I have only tried USYNTH and it's pretty usable imo. Great GUI. Easy to use (only a few knobs). Nice factory presets. And from what I can see, the other plugins are similar but sampled with different sounds. It's noticeable how much work the developer has put onto it.

My question is why they never make it to the best/favorite plugin lists. What are their drawbacks?

 

They easily create "styled" sounds quickly. The perception is that because the tools like this are so easy, that anyone who downloads one of them has access to identical sounding stuff just as easily. So people think they are little toys. And they are cracked frequently, so people will also often use something like that but not call attention to it.

 

I find that, instead of scrolling through lots of presets for a starting point, (which they claim is a slow) with Ujam, I have to load up a whole different plugin to search for more sounds.
10 different rompler synths?
What can't all that be in one?
Which is more efficient?

 

I tried out their piano today and it's absolutely stunning. I think because their software is designed to be easily accessible, a lot of people miss the quality underbeath. For instance, the default set up of the piano is that you press a key and piano phrases play. If you turn that off and play it like an instrument, it's a really good piano sound. One of the best I've heard.

I've also used one of their drum vsts and the Finishers. Also excellent quality.

 

years back when UJAM was just starting, I was impressed with Virtual Guitarist Iron,
then they released other guitars, and basses, and drums and it became rather obvious UJAM is trying to make those sell by being not so similar while being similar (if it makes sense) - instead of making some sort of "engine" like Kontakt, they keep releasing individual instrument plugins which are rather inconvenient to use once you really try using multiple of those,
although they are not expensive if you buy bundles, you can't easily grab patterns from one and sounds from the other, at least those "finishers" made it to standalone products for people who don't want them on specific UJAM instrument plugins only,

sure they sound great at first, making them very quick and easy for quick arranging - but how use-able and non-repetitive are the UJAM plugins once you want to adjust things on your own? and how much unique sound results you get?
it's a weird mix of patterns and sounds in a neat package, but not so useful package if you want much more than generic backing tracks,
it's a bit like for ex. Heavyocity, which sounds great but soo generic once you get deep into it, it can give you quick results on film scoring, but they will sound cheap to any skilled film composer,

don't get me wrong, I still like that concept, but to me they seem more like easy&quick pattern generators, maybe inspiration generators, in a similar way like Band-in-a-box, rather than proper composer toolkit

 

They simply don't make a product I find useful. Also, they come off very generic imo. Like they're trying to sell me Coca-Cola. Or a better description would be UJAM are like the infomercial products of the VST world. As seen on TV . . . make X genre faster and easier than ever! Just 4 easy payments of $9.99. BUT WAIT! You get more! Simply order within the next 10 mins and you'll get X absolutely free!

Ok, I took it a little too far but you get the point, I hope.

 

Their Virtual Bassist Dandy sounds superb, if you are into sonically high-quality bass guitar sound. I also like their finisher plugins, even the free one is a pretty useful multi FX.

 

maybe after they fix the multi-out of each of their drum plugin ? multi output left all the FXs from the processing and sounds different from the default stereo out of the plugin which is kinda disappointing. Forgot the last time I've updated the installation but I haven't heard anything about them fixing it so far. Stopped using the drum plugins for a while even I have high opinion on the sound quality.

 

awful and ugly vsts.. like fast food..

 

I'm not really sure who Ujam's stuff is really for. Their goal is to serve you well-prepared dishes on a silver platter, but like @johnros81 said, it comes up resembling a TV dinner meal - just heat and serve. Musicians like tweaking their instruments, and it's probably why the self-tuning robot guitars never took off. And how original would you be if you really can't change the sound to your liking but have to use those that everyone else has? You just come out looking like a feeble unoriginal clone, only in it for the quick dollar. Maybe that's who their synths are for.

 

originally, for (introvert) musicians, which can play (only) one instrument and need the rest of the band for live jamming, when you think about the name UJAM, it makes sense,
just recently they released orchestral/synth stuff, which kinda destroyed that primary obvious purpose

 

I've already got a mountain of synth VST's. I'm not going to download any more unless they either:
a.) Fill a gap and do something different to the vst's I already have, or
b.) Have gotten a reputation for being outstanding.

Ujam's stuff meets neither criteria so I've never bothered to download any of it.

 

Perhaps because many of us are simply not interested in these plugins. Also because they were released a lot by many teams and I didn't like these UJAMs personally. In my opinion the Gods of R2R sometimes should rest a little more, their human resources are invaluable.

 

Re: UJAM's Beatmaker series, as those ones I've used a bit (actually own VICE and NEMESIS), I just find it's like using loops. In my mind it feels like cheating. Not taking away from anyone who prefers to use loops, it's just not my thing. Also tried Striiings or whatever, but only for a short bit. Same thing, to me.. feels like cheating I do use MIDI generators at times, so I suppose I still cheat, but I feel like I'm still partly involved in that creative process.

I haven't used USynth though, so not sure if that's loop based or not.

Their finishers are OK, but I'd rather just use specific individual FX.

 

www.amazona.de/test-steinberg-virtual-guitarist/ & www.amazona.de/test-ujam-virtual-guitarist-sparkle-iron-amber/

 

Apart from stating the obvious that if some people did not love them they would not be able to stay in business, it is personal perception and taste. I have read an abundance of personal dislikes everywhere and also the exact opposite.

There are a pile of what 'some' people call industry standards and too many VST/AAX/AU developers to list here. Some say that comparing to UAD, Arturia, UVI, Steinberg, Softube, FabFilter, Rob Papen and as I said way too many not listed who already had a reputation, is not a comparison at all. As for how much attention you pay to all of that is again, up to you.

My own personal view is if you like it, use it. what everyone else thinks really does not matter. I do not use them but I know of people who do.

 

Toy-like appearance, generic "cookie-cutter" sounds, sometimes feels like cheating. We already have Kontakt, uhe, 100 other vsts, 1000000 sample packs, loop generator, midi generators, etc. For their pricepoint also it's quite expensive to legitimately buy everything they have. I have Maschine, no interest in their drums for instance. Just another option out there. Now they advertise Zimmer and Pharrell, I'd love to see a project of theirs with Ujam on it, seeing how Spitfire also sponsored Zimmer.

 

I cant speak for the whole range of products but I decided to try the Finisher Retro from Ujam 2-3 days ago.

My first impression was that it was way over the top. I tried maybe 6-7 presets always looking for some sort of denomination that would imply a smoother or more subtile tone and everything was always over the top. Not to mention that none of them sounded retro to me but for damn sure it was some over exaggerated and over the top effects.

I am not going to try anything else from them for now unless I really see something that might really catch my attention and given their current product path, I am not expecting anything from them that would bring something that I need in my bag right now.

 

Is Ujam Iron any good for Metal? I listen to the demos on Youtube and I wasn't that convinced. Does it sound better with Guitar Rig or Amplitube or is it easier to just buy a Guitar learn enough to record the parts I want with it instead?

I've tried Guitar Libraries before and I found them hard to prog or sound musically convincing playing on the keyboard to an actual Guitar.