Arturia Pigments 3 is out!

[chk071]

I think you convinced me...

I'm so weak...

No, really, the synth is a lot of fun. Arturia have a real winner here. So fun to program. The sequencer is top dollar as well.

Didn't buy a synth for quite a while now anyway. Guess I'll sleep a final night over it, and "bite the bullet" tomorrow.

BTW, the synth got maximum points on every single German review I found so far.

The only weak point was maybe some low end power, and they just added a sub oscillator. The analog section sounds more like a VA to me but trying to emulate analog isn’t what it’s for IMO, leave that to Diva.

Beyond that they get most things right, for what I do with it, it’s like Falcon, minus some Kontakt like features.

just curious what are you listening for or looking at when you determine Pigments is not as good at emulating analog compared to Diva?

For me, Pigments is more on the softer side, not as aggressive, not as saturated, drifting, doesn't have the filter sound of something like Diva or other analog emulations.

But then, it doesn't have to (actually, "clean" is better for wavetable stuff, IMO). It does what it does very well. Great synth for moving pads and such. I could also imagine using it for simple arps/sequences.

The biggest advantage is that it's actually fun to use. And that's very important for me.

One thing I'd criticize is a bit that it can get confusing when you leave the modulation strip, or however you want to call it, in the middle of the GUI opened. It can happen quickly then that, if you want to tweak a parameter, you actually tweak the modulation amount of the modulator which is still opened in the middle. Guess that's rather a matter of getting used to the operation though.

[c_voltage]

Damn, did not tried the new install yet (waiting for a special state) but watched a video of one guy demonstrating the Harmonic engine, should say this is really cool, good job.
Although the Utility section initially judge by description I thought it would be something more, but nevermind, useful addition too. But at the same time I thought the Harmonic section would be something more ordinary, and did wrong by the same degree heh, can say compensated.

[Teksonik]

Super nerd level tip....

You can add an image for your custom banks:

Pigments 042121-1.png

Just drop a 256x256 .png file into the following location (on Windows not sure what it would be on Mac). Make sure it's named the same as your bank.

Pigments 042121-2.png

---------

[muki]

on the mac it's probably

/Library/Arturia/Shared/images/vc8_images/packs/

[muki]

would be nice if drag&drop would work though
(just tried it to no avail...)

[Teksonik]

Drag and Drop of what ?

[muki]

Drag and Drop of what ?

the image of your choice from the desktop onto the square within pigments presetbrowser
like:

[trusampler]

This new version may be the most interesting synth in au/vsti format, I've heard to date.Really easy to get stuff I've never heard before, but musical..

[Teksonik]

the image of your choice from the desktop onto the square within pigments presetbrowser
like:

Ohh I see. Well it's a ten second task to drop the image in the proper folder so not a big deal.

[Ah_Dziz]

I'm very much liking the harmonic osc. It reminds me of the zebra2 oscillators but weirder. The multiband compressor is great for taming the more bizzare shit that comes from severe granular silliness.

[LoveEnigma18]

Just pulled the trigger on Pigments after mulling it over for months. €49, bargain! First impressions are that it’s way more usable in pop and electronic genres than marketing implies. I was concerned that it’s more geared towards sound designers, who I’m sure would also love it. Really impressed so far.

Yeah. Not much into trap here, but it is perhaps one of the best for trap (and hip-hop, of course) music too.

[Muziksculp]

So, what music genre do you think Pigments 3 is very well suited for ?

And what are the type of sounds it's good at producing ?

[machinesworking]

So, what music genre do you think Pigments 3 is very well suited for ?

And what are the type of sounds it's good at producing ?

I can't tell if this is a rhetorical question or not, but I think it's a Swiss army knife.
I would lean towards keys, lead,1 special FX and pads, but I currently use it as the bass synth in a song I'm working on so.... With all the modern features you're going to gravitate towards modern sounds, but that doesn't mean it's not capable of "classic" sounds.

[ghettosynth]

So, what music genre do you think Pigments 3 is very well suited for ?

And what are the type of sounds it's good at producing ?

I've been playing with the demo, full disclosure, I hated Pigments 1. I still think that it's not good at VA sounds at all TBH. Sue me, but, I still don't think the filters sound anywhere near what Uhe and even NI are capable of. Maybe there's something else there, maybe it's confirmation bias, but I wouldn't give this the time of day for VA sounds.

I do think that there is a trifecta of interesting here when you combine the highly visual U/I and immediacy of the layout with the slightly better Arturia, e.g., CEM/Juptier filters and the digital oscillators. If you took any one of those away then I think it would sink into who cares. I also think that the sequence is somewhat interesting.

I haven't played with it enough to give up $50 yet, but if I do, it's because the U/I yields a short path to dark ambient pads/tines/bells. It's obviously capable of creating those obnoxious X-Step sounds. Sounds I hate so much that I would have no idea whether it's good at that shite or not.

[Peraqsha]

So, what music genre do you think Pigments 3 is very well suited for ?

And what are the type of sounds it's good at producing ?

Just going by the sound demos, It sounds pretty capable of a lot of different styles. At 99 dollars it seems like a real good deal for people needing a nice all in one synth.

I already own Zebra2 and Hive2 for most of my synthesis needs but the granular engine is definitely tempting me.