ARP 2600 Clone?

[scintillator]

Laugh all you want, but when you go to the pharmacy to buy medicine, you want the exact formula and quality, or to the food store, or to the car manufacturer, etc. - you want the product because of the features and properties that make it what it is.

It's a philosophical question about 'identity', sameness and difference, etc. A lot of boring guys have written boring books about this.

Re. ARP2600 mockups - are they sufficiently close? E.g., 95%, 75%, 50%? No? I'll leave you to your toys then.

[fmr]

Laugh all you want, but when you go to the pharmacy to buy medicine, you want the exact formula and quality, or to the food store, or to the car manufacturer, etc. - you want the product because of the features and properties that make it what it is.

It's a philosophical question about 'identity', sameness and difference, etc. A lot of boring guys have written boring books about this.

Re. ARP2600 mockups - are they sufficiently close? E.g., 95%, 75%, 50%? No? I'll leave you to your toys then.

If you want to put the questions in terms of "exact formula and quality", then the only "true" ARP 2600 is the Blue Marvin, of which only around 25 were made, according to VSE. After that, what you have are "mockups" that became more and more distant from the original. Were they good? They must have been good enough, because people kept buying them, but they were no longer tha same. Sufficiently close? E.G., 95%, 75%, etc.? I can't say, and I never saw any reference to that measure in the hardware units either. Were the later units at 95% of the original? 75%? 50%? Nevertheless, everyone agree they are different (and the later ones QUITE different).

As someone who has several "true" analogues, I am very pleased with the software "mockups" I can put my hands on these days, including the Arturia ARP 2600V and the TimeWARP 2600. It's better than just dreaming about them, even if they are not a 100% exact replica (something that can't even exist, IMO, considering the very nature of analogue synths, and in which case it could be argued which model they should replicate - if the Blue Marvin, considering that only 25 have been produced, it would be a tough task to have one at disposal in good enouh conditions to be studied and analysed).

[olikana]

anyone wanting to recreate the arp2600 in software should try contacting Daniel Miller of Mute records.
he still has the "Gray Meanie" which he used for the sounds of Depeche Mode's Speak & Spell (all sounds apart from the snare are arp2600 on that album, and to me is the best synth album of all time).
I believe it's the ARP2600P v2.0 he used. was also used on Ultra for many of the sounds.
was bought off Elton John's keyboardist in the 70s .

the current emulations are poor.
Photographic re-done with Arturia's 2600V misses all the punch and snappiness of the original. smudged and plasticky VA sound ( doesn't even have 0df). not even 70% there in IMO.

[ImNotDedYet]

I can imagine ol' waggy, just sitting there, waiting for some poor hapless KVR'er to proffer a suggestion so he can swoop in and say not a 2600.

And what's wrong with that? He obviously has a lot of synth knowledge.

Look, you can ask for the best, but that's very hard to judge since the general consensus seems to be there's no one that has really nailed it. Since what's out there are only close approximations, they're lacking in areas. Lacking in what area makes it a better emulation is a matter of perspective.

So, OP has a couple to try out and can determine for him/herself what he/she likes better, as can anyone else who's looking to get close to an ARP 2600.

[ontol]

[wagtunes]

I can imagine ol' waggy, just sitting there, waiting for some poor hapless KVR'er to proffer a suggestion so he can swoop in and say not a 2600.

And what's wrong with that? He obviously has a lot of synth knowledge.

Look, you can ask for the best, but that's very hard to judge since the general consensus seems to be there's no one that has really nailed it. Since what's out there are only close approximations, they're lacking in areas. Lacking in what area makes it a better emulation is a matter of perspective.

So, OP has a couple to try out and can determine for him/herself what he/she likes better, as can anyone else who's looking to get close to an ARP 2600.

Just didn't need to be posted after EVERY single suggestion--I've just grown weary of posting over and over with the same thing on the same page of a thread. I concur that there is nothing that is going to be exactly like it. Having a lot of comments doesn't equate to having a lot of relevant information.

OT: I enjoy the Arturia 2600 myself.

FTR, I own the Arturia 2600. I'd get Timewarp's if it wasn't so damn expensive. It isn't worth $200. They are fine synths. And Timewarp's sound is closer than Arturia's.

Understand, I lived during the era of the 2600 and had many ARP products, most of which, in retrospect, were so-so at best. I wasn't a big fan of the Odyssey. Thought the Axxe was horrible and the Omni 2 was like playing an organ. The 2600 was the only ARP product that was truly amazing. There was nothing like it. In fact, it is one of the few early analog synths that I have any use for. The MS-20 was another synth with an amazing sound. The Oberheim 4 voice was excellent.

I can count the synths that I loved back then on one hand. In comparison, today's soft synths blow almost all the old analog beasts out of the water as far as sound and flexibility. But the ARP 2600 emulations are not in that mix. They are disappointing to say the least. Unless you actually were around back then and got to tinker with these things, you can't possibly understand.

Oh, and Arturia's GUI is a nightmare. I'm still waiting for them to increase the size.

Anyway, I've said my peace. For what the 2600 emulations are, they're fine. They're just not 2600s.

[ontol]

[Ingonator]

While i got both the Arturia Arp2600 V and WayOitWare TimewARP 2600 sóund wise i prefer TimewARP 2600 even if it has less features than teh Arturia plugin and also no mater how close it sounds to the real thing (that i never used myself...).

[wagtunes]

Anyway, I've said my peace. For what the 2600 emulations are, they're fine. They're just not 2600s.

And the KVR tradition of just being a real tool bag continues.

[Daags]

like flies to dog shit. no one could have guessed this thread would turn out like this.

[EnGee]

FTR, I own the Arturia 2600. I'd get Timewarp's if it wasn't so damn expensive. It isn't worth $200.

Understand, I lived during the era of the 2600 and had many ARP products ....

Oh, and Arturia's GUI is a nightmare. I'm still waiting for them to increase the size.

Anyway, I've said my peace. For what the 2600 emulations are, they're fine. They're just not 2600s.

[wagtunes]

like flies to dog shit. no one could have guessed this thread would turn out like this.

It turns out like this because the Internet is filled with people who have nothing better to do than be rude to others because nobody knows who the f**k they are and therefor they can do and say whatever the f**k they want.

I've been sick of it for 19 years.

[chaosWyrM]

like flies to dog shit. no one could have guessed this thread would turn out like this.

It turns out like this because the Internet is filled with people who have nothing better to do than be rude to others because nobody knows who the f**k they are and therefor they can do and say whatever the f**k they want.

I've been sick of it for 19 years.

well...to be fair...you did come in with the completely useless snobbish non answer of "it doesnt exist".

the question wasnt "does one exists and if so which one is it?", it wasnt even "which one is closest to the real one?", it was which one is the best. "it doesnt exist" doesnt answer that question....and is factually incorrect.

seeing as how there are in fact several choices to pick from "which one is best?" is a perfectly reasonable question. if you dont think any of the available options are worth using at all...why not just not post a comment at all and let other people hash out the pros and cons of each one?

[wagtunes]

like flies to dog shit. no one could have guessed this thread would turn out like this.

It turns out like this because the Internet is filled with people who have nothing better to do than be rude to others because nobody knows who the f**k they are and therefor they can do and say whatever the f**k they want.

I've been sick of it for 19 years.

well...to be fair...you did come in with the completely useless snobbish non answer of "it doesnt exist".

the question wasnt "does one exists and if so which one is it?", it wasnt even "which one is closest to the real one?", it was which one is the best. "it doesnt exist" doesnt answer that question....and is factually incorrect.

seeing as how there are in fact several choices to pick from "which one is best?" is a perfectly reasonable question. if you dont think any of the available options are worth using at all...why not just not post a comment at all and let other people hash out the pros and cons of each one?

Because if the OP is looking for even a slightly "authentic" version of the ARP 2600, I was trying to save him the time and effort. It doesn't exist. And anything he tries out, if he in fact knows what a real 2600 sounds like, is only going to disappoint him.

That's why I said, it doesn't exist.

The closest, and still not worth getting, especially with the price tag, is Timewarp.

It would be like asking what's the closest CS 80 emulation. That's an even bigger joke. What's out there now is almost an insult to the name.

But if he just wants something "close" I'd say go with Timewarp unless money is an issue than Arturia. Neither one is going to give him what he really wants but if it's a synth with a name tag that says "2600" that's good enough, either one will do.

[chaosWyrM]

But if he just wants something "close" I'd say go with Timewarp unless money is an issue than Arturia. Neither one is going to give him what he really wants but if it's a synth with a name tag that says "2600" that's good enough, either one will do.

seems like what he wants is the "best", which it sounds like you think is timewarp.

see? that wasnt that hard was it?