Arturia MatrixBrute: analog sound with warmth?

Quick addendum to the Arturia MatrixBrute. That French icon of luxury offers a vast synth architecture with massive features and control options. While there is no doubt about the instrument’s impressive technical potential, there are varying opinions about the instrument’s tonal character. Just how good does it SOUND? Can it compete with any classic (vintage) synth, with any classic (vintage) analog sound?

The MatrixBrute Factory Presets, however, get us nowhere closer to a suitable answer. Standard straight-sounding lead-lines, sync-sounds, technoid sequencing stuff, a few basses and effects … not too many classic sounds with vintage vibe here.

Arturia-Analog-MatrixBrute-01

So we did some oldschool sound programming. Detuning of oscillators, classic filter sweeps, PWM, ultra-slow frequency modulation, that stuff. Just to figure out whether the MatrixBrute is capable of truly WARM sounds (or not).

And yes, it is! Admittedly, it won’t become “The French Minimoog of the 21st Century”. But it is without doubt capable of those classic warm, analog sounds.

Arturia-Analog-MatrixBrute-02

Ok, ok, there are two small drawbacks: First, a certain lack of power in the low audio range – there could be a little more “lower end”. Second, attack times could be faster (which would be useful for percussive patterns, for example).

Aside from that: Respect to the MatrixBrute! It’s a flexible performance synth with billions of features, and with a flexible, yet “also” warm sounding tonal character. The attached audio files (“Analogue”) are a supplement to the already existing 40 minutes of audio material of the MatrixBrute test report.

Filed under 2018, General

“Es genügt, einen Ton schön zu spielen” sagte der Komponist Arvo Pärt im Jahre 2005. Diese Aussage ist ebenso einfach wie ich auch exzellent: Es braucht kein Meer an Tönen, denn entscheidend ist der Klang. Dass so mancher Vintage-Synthesizer der 70er und 80er Jahre teils unerreicht hochwertige Klänge liefert, steht außer Frage. Doch tatsächlich leben wir “heute” in einer nahezu perfekten Zeit. Einerseits hat man – mehr oder weniger – noch Zugriff auf die Vintage Analogen, andererseits wird auch bei Neugeräten die wichtige Komponente des hochwertigen Klanges wieder zunehmend berücksichtigt. Doepfer, Cwejman, Synthesizers.com, MacBeth, Moog, GRP, Studio Electronics, COTK, John Bowen und andere Hersteller bauen hervorragende Synthesizer, die den “Klassikern” in nichts nachstehen. All diesen (alten wie neuen) “großartigen” Instrumenten ist Great Synthesizers gewidmet. _________________________________________________________ In 2005 composer Arvo Pärt said: “Playing one tone really well is enough”. In other words, it is sufficient to play one tone 'beautifully'. I agree with that. All musical efforts are focused on the sound itself. Although I studied classical music (piano and drums), it’s the electronic sound that inspires me. Synthesizers are the epitome of new sounds and exciting tonal spheres. Today, many companies produce high-quality - excellent! - synthesizers: Doepfer, Cwejman, MacBeth, Moog, GRP, Synthesizers.com, COTK, Studio Electronics, John Bowen and others. It's their products I'm really interested in ... apart from Vintage Synthesizers, which I have been collecting for 20 years. Subsequent to our former websites Bluesynths and Blogasys, Peter Mahr and I have now created GreatSynthesizers. We hope you like it.