Moog Question.

[b3kys]

Does anyone think that the Arturia Moog or anyother moog virtual synth competes with a real moog? Do you think it really matters to today's listeners?

[Sven Golly]

From the mouth of the father , may he rest in peace:

 

"Arturia has done it again. The minimoog V's sound quality captures the magic of the original classic Minimoog. The graphic interface looks classy and responds smoothly, making it fun and easy to use.

We at Moog Music are happy to lend our name to this fine product."

 

Robert A. Moog

What does anyone else's opinion mean, compared to that?

 

Cheers,

SG

[Tusker]

Originally posted by Sven Golly:

What does anyone else's opinion mean, compared to that?

It means he was paid to say that, may he rest in peace. Clearly he wouldn't lend his name to it if it was a total dog, but there is more to it than Bob's awareness that the the Aurturia emulation was close enough.

 

Pundits have been hailing each successive generation of VA synths as being "close to that sound." Just read some reviews of the original Nord Lead and the Korg Prophecy for a fun laugh.

 

Our awareness is changing. It will continue to. We will never be able to copy the Minimoog, because in some ways we are attempting to copy an idealized thing, not the real thing. The real thing (well some of them) could change pitch if a cold wind blew across the stage, for goodness sakes. I haven't seen a software product that does that.

 

This is the trouble with emulating greatness instead of finding your own. You will always fall short. I find that the Nord leads (and the Q)were always close to the Moog spirit, if not the Moog product. Make a musical instrument, that has it's own character and is mostly sweet spot. Then give it an interface that makes people want to fidget with it. Oh boy, I went off on a rant.

 

For software, I like the Arturia and I really like Minimonsta. For a pure hardware emulation the Minimax sounds really close on mp3's and has the same interface. Haven't played one yet. All of these can pull off a moog sound for you to put into a mix with no apologies.

 

Jerry

[K K]

It sounds close to the real thing yes, but it's a terrible resource hog. Forget about it unless you have a computer that's recent, very fast and with an optimal configuration.

[The Real MC]

Sorry but my opinion is that the Arturia comes up short. I owned a model D since 1992. I played with the Arturia at NAMM2005 and it doesn't sound like a Minimoog to my ears. The filter is the achilles heel, it doesn't have the resonant quality or the growl of a Minimoog filter.

 

Analog filters are very very hard to emulate on software synths and VAs. The only ones I heard that had a good sounding filter is WayOutWare's TimeWarp2600, that had a good analog sounding filter. Arturia's CS80V is another one with a good filter.

[marino]

A link to my impressions of Arturia's Moog Modular V:

 

http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/18/t/009738.html#000000

[RABid]

I think Jerry said it well. I like the Moog sound, but my MiniMoog put me through hell on stage. Between heat from the lights and air conditioning kicking on and off I never knew if my Moog would hold tune from the time a song began until it was time for my solo.

 

I stopped looking for a VA that sound "like" a Moog. I just want a VA that sounds good and plays well. Z3ta+ and Tera 2 both have a sound that I like and can be very musical. They don't sound like a Moog but they can cut through and sound good in their own terms.

 

Robert

[MikeT156]

All very good points guys. I owned two Mini Moogs "Back in the day". The first one didn't stay in tune very well, especially in the above mentioned buildings where there was a lot of termperature change. I bought a newer Model D in the late seventies after Moog had made a number of changes to the design and it was a LOT more stable.

 

The Real MC hit the nail on the head with his observation about the filters. Can't duplicated a real Moog filter with software, and the VA's that have a similar sound still fall short in the filter department. Not bad, or even close, but if you want the real thing, you just have to get a Mini Moog.

 

Personally, for live performance, "close enough" with a VA works for me. I wouldn't take any of my vintage boards out to a gin mill gig and risk having something happen to it. Mini Moogs are best safely stashed away in the studio.

 

 

Mike T.