ARP 2600/CS-80 Template? Yes or No. We need an answer.

[OlDirtyPastor]

Can someone from the ever "unfunded" Origin staff aka Phillipe please just give me a straight answer?

Are we going to see an ARP 2600 template released for the Origin? Because I have now had my unit for 2 years, eagerly awaiting for this along with all the other purposed templates and here I still am empty handed. Don't misunderstand me, I do like many aspects of the synth but as I've said before I paid $2,500 dollars for it, and my primary reason for buying was so that I could have a synth that had some version of a workable ARP 2600 template on it.

By the way Phillipe we love ya, and appreciate all the updates you do for Arturia, but personally i'm at my wits end. I need to know if this is going to happen or not. I can't wait forever for these updates. I think the customers have been extremely patient but we deserve to know EXACTLY when if ever some of these updates will be released. And if i'm wrong and turns out Arturia never had made a claim to release templates for the CS-80/ARP 2600 etc, then my sincerest apologizes. Needless to say there is some major confusion on what will be released as far as updates for the Origin, please clear that up for us.

Thanks

[JacksonP]

Check this Milestones document: last line is "Q3 2011 version 1.5" with unconfirmed features. To me this is a clear indication that very little or nothing is planned for Origin in the head staff of Arturia. Their interest is in somewhere else. As Philippe has told us, he has to ask permission (=money)  to work with bug fix updates. Not very promising for big updates with new templates... Hopefully I am wrong.

Anyway Origin is a great instrument and it deserves better care from Arturia... With new updates (bugfixes & new things like templates) it has all the potential to stay in the business for a long time. I won't sell my unit probably ever, it's one of the most important tools for me to make my living in music.

[synthguy99]

I'm really, seriously beginning to wonder if people are so addicted to little pictures that they have no clue that you can build these synths in the Origin without much trouble.  Well, the CS-80 I made is a little CPU hungry and only averages seven voice polyphony, but that's pretty close to the original.  Ba-dum-bum.

Listen, I made a small library of around a dozen synths, with a few patches for each, around 100 patches total, in the Presets and templates zone.  This is the direct linkie.  Included is my CS-80 "template" patches, which you can change completely and make ANY CS-80 sound imaginable.  Except for that unique chorus circuit Yamaha made for it, and the cute pic of the template image, anyhow.  And along with it are a small gob of ARP 2600 patches, which again, are really a bunch of templates.  And there are a bunch of vintage synth templates in there to play around with.  Why don't you guys grab them and start making patches with them, if you want some quick pre-made patch templates?

Unfortunately, my vacation came and went, and I spent zero time on my synths, but at least I got away from my fraking gubmint job for a week.  I do however intend to fire up and update my Origin at some point, and play around with that Oberheim SEM filter.

[JacksonP]

I'm really, seriously beginning to wonder if people are so addicted to little pictures that they have no clue that you can build these synths in the Origin without much trouble.

To be clear, personally I am not that much after for ARP template, although it would be a nice addition. And yes, in my opinion those graphic GUIs are big part of those templates. There's a fantasy part which should not underestimated: seeing JP8 for example is a part of playing/tweaking experience. Still, I have pointed dozen times my priorities: modern modules like Supersaw and better computer integration. I can even give up my supersaw-wish at the moment: I can take it from my Radias (which is BTW a nice companion to Origin. Those two complement each others strengths and weaknesses. You can have very wide palette of sounds with those two. And very big sounds when you put them together).

My post was just supposed to question the state of Origin development, which is not in the highest interest of Arturia, I am afraid.

P.S. Thanks for the Templates synthguy99!!! I have them on my Origin library...

[DrJustice]

...And if i'm wrong and turns out Arturia never had made a claim to release templates for the CS-80/ARP 2600 etc, then my sincerest apologizes. Needless to say there is some major confusion on what will be released as far as updates for the Origin, please clear that up for us.

The CS-80 and the ARP-2600 templates are the only remaining ones. For a little while the Origin webpage listed a Prophet 5 template, but this was an error.

When we have the CS and ARP templates (and I believe we will), the only thing missing from the original specification is VST integration, and I haven't seen any details on what exactly that would incorporate (patch editing? audio?). On the other hand, we have gotten several new modules, effects and other features which were never in the original specs, which is very nice.

We also have the developers sepaking directly to us - a VERY rare thing, which tells me that they stand by their product.

Personally I don't need VST integration, and my guess is that that's one feature that would quickly exhaust the development resources. I'd love to see the CS and ARP templates, but my personal wish for the Origin is just improving the stability, and if possible some goodies from my wishlist.

...As Philippe has told us, he has to ask permission (=money)  to work with bug fix updates. Not very promising for big updates with new templates... Hopefully I am wrong.

It's completely normal in a company that the management decides how resources are allocated. Developers can't just do what they personally please. Just because Philip has to run things past the management doesn't mean it won't happen.

There has been speculation about this since I got my Origin, and in the mean time we've actually had several significant upgrades... I think Arturia sees the importance of following the Origin through, even if the final specification may deviate somewhat from the original one. In any case, IMO we already have is a marvelous instrument - the rest is icing on the cake.

DJ
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[hermitnerd]

On the other hand, we have gotten several new modules, effects and other features which were never in the original specs, which is very nice. We also have the developers speaking directly to us - a VERY rare thing, which tells me that they stand by their product.
[...]
 and in the mean time we've actually had several significant upgrades... I think Arturia sees the importance of following the Origin through, even if the final specification may deviate somewhat from the original one. In any case, IMO we already have is a marvelous instrument - the rest is icing on the cake.

Well put!
I used to care about the CS template but now not so much anymore. The devil is in the details. I'd rather cobble together my own CS / Arp patches and have Phillipe work on fixes/improvements and new exciting modules.  I've noticed things like zippering noise in some specific aftertouch-filter situations that should be fixed. I would rather have a proper CS-style voice allocation ("poly legato" or whatever you want to call it - I don't find the "Poly Reset" algorithm in its current state very musically useful, do you?) and smoothing/glide options for aftertouch, which would probably also take care of any zippering issues.

I also wanted to mention in general, because of the way Origin is designed and the endless options for tweaking and putting together patches, there such an abundance of "happy accidents" on the path to creating a sound you have in mind, where you often come across something completely different and much better. This is one of the things I adore about it and about hardware modulars. The fact that it also does spot-on classic synths puts it in a class of its own and I guess the templates are a symbol of that but I can see them being a time sink because of the amount of module tweaking and code optimization involved. The Origin is a lavishly ambitious gem and I salute Arturia for having the balls and vision and whatever else it took, to will it into existence. And for having the infinite wisdom to keep improving it.  

[OlDirtyPastor]

synthguy99,

Yeah totally stuck on little pictures. I guess i'm not as developed in terms of synth knowledge as you, you win. But If these "little pictures" are so minuscule why is it taking so long to get them. I mean if they are as unimportant as you say why can't we just get the templates and call it good. I guess what it boils down to for me is, we all paid a considerable amount for these synths, everyone has their own reasons for why they bought one. The Origin is without a doubt a great piece of hardware, but one of the main reasons I bought mine was I wanted to have something as close as possible to the original ARP 2600, this seemed like the right thing to buy. Yes it is a small detail, but I feel like I've been kind of taken advantage of, we were lead to believe it was included and YEARS later we still don't have it. You can tell me all day long all the great things this company has done but the bottom line for me is, it's not right to make false claims and then leave the consumer empty handed (in regards to original promises).

By the way synthguy99, I love your work, I downloaded and installed your stuff when you first released it and it's very good, but yeah... I need the little pictures, I'm a little pictures kind of guy and regardless of what that implies about me as a musician, I still paid the same amount everyone else did.