Superbooth 21: The amazing Moog Model 15 now works with Ableton Live and other DAWs thanks to a new free macOS VST & AUv2 wrapper software.
Everyone who thinks the Superbooth is a pure hardware event is wrong. Software developers also exhibit their new products on the floors. Moog Music, for example, will showcase its current lineup of hardware instruments and not their software.
But for the Superbooth 21, they have a little “soft” surprise from which many Model 15 app users can benefit for free.
Moog Model 15 VST
As a reminder: the Moog Model 15 app is an authentic emulation of the legendary Moog Modular Model 15 with modern extensions (MPE, polyphonic operation…) for iOS and macOS. Then in January, there was a big surprise. Moog released a massive free update whereby the app runs not only on iOS but also on macOS (Intel / Apple Silicon M1). Plus, you can run it as an AUv3 plugin on Logic Pro. That means several instances at the same time.
Here you have to say: AUv3 is not a common plugin format. It was introduced on iOS, then came a little later on macOS. So far only macOS software supports the format, no other DAW. The users also noticed this and requests comment formats. Moog responded to this today and released a VST Wrapper that will transform the app into AUv2 and VST versions for your DAW (Ableton Live, Cubase…).
What Do You Need?
It’s not witchcraft: you must have Big Sur version 11.0.1 installed and you must already have Model 15 app installed on your system. Then, you need to download the free Wrapper software and drag the files to your plugin location. Check the video below for all details.
Unfortunately, VST does not automatically mean Windows support. It is not known whether the Model 15 app will eventually end up on Windows.
More information here: Moog Music
Since the news broke, I was expecting an update in the Mac App Store. So, the wrapper is a separate download. Ok.
Strangely, though it’s native on Apple Silicon, the plugin uses a lot of CPU on my M1 MacBook Air, even when idle.
Also, since the plugin versions don’t have a Settings menu, I’ve never found a way to enable MPE. (In the standalone version, it’s in the MIDI settings.)