Software giveth back what hardware scarity hath taketh away. The beloved (and now discontinued) Moogerfooger range is now back in full in plug-in form. And yes, they have fake wood side-panels, too.
Software modeling has gotten better all-round, so the sound here is convincing – and this being Moog, they’ve done a lot of work making sound samples. (This leaves me free to freely abuse the plug-ins in the privacy of my own studio to my own delight.)
But there are two big takeaways from this news:
First, the full range are here in the bundle – all seven models, even including the limited Cluster Flux and Analog Delay:
- MF-101S Lowpass Filter (ladder filter + envelope follower)
- MF-102S Ring modulator (carrier + LFO)
- MF-103S 12-Stage Phaser (phaser + LFO)
- MF-104S Analog Delay
- MF-105S MuRF (resonant filter bank + pattern generator + skewing envelope)
- MF-107S FreqBox (VCO + envelope + FM)
- MF-108S Cluster Flux (chorus / flanger / vibrato combo)
Second, here’s the surprising part – they’ve built CV interconnectivity into the plug-ins, so that you can do the things with the plug-ins you can do with the hardware:
- Any Moogerfooger instance can modulate any other Moogerfooger – regardless of where they are in your DAW
- Side-chaining is built in
- DC offset is built in
This also opens up some intriguing possibilities combining the software Moogerfoogers with outboard gear (including modular and desktop analog), without having a giant rack of Moogerfoogers. Moog HQ has that, but I don’t, and my two studio partners are really happy I haven’t brought another rack of gear. Advantage, software.
And because the effects space is so competitive, it really is that CV connectivity that I think will make-or-break this collection – it does take it to a more interesting space. I’ll look deeper into the sound design in the coming weeks.
Sure enough, Moog themselves point out this could be a compelling combo with Ableton CV Tools or Bitwig Grid. (Or VCV Rack. Or Reaktor. Etc. And with DC-coupled interface, Eurorack.)
There’s a 7-day free trial. If you want the whole set, it has an intro price of US$149; $249 thereafter.
https://www.moogmusic.com/products/moogerfooger-effects-plug-ins
Formats: VST3, Audio Units, and ProTools AAX. (Nope, no CLAP or LV2.) macOS 10.13+ (universal for Intel and Apple Silicon); Windows 10+ (64-bit only).
Authorization is iLok, but that’s bog-standard for a lot of plug-ins – and just means running iLok authorization software, not any dongle.
Of course, what is a shame is not seeing AUv3 for iOS, especially as we’ve had iOS versions of Moogerfoogers before. That’d make these nicely portable like the original hardware was. Fingers crossed.
How it sounds:
The incomparable Lisa Bella Donna puts the entire set through the paces, with a great sonic guide to each:
And apparently, because they believe we don’t all make industrial techno and experimental music (yeah, what are those curvy objects with the strings on them??!) – Moog enlisted Ty Segall to make this nicely funky tune. Everything has a warm, yellow glow that you get in the American south, as opposed to the gray-and-black eastern European grime that envelopes us here in Berlin, right before someone bites us and turns us into cold, unfeeling, unsleeping techno vampires (brainwashed into European aesthetics by marathon reprogramming sessions of nothing but Marcel Dettman back to back with Eurovision reruns).
Our friend Alex tested this one, too:
Speaking of the ageless undead, this brings me back to some vintage CDM coverage of the Moogerfooger range, including the sunset of the line and an interview with the chief engineer:
Also, I lied – there is one Moogerfooger not represented here, for fans of real Moog trivia: