KVR Audio

blortblort · Post by **blortblort** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:06 am

it'll be interesting to hear the official word on V1 to V2 preset bank compatibility or if registered owners of the V1 versions will be receiving the V2 bank, etc. etc... as there certainly seems to be no way to import the axf file from the V1 banks

Breeze · Post by **Breeze** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:14 am

I can't believe they're making GUI's this small in 2013!!

arachnaut · Post by **arachnaut** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:16 am

There is a quite different volume setting between similar instruments.
The older VA-1 is a bit louder and sounds more aggressive.
The newer VA-2 is a bit more refined and complex.

Muziksculp · Post by **Muziksculp** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:26 am

Breeze wrote:I can't believe they're making GUI's this small in 2013!!

I agree.

Unless they think they have to pay for GUI Real Estate.

saminurmela · Post by **saminurmela** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:50 am

Uh, I love the UA-1 (even the UI is fine by me) and other AAS vsts, but my first reaction was an immediate pass ... contents shout a x.1 upgrade but they made it a totally new synth? Still, the $29 is a good price for the new effects and a patch bank if I had a need for them.

But they'll probably drop UA-1 support though, so maybe one should pay the $29 just to stay in update train.

Waiting to see if Tassman and String Studio will get the same treatment.

Mister Natural · Post by **Mister Natural** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 6:07 am

upgraded tonight(full disclosure - always really liked the old Ultra as my working-man's retro Prophet)

initial run-through was pretty fun - great presets, terrific sound(seems a little "fuller"-sounding than v.1), the new arpeggiator is worth the upgrade price alone, efx sound much improved, killer brass/Juno emulations

twist a few knobs in the Edit panel and . . . holy $#it . . . that sounds so cool . . . wait a minute . . . gonna stop typing here and go play with this instrument for a while

masterhiggins · Post by **masterhiggins** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 6:12 am

What is up w/ AAS these days? Chromaphone was a solid release, but Lounge Lizard 4 was a similar disappointment to UA2. Ultra Analog has been out for 9 years now and this is what they had in development? A 1.5 release would've been a smarter idea, even as a paid update, but an updated browser and a couple more fx? Seriously? Talk about shooting for low expectations.

-Sam

Spitfire31 · Post by **Spitfire31** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 6:38 am

Mister Natural wrote:…the new arpeggiator is worth the upgrade price alone…

Is there any MIDI out from the arp? That could be useful, for instance, to double sounds in a DAW?

/Joachim

sin night · Post by **sin night** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:04 am

+1 on the gui critiques: it's too small and, even if I can work with it, that means that I have to spend (waste) time in order to move the pointer exacly over the small area of the controls. I also have doubts about the reason behind all those tabs, since I prefer a simple gui with all the controls under my sight when possible; a gui like that seems more geared to a mobile/tablet user.

So far I have mixed feelings about this update: I'm happy because I can finally use it in my 64 bit setup (I don't like using bridges, so I used VA-1 only when I absolutely had to, even though I liked its sound), but I'm dubious about the new gui and I'm a little bit deprexed at the idea of manually porting a few custom patches I made on VA-1 to VA-2 (some controls have different values now, for example they go from 0 to 100 or 0 to 50 instead of 1 to 127 as in VA-1, so you can't directly enter the same value, and you can't even set the controls just by looking at them, since some of them now have a non-linear - logarithmic? - behaviour).

Anyway, given the upgrade price, I'm quite ok with the new version.

ChiTown24 · Post by **ChiTown24** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:06 am

Some of the belly aching seems pre-mature or based on semantics { i.e would be happy with a paid 1.5 upgrade, instead of a paid 2.0 upgrade ? with the same feature set ?

}. For $29/$39 the price-to-feature-ratio is right imo. Soundbanks retail for that alone. And the extras are welcome.

What does Ultra Analog 1 or 2 offer in a world of Synthsquads & Monarks ? CPU bang-for-buck. If that's not a concern for you, then I envy you

Nevertheless it's a worthy attribute and as such UA 1 or 2 is still relevant today imo.

even if Tassman 5 arrives with 'only' a GUI overhaul, the improved preset system, and maybe some improved effects... at the right price I would certainly welcome that without complaint. Of course, I would also be happy with more significant improvements in the patching area {though a GUI overhaul would go some way towards that ends} or some more significant additions to sound or modulation sources.

This is the age of entitlement!

kiezum · Post by **kiezum** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:07 am

masterhiggins wrote:...but Lounge Lizard 4 was a similar disappointment to UA2. Ultra Analog has been out for 9 years now and this is what they had in development? ...Talk about shooting for low expectations.

I agree. I didn't upgrade my Lounge Lizard for $39 (there was no promotion price on the upgrade). If UA-2 will load my UA-1 patches I will upgrade, because of the new presets and the updated GUI. But both updates are really disappointing!

BBFG# · Post by **BBFG#** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:48 am

Got it earlier today while checking my email. It was just a download link and serial number. VA1 has never been the thing I was purchasing directly. Once again, as so many vendors do, the price of buying one more product warrants buying them all for cheaper than the price of the three I wanted. But all in all, I've been pleased and even surprised by the three synths (VA1; UAs; T4). Even though I've pretty much treated them as players anyway, they have a 'rounder' tone than other synths claiming to have recreated the same classic patch. So knowing this, I often have three versions of the same sound and the UA definitely has a character that can make it the choice in the mix. The UA GUI didn't seem that hard to me and this VA2 seems even clearer once you flip its pages. Logical, but it is small. And I haven't spent anymore time on it than going through the presets yet. It will take a little more time to see if the size gets to me. But my immediate reaction is I like it, especially for free.

Even looking at the soundsets, out of the five from AAS I have, I only paid for one (for VS1) and only own one for VA1. I don't mind seeing VA2 as a new synth if need be. And since I still have VA1 and the AAS Player, I can't see where I'm losing anything.

blob 59 · Post by **blob 59** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:35 am

I qualified for a free copy, having purchased UA-1 at long last from the Marketplace, having been grabbed by the sound of the Session a few weeks earlier.

I did like the single page layout of the UA-1 with everything to hand, but am getting the hang of the tabs and from what I have heard I really like the sound of UA-2.

I would hestitate to say whether it is worth full list price having just explored it briefly, but the GUI would not be a deal breaker, however I am with my tastes perhaps in a minority being fine with the look of their T4, another great sounding creation.

ZenPunkHippy · Post by **ZenPunkHippy** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:47 am

This update sounds great, but the plugin window is irritatingly small.

Was it developed on the 13" laptop?! There is no need for it to be so small ... grr.

Peace,
Andy.

muLperi · Post by **muLperi** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:10 am

I am sad now that I sold my VA-1 some months ago.

AAS Ultra Analog VA-2