Arturia's AstroLab - What Am I Missing? 😕 

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Thank you for clearing that up. I've seen a few video's on it already because Arturia sent it to _every_ RU-vidr out there (well, other than you apparently), but in none of the vids it became clear to me that it's some sort of dongle for their software/VST's.

You aren't missing anything. A bunch of social media influencers got free gear and so are giving it good reviews, or at least reviews that turn a blind eye to what a massive flop this will be. Thanks for keeping it real. I guess something like a System-8 is the same thing, but it lets you actually edit the sounds. And mpc keys is sample based mostly, but it has a bunch of actual dsp synths now, plus some advanced romplers that are highly tweakable, like the fabric collection. Don't know why anyone would buy this Arturia over an mpc keys.

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this with us Ian. If I recall the CEO said at the beginning of the 'reveal' that they wanted to make an instrument for the under represented - the gigging keyboard player, which is fair enough. I can understand them developing this keyboard/controller/device, but I guess what has surprised me is that they went along this path as their 25 year celebration. Perhaps they could have released this as well as a Keylab MK3 for example, which many of us are patiently anticipating, wallet at the ready. Here in Canada, due to the weak Canadian dollar the Astrolab is $1999 (before tax I assume!) This seems a bit eye-watering considering the competition. I don't know, its an unusual step to take in celebration of 25 years. But what do I know? I may be wrong, but I would have thought that they would have a huge success building upon what is making them successful with their current users at the same time as looking towards the untapped potential of the under represented musician.

I have a keylab mk2 and it does exactly what this does for a 5th of this price. I was hoping it was going to be like arturia origin ,that came out about 10 years ago and would let you use any synth from v collection in standalone but it also let you create your own synths from the components from each modeled synth..it also had a bigger screen and tons of encoders it was a beast. This is a massive step back and i cant see many people buying it

Do they offer some of some of the software instruments with the keyboard? I would say including 4 or 5 (of the purchasers choice ) and a 50% discount off the rest could make this interesting...otherwise....1600 Euros for a preset machine with a very small display...er...no thanks!

I can understand aiming this at the stage keyboard market, but then why not have a built in power supply and IEC cable. Also live musicians would have preferred the option of a larger keybed and sliders for the organ. I understand the lure of a cut down control set and then better control in the studio, but then it needs to sync with the V collection for deep editing with sync of parameters. Aurturia can't do anything about the power cable, but could add a USB controller and further live editing and V collection synced editing later that would help this device. If the device is successful, larger keybed versions are likely, I suppose.

It's definitely not aimed at anyone who hasn't good eyesight with that tiny screen. Therefore not for many those in their later years (or babies under 1 year) that view the computer is a thing of mystery well avoided and would maybe otherwise attracted. Me being one (Pensioner not baby). Maybe aimed at those that want to quickly get to know it's features like the back of their own hand, as that's am guessing is the only view they will get when selecting the parameters when dialing those presets 😊 It's not available in black I think, so that rules me out straight away. The price falls roughly in the territory of 61 key synths like the Non AT Naulilus 61, plus slightly more than similar offerings from Yamaha and Roland which am sure are a much better proposition entirely. Better keybed, presets that can be fully edited and more can be loaded in if desired. I expect will be a awkward day for the Arturia Marketing Team when it comes to viewing the annual sales figures. Happily proved wrong however,. but could only think of those customers who want to dabble in synthesis without really understanding the wealth of better alternatives out there that will go for one of these. .

This is probably the first big swing-and-miss from these guys. It's close to something I'd use live, but the controller aspect is too limited. The OLED encoder was too cute of an idea, but in practice it will be annoying and prone to breaking, leaving you out of more traditional and reliable options. It's all about the sounds, I'd buy this in a heartbeat in a small module form and hook up a more capable controller.

Performing musicians would need more polyphony for serious live use in my view. A DX engine with 8 note polyphony is the most bizarre thing! A few more controller options would also help for live use (sliders for drawbars etc), which Arturia have already implemented in their keylab series!

They should have put V collection with all the individual synths in it. And at least 8 mod macro knobs instead of four. Or just only pigments with all the editing capacilities. That would have justified 1600 euros. Jupiter X really destroys this one if you ask me honestly. Enjoying the vid and show.

I don’t get it either. Preset machine plus tiny display? If had full edit ability with more knobs/sliders and a larger display for the same price then I could see it more as something of value.

I like the color scheme and design but... How come full-blown synth offers less controls than Arturia's own Keylab? I was expecting all that Keylab controls and more but what all we got was this moving screen... This is highly debatable move.

Regular musicians do not want to use a Labtop if not necessary. Stage space can be very limited, setting up extra wires and power supply is not fun, way more can go wrong. Ask any keyboard player who performs regularly and they would prefer an option that gave them the same sounds without using a computer any day

No way I’m bringing a computer on stage with me, too easy to get swiped while I’m performing. Plus using a computer while I’m trying to feel the vibe ain’t happening. I think it’s perfect for the intended user here. And playing instruments live with zero latency is huge. The only thing I would want is MPC 61 level like control over the plugins on a bigger screen.

I actually might consider something like this as I'm moving away from VSTs and any reliance on Microsoft to not intentionally destroy my computer. Now that they've declared end of life for Win10, I'm moving to Linux, and most of my VSTs won't run in Linux. So being able to buy hardware versions of my software synths actually makes sense to me. I've lost several thousand dollars in my 3d software due to needing to move to new versions of Windows, so now I'm just saying F-it - I'm going with hardware now.

They are getting a right bashing...I thought the wheel was a good idea. The screen seems very small for a stage device. It should have shipped with V collection IMO. Its incredible technology but I think they priced it too high.

Astrolab is a white elephant. The answer to a question no-one is asking. It should have a big touch screen, 32 rotary encoders each with a tiny dedicated screen. And v collection built in.

I know a few musicians that aren't into sound synth editing.

Yeah I’m not buying one. And I have V collection and pigments and analog lab. One thing to note about Komplete Kontrol is analog lab isn’t NKS and Pigments is NKS but presets only go up to v3.0 (3.5 and 4.0 aren’t in there). I was hoping when I first saw this that it would be a Keystep Pro with 61 big keys, but alas… Also, it doesn’t have poly aftertouch, so that doesn’t help its cause. To be fair though - $/€1600 isn’t bad for some cover band who doesn’t already own Arturia stuff. Thing is - buy a Keylab mkII controller and you get analog lab free for a grand less.

You're not missing anything - it's for the live stage musician who wants better synth sounds, but does not want to rely on a laptop (and all the associated risk/pre-gig setup) onstage.

there is no purpose for it. I agree with you

You seem to be missing a free Keyboard...

You are missing the outrageous price of this preset station , with its terrible keybed ,-

Ian you are not missing anything It’s a pointless keyboard very expensive pointless keyboard with a pointless screen Many RU-vid video asking same question

If this would have had a fully weighted key-bed and 88 keys, then yes I would have considered it for live performances, but it doesn't, so I won't. Given that most people I know just use Mainstage to access their pre-sets and manage their live setup- I think you are right it's a very small niche of users. There IS of course an aesthetics argument, given the amount of coverage concerning 'artists using backing tracks' that somehow a computer seen on stage can throw their actual live performance into question, visually, at least; and no-one wants to be seen as 'miming' or that somehow having a computer next to you is 'cheating', so it might be that. I'm not keen on thelook of this thing either to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Arturia's products- their V Collection, The Poly Brut, the Mini-Freak are big parts of my daily routines, but I'll pass on this.