Cherry Audio Minimode: Taking on a classic

May 2, 2022
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Cherry Audio Minimode ·

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Cherry Audio

Minimode is another painstakingly emulated virtual take on the classic Moog Minimoog and kicks off Cherry Audio’s “Bob Moog Appreciation Month”.

Minimode

There are already plenty of really good software emulations of the Moog Minimoog. So, does Minimode have anything new or exciting to offer? Is it just a matter of being slightly more painstakingly emulated, or just a tad more authentic, whatever that may mean? It’s difficult to say, but Cherry Audio believes this is the ultimate tribute to the original instrument.

Cherry Audio says that the focus was absolute authenticity. In collaboration with Mark Barton (MRB), it meticulously studied every aspect of the synthesizer and attempted to put that in the plugin. The company tried desperately hard not to add any features, although it couldn’t resist giving you the option to pump up the polyphony to 16 voices. Interestingly, the company has ignored the dedicated LFO that came with the Model D 2016 Reissue. Cherry Audio has modelled every other circuit, signal and characteristic in the hope of capturing that Moog vibe.

The look of the plugin is good, authentic, nice, large and clear on the screen. I’d say the keyboard has a slight yellowing to indicate the age, which is a nice touch. Everything is where it’s supposed to be. There’s a “Feedback/Sidechain” button which I believe replicates the overdrive function where you would patch an output back into the External Input for some added beefiness.

Cherry Audio Minimode MIDI mapping

Sounds like a synth

I can’t tell you whether this is better or worse than the previous emulations that have graced our plugin folders, but it does sound reassuringly fabulous. It hits the spot, triggers those vintage feels and is an absolute pleasure to play. I’m enjoying that it’s exactly what it says it is. There are no additional effects or fanciness to distract me; I’m tweaking a Minimoog.

The extra polyphony does add a whole new dimension which sort of reverses the focus of the authenticity, as does the MPE support. But they are also quite fascinating, so I am choosing to see them as a bonus; besides, these presets are excellent. The best way to know for yourself is to try the 30-day demo.

Bob Moog Month

The Minimode release is part of Cherry Audio’s Bob Moog Appreciation Month. This appears to be a self-proclaimed thing and not some officially sanctioned event. It could indicate that there’s more Moog inspired stuff to come from Cherry Audio throughout May. Superbooth is, of course, right in the middle of all that.

Minimode is available for an introductory price of $39 for macOS and Windows as a standalone and plugin version.