KVR Audio

sqigls · Post by **sqigls** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 5:46 am

i always wait for the half price $19 upgrades... twice now they have also included all preset banks free of charge. I have no serious complaints with AAS. Their plugins have always been rock solid.

Calenberger · Post by **Calenberger** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 2:58 pm

This synth has the best channel strip presentation ever:

76B999D3-CE5C-46CD-BB7F-982FBF14F9B6.png

Calenberger · Post by **Calenberger** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 2:59 pm

But seriously: their installation process is quite good and effortless (just to say something completely different).

Elektronisch · Post by **Elektronisch** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 3:09 pm

BlackWinny wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2019 11:16 am I can't see any phase modulation from VCO1 to VCO2 as found in many old analog synths, no ring mode either, etc. features which were quite common on many old analog synths.

So I'm not yet sure to take the v3. Perhaps I'll wait for the v4. Even for a €40 upgrade for the v3. €40 to upgrade from v2 to v3 then probably again €40 (more or less) to upgrade from v3 to v4 will mean €80 to upgrade to v4 while passing on the v3 will probably mean only €40 to upgrade from v2 to v4.

Ultra Analog VA-1 : $200 in 2012 when I purchased it
Upgrade to VA-2 : $40 in 2013
Upgrade to VA-3 : $40 in 2019
Upgrade to VA-4 : $40 probably, and... in 2025 probably

Total : $320 !!!

Sorry but it is too much for me, even today ($280 in total!) for a synth which in its third version 15 years after the release of the first one (november 2004)... can't yet offer a quite great and big GUI (it will offer that decent size in 2025?), and not even the least FM modulation between the two oscillators, no modulation at all for the noise source, no ring mod, etc.

I prefer to stop at the current VA-2 ($240 in total). I'll keep on enjoying it for years as it is today having already costed $240 without even these features above.

I really like String-Studio, Chromaphone, Lounge Lizard and Strum-GS2 which at least offer all a real physical modelling synthesis (thing much rarer than the subtractive synthesis and than sample-based instruments) notwithstanding the tiny GUI of them all. But for what is actually a single subtractive synthesis synth (even knowing that UA sound is nice) there are way richer vintage analog plugins (and with sounds as nice) for much decent prices.

Can you name those many old analog synths where they had phase and ring modulations? i dont remember seeing any to tell you the truth, so really curious

maybe you mean frequency modulation?

Also complaining about upgrade price which is not big at all, is very cheap, i can only suspect you meet the ends barely, because 320 usd total in 15 years is not much at all, its 0.06 Cents a day.... I mean what have you been doing in those 15 years with Ultra Analog if not making music , you couldve easely earned that back. Tho i agree, UI resizing shouldve been added.

Razzia · Post by **Razzia** » Thu Oct 03, 2019 5:33 pm

I recant my earlier post about the upgrade being insubstantial. Perhaps it doesn’t seem like all that much has changed, but I got around to demoing v3 and it’s actually pretty nice. The browser is great. Ladder filter (and the filters in general) sounds quite good for software. Multitimbral will come in handy. Comparing this vs diva vs my analog synths I was surprised at how well UA3 holds up. Worth supporting AAS because to me their stuff sounds really good

rj0 · Post by **rj0** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 12:14 am

Intrigued, after reading recent KVR discussions about the costs of buying preset packs for various synths.

VA-3 includes (claimed, didn't manually count) 560 new presets.

*How much would it cost for 560 new presets for your favorite synth?*

Thoughts? (no focus on 'favorite synths' here, just the cost of 560 new presets)

(P.S. Best Service upgrade from VA-2 was under $32, the last I checked.)

masterhiggins · Post by **masterhiggins** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 1:26 am

Razzia wrote: ↑Thu Oct 03, 2019 5:33 pm I recant my earlier post about the upgrade being insubstantial. Perhaps it doesn’t seem like all that much has changed, but I got around to demoing v3 and it’s actually pretty nice. The browser is great. Ladder filter (and the filters in general) sounds quite good for software. Multitimbral will come in handy. Comparing this vs diva vs my analog synths I was surprised at how well UA3 holds up. Worth supporting AAS because to me their stuff sounds really good

I decided to get it to support AAS. They’re a pretty generous and all-around great company. Whenever I contact them they’re very helpful and polite.

CrystalWizard · Post by **CrystalWizard** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:52 am

Elektronisch wrote: ↑Mon Sep 30, 2019 3:09 pm
Can you name those many old analog synths where they had phase and ring modulations? i dont remember seeing any to tell you the truth, so really curious maybe you mean frequency modulation?

My Moog Sonic Six has ring and frequency mod but no phase modulation.
But i like Ultra Analog even without those great things. It is a simple synth but it does what it does well.

SLiC · Post by **SLiC** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 6:32 am

I have had this update a week or so now (I paid around 33 bucks). The presets are very good, the layering has relay added something for pads etc worth the upgrade for the presets, new filter and layers but I would like to see a bigger gui.

biscuitdough · Post by **biscuitdough** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 1:13 pm

So this one is just for the presets, right? What I'm hearing is that it's good sounding but with limited features and small GUI. Seems like it's not for sound design, since there are good sounding, full-featured synths with GUI size options for less or free.

BlackWinny · Post by **BlackWinny** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 3:05 pm

No, Ultra-Analog is an excellent synth and has always been so. And the update is not only for presets. We must be honest. There is also now a ladder filter and a dual layer.

What I just say is that the total amount spent since the version 1 makes a very high amount of money in successive upgrades (reaching a total of $280!), much more than the money spent by a new user (simply $149)... meaning that the most faithful users will have paid twice the price of a new user!

I only say that it's not very kind for the faithful users since the version 1. In only say that.

Many companies similar to AAS and at the same level of quality (AIR Music Technology, D16 Group, Image Line, KV331, etc.) provide their updates from V1 to V2 or from V2 to V3 for free or almost free (very low fees), knowing perfectly that making the users pay for each update to a new version x+1 is definitely disadvantaging them more and more hugely as the updates go on and on along the years. It comes a moment when some users say "stop!"

I know that AAS is not alone to do that, of course (there are even companies which make their users pay an upgrade up to 75% of the price applied to a new user, like Native Instruments and some others). But it is question of behavior with the faithful users: when the total amount for the faithful user reaches more or less the same price as for a new user, there is still no problem... but when the faithful user reaches a total which becomes 1.5 and even TWICE the price that pays the new user, there IS a problem.

A (decent) upgrade fee is understandable when it is a one-man company. I systematically support any one-man company because it is really difficult for one man to make such work totally alone or almost.
A quite high upgrade fee is also perfectly understandable when the new version is very different, having required a huge work to provide so many new things that we can almost say it is a brand new synth. I never refrain to upgrade in all these cases.
But when the company is not so small and when the updates are not so complex (what were the technical differences between UA v1 and UA v2 (the GUI was even widely criticized as a huge regression) ? And what actually are the technical differences between UA v2 and UA v3 apart the dual layer and the addition of a ladder filter ?) it finally summarizes a huge amount of money for the faithful user, especially compared to a new user. Currently twice the price (!) about Ultra-Analog... with actually not so great differences between the first and the third version despite the totally different GUI.

It is only this that I say. Only this.

But no, biscuitdough, it is wrong to say that it is a limited featured synth.
- Small GUI, yes.
- Too many tabs, yes.
- Some common modulations still missing in the oscillators, yes.
- Still no envelope freely attributable, yes.
- Still nothing to modulate the noise source except not using it and giving up an oscillator.

But "limited featured", resolutely no. Ultra-Analog is not a synth having so limited features.

SLiC · Post by **SLiC** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 3:12 pm

biscuitdough wrote: ↑Fri Oct 04, 2019 1:13 pm So this one is just for the presets, right? What I'm hearing is that it's good sounding but with limited features and small GUI. Seems like it's not for sound design, since there are good sounding, full-featured synths with GUI size options for less or free.

Ultra Analog has been one of he very best sounding VA's since it was first released, this update doesn't change that. It certainly has a lot of presets (1200+) but that isn't a bad thing, it is one of the easier synth to program so making your own sounds is very easy (and it is very playable with per sound midi control, but still no MPE or GUI resizing yet)

Not sure I would buy it new now over other synth (Dune 3, Diva etc) but as I have it from 'back in the day' its worth the upgrade for 20 quid...and it still 'sounds' as good as the best of the VA crop..

Omkar · Post by **Omkar** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 4:23 pm

Very happy with the upgrade (and price),
the presets are pretty well done, shows to me dev knows the creation very well.

Question to the synth cracks:
am I the only one who finds VA-1 more analog-ish sounding than the successors?

I know I`m walking on thin ice with the term "analog",
if it is more weighty, fat, warm, a bit more dirty, then that would be it.

omiroad · Post by **omiroad** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 5:24 pm

AAS synths can be had second hand for sometimes ¼ of the retail price on here... You could then do multiple updates before hitting the retail price.

JoeCat · Post by **JoeCat** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 5:47 pm

It's interesting that there hasn't been an update to Ableton Analog in many years, which was developed by AAS and is basically Ultra-Analog. Operator, Simpler, Sample, and Auto-filter were updated with new filters from Cytomic and they are of course awesome.,

So Operator has the awesome new filter set and Analogs filters, while certainly decent, are AFAIK over a decade old. Different code-base, but ironic that the Live's analog offering has the most dated analog-modeled filter of all.

I was always tempted by AAS Chromophone, which Collision is based on - it's updated now and Collision has not been. Probably the same for some of the code base in Electric and Tension, which were also AAS designs.

Some sort of crossgrade / upgrade discount would be nice

It's just hard to swallow paying full price when you already kinda bought V1, not knowing if the Ableton versions will see an update when you inevitably purchase THAT upgrade.

AAS Ultra Analog VA-3 Synthesizer Released