Arturia Announcement Today April 9 6pm CEST/12 noon EST

[selig]

https://www.youtube.com/live/jjHsH_ET_P ... kJHV24Be4Y

Expecting/hoping to see a 12 voice PolyBrute and more!

[RobC]

Ah, the fairly new, Japanese company (I thought that all this time) - now I see it's French, and founded in 1999. I live under a rock I guess. x D

Their MIDI controllers seem interesting - finally a company that uses encoders.

[selig]

Ah, the fairly new, Japanese company (I thought that all this time) - now I see it's French, and founded in 1999. I live under a rock I guess. x D

Their MIDI controllers seem interesting - finally a company that uses encoders.

"Encoder" is such a generic term, what do you mean exactly? Which companies do not use encoders?

[mimidancer]

I love to hear French men speak. It instantly transports me to Bikini Bottom.

[selig]

AstroLab is mentioned in the comments during the stream (but not mentioned in the stream yet as of 10 min into it), and did a quick google:
https://device.report/arturia/astrolab-88
https://happymag.tv/astrolab-by-arturia ... nnovation/

Looks like Analog Lab in hardware form?


Review here:

OK, they're showing it now: They had me at Pigments in a hardware keyboard for live. Not that I want/need this (yet)...

[PhillipOrdonez]

So they did what some of us wish reason did. Put all their instruments on a standalone hardware unit.

Imagine having all your patches like this to play with your other hardware without the computer, and every new patch you create on reason being easily transferred to the hardware... Monster combinator patches, simple monotone or subtractor patches and their macro controls alike, all ready to go...What a dream

[selig]

So they did what some of us wish reason did. Put all their instruments on a standalone hardware unit.

Imagine having all your patches like this to play with your other hardware without the computer, and every new patch you create on reason being easily transferred to the hardware... Monster combinator patches, simple monotone or subtractor patches and their macro controls alike, all ready to go...What a dream

Great point, I've used Reason with a laptop many times but would have preferred an all in one keyboard.

[DaveyG]

Pros:
It's a synth.
Most Arturia stuff is good.

Cons:
It's got a bad name.
It costs $$$$.
Did I mention the price?

But, yes, Analog Lab in hardware form. Great idea.
But that price. Did I mention the price?

https://www.arturia.com/products/hardwa ... 1/overview

[mimidancer]

I think it looks great for someone who does not want to drag around a laptop. I don't mind dragging around a laptop. I still want a 61 full-size key freak.

[mimidancer]

So they did what some of us wish reason did. Put all their instruments on a standalone hardware unit.

Imagine having all your patches like this to play with your other hardware without the computer, and every new patch you create on reason being easily transferred to the hardware... Monster combinator patches, simple monotone or subtractor patches and their macro controls alike, all ready to go...What a dream

I would love to have a hardware europa, algorithm, and thor.

[selig]

Pros:
It's a synth.
Most Arturia stuff is good.

Cons:
It's got a bad name.
It costs $$$$.
Did I mention the price?

But, yes, Analog Lab in hardware form. Great idea.
But that price. Did I mention the price?

https://www.arturia.com/products/hardwa ... 1/overview

I was expecting something in line with Nord Stage or similar price wise, since it would appeal to a similar buyer. But was surprised the price was only $1500 USD. I haven't played one, but having what is essentially a good version of every important keyboard of the last 50 years at your fingertips should be super appealing to many players/performers out there I would think.
I also like the trend of integrating hardware and software in interesting ways, will have to wait to see how useful that actually is for most users I guess.

[QVprod]

I really thought RS would have done this with elk like they were showing off a few years ago. Native Instruments should’ve done this by now as well. As simple as this keyboard is, it’s genius! The stage intended keyboard market is pretty boring compared to what software can do and this is a step in the right direction. I wonder if they’ll also make a flagship that has more of the V Collection functionality.

[DaveyG]

Pros:
It's a synth.
Most Arturia stuff is good.

Cons:
It's got a bad name.
It costs $$$$.
Did I mention the price?

But, yes, Analog Lab in hardware form. Great idea.
But that price. Did I mention the price?

https://www.arturia.com/products/hardwa ... 1/overview

I was expecting something in line with Nord Stage or similar price wise, since it would appeal to a similar buyer. But was surprised the price was only $1500 USD. I haven't played one, but having what is essentially a good version of every important keyboard of the last 50 years at your fingertips should be super appealing to many players/performers out there I would think.
I also like the trend of integrating hardware and software in interesting ways, will have to wait to see how useful that actually is for most users I guess.

It's more like Nord Wave than Nord Stage and Nord Wave has never been hugely popular, probably because of the price. Maybe the street price of the Arturia one will get it closer to where I think it ought to be. Maybe they're planning an Astrolab 25 to hit a lower price bracket. All interesting stuff.

[selig]

I really thought RS would have done this with elk like they were showing off a few years ago. Native Instruments should’ve done this by now as well. As simple as this keyboard is, it’s genius! The stage intended keyboard market is pretty boring compared to what software can do and this is a step in the right direction. I wonder if they’ll also make a flagship that has more of the V Collection functionality.

I don’t know a lot about Maschine from NI, but isn’t that similar to Astrolab?

Interesting thought about a flagship, since this is priced way lower than most flagship synths today there is room to add a bigger screen and more editing power and physical control of patches.

[robussc]

Pros:
It's a synth.
Most Arturia stuff is good.

Cons:
It's got a bad name.
It costs $$$$.
Did I mention the price?

But, yes, Analog Lab in hardware form. Great idea.
But that price. Did I mention the price?

https://www.arturia.com/products/hardwa ... 1/overview

Yeah I was excited until that eye-watering price. It better be built like a battleship!

[QVprod]

I really thought RS would have done this with elk like they were showing off a few years ago. Native Instruments should’ve done this by now as well. As simple as this keyboard is, it’s genius! The stage intended keyboard market is pretty boring compared to what software can do and this is a step in the right direction. I wonder if they’ll also make a flagship that has more of the V Collection functionality.

I don’t know a lot about Maschine from NI, but isn’t that similar to Astrolab?

Interesting thought about a flagship, since this is priced way lower than most flagship synths today there is room to add a bigger screen and more editing power and physical control of patches.

Sort of but not really. Aside from Astrolab being aimed at keyboard players, Maschine+ doesn’t have all of NI’s products built in. It just has a select few vs Astrolab having all of analog lab built in.

I have the same thoughts on a flagship. They could probably do similar to how Komplete Kontrol handles mappings. For the wide variety of synths they have

[mimidancer]

I really thought RS would have done this with elk like they were showing off a few years ago. Native Instruments should’ve done this by now as well. As simple as this keyboard is, it’s genius! The stage intended keyboard market is pretty boring compared to what software can do and this is a step in the right direction. I wonder if they’ll also make a flagship that has more of the V Collection functionality.

I don’t know a lot about Maschine from NI, but isn’t that similar to Astrolab?

Interesting thought about a flagship, since this is priced way lower than most flagship synths today there is room to add a bigger screen and more editing power and physical control of patches.

I think the interface is fine for its intended use. One could easily make a playlist of patches and just use the buttons to select patches live. The product seems to have that use in mind. There is no value here for me or anyone who likes to do sound design on hardware, but it would be fine for players doing wedding gigs or playing in a bar on Saturday night.

[selig]

I don’t know a lot about Maschine from NI, but isn’t that similar to Astrolab?

Interesting thought about a flagship, since this is priced way lower than most flagship synths today there is room to add a bigger screen and more editing power and physical control of patches.

I think the interface is fine for its intended use. One could easily make a playlist of patches and just use the buttons to select patches live. The product seems to have that use in mind. There is no value here for me or anyone who likes to do sound design on hardware, but it would be fine for players doing wedding gigs or playing in a bar on Saturday night.

It is certainly not for sound designers, it is for keyboard players as I understand it - I REALLY could have used exactly this on a few past gigs where I was stringing Combinators together and toting my laptop and audio interface around along with my controller keyboard. Could have done a better job with this at a small fraction of the cost!
That said I would have rather seen a 12 voice PollyBrute, which would be far more likely to appear in my studio than the Astrolab for my current work.

[QVprod]

I think the interface is fine for its intended use. One could easily make a playlist of patches and just use the buttons to select patches live. The product seems to have that use in mind. There is no value here for me or anyone who likes to do sound design on hardware, but it would be fine for players doing wedding gigs or playing in a bar on Saturday night.

It is certainly not for sound designers, it is for keyboard players as I understand it - I REALLY could have used exactly this on a few past gigs where I was stringing Combinators together and toting my laptop and audio interface around along with my controller keyboard.

Exactly this. I bought a MODX to use live instead of carrying a laptop because it was the closest to software sound design I could get with hardware at the time. But it’s still tedious to do more than minor edits or layers. At least with this I could make something with a synth in V Collection and transfer it over. Much quicker and less tedious process.

It’s a strong consideration.

[mimidancer]

I think the interface is fine for its intended use. One could easily make a playlist of patches and just use the buttons to select patches live. The product seems to have that use in mind. There is no value here for me or anyone who likes to do sound design on hardware, but it would be fine for players doing wedding gigs or playing in a bar on Saturday night.

It is certainly not for sound designers, it is for keyboard players as I understand it - I REALLY could have used exactly this on a few past gigs where I was stringing Combinators together and toting my laptop and audio interface around along with my controller keyboard. Could have done a better job with this at a small fraction of the cost!
That said I would have rather seen a 12 voice PollyBrute, which would be far more likely to appear in my studio than the Astrolab for my current work.

I love the polybrute. that said I would have rather got the 61 key freak with two minifreak engines and the keystep sequencer. I'd name it the Big Freak Keystep 61

[selig]

Pros:
It's a synth.
Most Arturia stuff is good.

Cons:
It's got a bad name.
It costs $$$$.
Did I mention the price?

But, yes, Analog Lab in hardware form. Great idea.
But that price. Did I mention the price?

https://www.arturia.com/products/hardwa ... 1/overview

Yeah I was excited until that eye-watering price. It better be built like a battleship!

It’s $2000 USD right? More than half (or more) of what other flagship keyboards cost – is this the “behringer effect” in action?

[selig]

It's more like Nord Wave than Nord Stage and Nord Wave has never been hugely popular, probably because of the price. Maybe the street price of the Arturia one will get it closer to where I think it ought to be. Maybe they're planning an Astrolab 25 to hit a lower price bracket. All interesting stuff.

Still $900 cheaper than the Wave, and thousands cheeper than the Stage - and able to do all of what both do.
I’m not eyeing it myself or any sort of fan boy, but I am aware there is a market for a high end “do it all’ keyboard for live performance and that this is well below what the other ‘contenders’ cost.

[robussc]

It’s $2000 USD right? More than half (or more) of what other flagship keyboards cost – is this the “behringer effect” in action?

yeah definitely attacking the pro market from the lower side. Obviously I’m not in pro market!

[QVprod]

It’s actually $1599 USD. Competitively priced with the cheaper versions of flagship keyboards.

[selig]

It’s actually $1599 USD. Competitively priced with the cheaper versions of flagship keyboards.

It's anywhere from $1599 to $2199 online, $1999 is what is quoted on the Arturia site - not sure which price to use so picked the one on the Arturia site (which is currently sold out fwiw)!

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https://www.arturia.com/products/hardwa ... 1/overview