Dozens of classic instrument, with a twist

You get a Prophet~5, a DX7, a Minimoog, a CS-80, an ARP 2600, and so much more... for 500 euro. That's several orders of magnitude less than if you were to go for the authentic real 'hardware' equivalents.

It's not all just synthesizers either, you get a Stage 73 Rhodes emulation, a Wurlitzer emulation, even a physically modeled piano, and several electric organs like the B3, VOX and Farfisa.

I'll be the first to admit I'm very much not familiar with the original, physical equivalents to any of those. Maybe I am missing out some details that while not extremely important to me, make or break it for someone else, but all of those sound distinct and unique in their own ways. The Prophet has a characteristic 'ultra-clean' sound that I love so much, it's the right amount of grit and silk, while the Minimoog is more grit than silk, and the Jupiter 8 one is more silk than grit. All of them have an unique characteristic that I can't describe well, really.

All the interfaces are trying to look as close to the source material as possible, and I honestly used to hate that. It didn't scale well with my then-outdated display resolution, and I thought it was tacky. Now? I love them. I don't know why, honestly, but it really does feel like I'm playing with an actual synthesizer and not just a bunch of knobs that don't really relate to anything.

More than that, though, they all have some sort of "Arturia" spin to them. The Prophet simulation is both a Prophet~5 and a Prophet VS. The Minimoog has quite a few modulation options, the DX one has WAY more than just sine operators for its FM, and a very extensive modulation matrix, the CZ lets you use custom waves for its phase distortion, it's... quite a handful of things you can do with each synth, it really transforms it all from "just another simulation" to something much more unique.

Arturia also has you covered with Analog Lab 4, Arturia's kind-of answer to Komplete Kontrol. If you just want the presets, you don't need the V collection, but having it lets you edit anything that uses the V collection. Some things here use Pigments, their wavetable synthesizer. The thing about this, though, is that you can create "dual" patches - using two completely different synthesizers (or even two of the same) to create an even richer sound.

All in all, though, it's definitely worth the 500 euro. Let's just say you won't quite find anything like this from any other manufacturer.

Good value

An essential component of any studio, although a midi keyboard with at least 5 octaves, knobs, sliders, aftertouch and an expression pedal (for example, the Roland A-800PRO) is recommended for the best results, especially for the CS-80 V.

Arturia has done it again...

This is a great synthesizer collection, for both newcomers and those more experienced. From old favorites to new additions, Arturia's V Collection 7 will not disappoint.