Arturia Adds Full Sound Design Tools to AstroLab Stage Keyboards in Free 2.0 Update

The AstroLab series already packaged Arturia's AnalogLab collection of vintage synth emulations, sampled pianos and original instrument plugins into playable hardware, but users could previously only tweak patches lightly through four macro controls or add effects. The new Sound Edit menu exposes the individual parameters of any instrument in the library. The Verge reported that starting from a blank patch is not especially intuitive, and the more advanced tools sit behind several menu layers, but that building custom sounds becomes fairly straightforward once the user reaches them.

The fastest route to a patch built from scratch, according to the review, is to create a custom category for templates and store an initialized patch for each instrument there. A basic Moog bass template, for example, can be uploaded from the AnalogLab desktop app, adjusted on the keyboard and saved as a new sound directly on the hardware.

Because a firmware update cannot add physical controls, all edits still run through the same four macro knobs, with settings displayed four at a time. The Verge described the process as somewhat time-consuming and unsuited to rapid, on-the-fly tweaking, while noting that it does accomplish the job.

Arturia also added a collection of multisampled instruments covering pianos, strings and brass sections, aimed at more realistic acoustic sounds, an area where the company's competitors had clearly outclassed the AstroLab. The update brings 67 new patches in total.

Several smaller changes accompany the release. The octave LEDs now indicate transposition, aftertouch has been adjusted to feel more responsive, and app connectivity has reportedly been made more reliable. The Verge found the link to the desktop AnalogLab software solid but described the mobile AstroLab Connect app as still unreliable.

AstroLab 2.0 is available now as a free update for all AstroLab keyboards.