Ever since it was launched in late 2018, new versions of Arturia’s flagship softsynth Pigments have rolled around on a fairly consistent annual schedule.
Its last major update, v6, landed in January of this year, adding features including a physical modelling engine and a vocoder. Now, a little less than eleven months later, Arturia has unveiled Pigments 7.
On the face of it, v7 isn’t as radical an update as some we’ve seen in the past. There are no new synthesis engines or significant changes to the workflow here, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to get excited about.
For one thing, Pigments 7 adds several new sound design tools to the synth’s already-comprehensive suite of features. The most notable of these are a trio of new filter modes, named Rage, Ripple and Reverb filters.
The first of these, the Rage filter, includes a feedback loop in order to create distortion effects, with a variety of saturation styles on offer. Coupled with the ability to boost the resonance, Arturia suggests that this can create gritty acid tones by modulating or sequencing the cutoff.
The Ripple filter, meanwhile, is a phase-based modulation filter that Arturia says can “achieve frequency based phase offset, creating laser transient sounds to ringing high ends, great for modern sound design.”
Completing the trio is the Reverb filter, a particularly interesting module that combines elements of filtering and spatial effects. Arturia describes this as capable of “timbre-thickening space and weight designed for modern bass design”.
It’s also capable of creating swept non-tonal FX by modulating the cutoff and, at higher resonance levels, can create metallic-sounding tones.
Alongside these new filter modules is a new Corroder effect. This is a new distortion tool that combines elements of noise and frequency modulation that can be targeted at a specific frequency band using the onboard filter.
Pigments 7 also introduces an overhauled design for the Play View. This is the simplified UI window that offers users top-level control over presets without the complications of the full synth engine.
Here, it’s reworked to offer an audio-reactive representation of the sound on offer, designed to provide quick visual cues for the character of each preset. According to Arturia, this new Play View is aimed at allowing users to “quickly grasp tone, timbre and intention behind each preset, helping you browse presets and find your sound.”
There are under-the-hood improvements throughout Pigments too. According to Arturia, this version now offers “updated default amplitude behaviour with smoother, S-shaped envelopes that reduce clicks and deliver cleaner, harder-hitting transients.” It’s said to be lighter on the CPU too, optimised for creating layered, complex and effects-rich sounds.
Along with these updates, Pigments comes with fresh content including 150 new presets, 50 wavetables, 30 samples and 20 noises. There are also new in-app sound design tutorials that will teach users the fundamental theory behind its synth sounds.
As with previous updates, Pigments 7 is available for free for existing users, who can update now via Arturia’s Software Center app.
For new users, Pigments is on sale for $/€99 until 7 January 2026. There’s also a new instalment of Arturia’s Pigments Explorations preset bundle, on sale for $/€29.99. Head to the Arturia site for more info.
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