V collection x update price

Software Instruments V Collection
#1

Hi, I see version X has just been released.

I know every release a few people complain about the price, this time I’m going to join them :grinning:

I also know it’s my choice whether to upgrade or not.

The full purchase price for v version X is a superb deal for someone who doesn’t own the v collection, absolutely no doubt in my mind about that.

But for me, the upgrade price is a little steep.

My first edition was v6, then v7, then v8.

I also missed my sq80 so when Arturia launched that, I bought it.

When v9 was released, I already owned the sq80, the only other new synth I wouldn’t have minded owning was the korg ms-20, but while it looks interesting, it’s never been in my “must have/I want” list and to be honest, with the rest of the v8 collection and the other libraries such as Komplete that I own, I doubt I would have touched it.

The upgraded piano v was also interesting but again, the amount of pianos I own from other manufacturers, well I couldn’t justify the price to upgrade

I think Arturia might have a problem here, I’m 60 next year, any synth I lusted over but couldn’t afford in the 80s, Arturia has already released.

I suspect this also applies to those a lot younger than me, any classic synth they want, Arturia has already released in previous v collections?

So today I discover v collection X has been released.

The three biggies I own are Komplete 14 collectors edition, Omnisphere and V8, between those (and I find I rarely use Omnisphere) I have virtually everything I need.

So when I saw a YouTube vid advertising Arturia VX, I thought, “wonder how much to upgrade, if I can buy it for €150 or less I’ll buy it now”

But I look, and to upgrade from v8 is €299

The problem for me is I look at the v9 and VX additions, and there’s nothing (except for sq80 that I already bought) in them that makes me even slightly feel “want”.

And at €299 euros, I can’t justify it either, for €150 I’d have bought instantly for the updates and to have a few things extra to play around with, but again, for me, nothing really screams out “want”.

Hopefully I’m wrong and am a lone voice, and thousands will rush to upgrade, but I still think for most v collection lovers, their dream synths are already here.

Obviously you have to make money and if I’m wrong you will make loads (I hope I am wrong)

But if I’m right, you need to ask yourselves which is better, say 100 existing customers prepared to pay €299 to upgrade or 1000 existing customers prepared to pay say €150

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#2

I"m with you on this… my update price from V Collection 9 was $199… to buy V Collection X is currently $149. The pricing model is a bit odd, when an upgrade from the previous version costs more than a new purchase of it outright. Am I missing something here? Does upgrading get me something different than just buying it outright?

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#3

Good morning,
I’m not going to complain because I was lucky enough to contribute to those who invested the total amount for V collection 9
Having benefited from a promotional upgrade. Of course, for the upgrade with the following elements MiniFreak V, Acid V, CP-70 V, Augmented, BRASS, Augmented Woodwind is really interesting at 199€ (I doubt that the cumulative amount of each of the instruments is below that propose).
I also made the Pigment investment, my wife will kill me if I impose this on her again.
In short, it will be easier to place it on my birthday or wait until BlackFriday next year.
I also have to master the use of 33 quality instruments, Pigments which is not an easy task.
I have the impression today that I am more of a virtual synth tester than a composer at the moment, I must admit that my musical universe is starting to expand.
I forget the sound banks, but retirement requires me to stay with my old A-500 midi keyboard, I don’t really have the finances.
I think that to justify such purchases I need to have the build of a real musician, to be a good composer and to be offered musical commissions, far from my abilities.
But I’m having fun and that’s also the goal.
Musical Friendships,
Have a happy holiday season.

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#4

Hi @HobGoblyn & @finalstatic

Welcome to The Sound Explorers Forum.

I’m not sure if you’re aware of it, but Arturia does have sales throughout the year where you’re likely to get things for a cheaper price, might be worth hanging on…?

…And the easiest way to hear about sales etc is to subscribe to our Newsletter to be the first to know about them.

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#5

I am very upset with Arturia’s unfair update practices because during their recent Black Friday Promotion I decided to update to V Collection 9 at a cost of US$199 plus Pigments 4 for US$49 and then less than two weeks later they update to V Collection X and now they expect that they are doing me a favour to charge me another US$199 to update to the new version. I would be interested to know how many others besides myself have had this happen to them and just like me feel that they have been taken advantage of in a very unethical way?

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#6

My big issue is that there’s no discount if you’ve already purchased some of the new synths that’s included in the upgrade.

I own V Collection 9, and I bought Minifreak V and Acid V when they came out. I still have to pay full upgrade price. Basically, I’m being punished for my impulse buy of Minifreak V and Acid V.

This means if you already own V Collection, never buy any of the new synths when they are released. Just wait for the V Collection upgrade.

And if you have the self restraint to wait for the next V Collection upgrade, you probably have enough sense to not waste the money on upgrade at all. Like HobGoblyn says, we already have pretty much everything we ever need.

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#7

Hi,
I think their costing approach is that each individual new instrument is discounted to $49 if you own V9 + individuals.
After buying several of the newer instruments through the year, the only new ones for me are Augmented WOODWINDS and CP-70 V - my upgrade cost is $98. Which is not a huge upgrade cost from V9 to VX, but given that I have already paid for MiniFreak V, Acid V, Augmented GRAND PIANO and Augmented BRASS, it is definitely penalising loyal customers.
It is a shame their pricing is not more nuanced.

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#8

Ah, I didn’t know that’s how they priced it. Thanks.

I wish Arturia priced things such that you get rewarded for buying instruments when they are released. That way, we can buy all the instruments we like ahead of time as they are released.

When the upgrade comes around, what’s usually left is the instruments we weren’t that excited about, but if we are rewarded for jumping on new instruments early, we’d have little problem buying the upgrade.

As it stands, if we purchase new instruments at release time, it becomes tough to pay for the V Collection upgrade because the total cost is much more.

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#9

Hi,

I bought Acid, Minifreak and the Augmented suite except for Woodwinds. I have Pianoteq pro with the Wurly among others.

The Mini V4 is a must; it’s a new instrument (49$ US). I’d also buy The Inward Universe preset bank (30$ US), Total: 79$ US.

For 99$ US (X upgrade), I get the Mini V4, Woodwinds, Cp-70 (Pianoteq has free Cp-80 not as developed). The Arturia Wurly differs one some aspects from the Pianoteq one. And three presets banks.

For a 20$ US difference, I should upgrade. Pricing is not an easy task: if I have the Pianoteq Wurly or if I don’t like the Wurly, I’ll think it’s not worth the 49$ US.

While looking for reasons to upgrade, I found a good performance on real Cp-70b.

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#10

Hi Pascal,

the Roland A-500 is at the top of some “best midi controller” reviews.
I stick to my very old Yamaha Cp-33 with it’s beloved heavy keybed.

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#11

Hi

I agree that the Mini V4 is amazing, I really like the CP-70 V a lot too, and the Augmented WOODWINDS is lovely. So, I have paid the upgrade to V Collection X. I actually really like the Arturia workflow as well, for me it sits nicely together, even though I have alternatives (lucky me) - I couldn’t resist.
It doesn’t mean that I think it is right that early adopters of their releases end up paying more, I guess that is our choice. I love the Arturia instruments.

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#12

I understand the problem for those who bought , for example, Acid or Minifreak
close to the new major upgrade. They should contact Arturia. It happened with a preset bank I bought before a sale. They billed it at the sale’s price.

#13

Upgraded to v9 less than 90 days ago. Not gonna pay another $150 for v10 anytime soon regardless of what’s in it

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#14

In my case I only get the augmented brass, piano stuff while I already have MiniFreak and such for €149. Why would I even consider upgrading for such a steep price? I mean, the older versions of Wurli and Moog Mini already provide that sound, only in an older format on my screen. The 303 clone is just that. A sawtooth to square mono synth. I already have TransistorBass doing this job if I ever want it. Now I suspect I could upgrade to V Collection XI for €299 next time but that would be more than I paid for V8 with a free V9 upgrade I already received. Plus I have the FX 2 collection. And Pigments. And MiniFreak. I did mentioned that already, my bad. Yet, this not enough for Arturia to consider to offer me an upgrade for, let be honest, a mere €49 to €69 for what’s it worth. I get an offer way above what only 3 new synths should cost out of all

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#15

I have to say that I am confused by Arturia’s messaging/pricing here. From the e-mail they sent -
“To celebrate the launch, V Collection X will be available at a special intro price for registered users until January 7th, 2024.”
I have VC8 (and FX4) and when I log in my price is $299. Is this an upgrade price or just because I am registered? Is my price going to be higher on Jan 8?

#16

@Fledermaus @Zethalion @WetPantsClub

We understand that not everyone will be happy whatever the upgrade price is currently, but there are numerous sales throughout the year when it can be picked up for less.
If you feel that the upgrade doesn’t suit your needs then no one is forcing anyone to upgrade, possibly wait until you feel something is added that DOES fulfil your needs?

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#18

Hi there,

Thanks for your honest feedback about the new V Collection X update. I understand your point about the upgrade price feeling a bit steep, especially for those who already own most of the included synths. It’s definitely something Arturia will want to consider for future releases.

I think it’s great that you have such a comprehensive collection of instruments already, including Komplete 14, Omnisphere, and V8. It sounds like you’re pretty well covered for most music production needs.

Of course, the decision to upgrade always comes down to personal preference and budget. If there’s nothing in V Collection X that particularly excites you, then it’s completely reasonable to hold off. €299 is a significant investment, and it’s only worth it if you feel like you’ll get enough value out of the new additions.

On the other hand, if you’re ever craving some extra sonic options or just feeling nostalgic for some classic 80s synths, then V Collection X could still be a tempting proposition. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide what’s best for your workflow and creative needs.

One thing I would say is that Arturia has a pretty good track record of supporting their products with updates and bug fixes. So even if you don’t upgrade right away, you can still be confident that your existing V Collection version will continue to function well for years to come.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. I hope you continue to enjoy making music with Arturia and other instruments!

P.S. It’s interesting to hear your perspective on Arturia potentially running out of classic synths to cover. It’s definitely true that they’ve already tackled some of the most iconic instruments from the 70s and 80s. However, there are still plenty of other interesting and lesser-known synths out there that they could potentially emulate in future versions. So who knows, maybe your dream synth is still waiting to be released!

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#19

Personally I think the offer price is a good deal (I’m a VC9 owner), and I will definitely be taking them up on it as soon as I get paid again on 31 December.

There seems to be two areas of discontent:

  • People who have previously bought some of the new instruments as standalone products before they were included in VCX. However don’t forget that your standalone purchases are separate licences that you can sell to someone else to help recoup part (or all) of your VCX upgrade cost.

  • People who have only recently updated to VC9 don’t feel the upgrade offer for VCX is fair. I can see your point to an extent, but firstly why should you be offered a more-favourable upgrade price to those of us who bought VC9 a while ago (probably at a higher price than you), and secondly your upgrade price would be more expensive had you not already invested in VC9, so there’s that.

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#20

If a person with VC9 didn’t buy any VCX instrument early, he/she can upgrade to VCX for $199.

A person with VC9 bought 1 VCX instrument early for $49; he/she can upgrade to VCX for $149. The total upgrade cost is $198

Another person with VC9 bought 2 VCX instruments early for $49 each. VCX upgrade offer is still $149. The total upgrade cost is $247.

See official upgrade pricing here:

As it stands, the guy who bought two VCX instruments early is punished for being an enthusiastic early adapter (that’d be me)

your standalone purchases are separate licences that you can sell to someone else to help recoup part (or all) of your VCX upgrade cost

Why recoup unfair upgrade pricing in the first place? I sure hope “you can go sell your license so bug off” is not Arturia’s official line.

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#21

It really does not, and cannot, work the way you would like it to. Despite the fact you feel insulted by the suggestion that you can sell-on the licences of the VCX instruments you previously bought separately, that really is the answer.

The V Collection is ‘a’ product in itself. The upgrade offer is on ‘that’ product. Suppose at some point you chose to sell your V Collection licence to someone else: do you want those people to also take the instruments you purchased separately, leaving you with nothing? No of course you don’t: you paid for those separate instruments fair and square as unique purchases. But based on your current logic, that’s exactly what would happen.

This notion that you’ve been financially punished is just wrong. Let’s imagine it’s 2003 not 2023 and you’ve previously bought Minifreak V and Acid V, each boxed with discs. And now, a few months later, you’ve bought the full V Collection, boxed with its own discs. You wouldn’t feel screwed-over by Arturia, because you’d recognise the V Collection you just bought is a separate unrelated purchase. Considering you now don’t need the Minifreak V and Acid V you already purchased (because you got them as part of your V Collection discs), you’d likely sell them to help recoup your V Collection purchase costs. However we’re in 2023 not 2003, and it’s literally exactly the same, except there’s no physical boxes or discs, it’s just licences.

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