Mutable Instruments ports sound really great, definitely: @thetechnobear did an amazing job 
The real problem is operating them : parameters are available on more than 4 pages that you need to browse: way too much menu diving for me while playing, killing the vibe for me.
ZOIA sounds neither harsh nor too digital IMO, I like the FX quality. Every performance parameter can be one click away, so it’s less problematic UX-wise.
It’s also winning on the patching side.
The sound of the Organelle is amazing.
I think the Organelle is more like an instrument that can be a FX pedal and the ZOIA is an FX pedal that can be an instrument.
Yeah, this.
Rp4 + pisound hat + patchbox os (when available for Rp4) + lcd + custom knobs/buttons + case + Orac =
A cheaper (€125?) more powerful option but Organelle M is an elegant finished well designed box.
Lots of effort, tinkering and resourcefulness required if you want to take the DIY path though you might end up with a fatter shorter box that you prefer. Depends on personal preferences.
Autmoatonism, from V1.1, has Organelle-friendly modules for the Organelle knobs and input / output. It is fully integrated. Also, you don’t need to create PD devices and copy to the Organelle because the Organelle can be used to create the PD devices all by itself (if you have an HDMI monitor and keyboard / mouse. 
Personally I got a bit sick of the Organelle because of a few reasons :
I don’t get Linux, I always feel like I don’t know what I’m doing when installing, moving stuff, etc…
Installing the OS on a big SD card was so weird and hard
I didn’t click with Orac’s first versions, it was so cumbersome to patch
PD can be a mess when trying to install external libraries. Some work on some versions but some versions won’t work on the Organelle, etc…
No elegant way to save “Presets” apart from saving a copy of the patch
But, it was one or two years ago, and things may be easier now ?
Working with the “original” patches was always good and fun. I started to get angry when trying to make my own patches. (I patch every day in MaxMSP, but for some reasons I struggle working with PD).
This is a simple synth sequence running through the Organelle (Clouds) --> ZOIA (Looper) --> Avalanche Run.
You can hear the dry signal at the end. Maybe this helps with your decision.
Personally I LOVE the idea of the Organelle but think the hardware interface decisions spoil what could have been a fantastic device:
You can get round these issues by using external controllers but then the portability benefit of the speakers and batteries are lost. Sold mine last year and have 0 regrets.
More program-it-yoself thingies to look at:
I was going to respond to a certain comment, but instead will praise this forum for the civility and maturity. There are other forums if you want less of either.
I was recently considering getting a ZOIA. From what I can tell it seems like a great modular FX unit. I’ve seen a demo of it sequencing / synth and I am not that impressed with that side of it but I’d love to be proven wrong about this. FX wise it’s probably one box to rule them all.
I already have an Organelle (1) and it’s actually one of my favourite things. They are all one of a kind and that in itself makes it appealing to me. I had worked with Pure Data years ago and though not too advanced it certainly helped. If you don’t know, understand or have time to patch in Pure Data then you will still get a hell of a lot of mileage from the patches you can download and easily install from patchstorage.com. The reason I say this is because the Organelle can do almost anything and it can do it all in some very original quirky ways. It can be simple and incredibly complex. Synth, sampler, FX (anything you can think of), arp, generative, UFO cockpit.
Either way it’s plainly obvious you have to put more effort into it than with a ZOIA but it can be very rewarding to learn and create your own patches and to then incorporate that into your audio whatevers.
The synth/sequencing aspects are more of a bonus to me than the main attraction. I can’t comment on the sequencer module as I haven’t played much with it, other than goofing off with factory patches, but the synth side does have limitations, eg. the selection of filters and filter options.
Hi, I’ ve got one of the brand new units. It’s a really great box.
The reason I don’t own one is that I have never been convinced by the sound. Everything sounds like it’s going through a bandpass filter, with the highs and lows lost.
It’s OK if you want everything to have that mellow “I am sitting on a bench with my hip device” vibe. Which is indeed the market C&G are going for with the speaker.
I agree. But on the flip side the ZOIA has a very limited interface with the single encoder. Multiple encoders for simultaneous parameter control of a given patch would have improved usability a hundredfold. At least on the Organelle you get a direct mapping with four knobs at once.
Plenty of places you can go with it other than the beach. I think they’re interested in the market that appreciates unique amd convenient but deep machines. Just because you’re not into it, don’t let that unfairly narrow your idea of who it could work for.
Agree re the ZOIA. That’s why I’m sticking to Eurorack.
The reason I don’t own one is that I have never been convinced by the sound. Everything sounds like it’s going through a bandpass filter, with the highs and lows lost.
This is oddly true in my experience of owning an Organelle. I couldn’t be sure if it was the patches other people were making, some post-processing hardwired into the signal path, or other, but yeah, I could only seem to produce things that sounded just a tiny bit - neutered? behaved? distant? - using my Organelle, no matter how noisy, rude, and experimental I tried to get with it. I never really thought much about this until I read this comment, because I thought maybe it was in my head!
Zoia has no such problem at all, fwiw.
The headphone out delivers a more faithful sound. See this thread on the c&g forum.
Also possible iirc to bypass both and use an interface.
I actually listened to the Organelle primarily through the headphone out, so I’m not sure this is the same thing…