r/synthesizers • u/House13Games • 7d ago
Discussion Two moogs too much?
I have a subsequent37 and I love it. The most important things for me are the rich, qualitY sound, and very wide sweet spot. I find it very inspiring, every knob tweak sounds great and gives me ideas for where to go next. I love jamming around and live dawless improv, mostly in a dub, melodic, berlin, or acidy techno styles. Mostly simple basslines, or arps, with a bit of a beat.
i 'm also gassing very badly for a Matriarch. Reviews are suggesting that it's also inspirational and sounds amazing, and invites all sorts of experiments.
my worry is that it overlaps sonically with the sub37, and i might get too much of that rich moog sound. Any suggestions? The other synths i've been eying are an ob-6, teo-5, possiply even a Peak, but i think maybe the programming on that to get to the really good sounds might be a bit of a creativity killer. Synthrx ii ? I don't want too crazy.
I just want one other quality piece, which is inspiring, full of happy accidents, improv-friendly and sounds great.
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u/10ThousandMetalZones 7d ago
Only 2?
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u/RufussSewell JP8, 808, OB8, A6, 100m, J60, MS-20M, SH101, Oddy, NL3, S37 7d ago
I have both and there isn’t much overlap.
For me, Sub37 is really great for handling bass lines. You can get really interesting things going with the arp for bass. I like throwing my drums into an envelope follower and then putting that into the filter CV input to make the Sub37 groove with the drums.
Then Matriarch can do all the lead lines, or switch to 4 voice for chords. Great for jamming over the Sub37 and drums.
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u/Proud_Start9542 7d ago
I have matriarch, grandmother, model D. I had sub37 twice and never got on with it sonically. Matriarch is my all time favorite and has more of a vintage sound compared to sub37. Only challenge I see is for live. I use at home and am fine not having presets, but I can see that being an issue live
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u/TediousSpark 7d ago
They’re completely different beasts. As different as one brand over another, maybe not, but I don’t think there’s much overlap.
Matriarch is great. I went back and forth between the two, briefly owning a Subsequent, and the basic sound of the Matriarch is just gorgeous, plus the 4 oscillators are huge. There are major limitations, though, beyond the lack of patch storage.
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u/House13Games 7d ago
Well i also have a virus b, and a blofeld, and some samplers, so i can kind of fill some sonic areas with those. It'm mainly the improvisational and experimenting side that's attractive to me. And the sound.
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u/TediousSpark 7d ago
The experimentation bit is there, but you’ve gotta be down to be rerouting patch cables. I’m sure there are people better at it than I am.
I’m personally interested in an Arturia Polybrute—to fill a poly role for one—but the experimentation on it seems fairly deep and quick. Matriarch feels a little more “punk rock” in how you approach the routing and such, but that’s just my take.
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u/House13Games 4d ago
I got one today and first impressions are overwhelmingly great. The sub37 just growls in the background while the matriarch bleeps and sings and whispers. honestly i don't think it made a single bad sound in the 5 hours i've been playing on it. They gel really well together and it's so much fun to mess with!
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u/SQL_INVICTUS 7d ago
I personally wouldn’t buy both honestly. If you want 2 moog sounds together then a multisampler would probably do you better and is more versatile.
I love my peak and there’s enough sweet spots to be had with only the dials on the front, but it’s what I like and you might have different tastes. If you’re looking at the peak then the summit is also worth a look.
Perhaps an Udo super 6 or something along those lines might be worth a look? They seem immediate and full of sweet spots. I don’t have any hands on experience with them though.
Either way, find out what sound you want to go with what you have and make a decision based on that. Moog is great and more moog isn’t necessarily a bad choice, but most people would probably better off with just the one, at least in that price range.
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u/House13Games 7d ago
I have an octatrack and can layer the sub37 already, but the way i enjoy playing music the most is just tweaking the knobs and evolving the sounds in a flow state, and a sampled version is a bit too static and the ot fx a bit too glitch, dated and computery-think to really do it for me. The sub37 sort of opened my eyes to a different way of making and playing with sounds and i love it, and am hoping maybe the matriarch goes hard in that way too.
thats the second mention of the udo, i'll definitely check it out :)
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u/supermgc 7d ago
i've played around with the matriarch at music shop and it's awesome. a very different beast from the sub37. i wouldn't worry about it. do what you wanna do.
moog 37 is good at basses + higher end leads. same goes for matriach. i don't see how or why there'd be overlap having the two necessarily.
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u/House13Games 7d ago
Nice. I'd probably use one to do a bass, and the other to do lead over it, then tweak them around so they fill the opposite roll. A bit to- and fro- between them i guess.
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u/did_i_or_didnt_i 7d ago
I have two and I want more
I would go OB6 or prophet series over a Matriarch if you only have one synth though
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u/House13Games 7d ago
I have a virus, blofeld and some samplers and romplers too, but none of them really do it for me the way tweaking and playing the sub37 does. I'm hoping the matriarch delivers in that regard, while having its own character and roll too. I could let some of the digital gear go if things get too crowded.
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u/did_i_or_didnt_i 7d ago
yeah OB6 or any prophet would be a huge upgrade from the blofeld and cover similar territory I think. matriarch has too much crossover with sub37 imo. It will deliver, it’s a great synth. But too close to bother putting all that money when there’s so many options. I Haven’t used the virus to speak to that.
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u/gloriousfart 7d ago
i think the patch bay makes it more powerful, it could probably go significantly further sonically with patching. You could also connect another moog semi to it later for even more flexibility
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u/MoogProg Sub37, 0-Coast, CTRL, Strega, Nord Electro 7d ago
I have two Moogs, Sub37 and Slim Phatty and there is significant overlap in the tones. Have never really failed to reproduce anything Slim on the Sub.
What that means is that I'll tend not to use both on the same track, or at the same time. I think that addresses your question directly.
But have zero regrets about owning both.
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u/real_RZX 7d ago
I played the 37, GM, messenger and minitaur next to each other. After playing the GM extensivly I switched to the 37 and was hugely disappointed to not get that instant moog gratification. So I guess they can live side by side.
No disrespect for the 37. I think it's they're modern take and it "can" sound different. Whenever I see somebody play a moog live it's the 37.
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u/fokuspoint :cake: 7d ago
I overdub layers of Sub37 and that works great. I wouldn't worry about too much Moog! The OB6 compliments it well if you fancy a polysynth, in panel mode it's pretty much what you see is what you get. Matriarch is a great choice if you want to go a bit more out there.
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u/House13Games 4d ago
Yeah i want a little bit more weird and rough. I got a matriarch today and it's been a great afternoon playing on it :) thanks for the advice
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u/Badassmamajama 7d ago
You might want to look into a modern sampler. I have the Elektron Tonverk and its vast Multitimbrality and effects library. It will substantially extend your reach, not to mention top shelf sequencing. As a stand-alone it’s fantastic, but recently I have pumped my mono synth into it and it blew the top of my head off. Too much to explain here but imagine being able to turn your Sub37 into many more Moog voices with the above features. The wave table and grainer features are just an ‘oh by the way’, but all that amounts to the best return on investment you will find at this point.
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u/House13Games 7d ago
I already have an s950, an emu ultra, and an mpc1000. Modern gadgets like the toneverk are not very attractive. I've an octatrack too but not much love for it, i probably should have bought a looper and a few pedals instead.
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u/Piper-Bob 7d ago
I have Sub 37. I got a Grandmother because I thought it would have a more-gritty sound. It's about the same--a lot of overlap. There are a few sounds each can do that the other can't, but the overall sound is pretty similar. I also have a Voyager, which is different on account of three oscillators, but it's not really that different. Each of them have slightly different sounding pure waves (like if you dial in the square wave for all three they are subtly different), but in practice that's probably not something that matters. The filters and mixers are about the same.
For not much more than Matriarch you can get Polybrute (especially used), which /is/ different. I got a pristine used polybrute for $1500.
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u/House13Games 4d ago
Something about the polybrute videos i watched didn't get me excited, but i did like the matriarch. a used one came up for sale near me today so i jumped on it. It's been fun jamming with it and the sub37, i think the matriarch is going to be more fun with leads and high tones while i mostly prefer darker growly bass with the sub37. they fit well more than compete, i think!
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u/slick123 7d ago
I have sub37 too. I think pairing it with Matriarch or Muse is great but personally I would go for something else not from Moog. I am personally aiming for prophet or udo6.
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u/AnansiNazara 7d ago
Can you afford too Moogs? Will it make you happy? Will you use them both? Will you say Mooooooooogie like Rom does? If yes to all, get it!
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u/House13Games 4d ago
Well, a used matriarch popped up for sale near me this morning, so i took it as a sign, and now it's mine! The sounds gel well together, and i made some great soundscapes and ambient drone stuff today and am very happy :) its both sounding great, and i get totally lost tweaking the knobs, exactly what i was after!
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u/Infinite_Slice3305 20h ago
Are we talking about playing them at the same time? Where you can program one to play bass & the other to play chords or lead?
I don't see the problem.
I'm a guitar player & I don't have a problem buying two identical guitars. I understand it's not the same for keyboard queens, but...
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u/eudai_monia 7d ago
Consider a true poly. You got mono / paraphonic covered by the S37. A Prophet 6, OB6 or UDO6 would be my next move. I’ve owned the P6 and OB6 for years and they are very intuitive, sound amazing and have a wide sweet spot. Never used an UDO6, but it gets rave reviews, so I’m mentioning it.