Arturia VCollection 7 Official thread

[waltercruz]

Anyone remember VirtualCZ? It sounds so thin next to the new Arturia CZ V.

Arturia CZ V is made by the same developer, Oli Larkin.

[v1o]

Anyone remember VirtualCZ? It sounds so thin next to the new Arturia CZ V.

Arturia CZ V is made by the same developer, Oli Larkin.

Don’t Plugin Boutique own the rights to Virtual CZ? I don’t think he can reuse the same code in that case. So it must be new code.

[Tj Shredder]

That depends on the contract... I would never pass my copyright to a company and rather allow them to copy... (in Germany the copyright remains always with the creator, you can‘ sell it as such. Oli is another German dev...)

[hibrasil]

i am british not german (don't mention the brexit). VCZ and CZV are two different products and there are a lot more people involved in all aspects of the development of CZV.

[Tj Shredder]

i am british not german (don't mention the brexit). VCZ and CZV are two different products and there are a lot more people involved in all aspects of the development of CZV.

Sorry mixed my memories...

[realtrance]

I tried to click thru pages, 10 at a time, to get past the price/download/is it any good usual whining, but no luck.

So far, not much interesting commentary here, surprise.

Congrats to Arturia for releasing another very extensive collection!

While there are fewer new instruments, they're all really modeled in incredible depth.

The new tutorial feature is a fun way to tour any of the instruments now; that took a lot of work.

Piano V2 continues to grow towards Pianoteq-level quality, and does an amazing modeling job already; I love the way I can go quickly to a wide variety of options to configure the sound, room, microphones, etc. -- really extensive, again, and detailed.

CZV is incredible -- it has both the full and sharp qualities of Casio's classic phase distortion synthesis, which while similar to FM gets you to quite different results. Kudos to Arturia for working with Oli Larkin this way!

Mellotron -- I'm blown away by not only the quality of the included sounds and setups, but by the way the Mellotron so thoroughly makes a "Mellotron tape" out of any sample you throw at it, giving that sample a very characteristic Mellotron sound, with all the parameters possible to tailor that sound to your liking. A really amazing mix of sampling and physical modeling synthesis, when you think about it; I bet the actual programming of this was the biggest challenge of the bunch!

SynthiV - I have had the XILS VCS3 simulation for years, it's wonderful; I also have the classic SonicCouture Synthi sample set in Ableton. I also have the iPhone/iPad VCS3. Digital Jeepney has a great set of instructional YouTube videos on use of it, btw.

You can guess I love the Synthi's sound.

While each of these has its strengths, the SynthiV really has the most seamless interface, _and_ a sound that is most distinctively like the original instrument. You have to tweak it to get it to be raw (the XILS tends to be more raw by default), but that quality is definitely there, and it has a very classic sound as is. I'm not worried about whether it's a "perfect" simulation, just about whether it's a cool instrument that is a lot like the Synthi to play. And it is. Not going to have to wait in line until I die and spend a fortune, nor spend a lot on the Portabella, which is a damned fine instrument in itself as well.

Really, the SynthiV and BuchlaEaselV could be all you need to capture unique, classic vintage tones; I'm thankful Arturia has done so much hard work to provide both of these!

And the MellotronV makes me happy because it takes a sound I used to take for granted as best emulated with samples and brings that sound alive again, and gives me a chance to play with it the way the original users of the Mellotron did, which again, is no mean feat!

And the B3.... well I'll leave it to real B3 player grognards to grumble, but for me, this is hands down the best modelling of a B3 I've ever seen, with B3V2. Period. No more need be said. Clavia does a fantastic job with the whole suite of electric organ and piano emulation, but for a softsynth, I can't imagine anything beyond what this has. Wow.

The overall suite continues to improve in a variety of ways. That changelog for all the rest of the instruments is substantial, any way you look at it, and standardizes and improves a LOT of things that have been improving for awhile now.

Congratulations, Arturia! And my condolences to all the rest of you who for one reason or another cannot find happiness in this release. Continue with your online rebellion and enjoy that instead, I guess.

[BezO]

Is this version of auturia v collection 7
NkS compatible?.

NKS compatibility currently unavailable for Analog Lab, CZ V, Mellotron V, Synthi V and B-3 V2

Another good reason for me not to sweat the $200 price tag. I'm also only really interested in Analog Lab 4 and the updated B3. Hopefully they get around to NKSing these prior to a better upgrade discount.

You get those without upgrading.

Yes can vouch for this as I updated both yesterday and I'm on V Collection 6.

Oh, sweet! Thanks! Yup, both listed in my account, waiting to be downloaded.

Can anyone tell me if I update to B3 V2, will I still have access to V1? I need the NKS compatibility.

[realtrance]

I’ve always been able to keep all my versions of the V Collection, since V4.

[fmr]

I think we have more or less the same age, and unless you have played a "real" Mellotron before (which I never did), our experience has to be more or less the same. So, try to explain exactly what you hear. "Ghastly" is an adjective too strong for the effect to not be easily perceptible

I played a real one for a while in a band (our singer owned it)...

here's a Couple of perhaps not so obvious points about it:

1) it's hard to play... it reacts relatively slowly (really weirdly somehow - it's a bit like walking through ankle-deep mud) and you have to let go of the keys in a way that makes musical sense before the 7 or 8 seconds are over. This will have a profound influence on what you play with it and I'd say it is already half of its sound.

2) it doesn't sound amazing without added fx - what we hear on the records is rarely ever (if at all) its dry/pure sound.

I can understand what you say (interesting what you describe about playing the real thing - I never did, but I imagined that it would be pretty much as you described). But the point is that he was comparing the two recordings (which were none of a real Mellotron), and was commenting that the recording of the Mellotron V presets some "ghastly artifacts" that the other doesn't. Sincerely, I can't hear that.

About the sound of a Mellotron without fx... yes, I totally agree, and that could be said of basically all the so revered analog synths of the past, especially the older ones. When heard without processing, usually they don't sound that special

[fmr]

Can anyone tell me if I update to B3 V2, will I still have access to V1? I need the NKS compatibility.

Yes, as long as you don't uninstall it, you can use both.

[Stefken]

I missed the save function already so many times on the Synthi demo.
Very interesting synth.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

but by the way the Mellotron so thoroughly makes a "Mellotron tape" out of any sample you throw at it, giving that sample a very characteristic Mellotron sound

That sounds like a really great feature. Might have to check it out

[Lotuz2019]

but by the way the Mellotron so thoroughly makes a "Mellotron tape" out of any sample you throw at it, giving that sample a very characteristic Mellotron sound

That sounds like a really great feature. Might have to check it out

It is a great feature. The last couple of days I've really been enjoying myself with the demo. I like how it easily transforms a sterile sounding sample. And then you can run it through the vintage effects to take it to the next level.

[4damind]

I would be interested in the Mellotron and the Casio. Of course I will also install and test the demos. But I think that I will wait for a later offer for the update (99€), because I don't see this "must have" factor yet.

[mrdoghead]

Playing an old Mellotron, with the very-analog everything about them, including the exceedingly brief sound tapes, was and is an art in itself. Walking in as a keyboard player, one has familiarity with the layout, and knobs are knobs, but the feel and the timing and the preparation of the instrument are skills that are particular to the Mellotron. Getting a recognizable sound out of it is no problem. (I got a sound that was tolerable for a couple of notes in my one pass at one of these old beasts, back in prehistory. Mainly, however, I made a mess.) Playing it well is another matter.

I heard Mike Pinder play one straight to PA and he sounded amazing doing it. (He also made great use of effects.) But few players could play one of those things anywhere near as well as he did. It took time and effort for him to develop his technique. He did lectures and demos some years later making the case for this being an instrument that requires the player to learn its proper use, but that it repays that persistence by being very expressive.

For casual use, obviously, software can get us sounds a lot easier than going through what's necessary to make this bit of electrical peculiarity sing - with or without effects. Making beautiful music with a straight Mellotron is, however, certainly doable, and people have done it, and I have seen it done.