Arturia adds proper sound design tools to its AstroLab synths
Arturia has released a 2.0 firmware update for its AstroLab stage keyboards, finally enabling deep sound design capabilities. Users can now edit individual instrument parameters directly on the hardware, alongside new multisampled acoustic instrument additions.
Why it matters
This update significantly increases the value and utility of existing hardware, transforming it from a preset-based tool into a professional-grade sound design workstation.
Arturia’s AstroLab series was already amongst the best stage keyboards out there. They essentially put the company’s AnalogLab suite of vintage synth emulations, sampled pianos, and original instrument plugins into playable hardware. But they were ultimately glorified preset browsers. You could lightly tweak patches using the four macro controls, or dial in some effects, but you couldn’t do any real sound design. That’s all changed now with the AstroLab 2.0 update.
The latest firmware adds a Sound Edit menu that lets you dig into the individual parameters of any instrument. It’s not super intuitive to quickly fire up a blank patch from the instrument of your choosing, and these more advanced sound design tools require some menu diving, but once you get there, creating custom sounds is pretty easy.
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