Just like the real thing

Decades ago I worked extensively with the Moog Modular V real hardware synth. I created scores, which back in the 1970's were called "New Music" (not to be confused with the genre of New wave, etc..
New Music was the method to create scores for synth performance in front of an audience where you could give your score (i.e.: patch cable assignments, dial settings, etc.) to someone else and they could perform your synth composition. I purchased this collection awhile ago, and took out one of my compositions and setup the Moog Modular V with the same settings as I did over 30 years ago. Wow, it was the same sounds.

This is as close as I could get to a real Moog V; I have looked and to get a hardware based one (if you could find it), would be 20-40 grand. I have been using the Arturia V Collection now since it was created and love it. It works great as a plugin to Motu Digital performer as well as standalone. When they release Collection 3 - I will upgrade.

I Can't Believe There Aren't Any Road Cases

Seriously, I keep looking around for the Anvils for the DVD, dongle and manuals! When I was a kid, I remember every opportunity I had to play around on some of these REAL synthesizers, and I remember wishing I could find one, much less afford one. Now, many years later, I HAVE THEM ALL and more!

I began a migration to virtuals for live performance this year, and researched a LOT of VSTs to find the true sound and experience of the ultimate analog recreation. This collection truly blows me away. The sound is incredible, the UX is realistic and intuitive, and the performance inside my DAW is solid.

Installation was quick and painless for me. I had some trepidation about using a dongle, but when I found I could transfer the licenses to my HD, no more worries (yes I backup regularly). The standalones have crashed a couple of times, but I think I know what I'm doing to cause it, so now I can test customer support... but inside my DAW, and on stage, this package is awesome. I couldn't be happier overall. As a singer/songwriter, I love the hands-on creative possibilities, and as a cover band member, I love being able to recreate the EXACT patches from the original recordings.

For reference, I play live with a PC w/4GB RAM, M-Audio controllers and interfaces, and host it all in SONAR storing songs as track templates.

Changed my music

I bought the V Collection and it is changing the way I make music.
The set-up is easy -even if quite long, but given the content you have to expect that). The recreation of the original synths is awesome when it comes to the interface. As for the sound, it is just fine and integrates perfectly in my mix. The copy-protection is based on the eLicenser, which works well for me. But you must be ready to carry the dongle from one computer to the other.
Overall I am very happy with this product and recommend it.

Great synths

I really dig these synthesizers. The first thing that struck me when I tried them out was how warm and fat they sound - they have a presence that is unmatched by the other (non-Arturia) soft synths in my arsenal. The dongle doesn't bother me; I just keep it plugged into a USB hub at all times so I don't have to think about it. One thing in particular that I like about these synths is that while they're all more or less comparable in terms of feature set, each one has a different interface/workflow, so there's really something for everyone. My personal favorites are the Prophet V and Minimoog.

Other than that, the "sound map" preset browser is a lot of fun; none of the synths has ever crashed for me; MIDI control is easy and the documentation is decent, if not fantastic (there's a lot of detail, but you can tell that English is not Arturia's first language). I don't think I'd recommend these for a beginning synthesist, but if you want a lot of really thick, warm sounds you can't go wrong with these. $400 is almost a steal.

Taking me back to the ol' school!

Arturia V Collection 2 is without a doubt one of the best bundled plug-ins on the market! If you played synths in the late 70's and the 80's, then all the sounds and controls are pain stakingley replicated, along with some of the onboard knobs and buttons we all used in them days!

It will bring you back as well as inspire the new generation with a sound that is analog!