Considering the Matriarch will be my one-and-only decent keyboard, I too will want to use it with Local Off. Sure hope it works properly.

I think this is sound advice. It definitely seems fun being part of the initial wave of owners, but it's also nice to have a backlog of threads to sift through so you can fully weigh the pros and cons.


But then I'm sure I'll watch a demo in the next couple of days and get antsy. I've already added and removed it from my Guitar Center cart twice!

Had mine for 10 days now... not yet a confirmed issue.

Have we seen this one yet?

After a week with the Matriarch I can safely say that, in my typically Italian overly romantic opinion, this synth will be remembered as one of the defining instruments of this decade.

It is the perfect confluence of so many ingredients that were each significant on their own, but that with this particular architecture, with these specific decisions (4 oscillators, the paraphonic modes, the amazing dual filter and those gorgeous sounding delays) just come together into a whole that's exponentially more than its parts.

The thing that hits you immediately is just how glorious the raw sound is - even the simplest patch sounds so rich, deep and lush.

I am finishing up something else and then I am going to try to make a piece with only Matriarch, and only very simple, nearly raw tones, just to see what I can do.

In the meantime, I honestly can't imagine anyone that's into analog synthesizers not to be absolutely blown away by the experience of playing this synth. It is an incredible achievement, even by Moog's standards - I think Bob must be beaming with pride in whatever higher dimension his consciousness might be.

NOooooooooo! I'm gonna sick my Viger on you!



(Who am I to talk, I'm selling my Sub-37 for a Matriarch. )

Haha. It won’t make sense keeping the Voyager having my Model D reissue + a Matriarch. Also the Matriarch will replace the Voyager in my piano space. I have the Voyager connected to my Clavinova speakers that I use a second workspace for ideas and stuff. The Matriarch is better suited with its own sequencer.

Anyone here have any luck with syncing to an analog clock? I've tried syncing it with an ERM Multi-clock as well as sending a pulse from the expert sleepers plugin and the results have been pretty bad.

EDIT: the poor performance is specifically with the arp/seq so far. I Haven't had a chance to check the LFOs or delays etc.

That's right, you have the D as well. Me too, but, I totally get it. Making these compromises or decisions is always tough, especially when it comes to a masterpiece like Bob's Voyager.

The Matriarch seems like it's right out of Bob's "modular into portable instrument" wheelhouse, which makes such a trade-off seem somehow alright, while still being gut wrenching. Serious kudos to Moog for even coming out with a mono that folks would consider selling their beloved Voyagers to acquire.

Good luck with the new rig and Matriarch.

+1 to all of that! The Matriarch is an extraordinary instrument!! Beautiful sounds just flow right out!

Has anyone been able to confirm that ties and legato glide do not work correctly in the sequencer?

I haven't been able to get any of the local off / sequencer decoupling stuff to work properly. Turning local off kills the sequencer completely. Decoupling the sequemcer seems to lower the output levels drastically to a whisper.

AFAICT, ties only work in mono mode ... para will play two notes. Conversely, ratcheting only seems to work in para mode.

In mono mode with retrigger off, tied notes are longer but the envelope still retriggers with every tied note. This is the behavior I was hoping someone could confirm.

Grandmother does not retrigger the envelopes on tied notes.

Mono note ties worked fine for me.

Thanks for the response back. I wonder how the sequencer is supposed to work with local off. Perhaps you need a constant gate on the VCA envelope? Can you see midi notes coming into what I presume is your DAW before sending the midi back out?

Also since you're the first to indicate using local off can you confirm everything works as expected through your DAW just playing the Matriarch from its keybed?

Thanks. The only thing I can think of is that there is a bug with changing some of the paraphonic settings (like round robin or restoring notes, both of which I have changed but should have no effect) that affects tied notes in mono mode. Otherwise the only other explanation is that my unit is broken.

Duo ties work for me. Will try para later. Need to make sure I’m testing your specific issue though. FWIW, serial num in the 400s

I can get ties to "work" in duo mode too, but it has the same problem. Note length is extended, but the envelopes retrigger.

Here's the best way to identify the issue:
1) Turn to mono mode (Paraphony 1)
2) Turn off MULTI TRIG
3) Turn VCA to AMP ENV mode
4) Disengage the Filter (bypass; or set to Stereo Split, turn Spacing to 0, turn down ENVELOPE AMT to Filter to 0, turn off resonance, open the filter all the way, etc.)
5) Turn SUSTAIN on AMPLITUDE envelope to 0
6) Turn RELEASE on AMPLITUDE envelope to 0
7) Arm sequencer
8) Record tied notes
10) Disarm sequencer
11) Press PLAY
12) Press HOLD
13) Hit a note

As the sequence is playing, try adjusting the ATTACK or DECAY, one at a time, from 0 to a value above 0 on the AMPLITUDE envelope. If ATTACK is set above 0, the tied notes (notes after the initial note) rise in volume from 0 just like the initial note, and if DECAY is set above zero, the tied notes sound and decay to 0 just like the initial note. The only difference is that the length any tied notes is extended (except the last note in a series of ties). If you set ATTACK and DECAY both to zero, you get an annoying click on every single note, even the tied ones. Normally this click only happens when the envelopes are triggered (i.e. on the initial note or untied notes).

Again, I compared this with the Grandmother and... it doesn't trigger envelopes for any tied notes after the initial note, which is what you would expect.

I sent Moog an e-mail, but I was just hoping someone else also has the same issue because that would mean it's in the software.

...not to harp on the same issue, so here is a new one

If you try to jump octaves while holding a note, it starts playing an annoying beating sound behind your note after you jump, for as long as you hold the note. Doesn't matter if you have Delayed Octave Shift engaged or not. (Delayed Octave Shift does work, however.)

Looks like Moog has plenty to sort out with the next firmware update.

OK two questions on outputs. As has been mentioned before, the output even with volume maxed is super low. I have to bring the gain up quite a bit on my mixer and when I do I have to engage a gate because it gets so annoying, which I hate to do. Anyone else noticed this? Also, has anyone plugged in headphones? Again, with the headphone volume maxed, it is super quiet to me. I am using Audio-Technica M50X headphones, which have a rather low impedance too. Is anyone else experiencing the same? Trying to sort out if there is an output issue with mine.

The headphone output is pretty low on mine , I have been using a 250 ohm set of DT 770s
with the master out at 100% i have satisfactory levels into my interface though its not particularly loud.

I have not noticed the output is low on either output. I was using the headphone out jack and plugging into powered speakers... I did have to turn up my speakers a tiny amount, with the headphone output on max. If I turned it up too high, I noticed I could hear the LFO going in the background.

However, plugging into a mixer with the main audio outs, it is plenty loud with the main volume less than 75%. No noise. I also tried headphones from the headphones out... same. They get too loud for comfort at max.

Maybe there is an issue with yours? I know this sounds dumb, but make sure you don't have the filter mode/cutoff/spacing or delay mix set so that it is unusually quiet.

I'm using AKG 712 headphones and the headphone volume is at about 75% and it is loud enough for my listening.

Depending on the patch, the main outs to my audio interface can be a bit quiet... but I have yet to turn the main volume up full and no noise issue.

I like this one

Wow, finally some real-life user videos are starting to trickle out. Love that Genshi's stuff. Btw is he still around here? If he left it would be a big loss for the community.

Thanks all. I will do some more experimenting and tests before I open a ticket.

Are the patch points for mini jacks or larger size?

eurorack 1/8" TS format.

just following up to see if anyone else has noticed issues with the sequencer/ arp responding to analog clock input?

OK, I just did an experiment and switched from TS to TRS cables on my mixer and I now have the gain level I should and the noise is gone. Manual says you can use either (Moog One says it requires TRS), but clearly in my mixer the Matriarch needs TRS too.

Headphone volume is still low but that may be a calibration issue or how Moog chose to set it, I would like some clarification on that so I emailed them. I tried a couple headsets I own and the loudest ones are my Sennheiser 280Pro which are almost double the impedance of the audio-technica md-50x usually use with synths, which makes no sense. They do fit a bit tighter though, so maybe that’s it. Just looking for some clarity here from Moog. Happy to have the proper level at the mixer and noise resolved though. Hope this helps someone else.