Arturia V Collection 8: Arturia's 2020 virtual instrument collection

Grigory Liadov

At the end of 2020, Arturia announced V Collection 8, adding four new instruments: Jun-6 V, Emulator II V, Vocoder V, and OB-Xa V. The library now has 28 distinct instruments with individual features and complete controls. Existing Jup-8 V4 and Stage-73 V2 have been revised. Analog Lab, which brings together the library's instruments and presets, also receives small improvements.

Almost all V Collection instruments model legendary vintage keyboards from the last century. The four additions continue that approach, recreating their classic hardware counterparts.

The original review describes Arturia's virtual instruments as fully modeled rather than sample-based. Modeling can provide expressive sounds and detailed settings beyond conventional sample playback. Arturia aims to recreate the electrical circuits and mechanical behavior of the original instruments. It also adds modern features such as presets, automation, modulation, and effects. Each instrument runs as a VST, AU, or AAX plug-in, or as a standalone application.

Today we will focus on the four additions and the changes in Analog Lab 5.

Analog Lab V

Analog Lab provides quick access to installed V Collection instruments and their presets. Each instrument can also run independently as a plug-in or application. However, searching all instruments' presets by tags in Analog Lab is much more convenient.

Analog Lab V is not an update installed over version four. It is a separate application that can coexist with Analog Lab 4 as another collection instrument.

The basic approach is unchanged. Improvements mainly optimize the interface. All views now have a dark gray, almost black background. Colorful icons make sound selection more intuitive. Sorting by preset name, style, bank, and favorites remains. The preset count grows by two and a half times to more than 2000, including sounds from well-known composers and sound designers.

Macros expose synthesis parameters that strongly affect the sound. Arturia MIDI controllers automatically map their knobs to these macros. This is very convenient: while browsing sounds, a couple of encoder turns quickly reveal how much a preset can change.

Studio and Stage provide two views of the selected sound. Multi mode still loads two sounds together, either as one layered instrument or with separate keyboard ranges.

Two selectable effects can process the sound, followed by send buses for delay and reverb. The master section also has a three-band equalizer. These options may seem limited, but each individual instrument has its own effects as well.

Stage view is intended for live use. It shows only the current instrument graphic and a prepared preset list. On stage, users generally need to change sounds and adjust macros from a MIDI controller. Stage view is an ideal fit for this workflow.

The built-in online preset store is also worth mentioning. Users can open a sound pack, try its sounds with their own playing, and buy it directly in Analog Lab. New packs from different musicians and sound engineers arrive regularly.

Jun-6 V

Jun-6 V recreates the Roland Juno-6, first released in 1982. The polyphonic analog Juno-6 was popular for its low price and features related to the flagship Jupiter-8. Although much simpler than the flagship, it appealed to musicians through easy controls and a powerful sound. Chorus is central to its character, adding width and depth.

Jun-6 V has one analog-style sawtooth oscillator. A variable-width pulse wave, sub-oscillator, and white noise can be mixed in. The filter section has a low-cut filter for low frequencies with a 6 dB/octave slope and a resonant filter with a 24 dB per octave slope.

The hardware has one ADSR envelope and an LFO. Arturia adds ENV2 and LFO2, expanding modulation considerably. These sit on an extra panel with MIDI keyboard assignments and two additional effects.

As noted earlier, chorus is a key Jun-6 V feature. It creates a broad, dense stereo sound, as though the synthesizer had several oscillators. The signal feeds two delay lines with fixed stereo positions. An LFO changes delay time and therefore pitch. Opposite delay-time changes in left and right channels, mixed with the dry signal, create stereo chorus. As on the hardware, Jun-6 V has two modulation-intensity modes.

The simple Jun-6 V arpeggiator follows the hardware. It has three playback directions, range, and speed settings. Chord mode is new: one key plays a stored chord, which is especially useful with the arpeggiator. Preset chords are included, and users can create their own.

Jun-6 V includes more than 180 presets organized by tags. Sound examples and a demo are available on the official page of the manufacturer.

Emulator II V

Emulator II V models the 8-bit E-mu Emulator II sampler released in 1984. It was advanced for its time, with eight-layer sounds and eight-note polyphony. Each voice had its own filter, envelope, and LFO. Four-pole analog resonant filters at the output gave Emulator II its characteristic warm sound.

Arturia aims to recreate the Emulator II's detailed character, adding modern features: 32-voice polyphony, an arpeggiator, modern effects, and extra modulation.

A graphical view of all adjustable parameters makes editing clearer and more convenient.

Many Emulator II samples were used by artists including Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Peter Gabriel, Jean-Michel Jarre, Depeche Mode, Enigma, and Pet Shop Boys. Emulator II V brings these classic sounds into current projects. It includes 250 original presets with the character of the period. Users can also load their own samples and process them through Emulator II V.

Emulator II sound examples and a demo are available on the official page of the manufacturer.

Vocoder V

Arturia drew inspiration for Vocoder V from the best classic hardware vocoders. The company aimed to create an innovative instrument with flexible controls and high sound quality, using its experience in synthesis, modulation, and effects.

Conventional hardware vocoders have limited features. A microphone usually provides the modulator, while a simple synthesized sound acts as carrier. Vocoder V goes further. A sample player can replace the microphone as modulator. Its carrier is a complete synthesizer with waveform selection and modulation.

The built-in sampler loads 12 audio clips and works like a layered sample library. The 12 notes in the octave below middle C select loaded samples, which are then played across the remaining three octaves. Supplied sounds include voices, noise, drums, and other instruments.

The carrier synthesizer uses two oscillators with four waveforms. The second can modulate the first. Advanced settings provide LFO modulation and six more assignable sources. Chord mode is included. The source also describes a smooth change between monophonic and polyphonic behavior through the glide parameter.

The modulator has 16-band EQ to improve clarity or reduce selected frequencies before vocoding. Modulator bands can also be assigned to different carrier bands. For example, low voice frequencies can control only high synthesizer frequencies. A virtual-cable patchbay handles these 16 bands clearly and conveniently. Controls also adjust envelope attack and release and change timbre through unusual synthesis parameters. These can improve clarity or give the sound a more suitable character.

Vocoder V is an interesting instrument. Its attractive interface matches the collection, with good sound quality and many settings. A Vocoder V demo and sound examples are available on the official page of the manufacturer.

OB-Xa V

OB-Xa V recreates the legendary Oberheim OB-X and OB-Xa. The two hardware models differed internally. The later OB-Xa replaced discrete circuitry with integrated circuits, producing a more controlled, gentler sound. Its filter changed from two-pole to four-pole. Oscillator cross-modulation was replaced by filter-envelope control of oscillator two's pulse width. Arturia OB-Xa V combines features from both models, letting users choose their preferred behavior.

OB-Xa V has two independent oscillators with four waveform options: sawtooth, triangle, square, and sawtooth plus square. A resonant low-pass filter switches between 24 and 12 dB/octave slopes. Filter and amplitude envelopes use conventional ADSR. The main modulation section provides the hardware's LFO control of cutoff and oscillator pitch. Advanced settings add more modulation. There is also an arpeggiator, one-key chord mode, portamento, and separate pitch-wheel control of oscillator two.

Features absent from the hardware include extra modulation and effects. Four additional user-drawn envelopes can target almost any parameter. Their complex shapes can work as ordinary envelopes, LFO-like modulation, or step sequences. Another modulation matrix assigns MIDI controls as sources. Three effects can run together, in series or parallel.

An OB-Xa V demo and sound examples are available on the official page of the manufacturer.

Conclusions

Arturia's 2020 collection update is very interesting. Each V Collection version adds more classic instruments. All the additions are attractive, especially OB-Xa V and Vocoder V.

Full-featured demos let users try every instrument in their own projects. All Arturia instruments can also be bought separately from V Collection.

Note. This is an adapted machine translation into English. It follows the “In simple terms” approach. Read the original article at https://prosound.ixbt.com/soft/arturia-vcollection8.shtml.