It’s hard to compare them, while they are both granular glitchy pedals I find them really different. The Microcosm is more immediate and easier to use. I’ve had it a couple of weeks and feel like i’ve figured it out already, i need some more time to really master it but feel i have a good idea of what i can get out of it.
The Mood on the other hand, i’ve found to be a box of secrets. I’ve had it for close to a year and i’m still finding crazy new things i can do with it. For the longest time i was using it for droney pads and big reverbs or delay and not really touching the dip switches. Once i got into messing with the switches it opened up a million new things. I’ll definitely be getting the CBA Faves Controller to access presets quicker and easier.
For me i use the Microcosm on synths, its easy to tweak and easy to see whats going on. Used it a few times on guitar but i prefer it with synths (mainly because i don’t want to upgrade to a bigger pedalboard!). The Mood spends 80% of the time on my guitar board, using the Drolo side for pads and freezing and the Old Blood side gives me the option of having an extra reverb / delay on my board.
I love both of these pedals, they are both special and different enough to justify owning both. I regularly flip gear when I get bored of it but both these pedals are inspiring every time i plug into them.
I don’t own an Octatrack or Norns (I’ll be joining the Norns club soon, i have a Norns Shield kit coming) but i have a Digitakt that i play samples through and mangle them with the Microcosm and Mood.
Hope that made sense and helped?