Arturia Astrolab - Any Good?

[@jessewarren817]

Severely underrated. I got mine and I’ve played it every single day

[@CaptainMargaretOfficial]

I use V Collection in all my tunes and love the variety and quality of the sounds....when i get back to playing live again, this will be an absolute no brainer. Nice demo lads ❤

[@sooperheep]

you're the best Jack, don't ever change

[@1881Gordon]

There's been a lot of hate for this board, but this demo doesn't do it any harm at all... Great test drive Jack! PS: I loaned this for a weekend & with the exception of a 73 or 76 note board this thing Felt & sounded really good.. Keys have a nice textured finish, good feel, & more sounds than you can shake a stick at.... Just my 2Ps worth.

[@armoredsaint6639]

I have one! I’m stoked!

[@emilbergdahl3063]

Out of a dawless studio perspective you get 40+ synths for the price of a phantom 08. You got juno, jupiter, dx7, matrix12, prophet and much much more. All with on board effects and full midi support. Nothing can beat this for value paired with a MPC for instance.🎉

[@ispianist]

The fantom 08 comes with 88 keys and their PHA-4 keybed. Way superior in my opinion. Also you have more control on board. This one doesn't even have individual layers where you can adjust multiple presets running at the same time.

[@emilbergdahl3063]

@ispianist oc bro but it is not what it's for. This isn't meant for sound sculpting. It's a monstrous preset machine that marries both sampled sounds and ad synth sounds. If you wanna fine tune your every sound further than this get that phantom or a matrixbrute or smth. Right?

[@jamestillman5247]

It's a computer in a box. You are the kind of sucker they love.

[@emilbergdahl3063]

@@jamestillman5247 it's a convinient computer in a box with nice design and containing everything I need. And it will not be so outdated in 3 years that I will have to buy a new one, as is the case with macs or pcs. From a dawless studio perspective this is a game changer for sure. Saves up alot of valuable space too. I would not rip too bad into arturia for being greedy. All updates are free and add new instruments and effects on the regular. Native instruments on the other hand feels really horrible to their buyers and give the absolute least they can for the highest possible price. And they force you to upgrade your hardware just to run their software by deleting previously perfect working OSs compability with their plugs. In this light I do not really feel like a sucker. But then again I try to use my time making music and progressing instead of wasting my time being rude to unfairly hot and exceedingly talanted strangers online. 😚

[@richardmoosebar8922]

​@@jamestillman5247 for some, the ability to use VSTs in the box, and then be able to grab your keyboard and take it out to play live using all the exact same patches you've created in the DAW without having to take the computer with you. It's not for everyone, but this thing definitely makes sense for a lot of people. If you take a laptop, its that, the charger, somewhere to put it etc that you have to carry as well as the controller.

[@MrPeteUK]

Bought mine from you a couple of months back and I'm loving it. You can get V collection X for a greatly reduced rate, which I did and now have the best of all worlds! Keyboard action is very nice too. 😊

[@crank01]

Another cool little showcase of a cool little machine.

[@vdp4e1]

Would like this one with built-in speakers

[@jessewarren817]

Seriously, anybody on the fence, give this a chance. I see it doesn’t have a lot of hype on synthtube, but it is fantastically fun to play and sounds great. The keybed is top notch, and I have my Keylab on a 2nd tier stand, the ADSR from keylab works perfectly with Astrolab

[@andreasoberg2021]

Keys are acceptable but not top notch imho. A bit short and plasticky. Fun sounds though!

[@AllanGildea]

Superb. Beautiful playing.

[@isitreallyisitreally1756]

Nice one Jack , sounds great , love to try one , cool board

[@giannisozo7928]

Completely subjective but I absolutely love the keybed. One of the best I've played.

[@mystscot9814]

Jacks back.

[@BongoBaggins]

That rotary is stunning,

[@sf3207]

Astrolab 88 would be great

[@Studio_4to1]

Came here for the review, stayed for the intro jam.

[@jamietopolski4019]

I really like the LED lights around each knob. They indicate the correct values/setting for each patch as you load it. There are very few keyboards that do this (e.g., Nord Lead 3). On most other boards, when you twist a knob or move a fader, either the parameter jumps to the new position or nothing happens until you "latch" the parameter. Both of these options are terrible when you are trying to tweak anything in a live setting.

[@jamestillman5247]

Those lights will start failing after a few years. It's a very cheap part

[@JimThompson-i3u]

Astrolab designer: "This Nest thermostat control I just installed at home is really amazing." Arturia CEO: "You know what would be really cool?"

[@The.Foolosopher]

😂

[@philfisher8962]

STOP!!!! I've just had an idea about this. Not too sure if it would work though but it could be really interesting. A Module version of this!!! An Arturia Astrolab Module. Much more economic, able to play on an 88 note keyboard and light and portable. Exactly the same functions, buttons and screen but in a module form. No messing with portable computers as the sounds have been carefully hand picked, or you can even choose your own. Easy to adjust etc... But something to complement the Nord or Roland or Yamaha or even Casio ( and Korg, Kawaii, Dexibell too!!!!)and not compete with them. An extra sound bank or a solo module.

[@lumamorph5660]

Absolutely great is all! Guys, you are awesome! Like like like ). Thanks a lot!

[@royevans4581]

I always do a grunt when you say Oz is behind the camera. 🤣🤣

[@crnova7]

What a great demo of this instrument! So, this is half of the price of a Roland V-Stage

[@dennispena5496]

I tried this at the store. It sounded great but two things bothered me immediately: i was constantly changing the octaves -1 (rarely +1) when trying out patches--an extra octave (73key) would've been great. And second the patches loaded very slow. Some fast, most slow. It creates a negative experience--especially when you're just exploring patches and waiting 4-5 seconds inbetween. I will wait until they update this model with those 2 fixes before i purchase. 😊

[@XanderEwald]

This and a groove box is pretty much all you need.

[@thegreat1548]

Facts

[@matzer8846]

Soooo Arturia modelled a lot of real world keys and then put these models and an "abstraction layer" as a GUI into a KeyLab-XYZ making it easy to play for "normal piano players" -> called it AstroLab -> put it into the stores Well done ... great demo ... thanks a lot for sharing

[@alanredversangel]

Bottom line, how does it sound? Answer: great. Love the lab stuff for when I just can't be arsed to think about settings etc.

[@xlilxillx]

beautiful

[@The.Foolosopher]

How are the sounds compared to the MPC Key 61?

[@joshuasessions1695]

Seamless transitions?? I believe not right? That is the only reason it is not an instant buy for me. Would like if you could switch patches within a song and not have the sound cut out

[@glennmller6062]

It has

[@GizzyDillespee]

After 8:40 shows a quick example, where he says, "Oh, and patch remain, cool."

[@calote]

Great video, as always. Any sugestions on what speakers/monitors would go well with this on my Home studio/concert hall aka my bedroom? Already have a yamaha mixer connected to a 30year old 2.1 system that vibrates in a bad way with the low frequencies (connected with unbalaced rca cables to the speakers). Thanks

[@droidknight847]

Faints as if he is going to embarrass himself in G minor, then precedes into greatness!

[@droidknight847]

*Feints

[@luucdentoom6955]

@@droidknight847we are the ones fainting. 😂

[@droidknight847]

@@luucdentoom6955 🤣

[@WithTheGrain]

@@droidknight847feign (but I had to google to remind myself the difference between feign and feint 😊)

[@droidknight847]

@@WithTheGrain I hate not being able to edit my posts. I caught that as well, but felt a 2nd edit was just going to highlight even further my hastiness in in hitting the enter key without double checking my comments. I'll never learn. 😕

[@bengsynthmusic]

So it's a vestige for digital VSTs but doesn't have audio over USB?

[@PaulIsbell]

The Astrolab with a Korg MicroKorg 2 in white above it is my next rig.

[@calebrabion]

I'd buy a 76, or 88 even.

[@dades92]

Poly Aftertouch could have been a great feature on it...shame on them for not putting it on. More keys (weighted maybe?) could have been nice. And of course, the main issue on this astrolab is the fact that you cannot program your sounds directly on it. For me this is a total turnoff because when I play real hardware gear I want to stay on it and being far from my pc. Astrolab is just like having a controller keyboard but without the need to take the laptop and audio interface with you. It's literally this and nothing more. And I think it's nice, a more comfortable situation for live gigs, but it's not necessary. Keylab Mk3 with a Laptop is a better choice imho. Btw i go for M-Audio Oxygen Pro 61

[@cnfuzz]

They will come with a cheaper version of this type of keyboard , sounds really nice , i assume you don't really need the dial for patch selection ..

[@Fastvoice]

Yes, I guess the arrow buttons beneath would work too.

[@dzerobeatz]

Heyyyyy this was supposed to be OPXY haha

[@AJL200]

Is there much delay when switching sounds, Jacques? ie how would it be using it live? Thanks

[@edc6774]

61 keys for such a wonderful machine without build in speakers is a shame and sad. Needs 76 keys to be a best seller, believe me!

[@Bonamici]

💙💛

[@JayTheLane]

61 Keys are too few for most gigging musicians. Make a 73 or 76 key version.

[@dirkkeersmaekers4343]

You are a shop guy.Of course everything sounds fantastic.Jesus!

[@johngreen6118]

Jack American Grand in B in the style of little Richard Electric E in the style of Billy Preston Organ Cm in the style of Booker T It could be a creative way to go forward 😂🎉🎉 J

[@RikTheMix]

Why oh why oh why is there not a seventy-three key version of the Astrolab? My money is here and waiting for it to appear.

[@1881Gordon]

I agree. I think Arturia missed a trick with this... Akai went down a similar path not so long ago with the MPC Keys. i don't think it was universally loved... One of the entry points for a keyboard to be considered as a 'Stage' Board is 73 Keys. (IMO Opinion... Looks like your opinion too).

[@arlencarroll1964]

73???

[@gooneybird808]

I have this vst for free

[@jspic4907]

Do this with an option of fully weighted hammer action keys (with THIS number of keys) and nobody will have to buy any other keyboard ever.

[@LouPezza]

I’d buy one if it was 76 or 73 note ….you’re octave shifting all over the place …pointless in 61

[@arlencarroll1964]

73 note? Since when us that a thing on any type of piano. It's 61,76 or 88

[@MathieuFiset]

Rhodes and some Nord have 73 keys ​@@arlencarroll1964

[@1881Gordon]

​@@arlencarroll1964Maybe not Piano Per se, but there are loads of 73 note Stages... Nord Stage 73, Yamaha YC & CP Series Stages. Even the Rhodes itself is 73 note. The OP being that you don't have to faff around with octave shift all of the time without running out of notes. I'll concede that 76 is preferable for sure, but my YC73 suits me just fine.

[@cemdasou]

61 is just perfect for the road and on stage. 73 is classic Rhodes and great too, while 88 is for ladies in evening dresses or guys who believe more keys make a better play

[@JayTheLane]

​@@arlencarroll1964there are quite a few boards that have and currently have 73 keys. I'd rather 76 mind.

[@jamestillman5247]

First of all synth companies these days are putting tiny computers in a box where all the r&d was for the software and nothing else. And they charge you a stack ton for it, looking at you korg, sequential, oberheim and Roland. Then they overcharge you for the privilege. Then arturia does the same thing but simply loads it up with presets from multiple sound engines and you fools are all like "errrmeeerr Gerd it's such a gud deal we get like a 40 synths instead of 1!" On top of that if this is for the live musician why doesn't it not have bigger and more hands on controls? Like who is this for? For the music producer who doesn't want to buy a ton of gear? Yeah we used to call these synths workstation synths and they were never meant for live shows just to have a bunch of sounds at your finger tips and guess what they still exist like the roland Fantom series which has more live performance knobs and in my opinion better sounding. To each their own but Arturia dropped the ball on this big time

[@pyratellamarecordingstudio1062]

If they would have made it multitimbral I would have purchased one. Too bad

[@opticalman6417]

its basically computer software in a box which is basically all the small stuff that's coming out is about reface roland cheap small keyboards why are people not seeing this stuff for what it is

[@XanderEwald]

We do and we love it. Nobody cares what’s inside as long as it sounds good and is useful to make music with.

[@pyratellamarecordingstudio1062]

Like every electronic keyboard ever?

[@opticalman6417]

@@pyratellamarecordingstudio1062 kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJzUdZ6vZbaciJY Don't waste your money on synth toys from Korg, Roland, Behringer, Teenage Engineering, Polyend etc

[@annother3350]

Every digital keyboard since the DX7 / synclavier etc is computer software in a box

[@jamestillman5247]

A lot of people care actually. Zero craftsmanship and anyone with a brain knows you are getting ripped off

[@MrCcfly]

easy& fast answer NO

[@DrFearCo]

Why?

[@MrCcfly]

@@DrFearCo cause it is actual rompler . and bad at it. u cant do anything with sound they choose

[@GizzyDillespee]

You get the macros per patch, to adjust the sound that way. But the real idea is that you'll also buy the V Collection software, and then you can create new patches, or edit the presets fully, at home using the computer. Then you can load up your preferred sounds into the keyboard, and use them without the computer. If your show is full of synthy knob twiddling, then the macros probably won't be enough... maybe using multiple presets, you can work with it, but otherwise you'd want more knobs. However, if you don't find yourself tweaking more than 8 performance parameters per sound/song, then the macros will be adequate.

[@MrCcfly]

@@GizzyDillespee so to pay 1600 for that crap and on top of that buy 500 sw ? for same money i get great s61 mk3 board and gforce pack and some samples for kontakt .. like i say up there NO

[@deedd4401]

now watch the review of the same product by Bad Gear :D .... this is absolutely horrible damage for the channel's credibility (Adnertons &co ) :D

[@geoffwebber8272]

So, according to the timestamps, you watched the whole of this 24 minute video in less than 3 minutes after it was uploaded. How could you form an opinion in such a quick period of time?

[@komalthecoolk]

@@geoffwebber8272 He's an impulsive hater

[@martinnielsen3978]

I also watch the Andertons guitar channel, and I never consider them reviews. They are always just kinda showcasing products, using excellent players/entertainers to get the most out of them. They are designed to move gear. But they are fun to watch, and they do give me a feeling of the gear. But I won't consider them sincere review videos.

[@Ben-ic1ve]

Wow breaking news. Music stores making videos on products they sell want to make them look good to make consumers consider buying them 🤯 In all seriousness, if there’s anyone watching music store videos on new products to SOLEY base their purchasing decision, please reconsider. Sweetwater, Andertons, and really any other music store’s video reviewing a product should be treated as an extension of a sites product info page. Stores will get so many products, so in reality they can only devote so much time into learning a new product, so these types of reviews are mainly going to be the basics of the instrument (rather than in depth long term reviews). I think unless the only thing you’re looking to learn more about are the patch sounds, it’s tough to base a purchasing decision on a video in general. The best way is to always TRY IT FOR YOURSELF! Thanks for coming to my ted talk :)

[@JonathanKillstring]

Florian is also a primarily dawless electronic music maker, who does stuff at home/studio. Jack is a gigging keyboardist. It's not particularly shocking that the studio guy doesn't have the same experience with the stage keyboard as the stage keyboardist. Also, Florian is having fun with stuff - he loves most stuff that's on his channel TBH. So yeah, he had a take where this wasn't his favorite thing. Guess what? No matter much he likes it, that hasn't made the Aira 303 a good solution for everybody. Context of reviewer is everything, there *is* no objective take.