Also out from Arturia this week: V Collection X brings the maker’s plug-in collection up to speed. That includes an all-new Yamaha CP-70 piano model and Augmented WOODWINDS, plus a rebuilt Mini V and Wurli V. And the rebuilt Minimoog, in particular, has a bunch of delicious extras.
Here’s the quick lowdown. All-new:
CP-70 V electro-acoustic piano, which they’ve built with a combination of samples and modeling. It sounds great; they can’t say it’s Yamaha, but I can. You get a lot of the same tweakability as on their recent pianos. Check all the options, above – and then you get still more options with a draggable, tweakable effects pedalboard:
Augmented WOODWINDS which – is surprisingly the most gorgeous of the augmented series yet. Yes, they’re dripping this out one section/instrument type at a time, but each time these get slightly more refined. There’s a lot of potential in here.
Then there are the two big re-built releases:
Mini V (v4): all-new engine, all new features. I honestly don’t recall the last time I opened the old Mini V, as there are many Minimoog emulations out there, but I fired this up and was really impressed. They’ve finally really made this sound authentic. Interestingly, it pairs well with the Moog Mariana I reviewed last week, as the Mariana isn’t all that Minimoog-ish (being closer to the Model 15, Taurus, and arguably Matriarch). There’s new modeling of the nonlinearities of the original, age setting, a headphone reamplification option, filter bass compensation, and updated modulation and effects. I think it might have just leapfrogged other Minimoog takes. But Moog’s own Minimoog Model D is serious competition (and the likely choice if you’re choosing a la carte). I haven’t done a proper head to head of those two, though the Mini V is at least worthy as an add-on to the bundle.
Wurli V also got a complete rebuild with new features and sound engine, and added effects.
Those are not to be underestimated; it’s good to see Arturia getting the full library in sync. And to me, it really is the Minimoog that makes this release worth the update – a sleeper hit. Forget the one you used before; this is like a new synth.
You also get the latest versions of everything, so that means the addition of:
- Acid V (see my review)
- MiniFreak V (updated this week, see news item)
- Augmented BRASS (review)
- Augmented GRAND PIANO
Across the full suite and latest plug-in updates (meaning do boot up Arturia Software Center and hit update):
- New light theme and multiple look and style improvements
- Startup preset customization (via the hamburger menu)
- User preset bank picture can be customized
- Integrated with Keylab Essential 3
- macOS Sonoma support though – uh, I’d still wait a little bit before rushing to update (I’m guessing late winter or spring for me)
They’ve also fixed a bunch of issues, including VST3 parameter automation in Ableton Live.
Is it for you? That depends very much on what you’ve got. If you’ve lapsed in the Arturia virtual instrument collection for a while, you’ll have plenty to justify the upgrade. I don’t think this is likely to be a big annual update for many people if you just bought V Collection 9. It’ll mainly be people who want more Augmented stuff or vintage keyboard players who want to opt in for this year from the 2022 outing. Oh and if it’s acid you want, D16’s Phoscyon is formidable competition, so worth considering. And for Moog, there’s … Moog, now with multiple options.
If these are calling out to you, though, the quality on each is exceptional, and the fit and finish here keep getting better. It’s not quite the no-brainer the FX Collection has become, but Arturia has managed to throughly modernize its instrument suite.
Synth Anatomy did a sound demo of the Minimoog:
More:
V Collection X at Plugin Boutique If you buy something from a CDM link, we may earn a commission.