There are so many Minimoog emulations available for desktop DAWs that it seems remarkable that Moog hasn’t had one. It’s dipped its toe in the water in the past by endorsing the early versions of Arturia’s Minimoog V, and there’s also the relatively recent plugin that it developed in collaboration with Universal Audio, but it’s now going solo with the release of a Mac version of its Model D iOS app.
This is Moog’s third Mac-compatible instrument, following the releases of the Model 15 and Animoog Z, and is free for existing owners of the official Minimoog app. This itself was given away for free last year, so we imagine that there are plenty of those.
The macOS version is compatible with Big Sur or later and runs standalone, as an AUv3 plugin or through a VST3/AUv2 wrapper. As such, you should be able to find a way of making it play nice with all major DAWs.
This software Minimoog faithfully emulates the original instrument, also adding four-note polyphony, an arpeggiator, a looping recorder with unlimited overdubs, a stereo tempo-synced ping-pong delay and the Bender modulation module.
There’s also a redesigned preset management system for quicker navigation, along with a new random preset generator. Speaking of which, 160 factory presets are included. If you want more, expansion packs are available.
The Minimoog Model D app is currently available for the introductory price of $25/£22 on the Mac App Store. There’s also a bundle offer, which enables you to buy the synth together with the Model 15 app. This costs $50/£35.
Of course, the analogue elephant in the room is the lack of a Windows version. Whether this will follow at some point remains to be seen, but we haven’t had any indication that it’s going to be forthcoming.
Find out more on the Moog website.
