finding a UFO

[x_bruce]

You're right; I screwed up on the price, dm.

shamann, initally I felt things were same-sounding but as I started digging in a bit more, and like any synth, it take awhile before the benefits hit.

I'm surpised you aren't a fan of the GUI. I have bad eyesight and can get along well with the interface. But as mentioned earlier, this could be a matter of what one likes although I will say my first hour or three I was very concerned about same-sounding isues which I've worked with now and am getting more out of the synth.
If you've got the time I wonder if you might find UFO growing on you.

I do admit, it has a certain kind of sound, but then all my favorite synths do. And as for taste, I just read someone talking about how they wish they never bought Absynth after hearing the (admittedly excellent) Green Oaks, Crystal, which is freeware.
I like Crystal too but still see Absynth in a category all it's own and also give it props for being ahead of the synthesis game years before others did anything even close to Brian Clevenger's ideas.

As for UFO, it's the same price as Absynth 3 discounted. This highlights a problem for shareware developers. I like and can find use for others with UFO's sound, but honestly will have to spend a lot more time as $200 puts you in a highly competitive grouping of synths.

[Audeon]

I'm a little bit confused by people talking about the absence of a manual for UFO. Both demo and full version come with a fairly extensive documentation, which can be accessed by clicking on the "Help" button, at the bottom left of the user interface. The installer also puts a shortcut to this help file in the Start menu (Audeon UFO / UFO Help). Didn't you notice this or do you think it is not enough and expect some kind of PDF manual in addition to this?

Note: there is also a "basics of sound design" page featuring flash animations on our website at this address: http://www.audeon.fr/site/content/view/20/46/

as well as a video tutorial (the designed sound is ugly, I admit, but it covers the main features of the synth). You can download it here:
http://www.audeon.fr/site/download/ufo/ ... torial.wmv

All those ridiculous single pixel lines are the most awkward controls I think I've ever seen, and most of the time if any modulation sources are turned on, when you click the XY white dots, you accidentally get one of the modulation vectors instead.

A very simple trick not to "get one of the modulation vectors instead" : you don't need to click on a XY white dot to move it. Clicking anywhere on the screen will place the white dot where you click. So when you have modulation sources turned on and want to move the white dot, just click anywhere beside the white dot (directly where you intend to move it to, for instance) and you'll be sure not to catch a modulation vector instead.

For those who aren't aware of it, you can also unselect (or select) all modulation sources at once by right clicking inside the modulation block. This will bring up a contextual menu.

All this is explained in the Help:
"The white dot indicates the value of the parameter. Just click anywhere on the screen to move the dot"
"you can select/unselect all modulation sources at once for display, by right clicking within this block and using the contextual menu"

[droolmaster0]

I'm a little bit confused by people talking about the absence of a manual for UFO. Both demo and full version come with a fairly extensive documentation, which can be accessed by clicking on the "Help" button, at the bottom left of the user interface. The installer also puts a shortcut to this help file in the Start menu (Audeon UFO / UFO Help). Didn't you notice this or do you think it is not enough and expect some kind of PDF manual in addition to this?

Note: there is also a "basics of sound design" page featuring flash animations on our website at this address: http://www.audeon.fr/site/content/view/20/46/

as well as a video tutorial (the designed sound is ugly, I admit, but it covers the main features of the synth). You can download it here:
http://www.audeon.fr/site/download/ufo/ ... torial.wmv

All those ridiculous single pixel lines are the most awkward controls I think I've ever seen, and most of the time if any modulation sources are turned on, when you click the XY white dots, you accidentally get one of the modulation vectors instead.

A very simple trick not to "get one of the modulation vectors instead" : you don't need to click on a XY white dot to move it. Clicking anywhere on the screen will place the white dot where you click. So when you have modulation sources turned on and want to move the white dot, just click anywhere beside the white dot (directly where you intend to move it to, for instance) and you'll be sure not to catch a modulation vector instead.

For those who aren't aware of it, you can also unselect (or select) all modulation sources at once by right clicking inside the modulation block. This will bring up a contextual menu.

All this is explained in the Help:
"The white dot indicates the value of the parameter. Just click anywhere on the screen to move the dot"
"you can select/unselect all modulation sources at once for display, by right clicking within this block and using the contextual menu"

Hi...initially I was a little confused about how to work the modulations easily. I think that a brief tutorial would be a good thing (forgive me if there is one there - I haven't needed to look at the manual in awhile). The synth is very intuitive, but the interface is different enough from the usual (which is very good thing) that it takes a little bit of getting used to.

In any case - this continues to be one of my favorite soft synths...