Grandmother vs Pro 3 & Why It's So Difficult To Choose // Sound Comparison

Comparing the Moog Grandmother to the Sequential Pro 3 is like comparing Polyphonic vs Monophonic. Even though they are both incredibly good monophonic synthesizers, the Moog has some special sauce to it that I can't quite put my finger on just yet. Majority of the time I end up making the same initialized patch on the Pro 3 so the Moog is the winner for me, even though the Pro 3 blows the Moog Grandmother out of the water with features.

00:00 Why I Bought the Grandmother
01:27 Sawtooth Sound Comparison
03:15 Pulse Width Sound Comparison
04:49 How it Sounds In a Track
06:40 Melodics Promo
07:26 Comparing Features
08:42 What Have We Learned Today?

// My Music 🎶🎹

// Everything I Film With

//Contact
*** I do NOT have a TELEGRAM ***

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRIVACY POLICY and FULL DISCLOSURE:
°Ricky Tinez is a participant in Affiliate Link Programs
°If you purchase something using the affiliate links i'll get a small commission with no extra cost to you.
°This makes it possible for me to make more videos. Thank you!
** 20% of Merch Profits Go To Charities Who Clean Our Oceans 🐋 **

#moog #synthesizer #sequential

[benzmobil]

I also have Pro 3 and GM and I quite easily replicate GM sounds on Pro 3. The key is to have a ladder filter selected without the compensation which makes it to behave identical to GM. Its important to tune all oscillators volumes at half volume or even less otherwise ladder filter is easily overdriven and gives you that crunchiness.

While the Pro 3 can sound like GM, the GM is unmatched in the speed of workflow. Somehow having less features and having knob per function makes you dial in needed sounds much quicker! I know GM inside out, I can create any sound with it with my eyes closed and that's what makes it great.

[cryn]

"Create faster than you can talk yourself out of it". Wisdom right there!

[iantanner]

I have the Grandmother,
the first two I was sent by the supplier were damaged and faulty upon delivery, like serious, obvious issues.

The third one they sent was fine for about 2-3 months, then the cutoff knob started rustling,
- probably loose carbon in the potentiometer,
- I wouldn't have minded but I'd hardly used the synth, and then Moog told me "Knob Usage" issues are not covered by the guarantee.

Still, I use such experiences to tailor my buying choices, and not buying Moog anymore is a great way to save money, IMO.

I've owned a lot of Moog over the years,
- been buying synthesizers, etc, since the mid 80s,
- and although I do love the Moog sound, I have always found Moog gear to be the most likely to fail, or require regular servicing, which is a shame, and considering the retail prices I would have thought they'd sorted out the quality control issues years ago, but apparently not, and it would appear many users of the sub £1000 Moog gear have mentioned similar issues across the internet.

Rant over...

love to ALL, feel no hate

[voidmusic]

I have a matriarch (along other moog stuff like dfam and sub and Minotaur) and a Peak

I bought the Peak cause I was inspired by your videos, Ricky, and I totally love it. It’s my go to synth for everything and it has replaced all my vst (we talked about it sometime on IG)

Matriarch is just pure joy. I love creating sound from scratch and getting lost.
I love the option of semi modular to make it interact with other stuff.
I love throwing on a sequence and just play with parameters. I also love its limitation, like paraphony vs
polyphony, which forces me to adapt and roll with it rather than having a pure whiteboard where I can do anything (which can be intimidating and not productive a lot of times).

The fact that I’m forced to Record it
All the time it’s a feature for me, not a limitation.

Finally: that delay is one of the best in the market, in general not just for a synth.
It would be a huge pedal on its own

I’d only love moog to improve its syncing and sequencing with ext sources cause it’s a pain but I totally love it nevertheless.

When I just want to chill, matriarch is what I always turn on

[ChumpyDumps]

I was thinking about selling my Grandmother for a Pro 3. The Pro 3 sounds really good and I love the modulation capabilities and it’s sequencer. But every time I turned on the Grandmother I couldn’t let it go, it also sounds incredible. Ended up getting a Matriarch to go along with my Grandmother and patch them together which is a lot of fun.

[Veluvian]

I think that you're right when you mentioned - it is the mixer that makes also the difference and it saturates. I love my Grandmother and I believe it is one of the most influential synths of the previous decade, but I also want to get Pro 3 too, I think it is one of the greatest inventions of Dave. Nice thoughts you bring there. Cheers!

[brianlespoir]

Why not use the Moog Ladder filter on the Pro-3 with this comparison? The 4pole OTA filter used is the Prophet-6 filter.

[StudioMModern]

my understanding 📻 the magic of the Moog sound in this comparison is even in the pure oscillator sound it already has a subtle, pleasant motion to it 🖤

[traitortotheliving]

Good video! Grandmother will never leave my studio. It’s just perfect for bass lines and has that special sauce 🙂

[BroknRobotMusic]

Sorry but no point comparing these synths. If you want an ultra simple, sawtooth, house music Moog bass like in your video, then yeh sure use a Moog. If you want a world of complex sound design and sequencing possibilities, use the pro 3.

[delscoville]

I was so on the fence between choosing between a Moog Matriarch or Sequential Pro 3. But it was the mod matrix that had me choose the Pro 3. The Pro 3 sort of scratches that itch I have to go Eurorack. Both synths are great for a controlling a modular setup. But the Sequencer on the Pro 3 is so much better than what Moog has. When I ordered the Pro 3, I had a Moog Mother 32 on my wish list, just in case I needed that low end. but the Pro 3 impressed me, so I removed the Mother 32 from my wish list. However, the Moog Studio 3 still interests me, so that may end up in my studio some day,

[ebiii]

I have a Grandmother and I love it, that being, I never dreamed that It would be compared & favored over a Pro 3. I always compared Pro3 to Sub37.

[digitaldiezel]

Nice work! Thank you! I’d probably keep the Pro 3 and run it through a saturation pedal or something else to fuzzy it up. Just because its so flexible.

[DrClocktopus]

People rave about the moog mixer and filter, but I swear there is something about the oscilators that can't be replicated. Tried putting other oscs through the Grandmother mixer+filter and my suspicion is correct

[IanBeato]

Venus Theory made a good point, the filter makes a large the sound of a synth. As an engineer, it just sounds more saturated. Anyone using Ableton Live Suite, go drag saturator onto a sine wave, and start increasing the drive knob. You'll hear the same effect of more harmonics being added, which in turn also increases perceived loudness

[tarkus]

Well the Mixer on the Moog distorts when you turn the knob above 12 o'clock. I'm sure one could get them very close sound wise.

[GrayGhostDog]

… what a coincidence. I acquired a Grandmother two days ago! I floated the idea of adding a Pro-3 to my setup, but decided to go a different route. Not only did I want a monosynth, but a semi-modular one as well.

[MariaCalfaDePaul]

Nice comparison and funny thing is that i never thought I could get a Moog and actually saved up enough for the op-1
But then when it came time to pull the trigger I couldn’t do it. For me it just didn’t see like a good investment. I read the customer service is aweful to teenage engineering and also I was worried that I would actually lose it because it’s so small
I did a query as to which synth would he the best for the money I saved and so many folks said the Moog grandmother and then the dark version went on some sale and that was it for me. I love this synth ! I like how you use it with your beats etc. I don’t see too many folks doing that. Sounds great

[LittleAmbientMachine]

Both great synths but saving presets is just so nice to have… Pro 3 for me

[tommychampion.mp]

I think a more apt comparison would be the Matriarch and Pro 3. Grandmother is a ton of fun at first, but the fact that you didn't patch anything seems to be common across its userbase: the semi-modular nature of the grandmother is really not the selling point. There's just really not that much that you can do with the patch points it comes with, and I see most people (including myself) just using it as a presetless mono synth. The Matriarch absolutely set my heart on fire: aftertouch, velocity, paraphony, paraphonic sequencing, stereo modulation, stereo bbd analog delay (sounds INFINITELY cooler than the spring reverb on the GM), 4 oscillators, stereo filtering, and plenty of attenuators. The Matriarch really reigns supreme and still manages to inspire the same patch-from-scratch mentality but with a way more versatility. Grandmother really feels like a stepping stone --- I would get two Matriarchs if I could afford it.