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You'll probably figure out at first sight which legendary instrument the Minimax was modeled after, as it is one of the most famous and popular synthesizers of all time.

The first truly accurate reproduction of one of the most-loved synths of all time.

Hope there's no trademark battle going on behind the scenes.

Minimax is the perfect emulation of one of the most-loved synths of all time.

Something strange about this.

Now that you mention it...well it doesn't seem like Moog had anything to do with it. As opposed to, say, Pro One which still has the Sequential mark on it.

probably just a question of copyrights.

would you endorse a $300polyphonic plugin which in some ways competes with your new $3000monophonic baby?

Yeah, he was quite happy to put his name to that Arturia Moog Modular V. i tried the demo and apart from the step sequencer i didn't like it at all compared to my MiniMax (too much reliance on effects to get big sounds i thought). He should endorse a quality product like MiniMax.

On 2003-06-13 15:56, Mr Arkadin wrote:
He should endorse a quality product like MiniMax.

Maybe he's scared of it

It's a bit difficult to market a product if you can't say what it is?
But didn't CW use the word Moog in their website previously? Now it only appears in other peoples quotes.

I searched the old newsletters.

CreamWare E-News
August 26, 2002
A few weeks ago in the E-news we introduced you to the Minimax - the first fully accurate and complete emulation of the legendary Moog Minimoog(TM) synthesizer.

April 8, 2003
This quote from a review in KEYBOARD magazine
Germany sums it up: "The Minimax sounds exactly like the
Minimoog. Period."

Yeah, he was quite happy to put his name to that Arturia Moog Modular V.


yes ofcourse, then again he is not trying to sell modulars at the moment. Perhaps if he was his name would never have been given...

on a demo CDs of a mag there were - call it unfortunate or ridiculuous - both the Arturia Modular and the new Minimoog Voyager sound examples
But I think it pays great for Bob and since his patent on the filter has run out (afaik) some cash is certainly welcome.

cheers, Tom

Well...
I did my part to help CW with their financial difficulties and I purchased the MINIMAX today....

All I can say is WOW. Damn that thing sounds good. I too have tried the Arturia Moog Modular and (IMO) the MINIMAX is just a lot more PLAYABLE. Just scrolling through presets and I could actually HEAR sounds used on old records I own (now THAT IS COOL!!!)

The Arturia sounds pretty good too....I like it. But the MINIMAX is the first synth in a long time that has got me PROGRAMMING for the sake of PROGRAMMING.....this is a good thing.

Anyway. I love it. If anyone reading this hasn't bought MINIMAX yet...go do it now. It is really one of the best on the SFP platform.

Cheers

you're right Kamurah, the Arturia isn't a bad program at all, obviously even one of the best native apps available.
It's said to require an awful lot of CPU power, but still is far away from that 'analog smoothness' the Minimax is able to fake so perfectly.
The only reason I didn't order the Minimax yet is that I'm considering NOAH, where it's included

cheers, Tom

On 2003-06-14 05:41, astroman wrote:

It's said to require an awful lot of CPU power, but still is far away from that 'analog smoothness' the Minimax is able to fake so perfectly.
The only reason I didn't order the Minimax yet is that I'm considering NOAH, where it's included

cheers, Tom

It does need a lot of resources. There are some patches on that thing that I cannot even play a three note chord....and this is on a dual 1ghz G4. (Thank heaven for freeze tracks in Logic)

Let us all know how you like the Noah once you get it!

Cheers

Seems odd that they can't mention the Minimoog though, maybe they're just being careful (a lawsuit in these times could be very damaging to CW). With Moog selling Minimoog Voyager i guess in court it could be seen as a directly competing product (although in the process Bob Moog would have to admit that MiniMax sounded as good as a real Moog otherwise how could it be seen as direct competition?)

Line6 mention the amps they model directly, though the actual names that appear on the device will be called something else, like Brit Class A will be a Vox AC-30, yet the manual can quite happily say stuff like "The Brit Class A setting models the classic Vox AC-30" and only at the front page in tiny writing does it say that the manufacturer's name remains the property of whoever etc.

i really don't thing there would be a legal issue here (unless Uncle Bob's already made moves), but better to be safe than sorry i suppose.

Mr A

On 2003-06-14 11:43, Mr Arkadin wrote:
(unless Uncle Bob's already made moves)

edited out my comment after reading Frank Hund's post

Maybe Bob's quite happy with plug-in emulations but gets a bit nervous when they're in synth form a la Noah.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: doodyrh on 2003-06-14 13:25 ]</font>

There is ABSOLUTELY NO WONDER that Moog won't let everyone use their name & brand.
For those who has read a bit about it, Robert Moog lost the rights to the Moog name and has only recently regained control over the brand, thats why we today have another Moog-synth available..

So I'm sure this is only Moog Music trying to get back on their feet, and not sharing their brand & name with everyone.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: aMo on 2003-06-20 16:59 ]</font>

Yes, but the odd thing is not so much that Bob won't put his name to MiniMax, but that CW can't even seem to say it's an emulation of a Minimoog, which shouldn't infringe copyrights. As i have said before Line6 do this all the time and i'm sure if Marshall, Fender et al could sue Line6 i'm sure they would.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Mr Arkadin on 2003-06-20 18:22 ]</font>

Well, since Moog now owns the brand again, I'm sure he would want some financial gain from those who wish to make money on his products (or emulations of them).

And in Creamware's own synths there are several Moog presets, using the Moog name to indicate the sort of sound of a certain preset, much like what you say happens with Line6, no one can sue someone for imitating a sound, you cannot copyright a sound, but a complete emulation of a synth is more likely to do the trick..

Imagine if Line6 would create a device called Line6 - Marshall emulator, just like that, I'm pretty sure that Marshall would sue their ass of for creating a product which is clearly meant to compete with Marshall's own products..
They could however make a device, with a completely different name, and have presets to emulate Marshall's without problems, since it is the name that is marketed, and not the presets..

The minimax cannot be marketed as a Moog emulation, since all it really does is emulate a Minimoog, and thus, any marketing would be in direct competition against Moog Musics Voyager, and THAT is a good reason to sue..

(Eh.. hope I made some sence there.. 'cus I lost my train of though there a couple of times..hehe)

Yeah good points. Couldn't CW in that case say that MiniMax is an analogue synth modeller that happens to include presets that emulate classic synths like the Minimoog or some such wording (like Line6 do on Pod)? i'm sure i can get them to sneak the word Minimoog in somehow!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Mr Arkadin on 2003-06-21 06:23 ]</font>

I seriously doubt that anyone has misconceptions about what the MiniMax is supposed to do.

Sam

Has anyone looked in the Minimax manual? In the introduction - it clearly states "Minimax is an emulation of the Series D Minimoog synthesizer, probably the best-known of all vintage synths."

It even goes on the explain how Minimax is different than any other attempt to emulate a Moog, whether it be in hardware or in software. It tells how every part and detail of the circuit was emulated and they constantly recalibrated the design to make sure it conformed to the original Minimoog.