Unify by PluginGuru; The next big thing?

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Unify (Standard Edition)

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4damind wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2020 11:50 pm As I understand it: It's a synth rack and plug-in host?
I only post this because I've watched the YT videos, read this entire topic, and I'm still kinda scratching my head trying to figure out exactly what Unify's unique selling point is. I mean:

1. What is Unify, exactly?

2. Why would I need it? (I have Ableton Live 10 and around 15 top-quality paid-for VSTi's such as Omnisphere 2, Keyscape, Kontakt and Korg Triton)

3. How would Unify fold into and work with my existing DAW?

I see plenty of folks here raving about Unify - but nobody has yet told me why I might actually need it. Baffling.

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CalUKGR wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 9:29 am
4damind wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2020 11:50 pm As I understand it: It's a synth rack and plug-in host?
I only post this because I've watched the YT videos, read this entire topic, and I'm still kinda scratching my head trying to figure out exactly what Unify's unique selling point is. I mean:

1. What is Unify, exactly?

2. Why would I need it? (I have Ableton Live 10 and around 15 top-quality paid-for VSTi's such as Omnisphere 2, Keyscape, Kontakt and Korg Triton)

3. How would Unify fold into and work with my existing DAW?

I see plenty of folks here raving about Unify - but nobody has yet told me why I might actually need it. Baffling.
John explained it in an earlier post:

I replied to another thread here about Unify but I'll summarize again, I was very selfish and designed Unify to my demanding specifications as a voicing tool to make and sell the libraries that I create. I am blessed to be working with a very talented programmer named Shane Dunne who has been able to realize my design and everything I throw at the project into beautiful code!

Unify can:

• Load any plug-in format (AU (Mac), VST, VST3) into Unify standalone, VST, VST3 or Audio Unit

• Velocity layer or split an unlimited # of plug-ins (each layer grabs 1 processor thread in your computer so we're not jamming a ton of demands on a single processor) and then add as many audio effects to the insert effect chains (per layer), the 4 discreet AUX busses + Master Effects.

• Can make custom "subsets" of your plug-ins so you can see all the delays or reverb or wavetable synths or retro synths or newest synths or favorites that you own for easier access (I look at my audio effect list, organized by company and my head hurts when I try to remember which companies have a delay plug-in - this solves that challenge nicely!)

• Unify has 8 realtime knobs that can modulate every parameter in a patch (i.e. every paramter in all loaded plug-ins + the mixer)

•Multi-Thread aware and loads Patches as others have mentioned quite fast!

• License based super high level copy protection for selling the libraries we (or other 3rd party programmers) make - I believe this is a first for 3rd party plug-ins for other companies instruments.

• AND we're planning to add more features, effects and plug-ins we develop to Unify over time makes this a fun adventure I hope others want to join us on.

Plus making libraries for Omnisphere or Serum or Pigments 2, or Omnisphere + Pigments 2 (or whatever combo I or someone else wants to create) that also use 40+ audio effects and 7 synths
wtih 2.5GB of my samples that are included with Unify will make for patches unique to what you can do with just a single plug-in instrument.

AND FROM ANOTHER POST:

I appreciate this thread being created and hope this reply helps some of you understand more clearly our mission.

I'll start by saying that this plug-in primarily built for me to continue my sound design adventure that started in 2009. I have now created 80 patch libraries for a pretty healthy # of synthesizers with 40 libraries for Omnisphere alone. If you don't know my history, I've worked as one of the main patch designers for Korg since 1988 and have worked on MANY synthesizers for both software and hardware companies (this year alone, I was lead programmer for Brainworx Oberhausen and contributed 50 patches to Unfiltered Audio's LION plus wavetables from my Serum libraries were licensed for use in Korg's Gadget 2 and Korg's Electribe WAVE for iPad). Pretty amazing year to be honest with you before even starting to talk about adding Unify to the 2019 resume....

But let's talk about Unify and where it came from.

I'm DONE making libraries the way I have for 10 years. I've paid the licensing fee$,$$$s to make libraries for Kontakt player and I've dealt with the limited # of samples available to 3rd party sound developers for Omnisphere 2. I'm finally able to break free of these limitations with my own plug-in which will start with very basic capabilities in version 1.0 and will grow from there... we have very lofty goals for Unify. The fact that we've put together a handful of pretty amazing GPL license based synthesizers that many people have never heard of will shine the light on how great these instruments truly are and provide a way for me to show the power of Unify without requiring the use of ANY non GPL licensed plug-ins.

Yes, it's not as fully featured as some plug-ins in this arena, but at v1.0, Unify does some things already that NOTHING else can do (VST, VST3 + Audio Unify support for both plug-ins and DAW compatibility (for example, Reason's new plug-in is VST3 only at the moment but you can load it into Logic Pro X which only works with Audio Units RIGHT NOW), Unify has 2 MIDI Effects slots (can actually play more than 2 MIDI effects) and easily assign them to any of the created synth layers (right now, Ableton Live,Cubase and other DAW's require multiple channels + routing setups (or don't support MIDI effects AT ALL) before you can use MIDI effects), MultiThread support (for example build the same MULTI using multiple Omnisphere 2's and get more polyphony before your computer cries for mercy), super easy workflow to make splits/layers with any plug-ins you own, use as many audio effects as you want, user definable subsets to reorganize and display ALL your plug-ins the way YOU want to see them, custom effects we've built + our own custom Sample player accessing select samples from the 12 sample libraries I've created for Omnisphere/Kontakt and much much more). This isn't even everything included but I hope shows you just some of the abilities we have with version 1.0 that no other plug-in can accomplish at the moment.

The people behind this project = a team of 2 people. Shane Dunne in Canada (writing all of the code) and myself (I'm the director/designer for Unify). Shane has been writing the code for Unify since January FULL TIME and we're reaching our first point where we can release something we believe 1000% in. We have to start somewhere - neither of of have been paid a penny to date for the work we've put into Unify. We have big dreams and very challenging future goals. We've designed this to support many years of growth and advancement - what you see as version 1.0 will be quite different in time with everything we plan to add to Unify!

If you don't want to buy into Unify, that's totally fine. When you buy a future PlugInGuru library, it will come with a free Unify player that will work if you don't own the Standard or future Pro version of Unify. You don't have to own Unify in order to play the libraries I'll release (the player will be strictly a player with zero editing of sound parameters).

So we are not competing with anybody else. This isn't a competition in our minds. If you want to compare Unify to other plug-ins, that's fine (and to be expected because that's how humans work) but just so you know where we're coming from... this is far more than just a plug-in.

Kind Regards,
John "SkipPy" Lehmkuhl

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Thanks. I did read all that earlier in this thread, but came away thinking (and please correct me wherever I'm misinformed or just plain wrong):

1. Unify was designed as a kind of 'ROMpler' primarily to showcase and maximise Plugin Guru's sound libraries.
2. It can also host 3rd party VST/VSTis.
3. It can create multi-instrumental patches.
4. It can operate 'stand-alone' and as a VST itself within the user's DAW

But I'm still not seeing a compelling USP. Many existing DAWs can do something very similar already. What is Unify's advantage here? I don't intend to sound pernickety - I'm genuinely interested in this product, just not entirely sure what it is doing that existing DAWs do not (or don't do as well?).

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I think the primary advantage of Unify (or things like Patchwork or Bidule) over building a channel strip in a DAW is the ability to make combis that you can treat as a single instrument - much the same way that Ableton Live has racks. But unlike Ableton racks, you can port them between DAWs easily. And have a tagged search system to go find those combis easily.

There's little (if anything) you can't do in a DAW in terms of the routing: it's more about convenience and management. With the ability to put MIDI FX into the instrument, you've got potentially powerful options for orchestration. It's not anything you can't do in, say, Logic but there are arguments for having MIDI FX tuned for specific combis, multis or instruments and saved with them. But that may not be important to you. In which case: it's not for you.

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CalUKGR wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 9:45 am Thanks. I did read all that earlier in this thread, but came away thinking (and please correct me wherever I'm misinformed or just plain wrong):

1. Unify was designed as a kind of 'ROMpler' primarily to showcase and maximise Plugin Guru's sound libraries.
2. It can also host 3rd party VST/VSTis.
3. It can create multi-instrumental patches.
4. It can operate 'stand-alone' and as a VST itself within the user's DAW

But I'm still not seeing a compelling USP. Many existing DAWs can do something very similar already. What is Unify's advantage here? I don't intend to sound pernickety - I'm genuinely interested in this product, just not entirely sure what it is doing that existing DAWs do not (or don't do as well?).
It may or may not be for you. I can see many applicable use cases, though. Here are some:

1. You are a composer and are looking for a lot of great sounds for not very much money. ($59 intro price for 400 professionally produced sounds is about 15 cents a sound. Even at full price, only 20 cents a sound.)

2. You don't have the bread to buy something like Komplete but would like to have access to great sample libraries for not much $$$. You get a great base sample library and a platform that is expandable without breaking the bank.

3. You are a music producer and want to be able to layer your own synths without a lot of drama. Unify is a great platform for very quick layering and those layers can be easily saved.

4. You use multiple DAWs and want a solution to use your custom layers easily with various DAWs.

5. You are a sound designer who likes to craft custom sounds without being tied to a single synth. Unify has a sample player, arp, nice selection of free synths, and effects to create unique sounds on-the-fly within seconds that can be easily saved. Plus, you can add your own synths and effects seamlessly.

6. You collaborate with other composers that use different DAWs and/or OSes and want a platform for collaboration. If you stick with the stock sounds and instruments, that type of collaboration is very easy.

Hope this helps!

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Thanks for the input. This helps to clarify where Unify sits in terms of its offering. It does seem to be a ROMpler-style plugin, but I'm a big, big fan of the genre, and I know from what I've seen in the past that the guys at Plugin Guru are also fans of the same kind of big, lush cinematic sounds I favor (pads and arpeggios to die for). I think the price is very competitive, given it ships with a hefty 2.5GB of off-the-shelf sounds and combinations. I like the fact I can take existing combinations and swap out default instruments for any compatible VSTis I might already own. Creative possibilities there seem pretty boundless.

I will purchase this and see how I get on with it - it's a modest asking price. Thanks again for putting up with my questions.

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Is there some support for external hardware synth?

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4damind wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 12:19 pm Is there some support for external hardware synth?
No external synth support yet, but it is something that they are looking at.

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Even though I've not really found a use for Unify (yet) that Ableton can't already do for me with Instrument racks - I ended up picking it up for the huge library at the discounted price and also with the hope that investment now will help finance newer versions with added invaluable features.

realkuhl: For future releases would you be able to tweak the installer so it asks the user where you want the VSTs installed rather than it just assuming a folder? It seemed to dump the plugin automatically in C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST2, whereas my VST folder is actually C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins\

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mcbpete wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 12:50 pm realkuhl: For future releases would you be able to tweak the installer so it asks the user where you want the VSTs installed rather than it just assuming a folder? It seemed to dump the plugin automatically in C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST2, whereas my VST folder is actually C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins\
That would be a good question for @getdunne.

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mcbpete wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 12:50 pm realkuhl: For future releases would you be able to tweak the installer so it asks the user where you want the VSTs installed rather than it just assuming a folder? It seemed to dump the plugin automatically in C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST2, whereas my VST folder is actually C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins\
I will do this, just as soon as I can. Now that Unify is out I'm getting a sudden lesson in just how much more I have to learn. I thank all of you for your interest and your patience.
-shane

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mcbpete wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 12:50 pm Even though I've not really found a use for Unify (yet) that Ableton can't already do for me with Instrument racks - I ended up picking it up for the huge library at the discounted price and also with the hope that investment now will help finance newer versions with added invaluable features.
I think that where Unify is great is that is DAW independent. It's good for people that use more than one DAW, like me. When playing with bands I mostly use Apple Mainstage, but when producing and recording, Ableton and there's no easy way to pass some channel configuration between the DAWs, it's the tedious work of duplicating and copying the plugins settings.

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getdunne wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:16 pm I will do this, just as soon as I can. Now that Unify is out I'm getting a sudden lesson in just how much more I have to learn. I thank all of you for your interest and your patience.
-shane
Top man - appreciate your efforts :tu:

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Bought, downloading ...

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Props also to Shane for being kind enough to provide hosting space for both Krakli and GyL :)

Unify seems really cool- but honestly, the only thing I'd be using out of its featureset would be the ability to load AU plugins- and, while there are some AU-only plugins that would great to finally be able to use, there's pretty much 3 or more equivalent VSTs for any given AU, so it's never been life-or-death.

Wishing you both the best, though.
Music can no longer soothe the worried thoughts of monarchs; it can only tell you when it's time to buy margarine or copulate. -xoxos
Discontinue use if rash or irritation develops.

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