#1

So, Arturia has come out with V Collection 6, adding the DX7 among others. I can currently purchase this for $249 thanks to owning a BeatStep Pro… but I’ve never used Arturia plugins before. The reviews seem positive…

Has anyone here used the V collection before, and is it worth the price of admission? I’ve been quite happy with my Prophet, but having access to some vintage sounds like the DX7 is reeeaallly tempting. So I’d like some feedback on whether this is likely to be a worthwhile purchase or just another toy. Alternative suggestions are also welcome (not just for the DX7, but for the whole suite).

#2

I use these synths more than any other musical software or gear (aside from my DAW of the moment). Not just a toy.

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#3

I completely agree. They’ve been my main ‘analog’ sound source when doing things inside the box, alongside Madrona Labs Aalto. I’ve used the whole collection since V3.

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#4

Thanks @jasonw22 and @jeffreypierce for the feedback. I went ahead and bought the collection then. Should be a nice complement to the analogue beasties.

So now I’m looking for workflow tips and tricks - do you just click around the various interfaces and set up your favourites one by one or are there some global parameter maps that tend to make better sense with this kit? I don’t usually use soft-synths, and would prefer to map my physical controllers as wisely as possible. I might even buy a dedicated MIDI controller for the softsynths and leave my other ones for the modules.

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#5

I’m personally fond of using Analog Lab as a frontend to the collection. This provides 8 consistent macro knobs you can map and that will always work regardless of which instrument you’re using.

When you are in Analog Lab, you can hover over the image of the synth used in a specific patch to find a pencil icon you can click to edit the patch. This brings up the full interface for the instrument in question. So, no need to worry about Analog Lab being a “lesser” interface than the standalone instruments. It’s just a way to get some consistent macro knobs at a layer above the individual instruments. You can still get to all the depth you might want.

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#6

I use a Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol midi controller - which automatically maps to the “most important” parameters of each instrument. It is very easy to modify and set things just how you like - as this is its primary job. I also have a Moog Voyager and a Prophet '08 and found that using these “real” instrument to control the “soft” ones wasn’t working for me. It was rather laborious to set up the mappings and some functionality was just plain janky, especially with the mod and pitch wheels. This also leaves the hardware ready to used as hardware or to be driven by midi and fed back into the DAW.

Hope you enjoy your huge new sonic palette!

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