The Arturia MIDI software is very useful. It’s just under 1GB for Mac, far less for PC. Now, you simply register at Arturia, enter your serial and unlock details and you get presented with a list of what you’re entitled to download – manuals, the software, plus Arturia’s own software and MIDI Control Center software. One of the criticisms with the original was that you downloaded the software via a Steinberg hub which was too complex (although I think the intention was worthy, as some kind of software registration standard). There’s a new browser to find what you want, too. Those 5,000 sounds I mentioned earlier come wrapped up in a new version of Analog Lab (v2), which is a kind of ‘best of’ of all of those instruments and the keyboard’s rotaries will hopefully make the best of its instant controls, like the original.Īs well as the original Arturia software titles I’ve already mentioned, you also get presets from B-3 V, CS-80V, Farfisa V, Matrix-12 V, Modular V, Solina V, Stage V, Synclavier V, Piano V, Vox V and Wurli, covering sounds from pretty much all of the keyboard classics. What else do you get? Well, it’s a controller keyboard that’s designed to work with multiple DAWs, hence both MCU and HUI compatibility. Version one definitely came from Grenoble and I do like a bit of individuality. This new one is plainer – yes, it’s more functional, but it could have any other company logo on the back. It was very Arturia and fitted in with the company’s aesthetic of the time. I have to say, though, I kind of preferred the look of the original. This is more logical in hindsight – the screen was far left originally, so, depending on where you placed the keyboard, could cause issues (especially if you had it left of centre, as the screen would have been far, far left of centre). The 30mm faders have been moved over to the right, the pads to the left and the screen has moved into a more central position. What I didn’t criticise, though, was the layout of the keyboard itself and that is the most striking change here.

Arturia lab