GForce Minimonsta vs. Arturia Minimoog?

R.J.Dubya · Post by **R.J.Dubya** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:44 pm

Just looking for some opinions on a sound comparison between these. Been wanting a moog synth for a while as I often go for that type of sound.

I've been demoing the arturia minimoog and it's very nice sounding, but there are some things that are pulling me towards the minimonsta, however I can't try it yet as it's not UB quite yet (should be this week or next).

I like the extra melohman goodies on the minimonsta, and it's much cheaper after the ohmforce educational discount than arturia, so I'm leaning towards minimonsta (if it sounds as good). And also, though I really like the arturia sound, I don't like how you can hear stepping in the filter when you change it in real time.

I've listened to the minimonsta sound examples, pretty good, but I remember trying the imposcar once and personally wasn't that impressed. Can anyone tell me if the minimonsta sound stands up to arturia's minimoog V?

Much appreciated,

rjw

Contra · Post by **Contra** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:08 pm

i have the minimonsta and it sounds dope.
i read a while bak that the oscilators on the arturia one recreate a better copy than the minimonsta ones. but i dont know, i still think minimonsta gets the job done.

pz

anti-banausic · Post by **anti-banausic** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:43 pm

I haven't ever heard the Arturia mini, but have minimonsta. I think that it sounds fantastic, haven't really a clue about quite how close an emulation, but the melohman feature is a dead winner.

And Rick Wakeman endorses it.

Best,
AB

And no dongle.

Contra · Post by **Contra** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:51 pm

anti-banausic wrote:I haven't ever heard the Arturia mini, but have minimonsta. I think that it sounds fantastic, haven't really a clue about quite how close an emulation, but the melohman feature is a dead winner.

And Rick Wakeman endorses it.

Best,
AB

And no dongle.

word to that.

and no dongle!!!

rsagevik · Post by **rsagevik** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:13 pm

The minimosta is fab.
Might not be an exact emulation of the mini,
but I think it`s much more versatile than the
Arturia Minimoog V.

I`d definately go for the monsta.

R.J.Dubya · Post by **R.J.Dubya** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:28 pm

Thanks for the replies. The minimonsta does look more versatile, and the interface looks better. I'm not really a fan of arturia's interface, always so hard to read. I'm really hoping the oscillators on the minimonsta sound as good as the minimoog V though. Anyone out there used both?

steve-o · Post by **steve-o** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:56 pm

R.J.Dubya wrote:Thanks for the replies. The minimonsta does look more versatile, and the interface looks better. I'm not really a fan of arturia's interface, always so hard to read. I'm really hoping the oscillators on the minimonsta sound as good as the minimoog V though. Anyone out there used both?

I think you should check out KVR. The general consensus over there, it seems to me, is that the Minimonsta sounds better, as in more authentic. I too am waiting for the UB version.

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:17 pm

I love Arturia products. The mini moog is an awesome sounding synth.

But even better for me are Analog Factory (great value for money), the latest version of the CS-80V and the new Roland Jupiter 8 emulation blows my world apart, it's awesome.

http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/pro ... intro.html

The dongle is no prob for me, I already have a syncrosoft dongle for Cubase SX3, the license for the Arturia products all go on the same key (just make sure you don't lose it or you're f***ed)

I personally find quite a few opinions/consensus's on KVR to be bollox.

Not putting down minimonsta, a good synth indeed, just less realistic than Arturia's minimoog.

The only negative for Arturia is that some patches are more CPU hungry than you'd like to see sometimes imho. Awesome products indeed.

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:28 pm

that last post makes me look like a rabid fanboy !

Seriously though, demo them both and see which one floats your boat, the best recommendation is your own recommendation. Asking for other's opinions is fine but we all have different advice so test drive em both for yourself...

R.J.Dubya · Post by **R.J.Dubya** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:56 pm

leedsquietman wrote: that last post makes me look like a rabid fanboy !

Seriously though, demo them both and see which one floats your boat, the best recommendation is your own recommendation. Asking for other's opinions is fine but we all have different advice so test drive em both for yourself...

Ya I've been demoing the arturia stuff for a while, and I too am very impressed by the sound of their osciallators. The cs-80 is great too, and the modular. I actually think the modular sounds as good as the mini but uses less cpu and is more versatile. The only thing is that I can't stand the interface. I don't want to look at all those cables? Also, I don't like the interface on the cs-80 or minimoog. The font is so damn hard to see, and that's a big part of it. Like I said before too, although the filters sound good, I don't like that I can hear distcinct steps in value changes when I turn the filter knobs in real time.

I just went and listened to the minimonsta demo tracks again and am pretty impressed. Much easier to read interface too, and the red/blue lights indicating lfo/envelopes are a nice touch. I'll probably go that way.

Thanks for the input fellas.

polyslax · Post by **polyslax** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:47 am

Minimonsta all the way here!

Check the SOS review here:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug05/a ... monsta.htm

The UI on Arturia's mini is just bad, I can't do it.

But the monsta totally rocks, the UI is sweet, the mod options are sick and Melohman... what a performance tool!

I like Arturia's Moog Modular V, which I recently sold, it sounds great. I also like their Arp 2600V, which I still have, very nasty ballsy thing!

R.J.Dubya · Post by **R.J.Dubya** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 2:57 am

polyslax wrote:Minimonsta all the way here!

Check the SOS review here:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug05/a ... monsta.htm

The UI on Arturia's mini is just bad, I can't do it.

But the monsta totally rocks, the UI is sweet, the mod options are sick and Melohman... what a performance tool!

I like Arturia's Moog Modular V, which I recently sold, it sounds great. I also like their Arp 2600V, which I still have, very nasty ballsy thing!

Glad to have your opinion on the matter polyslax, given how many synths I've seen you sell off on here lately. I agree that the modular sounds great, but those UI's... yuck.

Thanks for the link. The author did a pretty intense comparison of the minimonsta to his original minimoog and only really finds a difference in the filter. I wonder if he knew that the minimonsta was based on an earlier model C minimoog, rather than a model D, which his likely was. Either way, I couldn't care less, minimonsta seems to be the way for me. It also seems like a great way to get the kind of versatility you get from the modular (more lfo/envelope routing), only with the mini's tight compact interface. Nice.

dango · Post by **dango** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 3:31 am

i tired both of the demos for a month and was split between them. they both had features i liked and they both sounded fat. whichever you decide will be good. i think i was leaning towards the minimonsta though. in the end i got FM8?

but that gforce pack you can buy looks good. you get minimonsta + 3 other synths for like 2 bills on eBay.

I must say though, I also tried the demo of arturias moog modular v and it sounds sick. so i agree with poly on that but I have no bloody idea what to do with all the cables and knobs on that beast. i would be using mostly presets. good luck

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 3:54 am

You would like Arturia's Analog Factory if you don't like too much tweaking, 2000 presets from the Moog Modular, mini moog, cs 80v, prophet 5 and prophet vs. It still has many tweakable parameters too. Got a great review in January 2007 Sound On Sound.

But I love the sound of Jupiters and Junos, and Arturia's Jupiter 8V just totally rules for me. Old Roland stuff rules ! Great step sequencer is an added bonus in Arturia's recreation too.

I find Arturia's interfaces quite usable actually, so I am obviously in the minority here

I'm officially a freak !!!

btw - FM8 is awesome too, and a great arpeggiator to boot!

R.J.Dubya · Post by **R.J.Dubya** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:41 am

leedsquietman wrote:You would like Arturia's Analog Factory if you don't like too much tweaking, 2000 presets from the Moog Modular, mini moog, cs 80v, prophet 5 and prophet vs. It still has many tweakable parameters too. Got a great review in January 2007 Sound On Sound.

But I love the sound of Jupiters and Junos, and Arturia's Jupiter 8V just totally rules for me. Old Roland stuff rules ! Great step sequencer is an added bonus in Arturia's recreation too.

I find Arturia's interfaces quite usable actually, so I am obviously in the minority here

I'm officially a freak !!!

btw - FM8 is awesome too, and a great arpeggiator to boot!

I would totally be into the analog factory, except that I won't buy something with a dongle, no matter how good it is. Sure would be nice to have all those arturia synths all rolled into one with a streamlined simple interface though. They do sound nice.

no dongle, or no love from me. If the next Logic loses the dongle, I'll be one happy guy. I hate that f'n thing.