Repro-1 (out now)

[Gadget Fiend]

1. The Mod Section does audio rate modulation. In Repro-1 it operates at 176/192kHz, always. A ModMatrix that reaches almost any knob on the user interface couldn't possibly.

2. Zebra, Diva, ACE... they're too much for many people. Some people prefer simple. Maybe they don't like to have the feeling that they miss out on possibilities because they haven't used each feature in a patch. Maybe it nags them. They want Repro-1, not a Pro-One with added envelopes, LFOs, extra oscillators, morphings here and there.

I don't believe I asked for "added envelopes and extra oscillators" - although a second LFO in 2016 should be a given.

If the goal is simplicity, then again, why have two ways of accomplishing the same thing? You could still include a couple of hard-wired mod routings that run at audio rates while still following the same basic design pattern as the Performance section.

Incidentally, as a Director of Product Management for a reasonably large software organization, I work closely with our UX team to implement consistent and predictable design patterns. And thus I can say with some authority (that is supported by countless UX studies,) that including two completely different ways of doing the same thing is simply bad design - especially in this case when it's not at all clear to the end user that the "Modulation" section runs at audio rates (which nevertheless still doesn't warrant a different and horribly outdated hardware-centric UI treatment for these particular controls).

[Taurus]

Urs success shows that he is right. Nothing more to say about this topic.

[david.beholder]

"Emualtions are useless" whine is new "cpu load is to high" whine.
Well whiners gonna whine anyway. Thanks god I have lpf.

[Gadget Fiend]

Urs success shows that he is right. Nothing more to say about this topic.

U-he has been comparatively successful (as a small software developer) because their instruments tend to sound better than the competition's (but at a higher CPU load) and strike a good balance between features and ease of use.

Does this mean that Urs' judgement regarding his instruments' user interfaces is infallible? Hardly. I'm just pointing out something very basic (that including two ways of accomplishing the same thing is a sign of poor design). Urs is obviously free to disregard these UI inconsistencies. It's his company and his products.

EDIT: I should have mentioned that I already purchased Repro-1. So my minor critiques aside, I still think that Repro-1 is a nice sounding synth and a great value at $69.

[spunkmuffin]

Thanks god I have lpf.

Or band-reject.

[PAK]

Tried the demo. Instrument wise, the general "feel" seems better than Diva. It's also easy to get fun / interesting results with the resonance and modulation. The effects are also good - though Jaws likes to eat CPU even more than swimmers.

For more general sounds, especially emulative stuff, Diva does better thanks to its greater shaping options. Since I had the Diva preset already (it makes a good "test" sound) here's RePro's included YazzLead preset Vs Diva to get some idea of the difference that makes, though RePro could be tweaked closer than the bundled preset..
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/375 ... _RePro.mp3

Message being enjoy it for what it is than isn't. For the "what it isn't" category don't expect it to come out ahead, even for certain Prophet 5 sounds, when up against Diva.

Personally, I miss a lack of polyphony a lot. I'm not a fan of limited shaping options too since, once a certain quality level is attained, it's the main advantage plugins have over hardware based instruments. As I'm not super-interested in a Pro One emulation either, this product isn't for me. But, for those who want an easy to use monosynth, which sounds vintagey-ish with less tweaking about than Diva, I'm sure it's a different story..

If you find the background of the tweak section makes things hard to see you can use the pink dots to locate tweak points, but I still found it difficult and switched it to use the main synth background instead. If it bothers you too, replace "BG-Tweak.png" with the one from this rar file. It should do the job until fancier skins come along. Also includes an optional 2nd png to remove the Lyrebird logo.

Note: File won't stay up long, if anyone wants it..
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/375 ... ro_GUI.rar

[Viktor [TUC]]

Since I had the Diva preset already (it makes a good "test" sound) here's RePro's included YazzLead preset Vs Diva to get some idea of the difference that makes, though RePro could be tweaked closer than the bundled preset..

Yes, my Repro-1 version can be improved, make the reverb brighter and open the filter more. On the other hand, the Diva preset is too bright and could also use some work to match the song more closely.
Well... I might be mistaken but I've read that the original might not have been a Pro-One sound anyway, but an ARP 2600, so we're all "interpreting" anyway.

[lectrixboogaloo]

I don't really miss the polyphony. i do miss more flexible modulation options, but it is what it is. the pro-one 'mod matrix' gets you some basic stuff not too awkwardly and then pushes you mostly toward making tons of video game noises? surely, i don't know the tricks of the pro-one trade and don't know it that well, anyway. but, it would be nice if the tweaks page could let you re-route anything wherever. that would be ace.

not really complaining, though. with the nice mono-moog emus going around, this is a very nice alt to them. coincidental to the way the pro-one was at the time, maybe?

[PAK]

On the other hand, the Diva preset is too bright and could also use some work to match the song more closely.
Well... I might be mistaken but I've read that the original might not have been a Pro-One sound anyway, but an ARP 2600, so we're all "interpreting" anyway.

That's right, it's an Arp 2600. I played it into Wavelab rather than sequence it.

A lot of the recorded versions are very dull. I used this for reference.. (wups.. it was actually this one )


Generally, I tweak towards brighter since A) age+ears and B) Tape based finished recordings tend to dull the actual instrument. Also tends to be a lot easier to dull things later, if needed, than add elements that aren't there either, soo..

There's a semi-well known version done by Unease on the Pro One too..
http://www.unease.se/mp3/Unease-Dont_Go_replica.mp3

[Ingonator]

I don't really miss the polyphony. i do miss more flexible modulation options, but it is what it is. the pro-one 'mod matrix' gets you some basic stuff not too awkwardly and then pushes you mostly toward making tons of video game noises? surely, i don't know the tricks of the pro-one trade and don't know it that well, anyway. but, it would be nice if the tweaks page could let you re-route anything wherever. that would be ace.

not really complaining, though. with the nice mono-moog emus going around, this is a very nice alt to them. coincidental to the way the pro-one was at the time, maybe?

You got 2 additional mod matrix slots right to the keyboard where you could assign different mod sources to most of the knobs at the main GUI. Mod destinations are assigned with drag&drop or right-click on the destinations tab which opens a list. Default sources are Velocity and Aftertouch but those could be changed.

Besides the TWEAKS page the effects section is quite interesting too and while you could record/play sequences from the main GUI you could edit the sequences at the dedicated SEQUENCER page (or create them from scratch there).

[Caine123]

will it be possible to use it polyphonic?

[wagtunes]

will it be possible to use it polyphonic?

No.

[beely]

Personally, I like it when emulations faithfully recreate the original, as many of these design decisions inform the character, and in many cases, if you remove these or change these things, you can take away from the feel of the instrument.

I also don't feel limitations are always a bad thing - there are other synths which have features galore, and more features does not necessary make something better. In fact, for me, I've sort of considered it as a downside to many of u-he's earlier products - take a look at MFM for example - it's feature overload and results in a complex too difficult to get to know (but of course, powerful for those that want to get to know it).

So, for me at least, the lack of ten pages of every possible option is a strength to Repro, not a weakness, and the original product inception was always "we want to do a Pro-1, faithfully" and of course, extending to improving such features where it doesn't destroy the character of the original.

It comes to which features you should preserve, improve, or extend, and for me I think where Repro-1 stands is a nice place in the u-he line up, and I look forward to more instruments in that range. For the power users, there's always other products.

I just don't think *every* product needs to have *all* possible features, just because it's software, or because we can.

[lectrixboogaloo]

I don't really miss the polyphony. i do miss more flexible modulation options, but it is what it is. the pro-one 'mod matrix' gets you some basic stuff not too awkwardly and then pushes you mostly toward making tons of video game noises? surely, i don't know the tricks of the pro-one trade and don't know it that well, anyway. but, it would be nice if the tweaks page could let you re-route anything wherever. that would be ace.

not really complaining, though. with the nice mono-moog emus going around, this is a very nice alt to them. coincidental to the way the pro-one was at the time, maybe?

You got 2 additional mod matrix slots right to the keyboard where you could assign different mod sources to most of the knobs at the main GUI. Mod destinations are assigned with drag&drop or right-click on the destinations tab which opens a list. Default sources are Velocity and Aftertouch but those could be changed.

Besides the TWEAKS page the effects section is quite interesting too and while you could record/play sequences from the main GUI you could edit the sequences at the dedicated SEQUENCER page (or create them from scratch there).

oh thanks!

[aMUSEd]

re-route anything wherever. that would be ace.

Indeed it would