The velocity-sensitive pads themselves have a nice feel and allow for fast movement to program patterns. These come pre-assigned (i.e., tone, decay, pitch, noise mix) but may also be reassigned to other parameters. Each pad has three knobs above it, which allow for modifying various sound parameters. (though you can assign other sounds to them). At the bottom are eight pads, conveniently labeled as bass drum, snare, etc. The top part of Spark consists of sixteen buttons representing sixteen steps of the sequencer, which actually allows for up to 64 steps of beat programming. The aluminum-clad Spark hardware controller is both solid and easily portable. MIDI clock output to synchronize your hardware instruments.Sixteen-channel mixer with fourteen effects: multi-band compressor, bit crusher, multiband EQ, chorus, delay, reverb, distortion, phaser, plate reverb, destroyer, flanger, space pan, limiter, sub generator.Touch-sensitive FX pad with Repeat, Tape, Reverse, Strobe, Pan, Mix, Bit Crusher, three-mode Filter, and Roller.Eight velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads (SparkLE’s are smaller).Acoustic drum kits mixing physical modeling and samples.Electronic kits for styles including: EDM, Dubstep, Hip Hop, RnB, Pop.Ten new emulations: CR-78, Mini Pops 7, Ace Tone FR-2L, Yamaha MR 10, Maestro Rhythm King MRK2, Boss DR-55, E-mu-SP-12, Roland DR-727, Roland R-8, Casio VL-Tone and SK-1.1,620 instruments, 110 kits (extended in the new 1.5 library) comprised of: Vintage drum machine emulations: TR-808, TR-909, TR-606, Simmons SDS-V, Linn Drum, Drumtraks, DMX, Drumulator.Multiple sound engines including TAE analog synthesis, physical modeling, and multi-layered samples.Some of the included features, as per Arturia's website, are: Available for both Mac and PC, you will need at least 2GB of RAM and at least a 2GHz Intel computer, running Mac OS X 10.5 or later, or Windows XP/Vista/7. Spark and SparkLE consist of a hardware controller and software you install on your computer. You can't go wrong with either, but if you want to save several hundred dollars and could be well served by a smaller controller, the SparkLE, in particular, is a really good deal. But if you want a full-featured software and hardware package, both products are great. It's a curious idea, given the original was not too big or bulky, to begin with. The only difference is the controller itself, which is obviously smaller. SparkLE uses the exact same software as the original Spark. There's nothing "lite" about the LE-except the weight. In the continuing trend of "smaller is better" and miniaturization of, well, just about everything these days, Arturia has also recently released the compact SparkLE. Even better, Spark comes with a software "MIDI Control Center," enabling you to use the controller with just about any sound source, but obviously targeting drum software. Spark is a great product, and it has continued to get better with each software revision. Spark LE = 3.7, which earns it a WIHO Award!ģ.6 stars or better: Outstanding, WIHO AwardĢ stars or better: Suited to specific needs Spark = 3.6, which earns it a WIHO Award! Your favorite classic drum machines are all here, and the latest version of the Spark software adds some neat tricks, including the Oberheim filter from the SEM soft-synth. Combining analog synthesis, physical modeling, and samples, Spark allows for a great variety of sonic possibilities. First released in 2010, Spark has undergone several revisions, each one adding feature improvements, bug fixes, more drum kits, and more ways to modify your sounds. While soft-synths are certainly here to stay, one thing we enjoyed seeing at the 2013 Winter NAMM Show was a resurgence of hardware-based instruments.Īrturia, well known for its great soft-synth emulations of classic hardware, has now released the latest version of its hybrid (software/hardware) drum machine, Spark. However, there is always something to be said about real hardware that you can touch, tweak, and interact with. We love cool soft-synths, make no mistake.
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