haven't played the Matriarch, but was considering picking one up - but for me the sounds seemed all to dark. Certainly creamy smooth, but it seems no demo I have come across has any 'bright' sounds, and that it also isn't perhaps as 'punchy' as the old voyager which is seems to be an evolution of.

Do you think I'm missing something with it?

[JHart]

I have the Martriarch and I've spent a few hours playing the PolyBrute. The PolyBrute for me is a performance synth, it has the ribbon control, the aftertouch (so does Matriarch, but you have to patch it in) and the Morphe thing - basically, things that let you modulate stuff through physical movements whilst playing. The Matriarch let's you modulate through setting up an interesting patching combination. That said, I use the Matriarch as a lead / bass synth in my live setup just as a mono synth (it can get wonky on the tuning in hot conditions, so I run a tuner from the headphone out) and it sounds great and the stereo filter setup (lp/lp, hp/lp ser & par) lets you find a spot for it in a mix. For recordings I tend to use it to run audio through it's filter architecture and through that amazing analog delay. I'm more of a polyphonic player and I'm considering buying a PolyBrute for live to pair with the Matriarch. They are so different, it's hard for me to think of them as a one vs the other thing. Currently I use a System8 or Juno 106 with the Matriarch, and the PolyBrute can make those shimmery kind of roland sounds and many others and I find it exciting to play - so I could compare and say, I think there is value in a polybrute of either of those two. But I can't really think of it in comparison to the Matriarch, their voicing architecture and filter architecture are so different, and workflow too. Of note, I thought the PolyBrute keybed felt a little cheap on a quite expensive synth (it wobbles a fair bit laterally compared to the Moog or a DSI synth for example), the Matriarch feels pro and proper. I think they both sound great. For me the polybrute is a synth that you can make sounds quickly on and it feels very creative to use and once you get the mod matrix, it's super intuitive and fast to use. The Matriarch takes time and some thought if you really want to see what it can do (and you need to be interested in its modular capabilties), that's not a bad thing, it tends to lead me to different sort of results. Loopop does some cool reviews of both on youtube so you can see more extensive features of both.

[pdxindy]

I have not played a PolyBrute yet (only listened to online demos)... I have the Matriarch. For pure sound quality, Matriarch. With it you get those wonderful analog delays... which can be used with other gear too.

On the other hand, the PolyBrute looks like it would be an amazing controller. It is on my might order list. I've heard enough compelling stuff from it that I might order one to try it.

I haven't played the Matriarch, but was considering picking one up - but for me the sounds seemed all to dark. Certainly creamy smooth, but it seems no demo I have come across has any 'bright' sounds, and that it also isn't perhaps as 'punchy' as the old voyager which is seems to be an evolution of.

Do you think I'm missing something with it?

The Matriarch has a warm and round tone with plenty of presence. I would say the Voyager has a bit harder tone so likely more 'punch'. I've only had a few hours with a Voyager so someone who has had both would be better to comment.

I make various delicate high sounds on the Matriarch. Having the HP filter lets one cut the low end and with 4 Osc's, with a wide octave range, one can make various kinds of additive sounds, bells, plucks, fm stuff. Play those sorts of sounds through a nice shimmer reverb and it is gorgeous and ethereal. The delay is dark-ish... that is part of its charm.

Generally, if I don't like the sound of a synth from online demos, I have the same reaction playing it in person. So maybe the Matriarch is not for you?

[Gribs]

I have a Voyager and the two expanders and a MatrixBrute. I like the MatrixBrute more. The ladder filter on it is very Moogy. I think if I were going to buy a Moog now other than the Moog One, which is sort of over-the-top IMO, I would buy a Subsequent 37. I like the design and have a stupid amount of modular gear already.

[_leras]

Do you think I'm missing something with it?

The Matriarch has a warm and round tone with plenty of presence. I would say the Voyager has a bit harder tone so likely more 'punch'. I've only had a few hours with a Voyager so someone who has had both would be better to comment.

I make various delicate high sounds on the Matriarch. Having the HP filter lets one cut the low end and with 4 Osc's, with a wide octave range, one can make various kinds of additive sounds, bells, plucks, fm stuff. Play those sorts of sounds through a nice shimmer reverb and it is gorgeous and ethereal. The delay is dark-ish... that is part of its charm.

Generally, if I don't like the sound of a synth from online demos, I have the same reaction playing it in person. So maybe the Matriarch is not for you?

Thanks - I'll keep looking out for demos. I do think it sounds good, and it should have a really wide range of sounds. I guess what I really want to know is if it can be made into something fierce with a bit of distortion. Perhaps I haven't seen the right demos yet.

(I also don't really need another mono at the moment....)

[_leras]

I have a Voyager and the two expanders and a MatrixBrute. I like the MatrixBrute more. The ladder filter on it is very Moogy. I think if I were going to buy a Moog now other than the Moog One, which is sort of over-the-top IMO, I would buy a Subsequent 37. I like the design and have a stupid amount of modular gear already.

Interesting that you'd like the matrixbrute over the pimped voyager...! Will try and take a listen.

I also really like the spec and sound of the Subsequent 37. Great synth and patch memory, while not essential, would be really helpful for me.

[lasertag]

I vote for Matriarch, I've always really liked the timbres that moog can reproduce, I'm not alone in my opinion