Arturia SQ80 V: What is it?

During the 1980s, sampling technology was becoming an indispensable part of music production. The only problem was that all really elaborate samplers came with a caveat; have you bought a Fairlight CMI, or have you bought a house? For us mere mortals, it was an easy sale – after all, a Fairlight wasn’t great for keeping the rain out of your head while you slept. But as the sampling technology matured, so did the prices, in part thanks to E-mu, Akai and young Ensoniq.

In 1985, this new company entered the era of sampling with a first release. The Ensoniq Mirage was a loosely affordable sampling keyboard, produced by part of the team that brought the infamous Commodore 64 home computer to market. By the time the SQ80 synthesizer arrived, the music was ringing to the sounds of digital synths. The Yamaha DX7 and Roland D-50 were established favorites, but the SQ80 offered something slightly different, armed with its own floppy disk drive and an elegant editing and menu hierarchy.

Presented as a cross-wave synthesizer, Arturia has worked its magic on this less seen classic, which now acquires the inevitable “V” after the SQ80. Their concept offers all the original qualities of this first digital machine, but with inevitable elements of new-spin. The SQ80 V capitalizes on Arturia’s patented TAE (True Analog Emulation) technology, although the SQ80 oscillators are purely digital and only operate on 8 bits. However, the original SQ80 filter was based on a Curtis chip, this is where the TAE port to a digital domain will win.

Arturia SQ80 V: Performance and verdict

The first thing that strikes you about the SQ80 during installation and loading is that it is very stylish. As you cycle through the prepared patches, there is an abundant mix of nostalgia and forward thinking.

Some patches are unmistakably kitsch; CLIOPE is distinctly based on one of the overused Roland patches of this era, and is unlikely to gain any new fans; too many souvenirs ! But stay away from the clichés and while many sounds are reminiscent of a bygone era, they feel relevant and, with further processing, can definitely come alive again.

The Basic Piano patch, which has been oddly assigned to the Electric Piano category, has a grain of filtering at the front of each attack, which probably explains its status as an electric piano. It has that wonderful is-or-isn’t-real-quality that will sound great in many business settings.

Switch to the Pad and Sequence categories and you will start to hear the areas where the SQ has been extended. Pulsating and eerie modern tones are mandatory here, with refined arpeggios and backend effects. Even at the basic graphical user interface level, the animated waveforms rotate in time with their modulated routing.

Arps and effects

We always applaud Arturia for coming up with a unique take on an old classic, and arguably the SQ80 needs more help than most to bring it into the modern age. The modulation routings are complete with this synth, albeit through the use of relatively small “quantity” dials, but the two things that bring something old but fresh to the SQ are the arpeggiator and the effects.

The original SQ featured a multimode sequencer, but by replacing the data entry fader with an arpeggiator section, Arturia brought immediacy to its consumption. Seven arpeggiator models are available over the four-octave space, coupled with sync and lock modes, so you can get lost in those digitized waves for hours on end.

The addition of a very flexible effects section, at the back of the signal chain, allows the selection of one of 16 different effects, in a maximum of four instances. All the usual suspects are here, along with notable appearances from the much-applauded Juno Chorus. Place it on your notepad and you’ll soon end up with a different make of fax machine, thanks to the basic requirement of a few sawtooths up front.

Going deep

The SQ80 V has three main display areas; The Hardware display gives an image similar to a clone of the original, while the Synthesis and Effects displays are where the edited magic happens.

Entering Synthesis mode provides a clear representation of the signal path, starting with three oscillators. In typical Arturia V style, all of the SQ80’s original digital waveforms are represented, with everything from basic saws and squares to more elaborate and descriptive samples of acoustic instruments. Being in 8-bit definition, many of them might sound a bit crisp, but this is where the charm of the synth lies, although it is much more noticeable with the complicated and acoustic samples.

In addition to the SQ80’s basic waveform set, there is an extensive collection of other waveforms, described by Arturia as hidden waveforms, taken from both the SQ80 and its predecessor, the ‘ESQ1. These can look very digitized and less usable on their own, but offer a lot of color to blend in with the other two oscillators, if they provide more common sounds.

A fourth waveform menu is described as Transwaves; they are morphible, shape-changing waves that can be immediately controlled by modulation sources, such as the LFO. This modulation can be applied at the source, for ease of work.

Each oscillator accesses its own volume control, described in true 80s style as a DCA. This in turn powers the resonant filter, modeled after the CEM3379 Curtis chip design. This is arguably the element that gives the SQ80 V its charm and character, although the influence of the oscillators is undeniable.

Multiple modulation sources can help create movement for amplitude, filter, and waveform shaping; four envelopes provide the more usual amplitude control, with other tips available from their menus. In addition to the modeled SQ80 envelopes, which can be switched between linear and exponential shapes, MSEG and DADSR envelopes are also available. The MSEG envelope offers considerable formatting freedom, both in terms of timing and level, with a relatively complex set of presets for immediate use.

The crossover between envelopes and LFOs is substantial, but if you prefer to use a common or garden LFO, there are also three available, with six waveforms attached to each.

At the SQ and beyond

Arturia’s decision to model this retro-classic Ensoniq is an interesting one. In line with some other early digital synthesizers and samplers, the SQ80 V offers an innate sense of late ’80s and early’ 90s character. We would like to point out that by giving the SQ the Arturia treatment , this time-stamped classic feels much more commercially viable than it could have been as a pure clone. The modulation options for waveform and filter control, coupled with subtleties such as four-layered backend effects, convince us that the shortcomings of the original synth can be catapulted into the current age, or simply auditioned with. affection. A very characterful synth, with commercial growl and nostalgia.

MusicRadar Verdict: As an early digital synthesizer with attack and vigor, the SQ80 V is a stylized classic with beautiful hidden depths.

Arturia SQ80 V: The web says

“The SQ-80 V does an excellent job of emulating the original SQ-80, and also offers enough exciting new features to make it an exciting plug-in in its own right.”
MusicTech

Arturia SQ80 V: practical demonstrations

Arturia

Jef gibbons

Starsky carr

Sonic state

Arturia SQ80 V: Specifications

• Mac: 10.13+: 4 GB of RAM; 2.5 GHz processor.
• The Windows: PC 8.1+ (64 bits): 4 GB of RAM; 2.5 GHz processor.
• 2 GB free hard disk space
• OpenGL 2.0 GPU compatible.
• Works autonomously, VST, AAX, Audio unit.
• CONTACT: Arturia