“An unmissable and great value package”: Arturia FX Collection 5 review

Arturia FX Collection 5: What is it?

Arturia has long been known – in software terms – for its synth emulations, and its V Collection is still essentially the jewel in the company’s crown. For our money though, at this fifth iteration, Arturia’s effects range now represents the best of the company’s software output.

What started a few years ago as a handful of emulated effects has now grown into an incredibly well-rounded package, covering compressors, filters, EQs, reverbs, delays, modulation effects and more. The bulk of the collection is made up of emulations of vintage outboard, but of the four new additions for version 5, only one is based on real-world hardware.

Arturia FX Collection 5: Performance and verdict

That emulated effect is the Bus Exciter-104, a software version of the Aphex Audio Exciter Type C. These much-mythologised units were used to add hi-fi sheen to dull sound using harmonic distortion. Exciters typically work on high frequency sounds but, like the ’90s model it’s based on, the 104 also features a ‘big bass’ module for low end enhancement. It’s a nice addition to the overall collection, capable of adding life to in-the-box sounds and dull loops or samples.

For all that Arturia’s hardware emulations impress, the FX Collection often shines brightest when it breaks away from hardware influence, so it’s welcome that the remaining three additions here are all original plugins. 

The first is Bus Peak, a peak limiter and clipper that combines a very approachable workflow with a clear and responsive UI. As mastering and bus tools go, there’s nothing revolutionary here. There are separate Clipper and Limiter modules, high and low shelving EQs on the input and a variety of monitoring and metering tools. It’s exceptionally easy to use though, and capable of both transparent volume boosts with transient control and rich, pumping distortion. 

The other two additions for v5 – both of which were previously available standalone – are Efx Motions and Efx Refract. These join the line of modern and creative tools originated by the granular Efx Fragments, and cover similarly creative territory. Motions is a multiband, modulation-driven multieffect. It bears more than a little resemblance to Cableguys ShaperBox, albeit not quite reaching the creative heights of that tool. Still, it’s a very solid source of movement, width and ready-to-go transitions, and is useful to reach for when you hit a creative dead end and fancy experimenting.

Refract, meanwhile, is a unison effect that creates stacked layers of any incoming audio and processes the results using a range of effects, from distortion and filtering to chord-based resonators. It’s a lot of fun to use and is great for adding weight to cheap hardware synths.

Throughout the collection, Arturia’s interface design remains a high point. Interactive tutorials guide users through each effect, well-designed presets make finding treatments easy, and ‘advanced’ views let you dig deeper. There are other quality effects bundles out there, but for an all-round, capable bundle that avoids the dreaded subscription model, we think the FX Collection is now unbeatable. 

MusicRadar verdict: More excellent additions make Arturia’s effect bundle an unmissable and great value package.

Arturia FX Collection 5: The web says

"The new update brings four new quality plugins to the table. All four were convincing, with a solid feature set and good implementation."
Synth Anatomy

Arturia FX Collection 5: Hands-on demos

Arturia

FX Collection 5 | Reference Effects For Music Makers | ARTURIA - YouTube

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Alex Reid

Arturia FX Collection 5 is Here! Is it Worth It? What's New? - YouTube

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SumnSumnSumn HTK

Arturia FX Collection 5 Review - What's New? - YouTube

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Sanjay C

Arturia FX Collection 5: Specifications

• KEY FEATURES: Includes 34 effect plugins. New additions: Bus Exciter-104, Bus Peak, Efx Motions, Efx Refract.
• CONTACT: Arturia