Minimoog VST Shootout – Diva (2012) vs Model E (2000) 2

In the last 12 years there have been many plug-ins that have attempted to emulate the sound of Moog synthesizers. Of all the Moog synths the original Minimoog is still considered the benchmark, some people even complain that the modern Moog analog synths like the Slim Phatty are not as good. There has always been great demand for an authentic Minimoog VST.

The very first attempt at emulating the Minimoog in software was back in 2000 with Steinberg’s Model E VST. It is now available free for PC and Mac here: VST Classics Vol. 1. Since then we have had quite a few more emulations including Arturia Minimoog V , GForce Minimonsta and more recently Native Instruments Monark.

While creating my Nebula Explained course I decided I wanted to show how far computer modeling of analog hardware had come in 12 years. I though it would be fun to pit the ancient Model E against the latest state-of-the art Diva and see how obvious the differences were. Diva is not just a Minimoog VST emulation, but can also emulate other synths too.

These examples are more of academic interest than ‘real world’ examples of how the synths would be used. They are intended to demonstrate how the core elements like the oscillators and filters have evolved rather than recreate cool sounding patches.

For your pleasure I present my video comparing the sound of the two Minimoog VST synths and then the entire collection of samples which are playable right here from my site:

• Diva version 1.2.1 was used and rendered in ‘great’ accuracy mode.
• Model E 2.0.0.34 has no accuracy mode and was rendered in its default.
• Audio was RMS volume matched in groups and encoded using OGG at q9 (VBR 320kbps).

Fully Open Oscillators With No Resonance

Model E

Diva

Basic Chord With Fully Open Oscillators With No Resonance

Diva

Model E

Diva

Filter Sweep With Medium Resonance

Diva

Model E

Filter Sweep With Full Resonance

Model E

Diva

Here are the basic settings used (click to enlarge):

For those interested in a comparison between Diva and a real Minimoog, check out this:

Moog Minimoog vs U-He DIVA

Full Quality Lossless FLAC versions of all the above files can be downloaded here:

Diva Vs Model E Audio Examples FLAC

Don’t forget to sign up for the Learn Digital Audio Newsletter at the top right hand side of this page!