Connections
The Arturia AstroLab is the hardware version of Arturia's Analog Lab Pro software suite, and it combines some of the manufacturer's best-known sounds with more than 30 virtual instruments from the Arturia V Collection. These include analogue and digital synthesizers, samplers, organs, and electronic pianos, allowing tracks to be brought to life in a variety of ways. The Arturia AstroLab has a 61-note keyboard for sound output, as well as a metronome and plenty of effects for creating organic and unique tracks – including delay and reverb. The rear panel boasts not only flexible inputs and outputs for integration into any setup, but also four connections for pedals. These features make the instrument ideal for any studio and allow musicians of all kinds to perform with Arturia's popular collection of sounds live on stage.
The Arturia AstroLab's instruments all use either physical modelling or synthesis, and they can be selected simply by using the keyboard's buttons; the corresponding presets are controlled via the display in the centre and the arrow buttons below it. The keyboard also has a splitting function so that two sounds can be played simultaneously, and sounds can even be layered and thus played at the same time using one key. There is also an arpeggiator on board, which can be activated via the Arp button – to its right, the Chord button can be used to play entire chords with just one key (and if this button is held down, users can actually save their own chords). The Scale mode can be used to select and play entire scales, making complex, harmonious melodies easy. On the far right are controls and buttons for the effects, including corrective effects such as filters and equalisers.
The rear of the Arturia AstroLab has two DIN 5 sockets on the left for sending and receiving MIDI data, next to which are connections for up to four pedals, enabling broad-brush and distinctive performance customisation: The first two are AUX sockets for switching or controlling predefined parameters via the Arturia Analog Lab Pro software. The other two are used to connect a sustain pedal and an expression pedal. Additionally, two XLR combo jacks mean there is endless flexibility when it comes to getting signals into the instrument for further processing, and a gain control, for fine tuning the levels, can be found on the far right. The full expanse of the AstroLab's sound is output via two jack connections, enabling true stereo sound, and a headphone socket makes silent practice possible before going on stage.
The Arturia AstroLab was created primarily for musicians who want to take the familiar sounds from the Arturia V Collection on stage – without latency and without having to struggle with both their laptop and a DAW controller. What is more, this instrument offers reliability and flexibility thanks to its inputs and outputs, as well as the connection options for two pedals. To help make every performance a creative success, the AstroLab can be configured using a computer simply by connecting it via the USB socket. The AstroLab can also be used in the studio for latency-free playing of any software instrument via the USB connection. An analogue synthesizer can also be played via the AstroLab's MIDI output socket, even while enjoying the sounds of the virtual instruments of the Arturia Analog Lab at the same time.
Arturia's success story began with software emulations of well-known analogue synthesizers such as the Moog Minimoog, Sequential Prophet-5, and Oberheim SEM. The popular software instruments included in the V Collection are still flagship products of the French developer today. Over time, Arturia has gradually expanded its range and now also offers a host of hardware devices, ranging from synthesizers and keyboard controllers to sequencers. Since then, the former software developer has thus also become a household name in the world of analogue synthesizers and other equipment.
The rear of the Arturia AstroLab is equipped with two USB sockets (type A and C, respectively). The USB-A socket is for connecting a USB stick for data storage, while the USB-C socket can be used to connect a computer to enable configuration with Arturia's Analog Lab software package (users should remember to keep the software up to date in order to ensure full data connectivity). In the software's toolbar, there is a "Link Lab to AstroLab" button that can be used to activate the connection to Arturia AstroLab, allowing users to load presets and change parameters simultaneously in both the software and the hardware. This integration can also take place wirelessly via Wi-Fi, and in addition, audio files can also be streamed to the Arturia AstroLab via Bluetooth.