Arturia Spark - my impressions

[punkdISCO]

Hi Andrew

> btw I just upgraded to the Arturia V-collection 3.0 and it comes with
Spark
> vintage which looks like it's the just software version.

Nice..  I think Arturia are currently one of the most exciting music
companies.  Nothing they have produced to date seems to have really grabbed
the market, which is a big shame but, I expect this is going to change over
the next few weeks (hey, Gert?!!!)  :)

> So that's cool, hope there are no weird limitations.

I believe the Vintage edition does not allow you to import your own samples
so can only be expanded by Arturia.  Plus it only has the Analogue engine
and Sample Engine, but not the Physical Modelling Engine.  I would not be
too miffed by this.

Okay, the sampling engine if fecking ace and like no other - it is so much
more than just a Machine type sample playback machine.  So, it's a shame you
can't import your own samples but, I have not done this yet on mine and I
have the option..

Likewise, the Physical modelling is another incredible engine.  Sure, it
models real drums like you have heard before with unbelievable realism but
most of us don't want acoustic drums.  However, it also does incredible
analogue drums where the dynamics in the modelling engine now model all the
quirks of, say, a modular synth.  This is where the fun is with this
engine..

Despite the hard sell on the two bits that you are missing, what you have
left is still a very powerful machine.  You will still be able to use the
samples in an engine like no other (just not your own samples).  And, you
will still be able to use the Analogue engine (TAE) which is probably 75% of
the full version.

Finally and obviously, you don't have the physical controller.  I would not
lose any sleep over this.  Sure, it is fun but so badly implemented, I often
find myself programming via my Novation SL controller and not Spark.  Can
you imagine a Maschine user opting to ignore the Maschine controller in
favour of a generic midi controller??!!  It simply would not happen..  I
know(hope) this will improve with time but only if they buy into the idea
that Spark users want to control the synthesizers and not the mixer - Spark
is currently configured with an emphasis on (bad)mixing (dedicated knobs for
pan, aux sends etc) which cannot be changed..

Let us know how you get on with Spark.

Paul
London
www.punkdisco.co.uk
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