UVI Falcon 3

[Lerian]

MIDI learn is stored per preset, there is no guarantee the next preset you load would have the same parameters at all, that's why that works the way it works. No easy solution for that.

While there are countless other plugins where midi learn can also be stored "globally". Or at least assign them intelligently (as long as I don't lock in some specific CCs for a specific preset). I had 16 knobs and 8 faders at hand when played, and every time I switched the prest I had to midi learn manually. What if i could input first CC, last CC, and then it will auto-assign macros on these knobs. Its not a big deal to implement, yet it makes a big difference in usability and ease of use.

[Lerian]

Well, it may be true that the guys are very talented, and judging by the presets they are. Even though, I always like to at least tweak my sounds, if not design them from scratch.

...

I think that even if the workflow is not ideal, the UI still allows to modify your sound "kind of" easily, or at least easily enough.
And for the soundware, you actually have a ton of macros ready for you, and for more advanced soundware it is even new interfaces with access to arpeggiators, filters, effects and all that are available to you.
Have a look at whoosh, Quadra, they are both created as script from Falcon.

Yes, workflow is far far away from ideal. I still need to spend more time with it, to come to your conclusion. Right now, even finding which LFO is modulating which sound is a daunting task which I still haven't figured out.

And BTW, I can find my way through VCV rack just fine, I can also do some front-end coding, so I'm not that lost in technology. But it looks to me that Falcon's logic is made after some specific person's logic, without doing much UX research. Which may work wonders for him/her, but most probably it doesn't work so smoothly for the average musician.

[Trensharo]

Functionally, Falcon is superior to HALion in the area of synthesis. HALion does have a Wavetable Editor and a better FM Synthesis Zone at this point, but Falcon has things like Drum Synths that HALion doesn't have. It also has Physical Modeling Synthesis.

However, I really, really dislike the UI/UX and Workflow compared to HALion, so I don't think I've used it for anything other than Expansion Presets. The Falcon Expansions are pretty good - if they fit the type of music you produce. For actual patch-building, I always use HALion and I'd rather run Maschine as a plug-in, use its drum synths and then render out audio files to drag and drop into Cubase than use Falcon. I really just don't like using it.

I regret buying it, to be honest.

[vertibration]

I also agree, Falcon can be a PITA. It would be nice if it had a top, and bottom UI. Top having modules you drag and drop, bottom being your focus editing area whenever you highlight a module. I think it would be simple if it was like this. Eh...whatever

[IvyBirds]

I don't think I've used it for anything other than Expansion Presets. The Falcon Expansions are pretty good.....I always use HALion

A lot of the UVI presets are really good, much like you I find the UI in Falcon to be a pain. I have sampled a bunch of the presets from Falcon and then import those into HALion7

It's a win win

As a Cubase user it's dead simple to use the assisted sampling function in HALion7 to sample other VSTs right inside of HALion also

[Lerian]

I have sampled a bunch of the presets from Falcon and then import those into HALion7

I wish someone from UVI will see this comment above and realize the absurdity of the situation - to have such a powerful sampler/synth only to be used as a preset browser because the UX is poorly implemented.

In other news, I wanted to demo it on my laptop, but there's no demo. Really weird choices on UVI, especially with such an expensive and complex tool.

[GBURRIS]

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I feel the unprecedented need to jump in here.

I am no one's idea of a power user. It sometimes takes dedicated concentration to make my way through a particular problem—and that goes for Falcon as well as my other music software. I tell myself it keeps my 70-odd brain from atrophying.

I have decided to dedicate myself to making Falcon work for me, for the synths, for the complex modulation, for the brilliant Fx, for the scripted sequencers and arpeggiators. And for the stacks of presets, which I use as inspiration and, sometimes, as parts. This is because I don't have the wherewithal to buy a dozen hybrid synths, nor the computing power to run them, nor the brainpower to learn them all.

I really like Falcon. It makes sense to me, even if it takes a while to figure it out. And I think UVI is a great music software developer.

I haven't read this in a while but it's the (rather long) review that convinced me to work with Falcon: https://www.failedmuso.com/uvi-falcon-review/ (https://www.failedmuso.com/uvi-falcon-review/)

[Trensharo]

I don't think I could ever buy a product off of one Review. Lots of them are either payola or aren't written by tech reviewers who attempt to be objective. I generally prefer to trial, if possible.

Them not having a Trial for Falcon is a problem, IMO.

I also think they should add some Acoustic Instruments to the Falcon Factory Content.

One big advantage that HALion has over Falcon is its pretty nice Factory Library, which isn't just 1,000 Synth Presets and nothing else. Comes in handy when you want to create hybrid instruments, etc.

I don't think I've used it for anything other than Expansion Presets. The Falcon Expansions are pretty good.....I always use HALion

A lot of the UVI presets are really good, much like you I find the UI in Falcon to be a pain. I have sampled a bunch of the presets from Falcon and then import those into HALion7

It's a win win

As a Cubase user it's dead simple to use the assisted sampling function in HALion7 to sample other VSTs right inside of HALion also

HALion is definitely the better Sampler of the two.

I don't see a point in sampling Falcon Presets to import into HALion, Lol. I just use Falcon for them.

Absolute (what I own) comes with a ton of HALion-based instruments with a massive amount of presets. I'd just use a similar one from there if I really wanted to avoid Falcon "entirely." That seems a bit extreme, Lol.

Also, I'd prefer to just Auto Sample the patch in Logic Pro or Maschine 2, and then just bring the Samples or EXS24 patch over and load it into HALion. That's a bit more automatic/switfter to accomplish.

Many patches respond to things like AT and have parameters set to MOD Wheel, etc., so I prefer to use them directly in the synth in case I need to automate some things - or make patch adjustments later.

[IvyBirds]

I don't see a point in sampling Falcon Presets to import into HALion, Lol. I just use Falcon for them.

It's quite simple really. HALion is a sampling workstation. It lets you record, manage, and playback samples. Then do a myriad of things with them (Wavetable, Granular, Spectral, S&S, etc) and then layer them with fantastic FM and VA if I want. Or you can play them back cleanly and they will sound exactly the same

Besides the UI in Falcon that sucks, it amazingly in 2024 is only able to use a single core on my CPU, where HALion7 allows you to use multiple cores and not just use multiple cores but allocate how that works and also how it accesses system RAM

My current workflow to make a patch I like in Falcon, Omnisphere, or whatever and then sample it into HALion. Not only is that a great workflow, but it future proofs everything also. HALion is the flagship plugin for Steinberg which is owned by Yamaha. It has been for a very very long time. So creating and maintaining a sample/preset/patch library in HALion just makes sense to me. For example I used to love and use a lot of instruments from NI, I find myself using them less and less. So little I don't even have any installed on my current PC. Yet the presets I created using them live on quite well in HALion7

[Gam456]

Functionally, Falcon is superior to HALion in the area of synthesis. HALion does have a Wavetable Editor and a better FM Synthesis Zone at this point, but Falcon has things like Drum Synths that HALion doesn't have. It also has Physical Modeling Synthesis.

The real diference is
Falcon have a basic model such FM
Halion have an entirely synth for FM with FM Lab

[Trensharo]

I don't see a point in sampling Falcon Presets to import into HALion, Lol. I just use Falcon for them.

It's quite simple really. HALion is a sampling workstation. It lets you record, manage, and playback samples. Then do a myriad of things with them (Wavetable, Granular, Spectral, S&S, etc) and then layer them with fantastic FM and VA if I want. Or you can play them back cleanly and they will sound exactly the same

Besides the UI in Falcon that sucks, it amazingly in 2024 is only able to use a single core on my CPU, where HALion7 allows you to use multiple cores and not just use multiple cores but allocate how that works and also how it accesses system RAM[

My current workflow to make a patch I like in Falcon, Omnisphere, or whatever and then sample it into HALion. Not only is that a great workflow, but it future proofs everything also. HALion is the flagship plugin for Steinberg which is owned by Yamaha. It has been for a very very long time. So creating and maintaining a sample/preset/patch library in HALion just makes sense to me. For example I used to love and use a lot of instruments from NI, I find myself using them less and less. So little I don't even have any installed on my current PC. Yet the presets I created using them live on quite well in HALion7

I've been using HALion for almost a decade, I'm aware of what it is

I use these synth/sampler workstations to plug gaps. It's faster to use something like Retrologue 2 or Padshop 2 directly than build patches from scratch in HALion or Falcon. Both of those synths sound great.

Different synths can have a different sonic signature or filter design. And Falcon has better FX, so sometimes you can get closer to the sound you're going for using one or the other - or a discrete synth with a preferred sonic signature (Massive, Diva, Sylenth, etc.).

If I were building multi-sample patches for future proofness, I would choose Kontakt, personally. Also, I'd choose Kontakt anyways, because it has the best time stretching to allow me to use fewer samples to build a patch (sample at larger intervals).

And honestly, it's the best documented of the three (especially when it comes to developer documentation - which is all available offline).

Biggest issue with HALion is that they do very little with it between releases. So, you don't get the kind of value infusions that you get from Falcon or even Kontakt updates. I also think Falcon has better FX in it than Falcon.

The multi-core is a bugbear, but I've never run into a situation [yet] where that has been a problem.

I stopped using these instruments multi-timbrally a LONG time ago, though. Would have to be an absolutely massive patch to be problematic on my machines.

[pekbro]

steinberg eww...

[IvyBirds]

The multi-core is a bugbear, but I've never run into a situation [yet] where that has been a problem.

I stopped using these instruments multi-timbrally a LONG time ago, though. Would have to be an absolutely massive patch to be problematic on my machines.

My biggest beef with with Falcon besides the UI is the fact that the single core limitation makes it hard to make deep layered patches. To me what's the point of having an instrument that has multiple synth engines if you are not using multiple engines at the same time to create multiple timbres in a single patch?

[Trensharo]

The multi-core is a bugbear, but I've never run into a situation [yet] where that has been a problem.

I stopped using these instruments multi-timbrally a LONG time ago, though. Would have to be an absolutely massive patch to be problematic on my machines.

My biggest beef with with Falcon besides the UI is the fact that the single core limitation makes it hard to make deep layered patches. To me what's the point of having an instrument that has multiple synth engines if you are not using multiple engines at the same time to create multiple timbres in a single patch?

You're really making a bit of a jump given what you've quoted out of my post.

In any case, if Diva doesn't kill my CPU, then nothing I make in HALion or Falcon will. That's my point.

But that also depends on what type of computer you have.

[IvyBirds]

In any case, if Diva doesn't kill my CPU, then nothing I make in HALion or Falcon will. That's my point.

But that also depends on what type of computer you have.

Diva and HALion7 both support using multiple cores. Falcon doesn't, so yes it's quite possible for Diva to use multiple cores and not choke your CPU while Falcon can and will because it can only use a single core

If all you are doing is simple single timbres Falcon is fine, complex layered sounds it struggles even with an I9 and 32gb of RAM. That's why I sample it playing a single note at a time