Arturia’s first hardware synth, Origin, is quite impressive. The tabletop/rackmount design holds two DSP processors that host several of Arturia’s vintage synth emulations, such as the MiniMoog, the CS-80 and Arp 2600. These synths are based on the engines of Arturia’s existing software instruments, but because Origin has its own DSP and is not reliant on a host computer’s CPU, Arturia has done even more with these models. For one thing, you can program your own patches that use elements of each available instrument. So, you could have oscillators from the MiniMoog, filters from the 2600 and so on. Origin also has three independent onboard step sequencers and a built-in color screen with a very logical editing system from its surrounding controls. With a USB 2.0 connection, Origin can be edited from a larger interface on a computer screen. But perhaps more importanly, the audio is sent over USB, and you can use the Origin instances as VST or Audio Units plug-ins from a DAW. Origin should be available sometime this summer at an approximate price of $2,900. Check out the preview at Arturia’s site.