Arturia Analog Experience - The Laboratory

[Rixtr]

I have read through these forums.........
I just purchased this online,and i have to say,i am having second thoughts.....
The reviews i read were mostly positive,but here......

[DanielCampbell]

Well, hard to review it early. I have also bought it last week. Need some more time to review it.

[Newbie-Doo]

Since you are generally only going to find posts from people having issues or questions in these forums, I thought I'd put in a good word for the product and my experience using it.  I received my Laboratory a few days ago and I would say, so far so good. 

I am running Windows 7 - 64bit
Intel i5 quad-core
8GB ram
Using with Sonar 8.5 and an Echo Layla 3G PCI interface

The controller is connected via USB and I had zero detection issues.  Version 1.2  of Analog Laboratory came on the disk.  That installed and worked fine.  The elicenser worked smoothly.  It only took a few minutes to download the full license and update. The next day I downloaded the 1.3 update.  That also installed without issue and is working just fine.   

I am NOT a midi/computer software geek, nor a keyboard player.   I am a drummer who can play some guitar and bass and I wanted a synthesizer to add some pads, horns, and strings to my home recordings.  There were some software synths that came with Sonar, but I get frustrated trying to configure them.   I figured the Arturia system would help me get around that somewhat and provide me with with real nobs and buttons to make adjustments with.  So far it's been as good and easy as I hoped it would be.

The sounds are easy to scroll through and modify, and there are lots of good ones right out of the box.  The controller is HEFTY.   Everything seems solid about it, though as some reviewers have mentioned the keys have a lighter feel than your typical 'hardware' synth keyboard.  I don't mind the trade off.  It may feel like a $300 keyboard, but the quality of sound is equal to that of the original $1,000-and-up hardware synths.

I've only had the Laboratory for a few days, and I still haven't taken the time to figure out how to use the sequencer or drum pads, but the sounds I can get right out of the box are great.  That, and the ease of use make the 'Art Lab' a great buy, especially for a synth and midi-challenged noob like me. 

Hope that is helpful to some of you folks shopping around.


D

[poldidak]

Rixtr,

I will offer you my perspective and experience with the Lab 49 AE for whatever its worth.

I bought it primarily for the seeming quality of the controller keyboard. I was looking for a compact 49-key controller with faders and a breath control input. The Arturia is one of the few keyboards and offers the BC input and certainly the most compact one besides the good old Yamaha DX100.

I use it both as a standalone MIDI controller and as a USB controller for VSTi on my current MacBook Pro. For me the Analog Experience synth software that comes with it was just a bonus, and a chance to try out the Arturia soft synths for a very reasonable price.

I found the build quality of the Arturia satisfactory for the price and have found the synth action quite useful for my purposes. I love that it even offers aftertouch!

My experience trying to program the keyboard setup either from the front panel or the included Midi Control Station utility software has been nothing but frustration. Erratic values and MIDI note numbers, uneven expression controller response, freezing up of buttons and screens and finally a complete meltdown of the MIDI hardware has left me without the use of the Lab 49.

My Mac won't even recognize that the Lab 49 is plugged into USB so even if there is a way to reload or rebuild the keyboard's firmware from a downloaded update I don't know how to get the computer to "see" the Lab 49 in the first place. I'm still waiting to hear back from Tech Support about that particular issue.

I would suggest you hold off on buying the Laboratory until Arturia resolves these issues. If you read the boards you can see that my experience is not unique. And it seems to be taking awhile for Arturia to come up with a solution. I'm just hoping that I will be able to use my keyboard again before my warranty runs out. If I could still return it to the store where I bought it I would, just to be done with too many hours of frustration.

But I'm also willing to trust that Arturia is working on the problem and will honor all of their customers and continue to support this product, so I will hold onto the Lab 49 until I at least get the functionality restored.

Phil (owner of Lab 49/AE since December 2011)

[Newbie-Doo]

I wonder if the folks with the MACs are experiencing more problems than PC users?  I had one app crash yesterday, but that was the first and only one in about 30+ hours of using it (I've only had it for about a week now).

[Manuel]

Here are some Solutions! that should help you out with the MIDI setup.

Don't forget to applaud for me if these tips were helpful for you!  

[mdesignffm]

sound quality is good. but for the rest: many things do not work as they should. and these issues do not get taken care of (just read the posts). i am very disappointed of this product. arturia obviously puts focus on new products. laboratory seems to be end of product life cycle already (just count the updates). it could have been a great product. but i guess it will never be.

[vaikl]

sound quality is good. but for the rest: many things do not work as they should. and these issues do not get taken care of (just read the posts). i am very disappointed of this product. arturia obviously puts focus on new products. laboratory seems to be end of product life cycle already (just count the updates). it could have been a great product. but i guess it will never be.

Maybe you don't understand that AL should be updated only *after* all underlying engines from the other products are fully working with *their* updates first??

If Arturia don't keep with this sequence, you'll have to update AL every time a new update for each of the in-build synth engines is published and I suppose that you don't want an update rally.

[Manuel]

...it could have been a great product. but i guess it will never be.

There is already an update for the complete V Collection 2 and the Laboratory (that newly comes with it) in development, but since now there are no specific details for a release date available. I guess it will be released at the end of summer... or so...  

I'm also very disapointed about some things, but most problems are related to the firmware configuration of the controller. In fact, the SETUP mode is causing a lot of issues with the settings that usually could be configured. If the SETUP mode would temporarily change the values of the affected controls (CATEGORY-,PRESET-encoders, SNAPSHOT-buttons) to standard settings, this one of a kind team would be unbeatable! Don't forget to check the Solutions! thread regularly to prevent strange controller behavior!

It's constantly updated by myself, so if you have questions about it, or tips to add, just drop me a PM and I will check it.