Arturia MatrixBrute Review

This video, via inside synthesis, is a review of the new Arturia MatrixBrute synthesizer. 

Video Summary:

Music-heavy review, but I don’t get too much into the specs (check their site if you want the granular details). One thing I forgot to mention is the 16×16 modulation matrix sounds like unlimited potential, but you only get 4 user routings (which I usually used up). I wish it were 8 user and 8 hardwired routings. But you get individual outputs for each control source, which makes it fantastic for controlling other synthesizers.

Build quality is excellent. Keys and aftertouch are best in price class.

16 thoughts on “Arturia MatrixBrute Review”

  1. Just got one and for the first time in years I played with it all day. The sound is so ‘up front’ it’s almost startling. Also did some comparisons with my old Minimoog and while the Moog filters are so much creamier, the Brute has so much presence. It demands your attention.

  3. Really nice synth. I’m more of a digital synth guy (PM, granular, wavetable, etc.) , but this thing sounds great. I’m tempted to break out the credit card.

  5. Actually got rid of mine after a sweet honeymoon phase of a week or two. Easy to use, intuitive and well built. Liked it less and less the more I got to know it – the case has been the opposite for every other synth I’ve used. Like the reviewer above ponted out, the matrix isn’t quite as flexible as you might think. But in the end it was the sound that did it (or rather, didn’t do it) for me, and that’s very much a matter of personal opinion/taste. Very hapy to have gotten rid of it. Modular looks relieved 🙂

    1. weird, it took me 3-4 weeks alone to get good to excellent patch results.
      glad i did give up before 😉

        1. Seems like we had more or less opposite experiences… I’ve mainly been using modulars the last few years and found the MatrixBrute accessible for that reason. After a few weeks it just stopped surprising me, and I kept thinking things like “On the modular I could also have routed this to that…”

          But really, apart from the FX-section, I Think the MB is a very good, well laid out and cool synth. Patch storage and programming convenience did not make up for the extra flexibility of a truly modular system, however, and I just don’t like the sound. Purely a matter of personal taste.

  7. This is more synth (and more $$$) than what I was hoping for from Arturia.

    After the MiniBute and MicroBrute I was hoping for a Brute, an expanded version of the MiniBrute with two or three oscillators, a three octave keyboard, and perhaps a few additional features, with the Brute selling for a few hundred dollars more than a Minibrute.

    This MatrixBrute is more synth and far more expensive than what I was expecting and hoping for from Arturia.

  9. To me synths are like guitars – someone who loves a Strat probably doesn’t like a Gretsch that much… I love Moogs but never was a fan of Arps, both are great instruments but for some reason I cannot really explain the Moogs just sound better. The Matrixbrute has a sound that I love – sort of “powdery” and “grindy” – it has a sound that my other synths (and I have quite a few) do not have. I also really like the Sequencer, and the Matrix is awesome.
    The idea that 1 synth is the end-all/be-all synth is foolish to me. Try everything – buy what you like

  10. Troll alert in these thoughts!

    Troll must say ‘arturia is shit’
    Troll must say ‘Moog is the holy grail’
    Troll must say ‘Korg and Nord are so much better than the rest’

  11. I think the MatrixBrute sounds AMAZING, and I have a LOT of synthesizers to compare it to. The sounds in this video illustrate just how great it can sound. I think it’s worth every penny of the $1550 I paid for mine. It is a h*** of a lot of fun to program, but like the reviewer mentioned, it’s a let down that there are only four customizable slots in the Matrix.

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