New Producers and First Time SPARK Users - Heads Up

[Monsta]

I don't even contemplate opening Spark unless i'm in need of a good laugh, i've been on it since day 1 and at version 1.7.2 we finally hit a non random every 10 minute crashing release. YAY

Then V2 comes around and were back to being Beta testers....that's right YOUR PAYING THEM to beta test,
it's usually the other way around when i Beta or Alpha for companies but hey i'm open minded

It's been a POS since day1 barely worthy of Beta release, now totally neglected with no explanations no fixes, the last update was another kick in the balls regarding bug fixes, because that's all it's ever been is a big bag of bugs.

Random crashes in standalone and plugin.
Drag n drop samples to pads either not working at all or randomly switching samples from pad to pad......always gives me a giggle.
lots of unexplainable happenings that make you think your going insane.
weird Fonzie style workarounds to achieve simple tasks ..........AAAY.
Fx, levels, samples, not saving correctly.
USER MADE kits not saving correctly or at all.
Duplicated samples in folders after drag n drops onto pads...wtf.
Firmware updates bricking the hardware....particularly impressive this one.
ETC ETC ETC

i'm sure my thoughts can simply be disregarded by many as "it doesn't happen to me so why do i care "

.........Until it happens to you......and it will

I've spent a lot of cash with this company so i have a right to be a lil salty.

i would give them a call for tech assistance haha but wait.......they dont have any.
I was told they don't give out their number but if i could find it myself then they would speak to me heehehehe i love it
i wonder what would happen if i did that with my own business hmmm.......oh yeh i'd be out of business.

And lets not even get into the clusterf**k that is THE ORIGIN the discontinued disowned abandoned £2000 Arturia doorstop Synth.
Lets see how the Matrix and Drumbrute fare in a years time haha

Seriously just buy Maschine, Reaktor (anything you wish to do in Spark can be done in Reaktor better), V Collection and a Access Virus and get on with making music instead of debugging this immature hobby grade code.

You don't need to spend thousands to get into producing and i see why the SparkLE seems like a cheap option to get started,
 BUT you can pick up a 2nd hand Maschine for the same price, (and you get Phone support, a real user forum and stable software)

I hold no allegiance to any company, even the ones that pay me to Beta, if it's crap i will say so and vice versa.

To beginners and young producers i say do your research and don't believe the hype and corporate flashy videos,
read through forums and don't get upset if your dream of owning the latest piece of gear gets crushed, move on and find something that actually works.

And if this post has crushed your dream of owning SparkLE then sorry but you've just saved yourself some money and a lot of grey hair.

[DrJustice]

As a prospective Spark LE buyer, I'm always interested in users' assessments of it. But when I came to the following:

And lets not even get into the clusterf**k that is THE ORIGIN the discontinued disowned abandoned £2000 Arturia doorstop Synth.

I wasn't sure if any of it can be taken seriously. Tell me Monsta, what exactly are the problems with your Origin?

[soulstar]

I'm afraid I have to agree with most of what you say, SparkLe has the potential to be a wonderful drum machine I just don't know
why Arturia haven't bothered with it (and Beatstep) or us it's customers, it's customer service is a joke, one of the worst in the business,
I like the look of Matrixbrute and Drumbrute but I have no confidence in this company for me to shell out any serious money
on their products anymore, it's a shame.

[CC4]

Are you not using version 2.3.0.179?

[019297]

version 1.7 was sloppy, and early spark 2.0 was a total mess, for a year, I agree. It is much better now. Drag and drop samples works fine for me, best in standalone mode. I have had some of the above mentioned bugs in the past, but not as much with the 2016+ versions of spark. One of my bugs now is the "distortion" effect in the mixer section. It's settings are so erratic that I can't even use it. If I am using it and save a project, I can be sure it will shred my speakers next time I open it. Arturia really needs to fix the velocity situation with the sampler, so you can actually adjust multi velocity samples on the same pad.

Original post is a bit over dramatic. It's nearly impossible to engineer a perfect product for any sort of budget. I would love continued support of spark 2, but it's pretty stable at this point.

[artao]

The worst part is Arturia's absolute silence on the future of the Spark software. As if they don't want to tell us they're done working on it.
Personally, I love my Spark CDM with Spark 2. Does it have issues? That's a resounding YES! but it's still usable, and I find it pretty quick and intuitive to work with --- once you get your kit set up, that is. And doing THAT can indeed be a PITA.