Having made their name with the creation of stunning replica hard and soft synths, Arturia have recently stepped in to the drum machine game with the uber-shiny Spark.
It looks brilliant, but priced the same as Maschine it may have already knocked itself out of the market. The Tempest is no doubt the king in this vein at the moment, but at three times the price of the £499 tag from the other two it’s a different league, hence the comparability one price-range. As usual the purists with cash to burn on studio equipment are toffing it up wondering why these two are being compared when they are two different pieces of kit; but it’s a price thing for the home-recorder looking to expand.
Personally as much as I want a Spark – and hoping to give one a blast next week – on first look, going side by side against the Maschine it’s the latter hands down. Also, our tech-advice man has suggested steer clear for now, as the company has no experience with drum machines.
On the flip side Arturia have always been the dons of analogue recreation. It was explained to me once about their “TAE (True Analog Emulation)” technology and why it was so much better than most, but to be honest I didn’t really understand the science behind it. Google it if you’re in to it and I’m sure all will become clear. Whatever the reason they’ve properly taken on the classic machines that electronic music is built on, and hopefully have delivered on it. Cool layout too, which looks fun to play with.
Check the promo videos below.