Today I’m checking out another library/expansion from UVI
Ever since I bought BPM a few weeks back I’ve been exploring more of the expansion libraries available for it.
I can’t lie, I’m starting to really like what UVI is doing soundwise…it seems they don’t come up in conversations as much as other libraries.
Maybe folks just don’t know what they have over there, or maybe the people that do know like to keep it to themselves lol
And again, I like the expandability and flexibility of the libraries too.
Just like any other uvi library, this one can load up in the free UVI Workstation.
Synths Anthology is all about synth sounds and instruments.
Let’s see whatsup
What is Synths Anthology?
It is a super collection of sampled synth instruments that cover the wide range and types of synths available.
You get sounds from all the major categories of synthesis like Classic Analog, FM & Formant, Vector Synthesis, Wavetables, Additive, PCM, Analog Modeling (virtual analog), PCM, etc.
They even put tons of pure waveforms from some classic synths in here so you can use them as building blocks for your own sound design.
They even included some tape machine sounds, you know stuff like the Mellotron…
it’s really a very broad collection of synth instruments and patches.
Quick Specs
- content: 8.4gb, over 2000 presets
- format: UVI workstation
- price: $129
How does it sound?
I think they did a good job at capturing the actual character of the various types of synths and synthesis here. The recording of the samples seems to be very clean and authentic, no digital clicks, pops or other artifacts.
I like that they went after various styles and instruments, and not just one specific type, this makes for a very diverse collection.
You have thick, analog fatness mixed in with clean digital tones. Bright bellish fm sounds and airy wavetable morphing as well.
They sound like you’d expect, given the instruments from which the sounds were sampled, you have a very deep collection of some of the most prized synth sounds around.
Here’s an example of the instruments and synths used to create the sounds
- Roland: Jupiter 4 & Jupiter 8, SH-101, JD800 & JD990
- Yamaha: CS80, CS60, CS15, CS40-M & CS70M. DX1, DX100, TX816, FS1R
- Oberheim: X-Pander, Matrix 6, 4 Voices, OBXa
- Sequential Circuits : Prophet VS, Prophet 5, Prophet One, T8
- PPG : Wave 2.0, Wave 2.3, Waveterm B, PRK FD, EVU, HDU & Commander
- Korg : PS3200, Trident MK2, MS20, M1, O1W, DW8000
- Casio : CZ1, CZ100, VZ1 & VZ10M
- Moog: Minimoog & Memorymoog
- ARP: Odissey, ARP2600, Chroma
- Waldorf: Pulse, Wave, Microwave XT, Q & Micro Q
- Misc: Synclavier II, Technos Acxel, Mellotron M400, Acces Virus, Kawai K5000
Rather than organize them by instrument name, you can browse the sounds by type (analog, digital, fm, wavetable, etc) or by categories (pads, leads, synth bass, atmospheres, etc)
The fact that you can get some very fat basses right next to light airy pads is a great testament to the sampling and capturing of the source material.
I’ve always felt there’s a little bit of “edge” to direct samples of analog gear in comparison to virtual recreations of them purely by synthesis.
Though we have some very awesome modeling going on in the vst world today, there’s still something unique about loading up a sample of a fat moog bass, something in capturing that direct output from the synth itself just gives a different tone than a virtual moog at this point.
So what’s the bottom line?
The bottom line is I think this is a good, broad, versatile collection of synths that gives you a lot of different tones and textures within one library.
Being that it is a sample based library, you won’t get the same tweakability and controls as you do with a dedicated synth plugin.
Though I love the UVI format, I can’t help but feel this library would benefit even more from having it’s own dedicated virtual instrument interface. A way to combine the huge synth material with even more synth and tweaking controls would take it to the next level in my opinion.
That said, I still feel even without the deep control of a dedicated synth plugin, this library delivers a great toolbox of synth sounds.
I give this library a 4 out of 5 subs, based on the sheer amount of content, diversity, and sound quality alone.
Most of the sounds are inspiring and ready to go out the box, and even the ability to tweak basic settings like filter, pitch, amp, and lfo/modulation allow you to get some good customization going from within UVI workstation.
Even still… I can’t help but wonder how much deeper you could take this source material with more modulation capabilities and synth features like unison, detune, sub oscillators, and other common things that you would find in a dedicated synth plugin.
Either way, that’s pretty much just my wishful thinking because the source content in this library is so deep, I feel the possibilities are truly endless.
It’s price-point is slightly less than most dedicated synthesizer plugins which is cool. This keeps it in the range of other sample cds/libraries and I feel it’s definitely worth a good look/listen.
Checkout the demos over at uvisoundsource: Synths Anthology
leave a comment below, let me know what you think
I got this in the UVI Producer Bundle, which I think is a good deal given the price of the single libraries. For slightly more than the price of 2 libraries you get 4 sets. The only downside is some of the other bundles duplicate the library volumes, for example if I want the keyboard bundle I’d end up with another copy of Synth Anthology.
Overall it’s a great sounding set, and I really like the sound of the UVI products in general. They really nail that Triton/Motif clarity of the sound. I got a used MO6 the other day and have been layering the UVI stuff and Omnisphere with the Yamaha sounds with great results.
You’re right Joe, the free UVI player while capable feels limited compared to what dedicated interfaces could offer. It seems odd there isn’t a more featured version available like with KORE.
Nice review, keep exposing the UVI stuff, because it is kind of a head scratcher why these libraries aren’t more popular.
@Metatron72, I totally agree bro, their sound is very clean and true, ready to go. Like you said, they really have that workstation usability.
I wonder why more folks don’t talk about these libraries, maybe they just don’t know.
I find it hard to work with some other instruments after uvi, because their just that useful.
Anyway, if this one had a dedicated interface or if more synth features were added to uvi workstation it would take those library to an even higher level.
How you liking that mo6?
@saintjoe,
Loving the MO! I’m using MPC’s a bit again so it’s perfect if I want to work away from the DAW. It was a perfect relatively cheap way to get the ES sounds. Like I said, it’s so much fun layering it with quality soft synths. Plugiator’s are real cheap right now I think that’s next.
@Metatron72, word fam, I feel you on that! I’m looking to get a simple “away from the daw” setup as well, just something I can bang on without turning on the computer. I’m really hoping the beat thang hardware actually drops man lol…but if not, I’ll have to get something else. Just a simple drum machine/sequencer and a workstation should be fine.
I haven’t heard much about the plugiators actually, I know about them but haven’t heard much from anyone using it, you have any experience with it? What you plan on running on it? They aren’t very robust spec wise are they? something like 2gb of ram?
@Metatron72, my bad I was thinking about the v machine instead of plugiator lol, disregard what I said about the specs lol
@saintjoe,
Yeah they dropped around the same time. The rca unbalanced outs are the only real downside. $400 for 5 quality synths with external DSP for no cpu hit seems pretty good.
If there’s no beat thang soon,the JJOS xl/1000 combo is pretty dope. Away from the computer I’ve also been running the ipod/ipad through a Korg Monotron filter, lotta fun.
@Metatron72, yeah no doubt…I didn’t really like the 1k, my boy had it…not quite sure what it was about it lol. I may end up with another emu command station man, them joints go hard lol.
I’m still getting an ipad..but I’m thinking I want something that is simple hardware, like drum machine with sounds, like that emu command station…but we’ll see. Beat Thang could be it, I’ve been interested in that since 09 lol…seems like what I’d want but you know, there are always other options if that don’t drop so we’ll see.
Great review. I’m glad that you have explored this product. I knew about it but never really took the time to listen to the sounds it has and your review is coming at the right time because I was just thinking about looking for some more synth sounds that gives me an analog feel. Did you get yours shipped to you or was this possible to download directly from the site once purchased?
@Madbull Studios, definitely worth a look. All of their stuff can be downloaded too, no shipping to weight for 🙂
I have this one, and i like it a lot, quick acces to lot of great sounds, and all variations, and lot of edit options i UVI. This is the old Ultra Focus, wih was a concurent to spectrasonics atmosphere, in its time. The Ultimate soundbank products sound really good, and the price fear. Love it. thanks for the reviews Saint Joe.
@Gunnar, thanks man, yeah, the old UltraFocus, this joint is timeless I feel. Like you said, great sounds, and A LOT of them lol. I just love the tones in it man, really good and the price-point is right for many people, especially for the quality and quantity compared to other instruments.
I was checking out MOTU’s MachFive 2 software. I know in your video on Analog Anthology you stated that its limited (when using the UVI Workstation) when it comes to the tweak-ability of the sounds in Analog Anthology library. If more in-depth control of sounds are needed for that library you could get MachFive 2 and use the Analog Anthology sound library from that application. That seems like it would give you everything you listed for complete control of the sounds.
I’m sure that MOTU limited itself to putting the bare essentials in the UVI Workstation because its free but MachFive 2 would definitely do the trick for what you were talking about.
@Madbull1971, yessir, you are correct lol, Mach 5 takes it to the next level, and it can load all the UVI sounds too, it’s definitely an option, probably something I will checkout in the future too. Really dig the Motu and UVI sounds/instruments.
Thanks for the review! very helpful. One thing i love about UVI player is that you can easily layer up sounds … and with this in mind i thought maybe that could be a good workaround for the limitations you mentioned… ie you could layer the synth sound a few times each one slightly detuned … that would give you a fat unison effect ? also you could layer up a sub bass into it to recreate a sub-osc , filtered to taste. ?
Just thoughts… haven’t tried it myself yet. 🙂
Thanks again
@Dale, oh yeah, UVI is dope and you can definitely layer quickly. Yeah you can manually setup some unison/detune, but as with anything, a dedicated knob or section for it, is quicker 🙂
But yeah, I’m a UVI fan, I mostly use their stuff inside of MachFive3 now though