Pro 3 and Grandmother

Pro 3 and Grandmother
« on: September 24, 2020, 04:03:29 AM »
Recently picked up a Moog Grandmother as a compliment to my Pro 3, first off the grandmother is excellent, sounds terrific to my suprise after a/b ing the two with ease i can get the Pro 3 to sound practically identical

I was expecting a big difference thinking the Moog would sound super vintage and the P3 more modern but the P3 can do both, super versatile synth

So Grandmother will probably be sent off to the nursing home, largely forgoten about with an occasional visit




Re: Pro 3 and Grandmother
« Reply #1 on: September 24, 2020, 07:11:26 PM »
Yeah I think many people think any synth that CAN sound modern/tight/hi-fi can ONLY sound that way. The Pro-3 is evidence that can have that and vintage charm and more all under one panel.

Re: Pro 3 and Grandmother
« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2020, 10:13:09 PM »
I'm gonna keep a squinty eye on this thread, as I've been wanting a Grandmother since it first showed up. I've played one in the shop many times, and it's clicked from the start. I was waiting and hoping to check out the Pro 3 at Just Music, but I left Berlin in the early, panicked days of Covid and thus haven't been able to check this synth out. Once I sell another couple kidneys I'll be able to afford one or the other, but I can't see picking up both. I'll look forward to any further chiming in amongst those owners in the know...

rb415

Re: Pro 3 and Grandmother
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2020, 02:00:40 AM »
I had a Grandmother for just over a year. Lots of fun because of its simplicity and directness, and a very pleasing bright and potent sound quality. But like MrSmith I have found the Pro 3 to be at least a match in terms of tone, and it's obviously massively more sophisticated in nearly all other respects. The GM was gratefully snapped up by a student. The main issue I saw with it was very poor control of short envelope attack times - it squeezed that crucial 0-50ms range into about the first 1mm of travel. On most synths (with digital control) the same is represented by a 1/3 or 1/2 turn of the pot. Several other units I tried in retailers were exactly the same. In the end I sent it for a custom mod at the Moog UK service centre, but they could not find a pot replacement or modification that gave more control over fast attacks without adversely affecting other aspects of timing or slope, and we abandoned the idea.

Currently I'm working through 3 banks of a SUB37 that I used for a live project, recreating patches on the Pro 3, before hopefully passing on that Moog too. Direct recreations are proving a little harder here because of the distinctive dark/rough SUB37 tone. Strangely the Pro 3's 12dB SVF often gets closer to the character, even if the SUB37 patch was in 24dB/oct mode.

Re: Pro 3 and Grandmother
« Reply #4 on: September 30, 2020, 05:06:02 AM »
Currently I'm working through 3 banks of a SUB37 that I used for a live project, recreating patches on the Pro 3, before hopefully passing on that Moog too. Direct recreations are proving a little harder here because of the distinctive dark/rough SUB37 tone. Strangely the Pro 3's 12dB SVF often gets closer to the character, even if the SUB37 patch was in 24dB/oct mode.

My wife plays key bass in our band and for years used a Moog Sub37. I'm a recording engineer and when recording the Moog the low end hype was so ridiculous I had to use 2 high pass filters in some cases to tame it down. Her live sound was OK because her amp/speakers rolled off a lot of that low end, but recording it was a constant issue for our type of music. She switched to a Yamaha MODX and was using that the last couple of years. Fast forward to last week - she kept commenting on the bass tone from MY Pro3 SE, so off it went off to her for bass duties and bye-bye Pro3 for me [cue single dramatic tear]. The Pro3 has wonderful low end, especially the OTA filter, and it sounds good both recorded and through her amp rig, vs what I perceived as pretty overhyped low end of the Sub37. FYI my analog synth experience goes back to the early 70's, lots of modular, etc. I don't recall any synth being low-end hyped like the Sub37.

Re: Pro 3 and Grandmother
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2021, 05:22:21 AM »
I know this thread has lain dormant but this may be useful to someone. I had a grandmother and just got  a pro 3.
I will keep it because I have some modular stuff and it proves very useful as a routing hub for the modular stuff i have
as i can replace the noise input in the mixer with a feed from my modular final stage. I can also use modulation from other stuff such as if i wanted more and better envelops the doepfer quad adsr to make the grandmother itself/better more useful.
If money is not an issue and you are pretty much non modular totally then it likely does not make much sense
to have a granmo and a P3. However on the other hand possibly if you get a granmo instead of a P3 you might put the saved money to a Medusa or Argon 8 then you will have bought wavetable and analogue and would have polyphonic wavetable
if you bought the argon 8.

Re: Pro 3 and Grandmother
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2021, 09:36:41 PM »
Anyone with a Moog Matriarch have a comparison?

Re: Pro 3 and Grandmother
« Reply #7 on: July 28, 2021, 12:38:08 AM »
Anyone with a Moog Matriarch have a comparison?
In my studio I have a Pro3, OB-6, Prophet 10, Minimoog, Grandmother and Matriarch and I can give a decent comparison of how they hold up against each other. First off, as far as bass is concerned, the Minimoog really stands above the rest but the Pro3 does hold its own. I think the Pro3 sounds fuller in the low end than the Sub37 (which I had and sold to get the Grandmother). For bass, after the Mini, I'd choose the Prophet, which is my favorite overall to play. The OB-6 is the workhorse of my studio. Honestly, I don't play the Grandmother or Matriarch as much as I'd like to; it's not that they don't sound as good as the others - it's more about workflow, which is a personal thing. For me, they're more experimental 'for fooling around' type sounds than for daily sound designing and recording. I'm pretty impressed with the Pro3's capabilities and it gets the most use as a mono synth in my studio. But for sheer soul crushing bass power, the Mini is still my go-to.

Re: Pro 3 and Grandmother
« Reply #8 on: July 28, 2021, 07:43:06 PM »
Great response and comparison. That makes sense with the Mini, with three full VCOs. OB6 is also really great. But yes, the Pro3 can get there. It has a lot of those sounds that I like. I kind of think of it like a Moog MultiMoog on steroids, the latter of which Steve Winwood used to great affect on many of his hits and albums. Score for the Pro3!