Usynth Core

This is a big meh. If I had spent even $20 on this, I wouldnt be happy.

Got this for free, along with the Loopcloud Sounds promotion. They claimed if I signed up for even a free trial, I would get this synth, so I went ahead.

I immediately noticed the UI seemed a little thin, with lots of wasted space and large knobs with labels like "bright/dark", "fast/slow", or "effect" and I saw that there are lots of "dice" icons everywhere to.. randomize. The number of presets included with the basic "USYNTH core" is right around 100, and the interface immediately goes to work trying to get you to buy new preset packs from UJAM. Paid presets say "available for download" without any indication they are premium preset packs, and if you dont know this and click to download one, then UJAM yells at you and demands you buy this pack.

The sounds that come from USYNTH are mediocre. Some are thin, narrow, 1 dimensional and I believe I heard a little bit of digital distortion crackling on a couple of them. Meter was not in the red. Not all the sounds inside USYNTH are weak, and I did indeed find some nice quality stuff, but overall the value just isnt there compared to many - if not most - other software synths. The playback mode is sort of nice (it plays a lot like UJAM's Carbon or other guitar synths, where you have keys that are switches and mode buttons, and then keys that trigger note/chords).

If this synth was $20 (or free), it would feel priced correctly in terms of the shortage of presets and the pressure to buy more. If UJAM added some more base content and really warmed up/expanded the synthesis engine, it might be worth trying out, but as of now it isnt super good. Im not entirely sure what sort of synthesis it even uses, and it might be a sample player for all I can tell. : /.