Please give them a second chance! I only had good experiences.

 

The sound of out UVI Falcon is unbelievably good. Huge bass, great clarity in the mid and top end. I think really think it's just underrated. A bit to learn to program your own patches though, so maybe that's why it's not so popular.

 

oh, definitely agree with you. Like mentioned above, I think they make all the samples to be as well processed as any other commercial sample packs. They are similar overall quality as any other libraries, if compared with the Nexus, Avengers, some of the library-based drummers, etc of the world. It seems like they just shoot for clarity, consistency, and usability. Perfect as they can, no color or "effects", unless they are built into the patch/preset, and are accomplished by Falcon's DSP features. But even if you disable all of it; they are clearly just not direct into a DAW or other application for the actual recording of the samples.

One of my favorite things about it anyway, is their decision to use .flac files. It means that while they retain great sound, a Falcon library is generally much smaller than a comparable Kontakt library. Someone said UVI samples are "as good or better than Kontakt". I'm not sure I would agree with that, but they are close enough it's not worth trying to pick one over the other. UVI have way tighter grasp on what expansions' content meet their "standards"; whereas anyone can make a Kontakt library.

 

this is a great point and the real reason UVI's platform might be seen as less popular than Kontakt, its closed nature means there are way fewer expansions for people to talk about.

 

Last edited: Feb 26, 2025 at 3:12 AM

In real life, people say first impressions count. In many cases with samplers, romplers, synth emulations and vsti's, this is also true for a lot of people. Some people also like to see what's under the hood. UVI under the hood is comprehensive for those who like that.
Perhaps because it does not dazzle some people immediately might also be part of the problem. Some of the Falcon/Workstation libraries are really well done. For many this is not enough and as stated, because it is convoluted in places, it may get relegated to the too-hard-bin for some. If the support reports are true, this never helps any company.

 

The Factory Library doesn't really immediately convince you that you just installed something as good as it is. It is well-rounded and useful sounds. People often complain about factory presets, but they are still what really still sell a piece of audio software for many people, after they have been convinced to try a demo. A lot of people have a short attention span when it comes to learning new products, and if they are a steep learning curve, many people just give up before they even know enough to make a real decision. Look at Reaktor. Look at someone's response when anyone even suggests it. They believe they know how "complex it is" before they have even tried it. Initial first impressions are very important, and iLok does not help with that at all. The money might be better spent on a marketing psychologist.

 

The Falcon is more for musicians who earn money with it professionally or who know about sound synthesis or want to learn it.
Those who have bought the Falcon know what they want and what they want to do with the Falcon.

The Falcon is a high-end hybrid synthesizer with high sound quality and packed with tools for changing the sound.
Never before has there been such an advanced synthesizer with which you can do everything, thanks to the Falcon team.

At some point the R2R team cracked the Falcon and anyone who wanted to could download and test it, many couldn't get to grips with it and some just play through the presets.

Today there are lots of virtual software synthesizers, samplers, romplers, the choice is large and everyone can put together the instruments they want to play individually.

The sound libraries almost all come from freelance, i.e. non-employed sound designers, they create a sound library or sound bank and apply to UVI with it. If UVI accepts them, they get their share for every sound library sold, often around 50% of the sales price.

The UVI - Falcon sales price is based on market prices. This means that the higher the quality of a product and the more time you have invested in programming it, the higher the sales price. The sound libraries, which are usually made externally, also have to be paid for.

Expanded synthesizers such as the Camel Audio - Alchemy, 4 years of programming time 199 EUR and the Falcon 299 EUR. Other synthesizers such as the Tone2 - Gladiator also range between 199 EUR and currently 149 EUR. The Spectrasonics - Omnisphere 2 395 EUR.

If you can't sell enough units, they disappear from the market or are bought up. As the market is becoming increasingly saturated, it is becoming more and more difficult for companies because new products are constantly coming onto the market and they are all vying for the buyer's favor.

 

It is definitely becoming a buyers market. The days of developers doing unique items and charging exorbitant prices are nearly over.
A lot of developers also understand there are many hackers out there who will hack their product especially if it is overpriced. So they worked out that it is better to sell 1,000 of their product at $10 than 1 sale at $1,000.

I am not advocating anything, just noticing the trend of ridiculously low prices for plugins and synths that used to be double or triple what they are selling for now. Perhaps the people complaining their product is getting hacked should take a long, hard look at their sales and marketing models. People are living in a flux state of increasing inflation and if it gets worse, their product will be bypassed for things more necessary if it is overpriced.

 

1x1 of the Economy

Only a sold copy brings in cash. Before production/manufacturing, you always start by checking whether there is a market or demand at all. The entrepreneur always bears the risk; if things go well, he can keep the profits; if it is a flop, he will bear the losses.

Every manufacturer knows that he can be hacked and probably will be. It is always the question of how many people need my product and are willing to buy it. A lot of things are only found out by chance, most of them are trade secrets.

Most manufacturers start with the highest possible market price, then when they sell less, they have summer sales, winter sales, etc., and when they sell less and less, they reduce the selling price by 10%. 20% to 90%! Some manufacturers simply say that is how it is and the plugins always cost the same. Not every manufacturer has to make a living from sales; some work as programmers elsewhere.

Something else about inflation. We have around 20% inflation here, meaning a loss in the value of money. People who earn a lot of money also have a 20% loss but still have enough money left over. There are no overpriced products, it is usually worth the price (cheap). There are entrepreneurs who make mistakes and correct them later, and entrepreneurs who offer cheaper products from the start.

Alternatives to the Market Economy

My suggestion would be that some manufacturers get together and ask users what they want and need by means of a survey, and then, if you wanted to, you could create products that people actually buy. You could also create a different payment model by involving users as cooperative members.

Spoiler: U_HE - URS HEKMANN INTERVIEW

U_HE - URS HEKMANN INTERVIEW

bonedo: So that's something that can be done even better in the future with more powerful computers. Let's take a look into the future: where do you see developments heading?

Urs Heckmann: In 20 years, the computer we have now will be on a USB stick. It will work like this: you simply print out your controller with a 3D printer and plug the USB stick in and bang! you have your synth. And I actually think that it will be available sooner. Of course, you won't be able to avoid making circuit boards, but even that doesn't cost the earth these days. As soon as you can think up a circuit board, do the calculations and measure it, you can have a prototype made. And two weeks later you get 1000 of them delivered.

That will cost maybe 10 to a maximum of 30 euros per piece. Then you have to do the logistics around it, which is another 50 euros, plus the dealer margin - the perception that hardware is much more expensive than software is complete nonsense. But for us, making software is practical because we can sell it over the internet. bonedo: While we're on the subject of prices and margins: with music streaming services, you can get almost all the music in the world for ten euros a month. Is that also possible with software?

Urs Heckmann: I'm quite skeptical about this whole development towards cloud services and subscriptions. I have to raise a pretty huge sum every month to pay 15 people. We couldn't imagine converting all products into subscriptions from one day to the next. If we only make half the sales for a year, I would have to lay off eight people.

More: www.bonedo.de/artikel/software-synthesizer-und-analog-modeling-hinter-den-kulissen/

 

Last edited: Feb 26, 2025 at 1:37 PM

Just because they got bought by Image-Line doesn't have to mean things were going bad for UVI. Successful companies are being sold and bought all the time. I don't know the specifics of this deal in particular, but it could simply be that the UVI saw it as an opportunity to have their products promoted to a wider audience and increase their competitive advantage on the market. Same thing happened when Native Instruments acquired both Plugin Alliance/Brainworx and iZotope.

 

I'm so glad people have mentioned Arturia synth vsts as flat sounding. I always have a feeling that "These presets sound sh*t and boring" Glad it's not just me. you see people using them on youtube alll the time. Forcing myself to stick with UVI only for the next few months and see how that goes (sounds)

 

Is the bad sound possibly caused by the “Arturia TAE (True Analog Emulation)”?
You can read about it here: www.arturia.com/products/technology/tae®

 

Last edited: Feb 26, 2025 at 4:56 PM

They can tout whatever kind of technology they want but the bottom line is that Arturia simply does not have the sauce that Softube, Synapse and (sometimes) Cherry Audio do. Although I still use Arturia because four times out of five in a mix it doesn't make that much difference

 

That's true, but it sounds like you skimmed the posts about it. They are not a public company, so unless one of their accountants starts uploading Profit and Loss, quarterly sales and other spreadsheets, we do not know. Just keep in mind though, those guys have been working in audio software for many years and could have just gone to work for almost anyone they wanted to. They have also been around long enough to know what happens to all those numbers when a company's brand new flagship software and all its DRM are k'd and every product released for free online. It's easy to say people who were not going to buy something are not a lost sale. There is some truth to that, but it's not every sale which would have potentially happened. The amount of Mac users are not going to support the lost sales, and those sales will rapidly decline too. There are many people who will not pay for a product on the Mac platform when everyone else can just use it for free "to support the developer". You may find that altruism like that does not extend to expensive products.

If a company has already been offered X to sell to a buyer, and that scenario happens, all of a sudden they go back and try to accept the original offer; do you really believe they will get it? That is fantasy land. Going back to a VC investor even, do you think they can not see a downhill ski slope in a quarterly sales report? They want to buy in to new companies on the upshot because they are basically gambling (a little) and can see value in doing the deal. They do not need a colorful MS PowerBI presentation to look at numbers.

 

It could well be but they just sound flat - almost rubbish unless you add some fx. probably why everyone choses to throw RC-20 over them all the time.

 

Ive always hated most arturia synths, and often get slack whenever i say that. They are super plastic sounding, boring, lifeless things. Pigments is a beast, but its not trying to emulate something. Great for sound design and experimentation. Other than that, their augmented series is great, useful for layering in weird organic sounds. As for the rest of them, there are a couple of gems in the 20 or so from their V collection, but as a whole, pass.

I also hate RC-20 lol. It used to be top notch, but that was 15 years ago, theres much better options available now.

 

UVI is great, but I just never got along with creating my own patches with it. I've enough brainrot with years of using Kontakt so I probably can't get along with anything else anymore.

Some of the libraries are truly great like Waverunner and Vector Pro, but it's not like you can't get retrodigital emulations elsewhere though (*cough* Usual Suspects *cough*).

Arturia gets some digital synths down pat, they're great (and no one else is mad enough to emulate a Casio CZ-101), and the V collection is a) great value, but it is b) quantity over quality. And all of them operate just... clunkily, don't know how else to expain it.

Pigments is very good, agreed. And a gem from their FX side is the SansAmp clone (OPAMP) which is great for adding grit to the more lifeless ones in their selection. I don't think their 1178 comp is bad either, just a bit on the heavy side CPUwise.

But then again, I think all big bundles are a bit hit and miss. Great for someone just getting started, get a lot of stuff to get going, then pick and refine the selection as things progress. Pick one and take it from there, but I don't think it's a good idea or necessary to get more than one huge library that covers a lot of the bases.

 

yup! agree with you! their digital synths are great. The buchla and synthi are also fun, just because they are weird synths, fun to program and get unexpected results.

 

Yeah you know what, their digital stuff does get a pass (especially the Synclavier). It's the analog emulations that are pooh

 

Sadly we live in a time where if people are not immediately dazzled, it is almost like they get bored? It has been said probably well before any of us were born, that if we only look for the negatives, we will never find the beauty. I think that still holds true.