Arturia's Vox Continental V released

[David Polich]

Arturia's Vox Continental V has been released and is available for purchase and download:

http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/pro ... intro.html

I'm on my way to get it. Now if only they'd hurry up with their updates of Spark Dubstep, Spark
EDM, and Spark Vintage. And do a Rhodes.

[BobK]

So...whaddya think of it?

+1 re: the Rhodes. If they did as good a job as on the Wurly, that'd be awesome!

[David Polich]

I like Continental V just fine. Nothing not to love about it as far as I'm concerned.

You can download the 14-day unrestricted demo free from Arturia's website, check it out for
yourself.

[mhschmieder]

It's excellent, but I'm in the middle of drum recording sessions these past few days so haven't really had a chance to put it through the paces relative to Martinic yet. It's a deep VI with lots of settings, features, and presets.

Don't forget to log in to get your $20 discount code.

I like the Martinic but feel the Farfisa was the better done of the two, in terms of not wanting for more. So I'm hoping the Arturia Vox sounds as good as better, as it has all the features I was always missing from the Martinic VI.

There will be no updates to the Spark software instruments. I ordered and received Spark LE last week and it's great hardware. Like the keyboard MIDI controllers, it's a solid build and good ergonomics with maximum touch sensitivity and aftertouch.

What they're doing now is letting you upgrade the Spark software (at a discounted price; one discount for any of the four but no combined discounts) to the new version (Spark 2) that works with or without the controller, and discontinuing the separate VI series.

At first I was a bit upset as I too had them all and the upgrade discount was the same either way. But then I realized the better deal was to order the hardware unit with the rebate (for $199) and then tag on the four libraries at $29 apiece to come back up to and beyond parity (sound-wise).

The new Spark 2 is a much more intuitive interface with more flexible and direct workflow (especially for working with sounds vs. loops). It has a huge sound library and it's well organized this time so it's easy to explore and/or do a pointed search for something specific that you know you need for a project (e.g. Oberheim DMX).

[David Polich]

There will be no updates to the Spark software instruments. I ordered and received Spark LE last week and it's great hardware. Like the keyboard MIDI controllers, it's a solid build and good ergonomics with maximum touch sensitivity and aftertouch.

What they're doing now is letting you upgrade the Spark software (at a discounted price; one discount for any of the four but no combined discounts) to the new version (Spark 2) that works with or without the controller, and discontinuing the separate VI series.

The new Spark 2 is a much more intuitive interface with more flexible and direct workflow (especially for working with sounds vs. loops). It has a huge sound library and it's well organized this time so it's easy to explore and/or do a pointed search for something specific that you know you need for a project (e.g. Oberheim DMX).

Mark, thanks for this info. I was confused because the Arturia guys told me at NAMM that the
"software would be updated to version 2 by May or June" and I thought they meant the
separate Spark drum VI's (Vintage, Dubstep, and EDM). And I wasn't sure that the controller
was needed to run the software...good to see it isn't. I'm off to get Spark 2...

[mhschmieder]

You might want to double-check that the Spark add-on packs ($29) work with Spark 2 without the Spark LE controller as well. It makes sense, as they seem to have decided to abandon the separate product tracks but nothing indicates any architectural dependency at any level; they simply decided not to offer cross-grade options to the add-on packs from the separate VI's and instead to just give a single one-shoe-fits-all discount price of $79 for the Spark 2 software-only upgrade. They clearly want people to buy the Spark LE controller instead though.