Arturia V Collection 10. Predictions.

[sacer]

I bet it will be in December

V5 5/16
V6 12/17
V7 4/19 OBXA 5/20
V8 12/20 SQ80 7/21
V9 5/22
V10 12/23
V11 5/25

[egbert101]

December is great. All we need now is a juicy leak?

[davidka]

Hope they bring out something in July after the sales, the hype train in my mind is getting ready

[napkinthief]

All aboard the hype train! I'm thinking about picking it up soon, going to dump some other plugins I don't use.

[Choikdoi]

I do find this comparison to the real thing pretty pretty good: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DXu0GvLmHjs

This showcases it perfectly. Especially to someone who never owned hardware. It's the low end that's the issue. The ones that sound almost completely spot on are the ones where he's playing higher up, but as soon as there's more bass, like mainly in the INXS or Daft Punk demos, that's when it clearly falls short.

It's the reason I was so disappointed in Pigments and sold it. And why I chose to get just a select few individual synths from them, rather than the Collection.

[jamcat]

The INXS song uses eII samples. The same ones from the original Emu sample library as used in Never Tear us Apart. So if the low end is different, it’s not a synthesis issue. As for the minor differences in the software vs hardware, I chalk it up to the fact that you’re never going to dial in the exact settings twice on analog hardware using knobs, whether they’re physical or graphical.

The biggest disparities were with acoustic instruments like the clavinet and electric piano, because you’re never going to match the acoustic properties of a specific instrument in a specific space.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

The biggest disparities were with acoustic instruments like the clavinet and electric piano, because you’re never going to match the acoustic properties of a specific instrument in a specific space.

I wouldn't call a clavinet or electric piano an acoustic instrument myself. The word "electric" is right in the title. The Arturia Wurlitzer is just bad. There are lots of great Wurlitzer emulations out there (my favorite being VReeds). I've got a pristine Wurlitzer 200 that was recently restored by Vintage Vibe, along with a Rhodes here. I have good ITB emulations of Rhodes and Wurlitzers. It can be done.

If Arturia isn't getting them right, it's not because you can't match the properties of the specific instrument in a specific place. It's because, Arturia didn't get them right. Most times, you're running an output from the instrument and plugging into a DI, or a guitar amp and mic'ing it. In that case, we already agree there are great emulations of mic'd guitar amps in software form (thinking TONEX). So again, nothing that can't be done in the box.

[jamcat]

By “acoustic” I mean the sound is generated acoustically, not electronically. Strings for a clavinet, and tines for an electric piano. Both of these require physical modeling, which Arturia licenses from Modartt.

In the two comparison videos, Luke Million records a real clavinet and electric piano, which have different tonal qualities than the Arturia models, but similar fundamental characteristics. These are the kinds of differences that are going to exist between any two recordings of different real world instruments.

Just like you can play a Les Paul through a Marshall 1959 with a Distortion+ and Altec-Lansing speakers, but you’re never going to get Randy Rhoads’ precise tone on Blizzard of Ozz. Randy didn’t even get the exact same tone as that on Diary of a Madman, despite using the same gear.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

The hammer doesn't know whose fingers are behind it striking the key. The Arturia emulations, while probably based on Pianoteq technology, are just bad. I'm trying to point out that you seem to be making excuses as to why they don't sound good instead of just pointing out the obvious: they don't sound good because they're not good instruments. At least, not when it comes to emualting the real things.

Samples do a much better job with these particular instruments (compared to what Arturia offers), but if you want a GOOD version of physical modeling+synthesis, check out VReeds and VTines from Acoustic Samples. They sound accurate. They also have a clavinet, but I don't own that and it may be strictly sample-based. I also didn't find the PianoTeq electric pianos as great as everyone raves about even in the latest version, but they're much better than the older version of the technology the Arturia is based on.

[jamcat]

I have and use Piantoteq 8. I don’t actually use clavinet or electric piano and honestly can’t think of a good reason why I would want either of those sounds in my music. But to my ear, both are close enough in either Pianoteq or V Collection that they’d do an adequate job if I ever did. Either developer offers more convincing sounds than the DX7 patches of either that littered the ballads of the ‘80s.

[egbert101]

My $50 plugin doesn't sound like my $5000 piano. Well no shit!
But for the rest of us they're good enough!

[vurt]

Either developer offers more convincing sounds than the DX7 patches of either that littered the ballads of the ‘80s.

youd hope so 30 years on
you sound a bit culty with regards the arturias here.
just sayin

[jamcat]

Either developer offers more convincing sounds than the DX7 patches of either that littered the ballads of the ‘80s.

youd hope so 30 years on

Yes, and the point being that those sounds were good enough for music back then, so Modartt and Arturia are good enough for music now.

you sound a bit culty with regards the arturias here.
just sayin

Nah. I have plenty of criticisms for Arturia. And unlike the actual cultists on KVR, I don’t say that everything else sucks except for [Arturia]. I’m just realistic that when it comes to music, the performance and technique matters a lot more than the sound source. Just look at Jan Hammer. Or Randy Rhoads, for that matter.

A Cult of Arturia just does not exist on KVR, unlike certain select developers. Anyways, if anything, I’m more culty when it comes to Modartt.

[vurt]

cant say ive heard much jan hammer, aside from the miami vice theme.
i think i was still a child when that was on?

it sounds similar to jmj to me, so never looked further as its not my kind of thing.
would you have any recommendations for a couple of tracks that stand out?

[dlandis]

The Matrix 12 is interesting; it still sounds good in and of itself, but "almost" seems to be lacking something particularly "Obie" in its tone. I never owned a real M12, but I did own a Matrix 6R (granted it had DCOs,) and there was something pleasantly growly about it even so. Still, isn't the Arturia the only Matrix 12/Xpander emu around?

Yes, exactly. I don't have an actual Matrix either, but many of Arturia's recent emulations are much better at capturing the character of the real instruments, so I think the Matrix-12 could benefit from a rebuild. And yeah, as far as I know, Matrix-12 V is the only Matrix emulation out there. It's such a cool synth.

As far as Minimoog emus are concerned, thumbs up on The Legend and Model 72. There is also the UA model as well which, I hear, is very well-received (and going for $59 until the end of the month on the UA site.)

Moog's own Model D app/plugin is also quite good. My guess is the UA Minimoog (which they say was "developed in partnership with Moog Music") is probably based on the same emulation. And then there's (NI) Monark and (GForce) Minimonsta, which are also really good.

So Arturia faces an uphill battle trying to sell an updated Mini V, but I think they want the whole V Collection to be good, and that means either rebuilding or retiring the old emulations that haven't stood the test of time. I'm sure they are capable of building something competitive. Just a matter of how they want to spend their time.

Thanks for the note!

Interestingly, the fact that there is not another Matrix 12 emu may inadvertently end up as a reason to let a rebuild on this wait a bit longer as there is no competition for it vis-à-vis. OTOH, with all of their current offerings (and whatever else they've concocting that is brand new,) it'll be really cool to see what they do decide to rewrite.

At this point, with their excellent consumer focus and very fair upgrade/update policies, Arturia can almost do no wrong, as far as I concerned. They do seem to be on a roll.