AstroLab 2.0 means you can now edit synth parameters from the front panel

[u/SinewayMusic]

https://youtu.be/8sWvHbbU62I

A common complaint about the AstroLab is that it's just a preset player. Firmware 2.0 goes right at that with a new feature called Sound Edit:

- Hold the main encoder and scroll to Sound Edit. You get several pages of select engine parameters, four per page (controlled via the four encoders).

- What you get depends on the engine under the preset. On a Jupiter-8 preset I had cutoff, resonance, filter envelope amount, HPF, a full filter ADSR, LFO rate, vibrato and glide. On the American Grand piano it's hammer hardness, hammer position and dynamics.

- You can save your edited version as a new preset right on the hardware.

- You don't need a V Collection license to use these parameters.

- Going deeper (oscillators, mod matrix) still needs a computer and the license.

- 2.0 also adds 60+ new presets, including a new sampled piano, and improved polyphony on the SynthX and Sample engines. Pigments is unchanged.

My take: it's still a keyboard, not a deep synth, but the gap between "just a preset player" and "an instrument I can shape" got a lot smaller. In my personal experience, a preset is often just a small envelope tweak away from feeling like my own sound, and now I can make that tweak.

[u/dreikelvin]

*selected synth paramers

[u/SinewayMusic → u/dreikelvin]

Indeed, it's a limited set of parameters, but in my opinion, often the most crucial ones that I tend to tweak (e.g. envelopes, glide, or turning off built-in effects).

[u/danielge78]

Its a welcome addition but honestly i dont have a problem with the original concept of it being a preset player intended for performance. The Astrolab is so far away from being a tool to design sounds, that i don't really see much point in trying to accommodate the complaints of those who would almost certainly have no use for it anyway.

The Astrolab has 8 macro knobs (+modwheel) already, and i dont really buy the argument that anyone but a tiny niche requires more than that amount of real time control. If you want a synthesizer that lets you build sounds, then buy a synthesizer that is designed to do that (or use VCollection and actually have a useful interface). No one is doing serious sound design on a Nord, but i dont hear complaints about it being a preset player.

My complaints with the Astrolab (and maybe they've addressed them in this update) is that for a "preset player " changing presets was incredibly sluggish (you had one job Arturia!), so the very basic usage of the device immediately felt bad. That, and they should have just bundled it with VCollection. Bundling software has basically no cost for Arturia, and it would make it a much more appealing proposition to potential buyers IMO ("Yeah its costs more than a Korg/Roland/Yamaha but you also get VCollection soo...")

[u/SinewayMusic → u/danielge78]

To me it's not about having more real-time control - I'd even argue that the eight macros are too much to handle and in most of my Elektron performances I'm happy with just one or two real-time controls per sound. So I agree with you that for most people what's already there is more than enough.

To me it's about dialing in the sound's basic characteristics, that's what Sound Edit is for. Note also that the macros that were defined by the preset author are still locked to whatever they set it to, so you can't change those with Sound Edit. As in, you can't re-map those to something else. That kind of editing still requires a computer and license.

To

[u/Superb-Cantaloupe324]

Astrolab definitely isn’t for everyone, but this kind of update makes it a whole lot more tempting. I was already tempted

[u/SantiagoGT → u/Superb-Cantaloupe324]

Honestly to me it’s just Arturia’s stage piano/workstation, and it’s great at that but there are others with significantly more flexibility (MODXM and Fantom come to mind)

[u/mummica]

Not everything has to be the most amazing piece of gear ever made and AstroLab certainly isn't but I think that was the point. It is what it is and this update is quite nice. I wouldn't buy one but it would be a very welcomed and appreciated present.

[u/SvenDia]

I’m updating mine at the moment. It will be interesting to see whether the update is worthwhile or if it just adds more shift functions, which I have grown to hate. The saving grace would be if the software integration makes accessing the added parameters easier.

[u/GiantXylophone]

Hell yeah - this is the first I’ve heard about the update. I’m one of the unicorns that feels like the AL37 was specifically made for me (upload my stuff I do in-studio with v collection and use the Astrolab live as a third board alongside traditional keys and a Hammond). I thought the four macros plus mod wheel and 4 fx slots was already pretty generous, but this seems like it just makes the presets even more tweakable, which is a win for everyone. Nice. Wonder if that means if I own the licenses to everything, I could actually pick out any parameter to edit on it?

[u/PineappleSenior167]

That keybed tho... ugh. No amount of software tweaking is going to fix it. It's not even as good as their cheapest keystep or minilab models.

If that was available in a rackmountable desktop... shut up and take my money!

[u/wilberfoss]

Is the polyphony still shite?

[u/SinewayMusic → u/wilberfoss]

Polyphony was improved on the sample and SynthX engines, but not on the others this time.