IK MUltimedia UNO Synth

[Elektronisch]

I wonder...how soundwise this compares to something like RePro 1 or some other analog emulations like Diva, The Legend?

[AnX]

I wonder...how soundwise this compares to something like RePro 1 or some other analog emulations like Diva, The Legend?

completely diff filters and no audio rate modulation spring to mind. Diva and Legend also have more oscillators.

[SLiC]

I have Diva, Repro and Legend and an UNO...they sound different....

The UNO sounds like a real analogue synth because it is one....that doesn't necessarily mean you will think it sounds better and it will certainly never be as flexible or have as many features as even the most basic VST VA. It is simply the 'hardware' analogue over software emulation of analogue argument after that- either you care/can tell the difference between (any) hardware or software or you don't!

[Elektronisch]

Well thats not an answer im looking for. To you personaly does it sound better or not?

I dont care about the filters since in 99% of synths in non modulate-ive (dont know if such word exist) state doeant matter

[SLiC]

Well thats not an answer im looking for. To you personaly does it sound better or not?

I dont care about the filters since in 99% of synths in non modulate-ive (dont know if such word exist) state doeant matter

I was trying to be diplomatic as this is predominantly a VST forum! Obviously too me the hardware analogue I own sounds better than any of the software VAs I own or I wound have bought it (or I would have sold it by now)

'Virtual' Analog is simply trying to sound like real analogue, real analogue has a head-start there! VA at max CPU 96K etc can get realy close, but will use most (all) of your CPU when a sub £200 'box' can give you real analogue with dedicated controls for 0 CPU and let you just record and play with no worries (no aliasing or zipper noise etc), but perhaps most importantly (to me) is I like to turn the bloody computer off sometimes and just jam and record with hardware (sequencing with Eurorack or my Electron sequencers)!

[AnX]

... except you need the editor open to access all parameters. No knob per function on the uno. Kinda defeats the object imo

[Elektronisch]

Ok, thank you

[SLiC]

... except you need the editor open to access all parameters. No knob per function on the uno. Kinda defeats the object imo

Not at all, you don't 'need' he editor at all as it has 'cc' control over everything (but its nice to have). My Uno is connected to my Digitone or my Octotrack (along with my Prophet 8, Moog etc) which have midi sequencing so I have cc control over everything and can p-lock in the sequencer. Their is more than 1 way to use a tool, but I use real analogue for the sound not so that I have 1 knob per function, I generally only tweak a few parameters during a 'performance;' (everything else is mapped or CV controlled) and all of these can easily be accessed from the UNO panel (+full a few hidden once like full ADSR)

I am more than happy with both the sound and functions of the UNO for the cost. 100% 'knob per function ' analogue synths are very rare and generally very expensive...UNO has the cost/functionality balance about right for me, but if you find a good analogue synth with 1 knob per function (that's going to be around 30+ knobs for a typical 2 osc analog synth…) for under 200 quid let me know

[Elektronisch]

To tell you the truth i really like the sound alot from the demos, i only wish it had at least 2 voices for at least some poliphony.

P.S. since im sure someone will mention this, changin 2nd oscillator semitone does not bring desired results

[AnX]

... except you need the editor open to access all parameters. No knob per function on the uno. Kinda defeats the object imo

Not at all, you don't 'need' he editor at all as it has 'cc' control over everything (but its nice to have). My Uno is connected to my Digitone or my Octotrack (along with my Prophet 8, Moog etc) which have midi sequencing so I have cc control over everything and can p-lock in the sequencer. Their is more than 1 way to use a tool, but I use real analogue for the sound not so that I have 1 knob per function, I generally only tweak a few parameters during a 'performance;' (everything else is mapped or CV controlled) and all of these can easily be accessed from the UNO panel (+full a few hidden once like full ADSR)

I am more than happy with both the sound and functions of the UNO for the cost. 100% 'knob per function ' analogue synths are very rare and generally very expensive...UNO has the cost/functionality balance about right for me, but if you find a good analogue synth with 1 knob per function (that's going to be around 30+ knobs for a typical 2 osc analog synth…) for under 200 quid let me know

well the uno isnt one knob per funtion under £200, but im more than happy to pay double for something like the behringer neutron/sh101 clone, even without the convenience of recall, which sound great and have a more hands on approach (which i much prefer over editors and menu switching)

[Scotty]

The neutron is a compelling machine. I got my UNO for about $150 because I used Jam Points which made it a "no brainer" because I did like and do like what heard from the promos. Not to mention the midi control features.
It was about half the cost of the Neutron for me.

The Neutron looks like a sound designers dream box. I'd likely pull sounds out of it and then sample it. I might add the Neutron to the desk down the road.

[BONES]

... except you need the editor open to access all parameters. No knob per function on the uno. Kinda defeats the object imo

Actually, I'm not sure that's true any more. When I got my Uno, you could only use two lines of parameters on the Osc row of the matrix, as marked on the front panel, but after a recent firmware upgrade, I now have access to a second row on both the Filter an Envelope rows. That's eight new parameters accessible from the front panel. Of course, the front panel itself still only has labels for the second row of the Osc functions. I'm in the middle of re-arranging all my gear so I can't plug Uno in to work out what extra functions I can access now, and there is nothing in the documentation, but just playing it through headphones I can hear that I now have access to the full ADSR parameters for both envelopes and the second row of Filter parameters is definitely doing something to the sound. It could just be LFO->Cutoff but it was very subtle and could just as easily be LFO->PW or Waveshape.

So maybe you need to find something else to whinge about now.

well the uno isnt one knob per funtion under £200, but im more than happy to pay double for something like the behringer neutron/sh101 clone, even without the convenience of recall, which sound great and have a more hands on approach (which i much prefer over editors and menu switching)

If Behringer's 101 clone sounds good then it can't be much of a 101 clone because that thing wasn't great. What it was, back in the day, was cheap but it only has one oscillator - no detuning so no fatness or natural movement to the sound - and the filter is a typically poor Roland filter. There is only one envelope, too, so it's basically only half the synth Uno is at 10 times the size. They are so different that you can't really compare them at all. You'd have to be a blindly loyal Roland fan to even think of buying a 101 over an Uno. That, of course, is assuming Behringer's 101 clone ever makes it to market.

As for Neutron, it's almost twice the price and it's just a box of knobs (no keyboard or patch memory), so it's not as immediate or portable as Uno. Again, it's impossible to compare them, they appeal to completely different use cases. I spent exactly 10 seconds looking at a Neutron before I thought "there is absolutely nothing I can think of that I could use this thing for". Maybe it sounds amazing but I couldn't get it to make a sound at all. OTOH, I can sit on the bus and get amazing sounds out of Uno. It's way more fun than reading a book and has similar utility (same size as a book).

[BONES]

I wonder...how soundwise this compares to something like RePro 1 or some other analog emulations like Diva, The Legend?

Uno is a far simpler synth than Legend or Diva with fewer oscillators and a fraction of the modulation options. That said, whilst it's not going to be as capable when it comes to big, fat basslines as Legend, it will certainly hold it's own for pads and leads, I reckon. (I have Legend but I've only tried the Diva demo so I can't do any direct comparison with it. ) I like Uno's filter more than Legend's, too. (Ladder filters never did it for me, Minimoog was always about the oscillators.)

It's definitely a lot more involving to use than either of those things, though, and unlike Diva, it doesn't bring your CPU to its knees.

I dont care about the filters since in 99% of synths in non modulate-ive (dont know if such word exist) state doeant matter

I can't agree with that. What I look for in a filter is its ability to give me a fat, squelchy bass sound and some do that much, much better than others. e.g. Legend is not very good at that at all, where DUNE excels (because it has filters based on Wasp's awesome squelchy filters). Uno does OK and actually surprises with the High Pass and Band Pass modes. Resonance works much more obviously in those modes on Uno than on any other synth I can think of, which broadens your horizons a bit.

But if you are more interested in oscillators, then I am happy to report that Uno's oscillators are great. As I've said a couple of times previously, with a bit of waveshape and/or PW modulation they can sound like there is some secret unison going on. And because they are true analogue oscillators, they work really well at very low and very high frequencies.

100% 'knob per function ' analogue synths are very rare and generally very expensive...UNO has the cost/functionality balance about right for me, but if you find a good analogue synth with 1 knob per function (that's going to be around 30+ knobs for a typical 2 osc analog synth…) for under 200 quid let me know

There are exceptions, like the Monologue and Minilogue, but the fact is that Uno sounds better than either of those and, honestly, you'd have to have rocks in your head to choose a worse sounding synth with knob-per-function over a better sounding synth that has one or two parameters tucked away where only the software editor can get to them.

[Elektronisch]

Thank you Bones! thats a very informative summary, exactly what i needed to know!

[BONES]

FIRMWARE UPDATE:
I got the skinny direct from IK on the new parameters you can control from the front panel, after spending a while trying to find the info on their site. If you've updated the firmware to 1.1.1, which you need to do before you can use the software editor, you can now long press on the both the FILTER and ENV buttons to access "second row" parameters. In both cases, you get ADSR parameters for the respective envelopes. That's a bit of doubling up but I imagine it will be a lot less confusing, given the markings on the front panel. That means the only things you can't access from the unit itself now are the modulation options for the waveforms (which is a pretty big one, IMHO, but easy enough to live with).