yeah, getting Michael Stein (S U R V I V E and Stranger Things) to score the promo was a killer catch.
On my Subsequent 37 I move the Resonance and Drive controls in sync to keep the low end.
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Mike Dean has one tucked into the middle of his rig:
Moog Source.
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I owned one of these early on.
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Spongebob Synthpants
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I prefer the LP bold design too.
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Even that sexy white version? Come on! 
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Stonehenge!
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Are you telling me that MOOG is about to release a 2 VCO / 1 LFO / 1 Filter / 2 Envelopes synth?
Man, they never stop innovating.
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Thatās 2 LFOs!
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looks sleek and probably sounds awesome
will be hard to resist if itās under a grand and has a duophonic mode
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Some major innovation weāre seeing here, I hope it has a ladder filter, that would be simply incredible
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Thatās some pretty wobbly bass there at 0:10 
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True analog wobble!
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Their keyboard synth designs also donāt lend themselves well to desk work due to how bulky they are. This seems aimed at the DAW producer who wants something compact to use on their desk in front of their monitor.
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Iām gonna guess $700-$900.
This looks like a cheaper unit to me, not in a bad way but as a quality entry level synth. I will say the arrows buttons do look pretty cheap on some of those close ups. I donāt think something being assembled in China automatically means the manufacturing is worse nor do I think it being assembled in America makes something better though. Humans are humans no matter which border you are born in and humans make mistakes.
They arenāt 1:1 of course but the comparisons to the Grandmother can definitely be made.
Looks like the biggest differences, apart from Grandmothers modular nature are:
-Messenger has two LFOs, Grandmother has one.
-Messenger has 3 oscillators (2 main, one sub) and Noise. Grandmother has 2 Oscillators and Noise.
-Messenger has two envelopes. Grandmother has 1. Messengers envelopes are loopable, Grandmothers are not.
-Messenger has 1 multi mode filter. Grandmother has 2 filters (Low Pass and patchable High Pass).
-Messengers Sequencer is far more advanced just from looking at the panel and includes things like gate length, note probability, Note Pool (I have to assume this is akin to scales or user set scales), and gate probability (Iām assuming itāll make notes longer or shorter based on percentage amount or something). There also appears to be 64 step Sequences and possibly a Pattern might mean you can chain your sequences together. A lot going on with this sequencer but not too much at the same time. Seems to be a good on board sequencer. Whereas the Grandmother sequencer is about as minimal as a sequencer can get and you can save like 3 of them or something.
-oscillator shape looks to morph between shapes on the messenger where oscillator shape can be changed but ultimately static shape once selected on Grandmother. It does appear that you can morph oscillator 2 shape with the filter envelope.
-Grandmother has a built in spring reverb where the Messenger doesnāt appear to have any effects.
-Messenger looks to be able to save patches where Grandmother cannot.
Thereās a lot to like here about this synth. And while I do love the Semi-Modular moogs I have, there definitely is something about a synth that just needs button presses to set up patches instead of having patch cables all over the place.
Inversely, any of Grandmothers weaknesses can be offset if you choose to purchase some Eurorack modules to replace aspects you donāt like. Also, while you only have one LFO on the Grandmother you can use that LFO as an Oscillator to give yourself a sub Osc at the cost of losing Noise. You also can use an Oscillator as an LFO if you want as well. So thereās a lot of flexibility on the Grandmother where the Messenger is a bit more restricted in ways. If you donāt like something about the Messenger you canāt āreplace itā or add to it like on the Grandmother. But againā¦ patching on the Messenger is going to be a lot cleaner without a lot of cables and it looks like you can save patches as well.
I think this is a good direction they are going. If I didnāt already have a Grandmother, Matriarch, and all the pre-2024 desktop Modularās this would really tempt me, especially as Iām stepping further and further away from eurorack due to the cable management aspect being a real drag.
I guess the questions I have is if that mixer overdrives and if the filter does the classic Moog low end drop out when the resonance is cranked. I know people hate that aspect butā¦ thatās a Moog lol.
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Maybe the thing theyāre innovating isnāt the components, but rather the packaging and price point those tried and true components can be shiped in? Just like the Muse pushed polyphony but looked like a One, or the Labyrinth and Spectravox got all weird but in standard eurorack formats, or the Geddy Lee Minimoog adopted the heart of a mini while pushing the boundaries of what signature red finishes can be.
You canāt innovate everything all the time. Where would you put it?
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Iāll be honest, the thing that looks most interesting to me is that it has a smaller footprint than my GM. I would miss the semi-modularity, but if it can also sound like a vintage Moog then I could be tempted to switch up, assuming the price isnāt crazy. Too many unknowns atm.
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