Moog Grandmother Reviews

One Of My Dream Synths

I’m very happy with the Moog Grandmother. It has a very unique, high-end sound that the cheap imitators like Behringer just can’t achieve. Yes, I’m 100% a brand loyalist, but there’s an honour (and sense of pride) in paying more for good instruments & equipment. I’m very grateful that I had the financial opportunity & ability to purchase the Grandmother and the Sound Studio 3 over the last 12 months. I’m not a wealthy person by any means, but there were a couple of isolated times over the last 12 months where the chances came my way to start building my little studio. I’ve just ordered the Moog Mavis to this collection, and it’s en route to me as we speak, and hopefully it will add nicely to my burgeoning Moog synth family. Anyway, I have barely scratched the experimental surface of what the GM is capable of, but its own creative power and connectivity with other devices will definitely keep this a very important pillar of my synth Mount Rushmore. Maybe, I’ll also be able to buy a Matriarch and Sub25 in the next few years.

I love this synth

I am so happy I bought it. I was skeptical before because there is no presets and I was planning on using it live, and I do use it live, and it is mega simple to use and you get used to everything it has to offer and learn how to manoeuvre from sound to sound simply and fast. The more I use it, the more I am falling in love. It is a great tool. I have it with me for every studio session, you can get really cool sounds out of it and the bass it produces is a beast, a warm beast, it just fits in the mix and hugs you ... I am just starting with patching and learning to understand things and I am amazed and inspired for further modular voyages. I strongly recommend this synth, either for live use or studio use, filmscoring ... you can get it done. :)

A modern classic

I truly think that its a great synth either for a newbie or an advanced player. Its really hands on, inviting for experimentation as its a semi modular, i looooove the oscillator sync option, midi over USB is just flawless.

Great mono synth. Classic Moog sound.

Amazing sound and feel.

Best mono synth in this price range if you don't care about saving patches.

The synth is very well made, it is very enjoyable to play and it feels like a real instrument.

The one envelope might seem a bit limited but in KB RELEASE mode you can use the envelope independently to modulate other sources while the VCA is set on full sustain by default. This way you can use ATTACK, DECAY AND SUSTAIN knobs to control other parameters of the synth. On this mode only the release button has an impact on the VCA on KB RELEASE mode. So it's like having one and a half envelope and it works great.

You have all you need to achieve most of the classic mono synth sounds. And you can achieve much more by patching the synth internally or with other gear.

I've put four stars for quality because after having the synth for a year now (with a dust cover) and really taking care of it the reverb knob does some scratchy noises when you turn it clockwise while the synth is producing sound.

It's not a problem when you leave the reverb knob on a certain position. Nevertheless it's irritating because the reverb on this synth has an amazing organic sound and it's cool to turn it up and down while you are performing.

I've done a little search and it seems that it's a common problem with this synth. So keep this in mind.

Other than that I haven't experience any other problem.

As a conclusion If you want the Moog Grandmother as your first proper mono synth or as an instrument to compliment the rest of your gear or as a way to get the classic Moog sounds on a normal price this is the best choice.

10/10

Moog is so unique with it's rich features. every single part of it is great.

analog playground

I have on phrase: The Moog Grandmother: a mesmerizing analog playground for sonic exploration and boundless creativity.

Legend of an instrument

Future classic, amazing instrument with a ton of character and an absolute joy to play with it. I have it alongside the Matriarch and i spend hours and hours just playing with them every time i start them. I will never sell these future classics.

Bigmama

solid, strong, comfortable and compatible

Great synth!

This is a killer synth! My go-to for basses and leads and it just sits so well in any production!

Exceptional

My first and only analogue synth.

It's a beast.

It's absolutely amazing.

I'm very pleased with my decision to purchase this.

I have had hours and hours of endless intuitive recording sessions with this thing thus far.

I have zero complaints/cons.

For Moog Fans

My first Moog. It has the sounds that I grew up with, great to play and understand.

Amazing Quality Synth

Honestly one of my favourite pieces of gear that is way more versatile than at first glance. Very good quality keys and knobs and a huge amount to mess around with through the provided patch cables. Definitely think I would have been better off going for the flight case bundle but unfortunately was out of my price range at the time. Has bit of weight to it for its size and I would double check keyboard stands as the width of 580cm may not fit perfectly on a lot of stands which tend to have a minimum of just over 600cm roughly. Overall very happy with this purchase and only gave 4 star for features because of the matriarch which has a few more features like the extra oscillators and keys but at over double the price. Have had some great jams with this already but just remember to give it 10-15 mins to warm up after turning on before playing

Excellent Moog Monosynth

Great for learning analogue subtractive synthesis and live performance

Pros

• Classic Moog analogue sound

• Intuitive hand-on controls for enjoyable sound design

• Excellent 256-step sequencer

• semi-modular design great for integration with eurorack and other CV-controllable gear

• Great support from Moog (patches/updates)

• Analogue/real spring reverb

• Easy DAW integration (MIDI and audio)

Cons

• buttons above the pitch bend and mod wheel feel a bit flimsy

Incredible

After years of using it if u love the sound of Moog its a beautiful instrument to have ! Come with some patchcables but in the long run u will need to get lengthier ones

BEYOND EXPECTATIONS!!!!!! THANK YOU MOOG!

After 2 years of use in the studio i am totally blasted!

pros

-Excellent sound quality-''that'' ladder filter!

-Excellent built quality-strong and heavy construction/

-Quality materials-knobs-buttons wheels etc.

-Excellent Fatar keybed-one of the best keyboard in the market

-Fader sustain

-Semi modular construction, talks CV!

-Solid feel of a ''real'' instrument

-Brand reputation

cons

-Awfull external power pack mobile charger style

-Does not come with a case (anytype)

-Hippster colours-(why now the black edition ?over priced for colour only!why?

-No real world components inside - only 2 x PCB / SMD boards +small one for i/o

ALL IN ALL AN EXCELLENT MODERN CLASSIC INSTRUMENT

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Great synthesizer!

Hi,

I bought this synthesizer for use in my electronic music studio.

A lot of different music comes through my studio - mostly house, techno and all kinds of electronic pop.

So I need a wide range of instruments, but if I were to save only a few, this Moog would be one of them!

I am very impressed with the grandmother and my relationship with this synthesizer is still hot and I keep reinventing it!

When buying, I was mainly guided by the sound - I needed a classic sound of exceptional quality with modern possibilities.

I can get classic and very modern sounds.

The built-in spring reverb is fantastic and inspires!

The appearance of the device gives you the feeling that you have something thoughtful and pleasing to the eye in your hands.

I think it is a device for professionals and beginners - everyone will rediscover their potential and get a shot of inspiration!

Additional adrenaline is added by the fact that you create the sound yourself and it can be one of a kind and unique!

Pros:

+ Unique, classic and highest quality sound.

+ Modern solutions and connections

+ Spring reverb

+ Great design

+ Good quality of materials and workmanship

Minuses:

- no presets

Awesome machine

For my first Moog I was looking for something with a good feature set that represents the Moog sound. And does the Grandmother deliver! Wauw, what a machine. I am glad with the semi-modular approach because of the versatility. The only remark I could have, is that the output volume is on the low side. There is no mention of it in the manual. After some searching on the web it seems that Moog did this deliberatly because you are supposed to patch the output through pedals and fx. Great, now iI will have to buy pedals and fx :)

Analog playground

That classic Moog sound in a pretty compact semi-modular synth. This synth will offer you tons of possibilities by itself. Even without patching it sounds great, it inspired me immediately. The only con I can think of is that it only has one LFO. The problem is the LFO sounds great as a sub-sine too, but if you do that, you won't have any LFO to modulate the signal with. So some other LFO's on another modular synth or eurorack would be nice to pair it with. I use some utilities of the MiniBrute 2 with this synth and this way I can shape the sound exactly like I want it. The sounds you can get from this synth are just great. Remember though: no presets. You'll have to patch it live.

A true modern classic

Moog has hit a home run here with this beautiful instrument. Top build quality and covers a wide range sonically. The spring reverb is the icing on the cake.

Impressive sound design capabilities

The sound design capabilities of this product are astonishing !

One may think that the small number modules would limit the versatility of the sounds produced by this synthesizer, but the reality is quite the opposite:

- The oscillators can produce a large variety of waveforms, each with their own distinct harmonic richness.

- The low pass filter has that "creamy" signature of Moog's filter. Coupled with its resonance, so many distinct and unique sounds can be created using the same oscillators configuration.

- The VCA tweaking can result in powerful plucked sounds, as well as soft one.

- The spring reverb brings much more character than a simple reverb effect.

Also, the ability to use an external sound source as an additional oscillator can turn this monophonic synthesizer into a paraphonic synthesizer.

Would recommend it to anyone interested in sound design and as first semi modular synthesizer.