UVI had a sale on VV3 this past week, so I thought I'd comment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kaplans
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Anybody used or tried these synths, whats your take?
Short answer: These are high quality sample sets that are brazenly overpriced individually, so the bundle is the only way you will obtain their true value. I found the sampler workstations and some of the hybrid synths as the standouts. If you want the control and sound-design versatility of their real counterparts, then best avoid these. The tone/sonic-character is generally more faithful than emulations, but only as far as they were sampled and not much more can be extracted in that regard.
Long answer:
UVI is trying really hard to make sample libraries into fully-fledged instruments. IMO they have partially succeeded with their monophonic scripting, but still with certain limitations. My biggest gripes so far are particular to the analog synth libraries:
- No polyphonic portamento, even though a fixed voice architecture could have been implemented, and indeed is simulated for certain features such as pan/detune spread
- Resonant filter sweeps are either locked in as sampled(problematic for monophonic legato lines) or lack authentic tone character from their source, as all of them use the same UVI Xpander filter module(Falcon has a dozen or so more, but it's not easy to replace the Xpander one and retain all the controls)
- Other than unison detune, there are no easy ways to dial in variable voice tolerances(again, no real attempt was made to implement a fixed voice architecture or some randomization control like DSI slop)
- Envelope shapes are too linear by default, and most libraries do not have a programmable velocity response curve(this one is easier to fix if you have Falcon, but you have to do it per patch)
- Most libraries do not have round-robin keygroups
- Using two basic waveforms as oscillators to build patches is cumbersome and counter-intuitive compared to VA emulations or the real machines
- A few libraries still have samples with incorrect loop points(OB Legacy M-6k brass comes to mind)
Number 5 is such a baffling omission that some should consider it(along with number 3) a deal-breaker for the analogue synth libraries, given the arpeggiator features present in them.
Using Falcon, I've managed to get a bit more versatility and skate around some of the above issues, but remember that you must make these changes per patch, and not all libraries support loading in the different keygroups(multisample sets), so those require you to change presets to access them.
I ended up choosing 22 of the 30 libraries, most of which were sourced from hybrids or fully digital. I did not choose to keep and use the following, due to either overlap in usage with other libraries or just generally not sounding all that great:
CS-M, PX P10, PX P8, Synthox, UVS-3200, UVX-10P, UVX80, UltraMini, Vector Pro
Most who are interested in these libraries already know what they are getting into by choosing samples instead of emulation, so if you don't, then I suggest researching that aspect first; it is the fundamental limitation of their usage and enjoyment.
I do find the 22 libraries in the bundle I chose to use both inspiring and useful. I feel like at the bundle price I got my money's worth(at an average of less than $30 per library chosen), but having owned a few of the analogue originals, they are rather pitiful replacements and should only provide textures that remind one of those particular machine.
