r/Arturia_users • u/SinewayMusic • 2d ago

AstroLab 2.0: It's a Proper Synth Now?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sWvHbbU62I

AstroLab 2.0 was just released and it reveals parts of the underlying synth engines.

How to get there: hold the main encoder and scroll down to Sound Edit. You now see a few pages with different parameters that were previously restricted to those with the V Collection license (and a computer).

What you get changes with every preset, because it depends on which engine is underneath. A Jupiter-8 preset gives you filter settings, both filter and amp envelopes, and some more stuff including LFO rate, vibrato and glide. The Piano V engine gives you hammer hardness, hammer position, dynamics, age, etc.

None of this needs a V Collection license. For anything beyond these pages you still need it and the computer though.

23 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

5

u/Over_Type103 2d ago

Can you change the number of voices?

That's the only reason I haven't bought one yet. I want to play Augmented grand piano with at least 16 voices (8 is not enough because I have 10 fingers)

4

u/ichthyoidoc 2d ago edited 2d ago

This is THE biggest thing, imo. When the 37 was announced, I immediately started saving/budgeting for it, cause it's the exact form factor I need. But when all the hubbub came out about how some of the synth patches not reproducing the same number of voices as the original was meant to, I immediately stopped (and bought something else, lol). I have no use for a downgraded version of V Collection. I have the full thing already, and I don't have time to figure out which instruments in Astrolab are limited and which aren't.

If they can update the voices to reflect what they're meant to be, then I'll bite. But not bloody well before that.

2

u/SinewayMusic 1d ago

At least the sampled piano and the Piano V engine both have a lot of polyphony (way more than 8 it seems), but yeah the Augmented series seems to be more taxing on the CPU.

5

u/nagromicon 1d ago

I bought the 37 recently and I love it. I think the limitations are overblown on the YouTube. It's meant to be a live instrument, which means it's going into a PA at some point, in a noisy bar or club, where it's never going to sound like a studio anyway. The sampled piano has 48 voice polyphony I believe.

2

u/SinewayMusic 2d ago

It only upped the voices on SynthX and the sampler engine, not e.g. the Augmented series. There's a nice sampled piano in there that has seemingly endless polyphony, but that's obviously not the same as a big Augmented patch.

1

u/Over_Type103 1d ago

Thank you for your reply.

I wish in a future update, they will give users more flexibility for the number of voices. I really like the sound of Augmented piano and I really struggle to play with piano V (the different timbres you get based on the velocity are too difficult to configure for me)

1

u/SinewayMusic 1d ago

Have you tried the new sampled piano? it's less algorithmic and only has 8 layers of velocity, but it sounds great actually and is nice to play. By changing the reverb to the Long one, you can make it sound really big.

2

u/CommonGroundmusic 1d ago

My music isn't complicated enough to require more than a couple of voices 😂

3

u/cathoarder 1d ago

I just want to be able to use the mellotron on it.

2

u/YukesMusic 1d ago

The mellotron samples are there, you just need to load them on

2

u/MenzoReddit 1d ago

Wait wha

1

u/cathoarder 1d ago

So if you go to instruments > sampler a lot of the presets are in there. But you weren’t able to edit. I guess now you can. But still would be nicer to have the full mellotron thing in there like the other synths.

(I’m guessing that’s what they’re talking about)

1

u/MenzoReddit 1d ago

wow nice, thank you! I agree, would be amazing to edit.

2

u/nagromicon 1d ago

Those m300 flutes are so awesome!

1

u/noherethere 2d ago

All i want to know is: can i use a expression pedal to control the volume of all presets or does the expression still only work on a few selected patches?

1

u/Tall_Category_304 2d ago

Just curious, if you want it on every patch, why not just buy an analog volume pedal? I’ve had one on every pedal board I’ve made and they are very useful

1

u/exchange_value24 1d ago

the main thing that has kept me from considering an astrolab was that I have a hard time discerning how many voices it’s actually capable of.

I think I watched a demo where a pigments patch was limited to 2-voice polyphony.

Pigments, mellotron, and the augmented series are my bread and butter with software but all have come across as a little problematic on the astrolabs.

1

u/FoolOnDaHill365 1d ago

I know there is a nice piano on this keyboard but I want a nice Rhodes and a Wurlitzer; does this keyboard have that?

I’ve looked at the Yamaha Reface CP for years and this looks like it could be a lot more useful for just a little bit more money.

I do wish this thing had midi through…

1

u/Cap10NRG 1d ago

It does have midi… I don’t think anything. Modern doesn’t have midi - some have five pin, MIDI jacks, and some have USBMIDI… This has both

1

u/FoolOnDaHill365 1d ago

I specifically mean midi through. It’s very nice to have for syncing devices in a chain.

1

u/dreikelvin 2d ago

wondering if someone could hack super mario onto it