* Update 1.4 *

[bigbrass]

While the SEM modules are very important and welcome addition to origin, let's not forget about its CS-80 capability that for many was the critical selling point. Good or bad, there are many va's with Mg/SEM emulations out there, but none with the CS-80. It is unique to arturia and should be maintained an improved upon.
Throwing a SEM into the update was a quick and logical step for arturia to appease the "crowd" after an update drought. I kind of expected that. Given the fact that their resources were put elsewhere and Philippe hasn't had much time to code a major update, it is a winner for now. Meanwhile, I'm still yearning for more CS-80 stuff and a fixed filter bank or string/formant filter of some sort.

leo

[synthguy99]

I just wanted to reiterate what bigbrass said.

I love Roland, Oberheim, ARP, Mg, Sequential Circuits/Dave Smith and... well, just about everything synthesizerie.  But bb is right, these instruments are modeled all over the place.  What is sorely missing is the venerable, ubiquitous and very hard to duplicate Yamaha CS-80.  In hardware, I'm aware that the very expensive Studio Electronics CODE synth has CS-80 filter options - in the vicinity of $2400 just for a two voice module.  The Synthesis Technology MOTM modular synth has a CS-80 filter module - heck, it even has a GX-1 filter!  But making a four voice polysynth out of one of their modulars would cost far more than the CODE 8 voice.  And those are all I'm aware of as far as harware options, and you still don't get an authentic CS-80 oscillator unless you buy the real deal, and good luck finding one in good shape you can afford.

I know that Arturia offers the CS-80V, and I'm sure it's superb at delivering that sound, and the modules exist in the Origin.  But not everyone has a good DAW to run the CS-80V, and as I mentioned, making a complete CS-80 on the Origin taxes the system to the point that you can't play a full eight notes.

The CS-80 is in such demand that the hardware synth itself can sell for way more than the $8000 it originally retailed for.  And for those who come across the Origin like Keith Emerson and Eddie Jobson, it has been a boon for them in giving them that CS flavor that has become a chore to obtain live, as the original synths have become quite cranky with age and don't travel well.  Even in the studio, they need periodic maintenance.

If it wasn't for the fact that the CS-80 modules chew up so much DSP, I wouldn't mind, but it would be more convenient to have the thing already there, complete with the Ring Modulator unit on the panel ready to have knobs assigned to it.  And I'd hope that they could optimize it so that it provided more than 10 voices of polyphony.  Hopefully Arturia is making enough income from Spark and the pretty darn cool MiniBrute synth to hire a few more software engineers who are skilled at clean DSP coding.

How cool... 80th post! 

[smoo]

One of the biggest Problems of the origin could be solved with an update: No Pots for modulation amounts on the surface (except the 8 soft-pots, but this is not enough). Please give us the possibility to use the sequencer-knobs as pots for modulation-amounts. this would make a HUGE diffrence and we would finally hear very good presets.

One other thing: It would be great if we could set or better: spread the voices in the panning field. THAT would it make the best synth for pads. Now its just a very very good one.

[Philippe]

One of the biggest Problems of the origin could be solved with an update: No Pots for modulation amounts on the surface (except the 8 soft-pots, but this is not enough). Please give us the possibility to use the sequencer-knobs as pots for modulation-amounts. this would make a HUGE diffrence and we would finally hear very good presets.

I'd personally appreciate this feature. It has already been proposed inside Arturia but people in charge of the product definition rejected this idea because it introduces dual-function knobs (which is considered to be bad ergonomics).

One other thing: It would be great if we could set or better: spread the voices in the panning field. THAT would it make the best synth for pads. Now its just a very very good one.

Well, you can do this kind of thing today if you connect the Keyboard KF1 output to the PAN modulation of the VCA (have a look at the preset P0004, it does this using the KF2 output). When the 1.4 is available you could use the VoiceProcessor to define 8 pan values that would be applied one after the other for each new note.

Maybe we could add a TRIG input to the Sample & Hold module and sample eg the MONO LFO1 output (or the Env2D, or the Galaxy...). The output of the S&H could be connected to the VCA PAN (or any other modulation input).