![[Review] Moog Music Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins: A Convenient and Affordable Alternative to Analog Pedals](https://weraveyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/moogerfooger-effects-plugins-.jpg "[Review] Moog Music Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins: A Convenient and Affordable Alternative to Analog Pedals")
Image credits: Moog music
[Review] Moog Music Moogerfooger Effects Plug-ins: A Convenient and Affordable Alternative to Analog Pedals
Moog Music, a name synonymous with analog synthesizers and electronic instruments, has recently launched its line of Moogerfooger Effects Plug-Ins. These software-based effects plugins are designed to emulate the iconic Moogerfooger analog effects pedals while providing a modern twist to their functionality. We recently got our hands-on with the Moogerfooger bundle and down is an in-depth review of the same.
|Â 20 Best VST Plugins of 2023 – Click here to checkout
Features
The Moogerfooger Effects Plugins offer a wide range of effects, including modulation, filtering, and delay, and are modeled after some of Moog’s most famous Moogerfooger pedals. These plugins are available in VST, AU, and AAX formats for Mac and Windows, making them accessible to producers and musicians across various platforms. These effects are modeled after some of the most iconic Moogerfooger pedals, including the MF-101 Low Pass Filter, the MF-102 Ring Modulator, and the MF-104M Analog Delay. The plugins also offer several unique features, such as MIDI control and envelope follower, which allow for even more customization and sound design possibilities.
The Moogerfooger bundle includes:
1. MF-101S Lowpass Filter
It features the classic Moog ladder filter, and it comes with an envelope follower to allow for dynamic control. This one’s the most intuitive of all the Moogerfooger plugins. It comprises 2 sections: the envelope follower and the filter section. Apart from the two sections, there are 3 more controls: the drive knob, output knob, and active button.
Filter section
The cutoff knob on the filter section is maxed at 12KHz. So even at the highest setting, the filter will be cutting off some highs of the applied sound. The 2pole & 4pole mode sets the steepness of the slope of the filter with the 4pole being a tad tighter than the 2pole. The switch between 2-pole and 4-pole modes is an interesting way to stimulate energy in different parts of the tracks without changing the tonality too much.
MF-101S is a true analog-style filter and just like the original machine even when the signal playthrough is stopped and the resonance knob is set to maximum, you’ll hear a sine wave sound.
The output knob not only sets the volume of the signal but also brings in some additional harmonics making the sound a little crisp. The drive knob on the other hand saturates the sound applied. Similar to the original pedal, these knobs have immense power to bring additional character to the sound. Just by playing around with the cutoff, resonance, drive, and output knobs, you can achieve some interesting transitions and effects.
Coming to the envelope follower section, the bipolar amount knob sets the envelope parameters according to the loudness of the signal. This is quite interesting for sounds that have a lot of dynamic range.
The Follow Rate knob decides the attack and release of the envelope. When set to a faster setting you’ll notice a fluttering effect for sounds that have a lot of volume changes as the envelope is reacting much faster. This can be noticed evidently when applying to instruments such as vocals, guitar loops, strings, etc.
The mix knob is a basic dry/wet knob to adjust the percentage of dry and wet signals.
2. MF-102S Ring Modulator
On the other hand, the Ring Modulator has a wide-range carrier oscillator, which is paired with an LFO to produce effects ranging from soft tremolo to clangorous ring modulation tones. Ring modulation involves 2 signals, the applied sound and the carrier signal.
The carrier signal in the MF-102S Ring Modulator is set by default to a sine wave. Once you start playing around with the mix knob on the modulator section you’ll notice the tonality of the applied signal modifying according to the sine wave. The frequency knob sets the frequency of the carrier signal. The Ring Modulator works great on drum loops. You’ll discover some amazing modulations to the applied sound just by playing around with the mix and frequency knob. When set to the low-frequency setting, the modulator works similarly to a tremolo without any significant change to the tonality of the sound. On the contrary, the high-frequency setting leads to quite some changes to the tonality of the sound.
You can also add an LFO to the effect and adjust the LFO shape and rate with the knobs and buttons provided. Overall the Ring Modulator is a great plugin when you need some extreme effects on your sounds.
3. MF-103S 12-Stage Phaser
As for the 12-Stage Phaser, it is a descendant of the rack-mounted Moog phaser from the 1970s, and it features an on-board LFO.
If you have ever used the filter section in Serum by Xfer Audio, you might have a better understanding of the visual representation of a phaser. In case you haven’t, the phasing effect is created using filters with peaks and dips at various different frequencies. The Phaser section on the MF-103S 12 Stage phaser has 3 main parameters: Sweep, 6/12 Stage phaser button, and Resonance. Once set to a 6-stage phaser mode, the filter applied has 3 peaks and 3 dips, similarly, the 12-stage mode has 6 peaks and 6 dips. The Sweep knob adjusts the frequency of the dips and peaks whereas the resonance knob accentuates the phasing effect.
The phasing effect works best on guitar loops. You might have heard this effect heavily used in tracks by Daft Punk, Tame Impala & more. The Phaser plugin also includes the LFO section to further manipulate the phasing effect and add some movement to the applied signal.
4. MF-104S Analog Delay
It has remained popular to this day, and is a rich and full-bodied delay and modulation circuit. Analog delay work quite different from digital delays. When you adjust the time knob you’ll notice a decrease in the pitch of the wet signal on higher time settings and an increase in pitch on lower settings. The short and long button allows you to switch between shorter and longer decay settings.
One interesting thing about the MF-104S Analog delay is the distinctness in the wet signal. The delayed signal sounds a tad filtered as compared to the original signal. Similar to the above MoogerFooger plugins, the delay also contains an LFO section to further modulate the wet signal according to your liking.
The Analog delay has very specific use cases and has a great distinctive sound which may or may not be desirable in some cases. For genres such as Techno, which utilizes heavy usage of analog synths, the delay works as a perfect addon to further enhance the analog characteristic of that sound.
5. MF-105S MuRF
A groundbreaking effect that combines a resonant filter bank with a pattern generator and a skewing envelope, resulting in vibrant animation of an incoming sound.
The MuRF might look a little intimidating at first, but once you know how it works, you can achieve some interesting results with this plugin. The MF-105S includes a bunch of bandpass filters with high resonance. One interesting use case of the MuRF is in stereo-widening. Once you enable the effect in Stereo mode(within settings), you’ll notice all the bands are panned hard left and hard right. So some bands will be panned hard left and some bands will be panned hard right creating an interesting stereo-widening effect that can work great for leads, synths, guitars etc.
You can also switch between the Bass & Mids mode depending on the type of sound you are feeding into the MuRF. The Animation section is the crux of this plugin. Once you switch between patterns you’ll notice it applies a step sequencer to the bands. Using the envelope knob you can adjust the attack and release of the bands when applied to the sequencer. This can create some interesting vocal manipulations, arpeggiator sounds, and more.
The MuRF also has a bunch of interesting presets to play around with.
6. MF-107S FreqBox
It produces a box of gnarly synced VCO sounds, and has envelope and FM modulation. The FreqBox has a synth sound inbuilt which is modulated by the input signal. You can switch between different waveforms(triangle, saw, square & pulse width) for the sound. You can also hard sync the VCO sound to the applied signal which modulates the pitch of the VCO according to the applied signal. Just by playing around with the mix settings and the VCO section, you can achieve some distinct effects for your sounds.
The Envelope amount knob modifies the pitch of the waveform. You can also frequency modulate the oscillator with the input signal.
The MF-107S FreqBox can create some extreme effects so you have to be cautious about the amount of effect you want to apply to stop cluttering your mixdown with the artifacts introduced.
7. MF-108S Cluster Flux
It is a flexible processor that can modulate between chorus, flanging, and vibrato. The Chorus setting in ClusterFlux is a great effect to enhance the presence of the supplied sounds. Works wonders when you apply it to leads, synths, etc. When switched to the Flanger mode, the MF-108S Cluster Flux introduces a flanging effect to the applied sound.
One interesting parameter to look at within the delay section is the feedback knob. You can also take the feedback to -ve which applies phase inverted version of the sound to the original sample. You also have LFO section to further modulate the effect according to your liking.
The Chorus on the ClusterFlux is our favorite take from this plugin.
8. MF-109S Saturator
It is a powerful saturation tool based on the classic Moogerfooger input drive stage, which adds warmth, distortion, and compression to any sound.
The plugin has 2 main components: The Envelope section and the Noise section. Adjust the sensitivity to the right till the point where you see the Env LED rightfully capturing the dynamics of the audio. Once you have set the sensitivity, you can now adjust the bipolar Amount knob and adjust the amount of saturation being applied to the audio signal. This ensures that the saturation is applied in distinct amounts based on the loudness of the sample in different parts.
You can also adjust the rate of the envelope with the Follow Rate knob. When you want a more distorted effect, consider increasing the pace of the Follow Rate. Moving to the Noise section, you can add white/red noise to the applied signal. You can also adjust the tone and the envelope amount of the noise applied.
Most of the saturation plugins today are based on applying saturation to different parts of the frequency spectrum but the MF-109S Saturator has a different take on saturation as the main factor within the plugin is the dynamics. The plugin is a great effect when you want to saturate without affecting the dynamics of the original sample. It can also switch to a distortion effect when used in higher settings.
Check out the dry&wet version of all the effects down below.
Verdict
One of the standout features of the Moogerfooger effects plugins is the ability to virtually patch between effects and other digital CV systems. Using this you can maximize what you can achieve from inter-effect modularity and then expand with Ableton CV Tools and Bitwig Grid.
Another quality of the Moogerfooger Effects Plug-Ins is their convenience and portability. Users can access the same high-quality effects as their analog counterparts without the need for physical hardware, making them ideal for producers who work in digital environments or who need to travel frequently. This ease of use also makes them a valuable tool for musicians who require high-quality effects for their live performances.
Another benefit of the Moogerfooger Effects Plug-Ins is their affordability. While the analog Moogerfooger pedals can be quite expensive, the plugins offer the same sound and functionality at a fraction of the cost. This makes them accessible to a wider range of musicians and producers who may not have the budget for high-end analog gear.
Of course, some purists may argue that the Moogerfooger Effects Plug-Ins lack the tactile experience and character of the physical pedals. However, this is a matter of personal preference, and the convenience and affordability of the plugins may outweigh any perceived drawbacks.
PriceÂ
Moog Music Moogerfooger Effect Plugins bundle is currently available for $279.00.
know more
Next article:Â We Rave You Tech launch Vol. 2 Melodic House & Techno Sample Pack
Image Credits: Moog music
Latest magazine
March 28, 2024
Magazine
- Arodes cover Interview
- Armin van Buuren: Breathing In [Exclusive Interview]
- Ibiza 2024: What To Expect
- Burak Yeter: A Day In Space [Exclusive]