Artiphon has introduced the brand new ORBA 2, which they claim can play any sound in the world and allow users to create their own instruments for making songs in seconds. In addition to traditional instruments, ORBA 2 also includes electronic synth sounds. This means users can play everything from upright pianos and guitars to found sounds on their ORBA 2 without the need for a screen.

New to this version of ORBA are dozens of unique instrument presets for each of the four modes: Drum, Bass, Chord, and Lead. Users can also record any sound from the real world with the ORBA 2 app and then transform it into a playable musical instrument. The possibilities are endless, and it is easy to import already recorded samples too. 

Compared to the original ORBA, ORBA 2 features an improved ceramic-like playing surface that can simultaneously react to nine different gestures. Using ORBA 2 is as simple as tapping it with one finger and can capture even the most subtle micro-movements. The nine gestures it recognizes are tap, press, radiate, tilt, shake, spin, vibrato, move and bump. With ORBA 2, songs can be looped in seconds and can be more than 5 minutes in length. The integrated MPE looper allows users to record loops straight on the device. In addition, users can combine their sounds using the four different modes to create unique songs. 

Another new addition is a quantize feature to ensure that performances are automatically timed to the beat. This feature frees users to focus on creativity and fun while ORBA 2 takes care of the rest. Although ORBA 2 is fun to use on the go, it is also perfectly at home in a studio environment and can be used to control MIDI-based software and hardware instruments. It is compatible with major DAWS such as Ableton LIVE, Cubase, FL Studio, and more and fully compliant with the MPE. 

ORBA 2 has a price of $149.99 and is expected to ship in July. The original ORBA is also still available for $99.99 but lacks ORBA 2 features such as the ability to record and import your own samples, real audio samples, automatic quantize, and much longer bar loops. For more information, check out the video below and visit the Artiphon website at https://artiphon.com/pages/orba.