I received my MatrixBrute on Thursday. I did not preorder, but noticed a local distributor website showing in stock status, so I called them. They had received 1 that I reserved immediately. I also noticed that some other shops in Finland received a single unit each, most of them gone already.
I have installed the latest firmware and just managed to get the MatrixBrute properly in place on a stand. I was a little bit worried about the size and weight, but actually the synth is slightly smaller than the impression that you get from watching the videos or some other photos of NAMM for example. Of course, it is large and heavy, but luckily it was a little bit smaller than I thought, so my plan of fitting it on the lower tier on my Jaspers stand just above my mixing desk worked. The Brute is supported by two aluminium bars, the other one at the back, but I think already 1 would support it, as is the case with my Andromeda that weighs about the same. There is still just enough room for placing another synth on the top tier. Depending on which one I use, I can quickly tilt the synth on the top tier more by loosening the tilt knobs of the stand. I am quite tall, but with this configuration, I can just see the whole Brute panel while standing in front of it + I can work with the mixing desk, while sitting and then I can fully see the meter bridge as well.
The first impressions of the synth are that it is a quality product made with good materials, real wood, nice metal etc. The keybed is really good + so is the feel of the wheels and encoders. Nice damped feel to them. The encoders feel like using potentiometers when sweeping filter etc., not like the light weight Waldorf encoders that can go to the other extreme immediately if you are not careful, nice! The pots are firm, not as smooth as the encoders, but still good. Env faders are fine, a little bit of lateral play, but I find the same with my other products, such as MFB Dominion 1. Starting to work with the synth you quickly notice that Arturia has thought of almost everything. All functions are in the right places and the synth is designed for performance in mind. The left hand side with the wheels etc. is really powerful and everything you would typically need in live performance are in the same area. Setting modulations with the matrix is quick and easy. I still need to test the sequencer in real use, but so far everything seems to work nicely.
The only minor issues that I found are that I need to contact the support because my unit has some marks on some of the panels that have come during assembly (not visible in the photo). As technical issues, I currently face only 1 that is naming the preset programs from the synth and not only from the software editor. Another is the auto tuning of the synth that at the moment is still a little bit mystery about how it works, but nothing that prevents me from using the synth. There are topics open in the technical section for discussing these features. I am sure Arturia will improve them in a future firmware. The synth sounds great and original. The analog BBD fx are truly great! I thank Arturia for taking this route and not ruining the synth with a digital fx processor. Now, it is a fully analog flagship mono taken to the maximum.
