#22

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?

2 Likes
#23

+1 on the Microcosm DT combo. Having the full size midi on the Microcosm is so great for locking in super tight rhythmic stuff. It’s really fun.

1 Like
#24

Curious how the Microcosm compares to the Instruo Arbhar. Apples and oranges?

#25

Yeah, very different in my opinion. There’s some crossover here and there, but I tend to use them in quite different ways. With Arbhar, I’m manipulating the characteristics of a buffer (or buffers), which you can do to a certain degree with Microcosm’s looper, but it’s certainly more adept at processing live signals. I’m not a level 10 Arbhar expert by any means, but I feel like I’m pretty dialed in on the Microcosm.

For what it’s worth, I made most of the videos the Microcosm playlist here, and would be happy to talk through any of the sounds or features.

3 Likes
#26

Cool, that’s what I assumed. The live processing aspect is what’s appealing to me. I may pick your brain some before pulling the trigger

1 Like
#27

Is there anything like the Micro Loop or Granules sections of the Microcosm, but available as a plugin?

#28

You could dial in something similar with Cycles, by slate and ash on both. I feel like the pitch looper that is coming with Live 11 here in a few months gets really close on both accounts too.

I think the short answer is yes. There are plenty of other folks on lines who are more adept than I w/r/t the specifics.

1 Like