UADx Minimoog vs Moog Minimoog - A Sonic Showdown

The Minimoog is an undeniable beast in the world of monosynths. But what happens when we take Universal Audio's UAD Minimoog plugin and we compare it to a 1st generation R.A. Moog, number 37 off the line to be exact. Stick around as Chris Cline listens to each of the oscillators and filters, back to back, and then you decide which one reigns supreme.
Timeline
0:00 Intro
1:40 Parameters
3:35 Comparing the oscillators
8:08 Comparing the filters
13:00 Using 3 oscillators
16:05 Final thoughts
Find out more about Chris at Civilian Audio: www.civilianaudio.com/
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[@nonsuch]

If you really wanna hear the differences best, you need to do fast switching with no long pauses between them and they have to be gain matched to the decimal point.

[@patrickscottmusica]

FYI: The "golden unit" that UADx Minimoog aka modeled after is late '70s (serial in the 7000s or so). There were two other Minis in the room for comparison of unit to unit variation, of which there was plenty. One was early '70s and the other was early '80s with the later oscillator design. There were no re-issues on the bench during development.

[@yevhenfedorets6509]

The UADx Minimoog was modeled after the Model D reissue, so there may be some differences because of it.

[@keithwilliams942]

Great video and amazing comparisons !

[@DeeKay68]

Compare the plug-in to the real unit in a song mix and see if anyone can tell the difference. And if you can tell the difference does it really affect your song?

[@happylittlesynth]

100%, No one listening cares, but it's still fun to compare.

[@user-rs7mo8xf2o]

Yes, big difference here.

[@logicalblackman8228]

I own a model D, from the second wave of oscillators. Honestly can’t tell the difference between these two. And his synth is from the first wave of oscillators, which was the most unstable, but also the fattest. If you put a gun in my head, maybe I could tell the difference! But it’s certainly nothing to justify buying one. If you buy one, it’s because you want to have the actual hardware. If you’re just looking for the sound, you can easily get it from a plug-in. Aurturia’s is great too. Also, Behringer makes an amazing clone for 300 rack mount or 600 full clone. Edit: the Model D is only rack mount. The Poly D is the full keyboard clone. name suggests, it is basically a polyphonic Minimoog. I hate the fact that they do this with all of the classic synths, but I have to admit that the sound is, almost identical.

[@PORRFNK]

Where is Zack?

[@briandavidofficial]

Helpful! Thanks!

[@100haymaker]

Think you’re all being unfair to poster. Gives me a good idea what a well serviced Minimoog sounds like compared to UAD plug in. They’re getting closer but as he says himself the real one just has that extra beef to the sound. Pity. As Id love to go completely in the box. They’re improving but still it not there. Thanks for demo. Cheers 👍

[@thomass9457]

As musicians and producers we can tell but what about the people listening to our music? Can they? I doubt it.

[@igorstetsyuk]

The difference in the spectrum of waveforms is very noticeable. The difference between hardware Moog and plug-in is especially striking in Pulse Width signals. In the Square waveform from the plugin, you can definitely hear the presence of even harmonics, which should not be the case.

[@henrikhansson1]

Like someone already said: Useless to compare two sounds with lots of silence and talking in between. And not even playing the same thing on both units...

[@logicalblackman8228]

What? Lol. I’m just starting the video. Is that what he did?

[@logicalblackman8228]

Oh shit!! He’s got a Trumansburg Moog!!!

[@jeffagoddard]

Great video! Doesn’t matter at all.

[@amanray]

Hardware still win , and we are listening to a mp3 sound that kills many subtleties

[@logicalblackman8228]

Well, 90% of sound comes through MP3’s these days.

[@user-rs7mo8xf2o]

Like the other plugins you just are not getting that full Moog expierence. The raw sonic power just isn't there. And like you say the weight in the sound.

[@alainthiry3965]

depend of your dac

[@Music73777]

Hardware analog synths definitely aren’t necessary to produce music, but they still tend to bring more richness and life to a project. How useful that is to a creative person may depend on how they learned and approach music.

[@ThePhiCode]

Nice video But please edit the videos without long poses in between examples No need to say that you’re moving between the two Because it’s obvious

[@asoundlab]

Thank you for the constructive criticism.

[@LaMusicaEsTuDios]

The set up of your software can not be the same as the set up of your hardware to achieve the same exact sound. Perfection vs. imperfection. 😉

[@Cluless02]

The actual thing sounds organic whilst the virtual thing just doesn't.

[@vimfuego8827]

Why ?

[@DeeKay68]

Even in dense mixed song!? 🤫

[@user-rs7mo8xf2o]

Yes @@DeeKay68

[@RoomAtTheTopStudio]

Wow. Same sound but different dynamics. The plugin doesn't have the low end frequency of the real thing or the high end screech. When it came to the filter the plugin was more balanced than the real Moog to my ears. The real Moog sound needs more taming to be musically usable for certain types of tracks. With the plugin all three oscillators sound more melodic where as the real Moog sounds more in unison and thicker. It all depends on what sound you are going for. Both are good. Personally I'm a real Moog fan so I don't mind taming the sound

[@asoundlab]

Thank you for your additional insight. As far the the unison oscillators are concerned, well I obviously didn't get the UAD in the same zone as the RA, but it's still an interesting listen! The UAD offers so much functionality and I find myself in that world often as of late.

[@RoomAtTheTopStudio]

@@asoundlab Plugins are great for the unlimited instances that you can create and they do make a similar tone to the originals most of the time but they don't have that physical umph in their sound. It's hard to find a plugin of anything that does. As long as it translates the basic effect many nowadays work effectively with that. Being a stickler for the authentic sound having the real hardware and learning to actually use it to get the most out of the limitations is what makes hardware appealing to me. I prefer the less is more approach but I respect those who are wizards with the plugins.

[@transpermeance1535]

All these tonal comparisons are pointless as that is only part of what constitutes a musical instrument. Most modern attempts to recreate the tonal character of vintage instruments are good and convincing . So what do all these VSTs and midi hardware instruments give up? They cannot reproduce the note precisely when the player intends. Vintage Mini Moogs have a resistor ladder keyboard which which provides the control voltage without delay to the VCO as well as the triggers for the VCA and EVG. Single channel midi hardware synths have matrix scan and debounce delays which are random and then go through the 1-10ms midi communication pipeline plus mapping through the midi to digital to analog tables before the change in control voltage gets to the VCO and VCA . VST's have to deal with the random delays in audio buffers. These random delays distract the player and listener from the intent of the player; it's like like trying to have a phone conversation with random delays in the voice. It is fast enough to fool the majority of players and is good enough to conjure the memory of what is already a known riff in the listeners mind but lacks the realtime precision of a real instrument. It is this realtime connection between the player and the instrument that is interpreted as a better feel. Sequencers and DAWs can send quantized timed midi notes to the VST but this is more like a robotic musician and not a real time musician who can retard and speedup within a riff for musical intent. Polyphonic midi is even worse and you can see this in the thousands of press and wait for sound phasing demos on KZbin . Midi is serial so all chords are fast arpeggios with random delays between the notes.

[@user-rs7mo8xf2o]

Well put

[@Cluless02]

This dude kind of gets on one's last nerve.

[@vimfuego8827]

I know what you mean, it doesn't flow

[@falangistavaleroso9689]

This is like comparing a 1950s Ferrari sound with his awful modern Honda like sounding engines. R.A vs a pc is like a Ducati sound vs. a skate sound

[@asoundlab]

Fun analogy. There are many who might never have a chance to experience a proper Mini, so I believe the perspective is important. Thanks for chiming in, very much appreciated.

[@falangistavaleroso9689]

@@asoundlab I love early analogues, anything cant pass them, specially any VST or similar. Even as you know, there is huge difference between a RA MOOG and a normal Minimoog. A collector friend who sold me a 12.000 series Mini back in the 90s got 3 Minis at once, a RA, a norma early Mini and a 12.000 serial of the early 80s, the latests produced, being the "worst" sounding to my ears of all, sadly he never sold me his RA, supposedly their OSC are the same or similar as on the modulars.

[@user-du9bv3zv4e]

Do these "comparisons" never come to an end? 🥱