It is:
A VST version of what's become the coolest vintage synth in the world. Cool things about the Arp 2600? 1) It has sliders. 2) The first hundred were built in Alan R Pearlman's garage and were blue, with a very chic wraparound handle (the rest were grey, in a flight case). 3) The Who used a 2600.
Is it any good?
I loved it. It has a built in step sequencer and great presets. Hit one, and it's early '90s ambient cheese. Hit the next, and it's full-on early '70s prog rock. Hit 'Classic 1', and it's bubbling '80s bassline, which inspired me to make this [500k mp3]
with a drum loop from Eagles of Death Metal and some boingy noises from the EMS Synthi. Some of the non-sequencer presets were a bit more ordinary. After all, a synth is a synth, isn't it?
Is it worth €290?
It's not cheap. A real 2600 costs at least £1,500-£2,000, and the new Macbeth M5, a modernised, reliable version costs £1,995. This VST sounds ace, and the drop-outs on the demo version get very irritating very fast. Details
*NB: This is not a real review. I just downloaded the demo and played with it for ten minutes. Do not base purchase decisions on this non-review. Wait for Sound on Sound if you want to know if it sounds like the real thing.
