All hail the Uhbiks

[sramsay]

This is really just a love letter to the Uhbiks (Uhbiken? Uhbiki?). I started out using them here and there, but before long, I was using them on just about every mix. They're just fantastic. The documentation mentions "tape" dozens of times, and as a tape nut, I get it -- there's something tape-like in the way these things work and feel.

I know there have been earnest calls for an Uhbik compressor, but I think what I want is to see the full range of traditional effects rounded out: distortion and ring mod (we're half way to the latter -- literally -- with Uhbik-S). A physical modeler would pretty much put me in heaven, but that's probably beyond the scope of "traditional."

I understand from these forums that Uhbik hasn't been as commercially successful as Urs might have hoped. I cannot for the life of me understand why (I don't find Soundtoys nearly as compelling, though opinions differ). Soundtoys seems to me very oriented toward rock music (I do acousmatic/sound collage/musique conrete); Uhbik takes a more generalist approach. They're solidly analogue sounding, but without emulating any particular hardware. They're just superb.

So: I'll refrain from asking the perennial questions about future development of Uhbik, and just say thanks for these *awesome* plugs. To anyone who wanders this way: These are really worth the trouble getting to know, and after awhile, you fall in love with the big knobs and the big sound.

[rockmachine]

I am with you sramsay. They are by far the effects I go to most often, not only because of their superb sound quality, but due to how many parameters you have control over. Toss in VST automation and there are so many cool things you can do with your mix downs. I use the pitch shifter a lot as a replacement for chorusing/flanging type things and loved automating its parameters. You can do such cool phase shifting by doing that and it gets you away from the regulated LFO driven things.

[sramsay]

I use the pitch shifter a lot as a replacement for chorusing/flanging type things and loved automating its parameters. You can do such cool phase shifting by doing that and it gets you away from the regulated LFO driven things.

Yeah, I'm forever trying to get past LFO-driven modulation. It has it's place, obviously, but when you want a sound to really morph and evolve over time . . .

Just really can't figure out why these things aren't on everyone's top ten list. I was particularly surprised by the lukewarm reception among the Reason folks. Nothing against Reason (and I don't use it, so I can't say), but do the Uhbiks really add nothing to their arsenal?

[sramsay]

One more note: I will admit that, despite appearances, there is a learning curve. T and D are particularly formidable, I think. But man, is it worth it.

[truelight]

The Uhbik-A is one of the few in the box reverbs I'll still use ... it sounds awesome, I think it's worth the bundle's price alone! I also find myself using the Uhbik-T in manual mode as as easy way to delay one channel a few milliseconds to help with panning.

[UncleAge]

They're just fantastic.

I feel the same way. I like all of them but probably favor Runciter a bit more than the others.

[zerocrossing]

I'll tell you the problem. It's their individual names. Once you use them for a while you remember them, but at first they're just letters (except when they're not). I had to put them each in a folder with a name that made sense. D16's Silverline bundle also uses nonsense names, but they're easier to remember. Uhbik A is a horrible name for a reverb. I honestly think this keeps them out of people's minds.

[raring]

I fully agree with zerocrossing, the names of UHBIKs are really a problem!

I use them primary in surround configuratons and they work great, but I miss a flexible output-matrx like in the GRM-TOOLS"Space".

[V0RT3X]

Using the Uhbiks with Bitwig studios integrated modululation tools is pretty darn fun.

[morelia]

Owned them at one time and demoed on at least 3 occasions. I don't like what they do. I've never had a result that grabbed me, other than some basic filtering or a delay. They might be good for some crazy stuff but I don't go for that. The main issue might be that I primarily do rock guitar based music. There is the odd synth track here and there as well as some electronic drums but I mostly prefer a more traditional approach to effects. I appreciate and use some gear with crazy stuff potential (FabFilter Delay, Soundtoys FilterFreak/Crystallizer, UberMod, Tantra, Speakerphone, d16 Silverline, Ohmicide, Fxpansion Etch, xfer Lfo Tool etc etc) but the Uhbik sound just didn't appeal to me. Always just assumed they were more suited to electronic music but wouldn't really know about that. Anyway, there you go, at lease one reason why these are not on my top ten list.

[aMUSEd]

Uhbik A is a horrible name for a reverb. I honestly think this keeps them out of people's minds.

Maybe Uhbik should stay as name of the collection but individual fx should have the Uhbik shortened, not the descriptor - so U-Delay, U-Ambient etc (or maybe UH-Delay etc?)

[Urs]

If we could change the names without breaking compatibility, we would.

If it was cool to showcase their sound quality in comparison to competing products, we would.

I think it's becoming more and more clear to me that what we stand for is "take shortcuts only when we must", when the common practice seems to be "... when we can". Not sure, maybe just a rambling...

[murnau]

Don't have a problem with A for Ambience. I still use it just to "glue" layered sounds and give them a sense of unity.

[exmatproton]

If we could change the names without breaking compatibility, we would.

If it was cool to showcase their sound quality in comparison to competing products, we would.

I think it's becoming more and more clear to me that what we stand for is "take shortcuts only when we must", when the common practice seems to be "... when we can". Not sure, maybe just a rambling...

Just release a v2 of uhbik with "normal" names for the people who bought the package. They can use the old ones for old projects and the new ones for new projects...

[murnau]

Yeah, v2 is long overdue.