X Marks the Spot — and Over 10,000 More
Since its founding in 1999 in Grenoble, France, Arturia has remained at the forefront of sonic research and innovation, constantly honing its expertise through cutting-edge technological developments that see them reimagining the physical and virtual worlds of music production, as well as the boundary between them. V Collection X is the 10th iteration of their lauded suite of sonic-sculpting tools, armed with more than 10,000 masterfully crafted sounds spread across 39 virtual instruments that have been painstakingly recreated with exacting precision, thanks to a blend of their state-of-the-art TAE and Phi modeling technologies. The latest V Collection sees the total offering of its predecessor return, alongside six new instruments, three invigorating expansion packs, and more. Synthesists, producers, and studio scholars at Sweetwater couldn’t agree more: V Collection X is a powerful, versatile, and inspiring collection of pro-tier virtual instruments that have more than vindicated Arturia’s timeless slogan, “The Sound Explorers.”
What’s new in V Collection X?
Great question! Six new instruments have been added to this aural repertoire, including the CP-70 V, the MiniFreak V, and the Acid V, alongside three further entries from their innovative Augmented series: Augmented Brass, Augmented Grand Piano, and Augmented Woodwinds, the last of which makes its worldwide debut here. Moreover, the iconic Mini V and Wurli V have been meticulously rebuilt, integrating the latest technological advancements while streamlining the user experience to make it far easier to access a greater depth of sonic possibilities. V Collection X introduces a trio of inspiring expansion packs, designed exclusively for this collection, and Analog Lab Pro’s hub is the perfect place to explore it all — a one-stop-shop for browsing, editing, importing, exporting, saving, and recalling presets. All in, you’re armed for some serious aural excavation.
CP-70 V: expanded electro-acoustic excellence
By carefully blending detailed sampling with cutting-edge physical modeling, Arturia’s captured the full scope of sonic possibilities of this iconic electro-acoustic piano, and far more, with the CP-70 V. The strings found on the original were sampled with exacting precision, allowing the bare sound of the instrument to be capture in all its multitimbral complexity. Thanks to Arturia’s wealth of knowledge and experience, they were then able to recreate the instrument’s output stage, preamp, EQ, and tremolo circuits methodically and accurately. Arturia even went as far as to introduce a suite of advanced functionality and a fully-loaded MIDI-compatible Pedal rig that massively expands the scope of expressive potential without compromising the core tone that defined the CP-70 V’s physical predecessor.
MiniFreak V: limitless virtuality
Sound designers at Arturia are no strangers to meticulously and methodically deconstructing the elements of aural intrigue that make our favorite synths tick. The MiniFreak V throws down the gauntlet as the digital doppelgänger of its 37-key counterpart, utilizing the same dual-oscillator 2-engine architecture to elicit dynamic, undulating sonics with multiple lanes of modulation. Its powerful, onboard FX engine is accompanied by painstakingly-modeled analog-style filtering, engineered to inspire, with responsive, dynamic polyphonic synthesis. The reimagined Freak modulation matrix abounds with artistic opportunity, boasting over 20 playing modes across a 6-voice polyphony. Designed as one half of a hybrid synthesis dyad, this soft synth is identical to its hardware sibling in nearly every way. Armed with identical sound engines and made to be played, Sweetwater’s synthesists are impressed by its ability to transubstantiate sounds from the virtual to the real seamlessly.
Acid V: lauded synth-bass sonics, reborn
Whether you’re a dedicated follower of the ’80s and ’90s house, techno, and industrial music styles or only manage to catch them in passing, one element — above most others — unites them across genres: the snarling, searing bass lines. These vaunted bass-synths are becoming exceedingly rare, especially in optimal condition, and you’d better believe the prices reflect as much. Thankfully, Arturia’s appointed their aural academics to painstakingly emulate the iconic instrument in exacting detail for everyone to enjoy: Acid V. Like its spiritual predecessor, Acid V’s dual-waveform design masks an impressive amount of nuance to crafting a wide variety of basses without deviating from its hallmark, analog-style edge, much to the delight of Sweetwater’s synth scholars. Armed with a 64-step sequencer, arpeggiator, multimode function generators, a slew of effects and distortion algorithms, and more than 500 presets across sequences and bass patches, we’re only scratching the surface of what Acid V has to offer.
Augmented Grand Piano: elevated ebony and ivory
Flaunting both sampled and synthesized sounds, Arturia's Augmented Grand Piano is a complete reinvention of a timeless classic. You can craft a multitude of textures out of this dynamic hybrid virtual instrument, with two layers per preset and two customizable sound sources per layer. Augmented Grand Piano's Morph control enables you to shift between sample-based and synthesized layers, with multiple audio engines producing granular, harmonic, or wavetable flavors. A full arsenal of macros, LFOs, generators, and modulation sources give you plenty of patch-building power. You also get two FX slots per layer with 14 effects to choose from, plus a 16-step arpeggiator for adding ear-grabbing excitement and movement to your sounds. Producers and composers can never have too many sounds at their disposal, and Augmented Grand Piano offers sonic flavors you won't find anywhere else.
Augmented Brass: bold and brash
With the introduction of Arturia’s Augmented series of virtual instruments, a groundwork was laid to boldly and consistently reimagine classical forms of performance and orchestration. Augmented Brass brings the same magic to the world of horns, trumpets, and much more, from solo and chamber parts to fully-fledged orchestral arrangements. A voltaic blend of painstakingly captured samples and state-of-the-art synth engines are layered, morphed, and mangled to produce evocative, unreal brass sounds perfect for various genres and styles. Its streamlined UI includes welcome improvements over the previous series releases, making it easier than ever to construct groundbreaking sounds that Sweetwater’s composers, synthesists, and production pros alike are eager to integrate Augmented Brass into their next piece.
Augmented Woodwinds: atmospheric and electric ambiance
Like its series siblings, Arturia’s Augmented Woodwinds combines immensely detailed sampling with multimode synthesis engines to realize a hybrid world of evocative sonic shades. Its primary Morph features seamlessly transforms acoustic, natural woodwind sounds into successively mangled, manipulated, and machinated synth-fueled tones. A constellation of additional macros, FX, and more grant access an unmatched level of dynamism in your sound-shaping ventures, while the layers can be further peeled back for deep control, modulation, automation, and more. Plus, Augmented Woodwinds features dedicated Vibrato, Tremolo, and Arpeggiator modes that can be uniquely applied to various layers or patterns, ensuring a virtually limitless space of reimagined woodwind sounds.
All the classics return
Alongside this suite of exciting new instruments and expansion packs, V Collection X hails the return of Arturia’s full catalog of iconic synths, keyboards, organs, and pianos. Analog synths include the Korg MS-20 V, CS-80 V, Prophet-5 V, Vocoder V, OP-XA V, Jun-6 V, Buchla Easel V, Mini V, SEM V, Jup-8 V, ARP2600 V, Matrix-12 V, Modular V, and Synthi V. For digital synths, the SQ-80 V, Prophet-VS V, CMI V, DX7 V, Synclavier V, CA V, and Emulator II V are all in tow. Keyboards and organs like the Farfisa V, Clavinet V, Mellotron V, B-3 V, Solina V, and Vox Continental V are also back, as well as Piano V, Stage-73 V, and Wurli V acoustic and electroic pianos. On the Augmented front, Strings and Voices are onboard as well.
Arturia V Collection X Software Instrument Bundle Features:
- 39 virtual instruments include keyboards, synths, pianos, strings, brass, woodwinds, and voices for a powerhouse of 10,000+ sounds
- Augmented Strings, Grand Piano, Brass, Woodwinds, and Voices blend sample-based acoustic sound with state-of-the-art synth supplements for unmatched sound design
- 6 new instruments include the CP-70 V, MiniFreak V, Acid V, Augmented Brass, Augmented Grand Piano, and Augmented Woodwinds, further expanding your sonic palette
- Mini V and Wurli V have been completely rebuilt to provide more power and flexibility while streamlining user experience
- Thousands of precision-engineered presets are offered across every instrument, perfect for any genre or playstyle, with three exclusive new expansion packs
- Performance and workflow have been reengineered to improve loading times, refresh GUIs, expand user playlist functionality, and more
- Works as a standalone tool, or alongside any major DAW in VST, AAX, AU, or NKS formats on Mac or PC
- Readily integrate MIDI to expand your playing potential in studio and stage settings
