Their policy does state that they have the right to offer a different level of service based on abuse.
Thomann here in Europe and other big stores do it all the time.
Schneidersladen did that recently for me, full refund, 463eur. I didnāt even have to pay shipping back to them! And refund covered initial shipping fee.
Still on the fence here. Love everything about the Matriarch, but I do wonder if most of what I love about it isnāt in the Grandma after all.
Youād be missing the stereo filter, 2 oscs, 2nd envelope, and some ātoolsā including at least one cv-controlled attenuverter. I could see using āunusedā oscs for FM and other audio rate modulation w/o mixing them in being big also.
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Yeah, Iāve been thinking about building a small Eurorack case to add some additional functionality to my GM (envelopes, oscs/LFOs, CV controlled attenuators, perhaps some FX, etc) , but once I start pricing that up a Matriarch starts looking more tempting.
Mates keep saying I should go modular cause Iām always so specific in what I want. But Iām a keyboard player at heart.
Tho the Matriarch seems to take care of both, in that regard.
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For my ear from demos and people jams the moog grandmother definitely hits that classic moog modular sound a bit better. Matriarch sounds amazing also, but I also feel the more complex you get with the sounds the less its natural character stands out. Not sure of your complete goals for the matriarch but I would say anyone considering one should also take the pro2 for a spinā¦ pro2 is a bit of a different approach but there is a reason people call it a modular in a box, you essentially can route anything to anything. I think itās kind of a shame to buy a matriarch and not use the delay, that delay is probably half the reason it is so expensive.
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Pro2ā¦totally different sounding. The two Filters are awesome, but the Osc are Not anyones Cup of tea.
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Not sure either, which is why Iām on the fencešI should give the GMother a proper test before I make a decision.
I tried the Pro2 awhile ago. Sequential makes fantastic synths but there was just something about its character that put me off.
Yeah Haha fair enough, I would say though the raw oscillator are pretty meh but once you start setting up modulation to all the different oscillator parameters it is basically a build your own oscillator character toolkit, but you do have to put in work to bring them to life. I think it is by design but maybe DSI was being generous thinking the average musician was so into sound design to want to mess with all that every time you start from init. Moog synths are total sweet spots and matriarch seems like no exception, I think for most people thatās a pretty big advantage. Itās a bit of a shame for the pro2 though, if they just set it up from init to naturally sound a bit more analog it probably would have got more people on board. The gain staging on the pro2 oscillators and oscillator effects also was a bit of a mystery for me for months, really gotta turn the oscillators down quite a bit if you want to smash them apart with fx and have it sound good. Really to properly judge if a pro2 is for you you probably gotta own one and put in like 100hours and have a pretty firm grasp on why analog oscillators sound good, how much you need to saturate your filters and how you might use the tools on the pro2 to get results you like. That right there is probably too big a barrier to entry for many of us. The matriarch and the grandmother I knew with in a few minutes of playing them were fantastic beautiful sounding instruments. The raw oscillators are great, filters great, fun and easy. That said Iāve had my pro2 over a year now and put in a dozen or so hours a week on it, always starting from init and I still discover new things I can do with the oscillators. If I had played pro2 in a store I probably wouldnāt have bought it and I would probably have a moog matriarch or grandmother as they are pretty much instant joy.
Anyways thatās my long winded thoughts on it haha.
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None other than Lisa Bella Donna weighs in on helping you pick a Moog thatās right for you.
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Yeah, I saw that one. Itās like listening to Mozart recommending a piano 
she seems to love the Grandmother the most, though, maybe because itās been around long enough for that kind of deep affection to arise.
Her studio is fantastic. I could live in that place, never go out, drink water sometimes and sleep when I donāt work on my music. And things would be good until the end of time.
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Iāll probably re-watch/listen to her video a bunch of times, a couple of times at least with headphones to try to hear the differences between each model.
Iām sure Iāll pick up something that I failed to notice before, each time. For example, it didnāt hit me previously that the Matriarch sequencer has 4 banks.
EDIT: There was a recent Matriarch customer who said he realized that the Grandmother would have been a better fit for him - he found the Matriarch overwhelming.
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Honestly, if itād had no single patch point, I still wouldāve enjoyed it. Thereās nothing sounding quite like it, except for perhaps another Moog
But weāll see. Iām covered in all areas except for a great keyboard, so Iām taking my time to consider this one. Iām just done searching for gear now and itās this last piece I want to get right.
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I checked out Daniel Fisherās comparison. Some of the video is talking about the specs we can look up and compare in a spreadsheet. Where it gets interesting is when he does some straightforward comparisons of dry tones between the two Moogs.
For me the most obvious difference, actually is the difference maker - paraphony vs. monophony. Thus I agree w/ Fisherās assessment. Grandmother is better suited for those who just want a lead or bass synth, and want to quickly grab filter knobs, without having to remember which mode the filter is in, where itās panned in the stereo field, etc. OTOH, the Matriarchās chords sound so nice to me.
I had several Moogs along the time. The one i Miss Most, is the Voyager. Due to its Stereo filter, it had a very smooth Sound. I think the Matriarch seem to be capable of that one too. Plus it brought all the Mod Routing things to the surface literally, that was Hidden in the Voyager under the menu structure. Allthough Rudi Linhard did his best to Develop the Voy OS much further.
The linear envelope decays donāt help.
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If it is worth anythingā¦ I bought a Grandmother shortly after they came out (had to sell a couple other things to pay for it!) and it is well worth the price. Absolute gem of a filter, oscillators, SOLID keyboardā¦ It never disappoints for bass sounds. And 10 months later, using it almost EVERY dayā¦ I can still surprise myself by finding new sounds, especially if I get to repatching.
It goes out with me every time I play live. I might ask my kids to place it in the coffin with me.
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Just wanted to chime in on previous comments that, 1. yes, the delay is a big feature, and that 2. even if youāre doing mono work, Iād rather have four oscillators than two. I just made this track and pitched each of the oscillators by an octave, and made probably the biggest bass tone Iāve ever created. And then with the delay, and opening the filter, and the weird/unpredictable way the mixer section works when you crank one oscillator, itās unstoppable. Iām sure the Grandmother is superb, but if you can afford the Matriarch, I think it has a lot of exploration to offer even as a mono.
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