Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Guitar Amps
  • Plugin Week 25
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Artist news
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • Drums
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • Plugin Week A-Z
  • You Oughta Know
  • Fake AI band
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Wrecking Crew
Recommended reading
Sonic Charge Synplant 2
Software & Apps "This really is the ultimate sound design tool": 6 of the most creative plugin synths for sound design
synths
Tech 5 innovative synth plugins daring to do things differently
API
Plugins Our pick of the very best VCA compressor software emulation plugins for any music project
Plugins Future owns
Plugins Our resident platinum award-winning mixer and producer shares 10 of his go-to plugins
plugins
Tech The ultimate soft synth showdown: Serum 2, Pigments 6, Phase Plant, Vital and Massive X: But which is best?
GForce Software Oddity3
Synths How to master virtually any software synth
Full Bucket Music FB-3300
Software & Apps Fantastic (free) plugins and how to use them: Full Bucket FB-3300
  1. Tech
  2. Synths
  3. Soft Synths

6 of the best VST/AU Minimoog emulation plugins

News
By Computer Music ( Computer Music ) published 8 June 2015

Half a dozen great ways to put the sound of the classic synth in your DAW

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Mini beasts

Mini beasts

Launched in 1971, Moog Inc’s Minimoog kickstarted a revolution in music technology that saw the synthesizer shrunk down from a room-filling modular science project to an accessible, portable and, most importantly, playable instrument aimed at musicians rather than physicists.

By today’s standards, on paper, the Mini looks like nothing to get excited about, being monophonic and lacking in most of the features we now take for granted in any analogue synth - real or virtual. Nonetheless, its powerful, rich sound has more than stood the test of time, keeping second-hand prices sky high, and inspiring several developers to build software revivals of it.

Here are six of the best Minimoog emulations on the market, starting with Monark, a state-of-the-art reboot from Native Instruments. For a complete guide to Monark, check out Computer Music 218 (July 2015), which is on sale now.

Page 1 of 7
Page 1 of 7
Native Instruments Monark

Native Instruments Monark

Perhaps the king of all Minimoog emulations, Native Instruments’ Monark is an Ensemble for Reaktor and Reaktor Player - deployable as a plugin or standalone - that painstakingly models every quirk and nuance of the real thing.

It has an amazingly realistic retro sound and has been put together with meticulous attention to detail (including oscillator drift and wonky keytracking) resulting in an incredibly convincing sound.

The developers were so focused on authenticity that Monark makes few concessions to modern standards - there’s no polyphony, no pulse width modulation, no dedicated LFOs and certainly no effects, for example.

You do at least get a few extra filter modes and the ability to shift the global tuning up and down, but the point is that Monark not only captures the sound of the original synth, but also its workflow, feel and - yes – limitations.

In short, it’s the next best thing to owning an actual Minimoog.

Read Native Instruments Monark review

Page 2 of 7
Page 2 of 7
GForce Software Minimonsta

GForce Software Minimonsta

Minimonsta boasts not only polyphony but also additional LFOs and envelopes, the Melohman patch morphing system, a delay effect and external input for use as an effect.

It sounds terrific, too, serving up a solid reimagining of the Minimoog Model D and including over 6000 presets.

Read GForce Software Minimonsta review

BUY: GForce Software Minimonsta currently available from:
US: Sweetwater

Page 3 of 7
Page 3 of 7
IK Multimedia SampleMoog

IK Multimedia SampleMoog

For a quality sample-based take on the seminal monosynth, IK Multimedia’s SampleMoog uses its SampleTank engine to power no less than 16 virtual Moog instruments, including the Mini.

With its simple control set and 32-strong roster of effects, it’s a very different beast indeed to Monark, but at this price, it’s a strong contender for those in need of mix-ready sounds.

Find out more about IK Multimedia SampleMoog

BUY: IK Multimedia SampleMoog currently available from:
UK: Gear4Music
US: Sweetwater | Full Compass

Page 4 of 7
Page 4 of 7
Arturia Mini V2

Arturia Mini V2

Perhaps the best known of all the Minimoog emulations is Arturia’s popular Mini V2. Like Minimonsta, this one extends the capabilities of the real thing significantly, adding polyphony, a mod matrix, a formant filter, an arpeggiator, effects, its own parameter automation system and more.

It’s a brilliant soft synth, particularly when partnered with it’s mobile iPad couterpart, iMini, from and to which it can import and export patches.

Find out more about Arturia Mini V2

Page 5 of 7
Page 5 of 7
u-he Diva

u-he Diva

Counting every part of the Minimoog among its various modelled modules, u-he’s semi-modular masterpiece Diva is in a rather higher price bracket than the others here, but being arguably the finest virtual analogue synth ever made, you’d expect it to be.

Read u-he Diva review

Page 6 of 7
Page 6 of 7
Steinberg's Model•E

Steinberg's Model•E

Last and unashamedly least, we’d be remiss were we not to mention Steinberg’s Model•E - one of the first VST instruments ever made, way back in 2000.

Obviously, it’s not the most powerful or convincing of faux Minimoogs, but given that you can download it for free as part of theVST Classics collection from Steinberg, there’s no reason not to give it a try.

Download Steinberg VST Classics Vol. 1

Page 7 of 7
Page 7 of 7
Computer Music
Computer Music
Social Links Navigation

Computer Music magazine is the world’s best selling publication dedicated solely to making great music with your Mac or PC computer. Each issue it brings its lucky readers the best in cutting-edge tutorials, need-to-know, expert software reviews and even all the tools you actually need to make great music today, courtesy of our legendary CM Plugin Suite.

Get over 70 FREE plugin instruments and effects… image
Get over 70 FREE plugin instruments and effects…
…with the latest issue of Computer Music magazine
More Info
Read more
Sonic Charge Synplant 2
"This really is the ultimate sound design tool": 6 of the most creative plugin synths for sound design
synths
5 innovative synth plugins daring to do things differently
API
Our pick of the very best VCA compressor software emulation plugins for any music project
Plugins Future owns
Our resident platinum award-winning mixer and producer shares 10 of his go-to plugins
plugins
The ultimate soft synth showdown: Serum 2, Pigments 6, Phase Plant, Vital and Massive X: But which is best?
GForce Software Oddity3
How to master virtually any software synth
Latest in Soft Synths
Fors Pivot
Pivot is a ‘no-nonsense’ FM synth plugin from the designer of one of our favourite hardware instruments
Odin 2
Fantastic (free) plugins and how to use them: The Wave Warden Odin 2
Excite Audio Bloom KSHMR
Excite Audio collaborates with KSHMR to create a new Bloom instrument that brings the sound of Indian music to any DAW, and you can grab the Lite version for just $5
Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer on the synth plugin that he's been working with "for years"
synths
5 innovative synth plugins daring to do things differently
Cherry Audio ODC-2800
“We’ll push the boat out here and say that this could be its finest synth plugin to date”: Cherry Audio ODC 2800 review
Latest in News
Joe Armon-Jones
Ezra Collective’s Joe Armon-Jones on the imagined musical apocalypse that inspired All The Quiet
Melbourne Instruments Roto-Control
Melbourne Instruments' Roto-Control gets Bitwig Studio integration following 2.0 firmware update
Waves 4th of July
Waves just made building a pro-level plugin chain a lot cheaper - grab 2 for $59.99 or 4 for $99.99
Deals of the week
MusicRadar deals of the week: Celebrate the 4th of July in style with hundreds slashed off gear from Gibson, Fender, Alesis, Roland, Yamaha, Boss and more
Paul McCartney at the piano at Live Aid
Bob Geldof on how Paul McCartney’s Live Aid performance was almost a disaster
ai band
"This is exactly what artists have been worried about – it's theft dressed up as competition": Who is behind The Velvet Sundown, the AI-generated band that blew up the internet?

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...