UVI Vintage Legends, demo version now available

[Failed Muso]

You'd be surprised at how much the UVI Workstation allows you to do over and above the scripted editing tools that come with the instruments themselves. If you haven't already, download it along with the free set of demo samples and see what you think.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but do you mean one can demo the Vintage Synth instruments?

Can't find a link in case to the files to download?

No, what I was referring to was the UVI Demo SoundPack that you can download for free from the same page as you can get the UVI Workstation from. No iLok is required for these samples and it will give you a chance to see what the UVI Workstation is capable of.

http://www.uvisoundsource.com/uvi-works ... icles_id/8

They also have a cheesy yet pretty cool free instrument based on the Roland EP-09 here...

http://www.uvisoundsource.com/get-the-b ... les_id/116

As with most UVI releases I will be posting a written review very soon, along with detailed video reviews over at my blog, www.failedmuso.com/blog

You can check out my other reviews there and I anticipate the Vintage Legends review to be up sometime over the Xmas holidays

[Failed Muso]

Im a big vintage synth fan and decided to just buy this. Im waiting on Uncle Eric to send me the license...

Does he have better prjcing than UVI? I was just going to blow this off, but now you guys got me thinking... damn use!!

Best Service sell a number of UVI libraries and they are sometimes cheaper than buying direct, but Vintage Legends isn't up there yet...

http://www.bestservice.de/detail1.asp/u ... ght_iix/en

[Numanoid]

No, what I was referring to was the UVI Demo SoundPack that you can download for free from the same page as you can get the UVI Workstation from. No iLok is required for these samples and it will give you a chance to see what the UVI Workstation is capable of.

Oh that, I downloaded that a couple of years ago, V2 of the UVI workstation has been launched since then, but think the demo content is the same

Not being able to demo a product at $349 is a no go for me. I can't buy a product at such cost based on a 2 minute product video

[Failed Muso]

No, what I was referring to was the UVI Demo SoundPack that you can download for free from the same page as you can get the UVI Workstation from. No iLok is required for these samples and it will give you a chance to see what the UVI Workstation is capable of.

Oh that, I downloaded that a couple of years ago, V2 of the UVI workstation has been launched since then, but think the demo content is the same

Not being able to demo a product at $349 is a no go for me. I can't buy a product at such cost based on a 2 minute product video

There are plenty of audio demos over at the UVI SoundCloud page and my written and video reviews will be up soon

[Brittlestem]

No, what I was referring to was the UVI Demo SoundPack that you can download for free from the same page as you can get the UVI Workstation from. No iLok is required for these samples and it will give you a chance to see what the UVI Workstation is capable of.

Oh that, I downloaded that a couple of years ago, V2 of the UVI workstation has been launched since then, but think the demo content is the same

Not being able to demo a product at $349 is a no go for me. I can't buy a product at such cost based on a 2 minute product video

There are plenty of audio demos over at the UVI SoundCloud page and my written and video reviews will be up soon

It would make more sense to release a small number of sounds from each library to use in the free player. There's really not enough sounds in there anyway to be able to make a decision to buy at the price.

[Failed Muso]

No, what I was referring to was the UVI Demo SoundPack that you can download for free from the same page as you can get the UVI Workstation from. No iLok is required for these samples and it will give you a chance to see what the UVI Workstation is capable of.

Oh that, I downloaded that a couple of years ago, V2 of the UVI workstation has been launched since then, but think the demo content is the same

Not being able to demo a product at $349 is a no go for me. I can't buy a product at such cost based on a 2 minute product video

There are plenty of audio demos over at the UVI SoundCloud page and my written and video reviews will be up soon

It would make more sense to release a small number of sounds from each library to use in the free player. There's really not enough sounds in there anyway to be able to make a decision to buy at the price.

I agree, a small demo from each of these libraries would be very useful.

[SWAN808]

if they included examples of each instrument with scripting in the free UVI player that would be a great advert for the full packs

[Aloysius]

I find the Free UVI Player plus Paid For 'Expansions' to be a bit unstable in Ableton. Extremely slow to load large libraries like AcousticSamples Kawai EX PRO. I'm unable to enter numbers after double clicking on a parameter box. Plenty of crashes.

I've reported quite a number of issues and nothing really seems to get done about anything. They just seem to release a steady stream of shiny looking GUIs with sometimes quite disappointing content.

I also use Kontakt 5 Full and find it to be rock solid by comparison. I'm never afraid to include it in a project. I'm always afraid to load up the UVI Player, even though I've purchased quite a number of special offer Libraries for it by now.

Browsing for files is a pain in the ass again by comparison to Native Instruments Kontakt.

Etc ...

My 2c

[Sequent]

I've found Failed Muso's reviews to be very helpful and they've helped a lot when trying to make my purchasing decisions. Hasn't led me astray yet.

[Failed Muso]

I've found Failed Muso's reviews to be very helpful and they've helped a lot when trying to make my purchasing decisions. Hasn't led me astray yet.

Thank you for your kind words

if they included examples of each instrument with scripting in the free UVI player that would be a great advert for the full packs

I totally agree. If the libraries were priced, say, like Hollow Sun, it wouldn't be a problem. £10 is no huge loss, but when you're forking out £199 then I agree that some good, representative demos would be very useful and beneficial to both parties. I have the ear of a few people at UVI and will mention it to them

I find the Free UVI Player plus Paid For 'Expansions' to be a bit unstable in Ableton. Extremely slow to load large libraries like AcousticSamples Kawai EX PRO. I'm unable to enter numbers after double clicking on a parameter box. Plenty of crashes.

I've reported quite a number of issues and nothing really seems to get done about anything. They just seem to release a steady stream of shiny looking GUIs with sometimes quite disappointing content.

I also use Kontakt 5 Full and find it to be rock solid by comparison. I'm never afraid to include it in a project. I'm always afraid to load up the UVI Player, even though I've purchased quite a number of special offer Libraries for it by now.

Browsing for files is a pain in the ass again by comparison to Native Instruments Kontakt.

Etc ...

My 2c

I've never encountered any stability issues with the UVI stuff, be it with the player or the libraries themselves. When I only had 2GB in my iMac, things were crackling and popping all over the shop, but once I threw an extra 2GB in, it all went away.

I only use Live Lite, and then only occasionally if that, so I couldn't comment on its performance in the long term, but again, it's always been ok. I use it mainly in Reaper with no issues. I also haven't tried AS's Kawai piano, but I agree that certain large libraries take a while to load, but no longer than any other sampler I've used. As for UVI's content, it's purely subjective and the stuff I have is pretty awesome, but one mans meat, etc., etc...

My overall experience with Kontakt (since v3) has been ok, but I got so fed up of things becoming redundant after updates and upgrades that I ended up just sticking with the Player, only to find that unless a developer had paid NI for the privilege, their libraries would only work in demo mode. For me, that was far more annoying than having to use an iLok (something which, personally, doesn't bother me in the slightest). I always found Kontakt's UI to be messy, overly fussy and not particularly conducive to my work flow.

But this isn't me Kontakt bashing. Everyone has tools that they like and that fit their modus operandi. I'm a Reason guy and there are people who totally hate that environment, but for me it works

What I will say is that I think that 2013 will see MachFive3's popularity surge as more 3rd party dev's jump on board and that in turn will see MF3 grow in every way

[EvilDragon]

only to find that unless a developer had paid NI for the privilege, their libraries would only work in demo mode.

Same is valid for UVI - you have to pay a licence fee for your library to be UVI Workstation compatible, otherwise your library will ONLY be loadable in MF3. So in this case Kontakt is actually better, because you can at least demo a library for 15 mins at a time in Kontakt Player, ANY library. And Kontakt Player is free, whereas MF3 is not so free. UVI Workstation is free, but you cannot open non-UVI libraries in it, if I understood things correctly.

So Kontakt allows better demoing than UVI/MF3, at this point in time. IMHO, UVI should change this to match demoing to Kontakt's terms.

[Aloysius]

I've found Failed Muso's reviews to be very helpful and they've helped a lot when trying to make my purchasing decisions.

This might surprise you but ...

+1 to your comment above.

[Failed Muso]

only to find that unless a developer had paid NI for the privilege, their libraries would only work in demo mode.

Same is valid for UVI - you have to pay a licence fee for your library to be UVI Workstation compatible, otherwise your library will ONLY be loadable in MF3. So in this case Kontakt is actually better, because you can at least demo a library for 15 mins at a time in Kontakt Player, ANY library. And Kontakt Player is free, whereas MF3 is not so free. UVI Workstation is free, but you cannot open non-UVI libraries in it, if I understood things correctly.

So Kontakt allows better demoing than UVI/MF3, at this point in time. IMHO, UVI should change this to match demoing to Kontakt's terms.

Yes, but the point is, if I've bought a Kontakt library, I expect it to work in Kontakt Player for more than 15 minutes. I don't know of any UVI library that doesn't work with UVI Workstation. Yes, I know there is a licence fee for UVI, but I still don't know of any library in the UVI format that doesn't work with it. I own 32 UVI format libraries and all of them work in Workstation. I may have missed one, and wait to be enlightened From what I hear, NI's licensing jackboot is bigger than UVI's

I agree that UVI lacks any kind of demoing ability and this definitely should be rectified. I don't like spending hundreds of £££ on something I can't try out first. Audio and video demos can only convey so much. But then, I don't know of many Kontakt based libraries that have demos either.

They're all pretty as good/bad as each other, I guess.

[Failed Muso]

I've found Failed Muso's reviews to be very helpful and they've helped a lot when trying to make my purchasing decisions.

This might surprise you but ...

+1 to your comment above.

And thank you very much too

[EvilDragon]

From what I hear, NI's licensing jackboot is bigger than UVI's

Not quite true. UVI only allows you to order a smaller number of licences (NI is minimum 500 IIRC). When same number of licences is taken into account, the price is pretty much the same, or even bigger for UVI. I guess you could make a deal with either NI or UVI to cut you some slack, but what I heard from some developers that were asking around for UVI licencing, they were (unpleasantly) surprised, because they expected more competitive pricing than what NI offers, and they didn't get it. So...

Yes, but the point is, if I've bought a Kontakt library, I expect it to work in Kontakt Player for more than 15 minutes. I don't know of any UVI library that doesn't work with UVI Workstation.

You are MISSING a point. There's a clear distinction between Kontakt library and Kontakt PLAYER library. UVI library is equal to Kontakt Player library. Anything else that isn't an UVI library can ONLY be opened in MF3, and this is equivalent to non-Kontakt Player libraries for which you must have full version of Kontakt. Gotcha?

For example, if Hollow Sun were to go UVI/MF3 way, because of (pretty high) licencing fees for UVI Workstation we couldn't do an UVI library, so you would need to have MF3 to use them - so it would be the same case as with Kontakt right now.