Digitone keys + Vermona Perfourmer mk2 or Moog Matriarch?

Elektron Gear Digitone/Digitone Keys
#1

Hey guys, the price difference between the digitone+perfourmer and the Matriarch is about a few hundred bucks more for the digifourmer combo.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Perfourmer here’s a YouTube link: https://youtu.be/BWb4CwwEh8s

It’s really powerful.

Anyway, it has midi in and 4 seperate identical channels of analog synth that can be controlled seperately.

I want to know if this is a good combo and if it offers more value than the Matriarch alone.

You could say it depends on what I’m looking for sound wise. I’m not particular on the Moog sound or anything. Just looking for fat analogue(sque) sounds and performability. I don’t mind that the digitone is digital FM. It beats Yamaha’s VA modeling. But relative to other units in Moog lineup, the Matriarch is good value for its price.

Im currently leaning towards the digitone keys and Perfourmer mk2 combi but I would like your honest input on this. I don’t own hardware synths and this would be my first setup. I have enough converters.

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#3

I owned a perfourmer, it’s a very nice sounding synth.

one big difference between it and a matriarch that you should consider, is that you have a separate filter, envelop and modulation for every voice. so you have a lot of control over every voice. this is good and bad, depending on how you want to use it.

e.g. if you play it polyphonically and want to lower the filter cut-off, you have to do it four times for every voice, not like on a classical synth where you have only on filter knob. or you want to shorten the decay, you have to match it on every voice. it’s more like having four mono synths. this can result in interesting sounds, because no voice sounds exactly the same as the others, but it’s harder to control in a classical way.

on a matriarch, all voices share one filter as it is a paraphonic synth. so it’s kind of the opposite of a perfourmer.

hope it was clear what I mean.

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#4

In true Elektronauts fashion I must recommend the A4, you’ll have all the features of the perfourmer and most of the matriarch, and you can cycle the voices just like the perfourmer and the matriarch. The sound is not the same of course, that’s granted - and another topic.

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#5

Yeah ditch all three and get an analog keys :joy:

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#6

It’s got a lovely spot where you can place the Digitone.

Good thinking!

#7

Yup the wasteland is where my digitakt lives. I use those handy 3m Velcro wall hangers to keep it in place.

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#8

i own the Digitone Keys + the Perfourmer and have spent perhaps 4 hours with the Matriarch at a music shop.
The Matriarch is extremely poor value if you stack up its features on a dollar by dollar basis against comparable products or eurorack systems.
the Matriarch’s main unique or interesting features in my view are it’s stereo filter with its various features + the stereo delay… . beyond that. you’re mainly paying for the Moog name…
it is an OK synth and could be put to great use, no doubt. but if the choice is between a Digitone and a perfourmer OR a Matriarch, then, go for the former.

you could compare the Vermona + Moog side by side as they are both in the same broad area of being “analog subtractive synths” . and the Moog does have more features if you stack them up …

but the RESULTS you could achieve with the DT + P4 will be orders of magnitude larger and over the long term, more satisfying than the the Moog

the Moog offers the immediacy of a synth with all knobs on the front panel + a keyboard… the other combo offers you an infinitely larger sound pallette + sequencers.

if you don’t need a keyboard to perform and are happy using the inbuilt sequeners or another midi keyboard, then get the DT + P4.

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#9

i had the perfourmer mk1 in the past.
Digitone and perfourmer sounds like a lot of fun.
always liked the clever midi note distribution on per4mer.
nice tricks can be done with that, especially with a nice sequencer (like elektrons).
having said that, the perfourmer would not be my go to synth for playing it with keys.

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#10

I agree with many of the above, I own both per4mer & DN and they are a great pair. Having both allows: trig conditions on an analog synth / refeed of the per4mer output to the DN & use of effects / extended polyphony.

You can also control each of the four voices on the per4mer independantly if you assign them to four different midi tracks, which, luckily, is exactly what the DN has :wink:

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#11

If you are not after the Moog Sound, DN + P4mer is a fantastic Combo. I had a P4mer for a few years, and its soundqauality is on par with the Matriarch. Very very good! The Sinus Sound ist excellent!

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