Unify by PluginGuru; The next big thing?

[starflakeprj]

Did someone else get a forced restart (Windows) after the installation of Unify?

I did on my Windows 10 PC, It just rebooted itself without warning.

That's annoying, hope they will fix that.

[dbender]

Just bought and installed Unify. Given the problems I've been hearing about the plugin scanner, I'm wondering if I should not do scans of my plugin folders, and instead just individually install into Unify the specific particular plugins I'm thinking of using in Unify.

Any one have any insights on this based on their experience with Unify?

I'm wondering if I do it as I describe above whether I'd have to do that every time a plugin I've previously installed that way into Unify would need to be reinstalled that way whenever the plugin is update?

I'll hold off on doing a plugin scan in Unify until I get some feedback info here.

Thanks.

[tatanka]

I think that really depends a lot of about how many plugins you have installed.

I use Unify now on two different machines, I had that problem with scanner not running anymore at a specific point (the other went great like it supposed too, just restarts itself till its done) on one and then drag all the ones I really need manually on the pluginwindow and all worked fine after that. BUT: at that point where it kind of "broke" I already had hundreds of plugins installed nicely I now can choose from and I am glad for that cause especially with Unify I really dont know WHAT crazy thing I might need tomorrow for the next unthinkable patch .

So my two cents: if you have more then around 50 plugs you want to use in Unify its worth the try I would think.

[dbender]

Thanks, tatanka. Are you on Mac or Windows? Which plugin scan did you have the problem with, i.e., VST, VST3 and (if you're on Mac) AU?

[tatanka]

I am on win 10 with both machines, the older notebook (which has some other problems with unify with the included patches) strangely worked well threw all the patches, then the newer win 10 pc had the problems. I never realized WHICH plugin exactly caused the problem but it was the vst2 scan if I remember well. But I really have to admit that my vst2 plugin folder is kind of a mess with jbridge bridged 32 bit plugins, tryouts that had had ended the demo period and I never deleted, whatever mess you can imagine it is there

[DarkStar]

I'm a bit late to this, but .... a few initial questions:

(a) is the Unify plug-in 64-bit or 32-bit or both?
(b) how many outputs?
(c) If the answer to the above is 2, can you make it, say, 16 (or 32 or 64)?
(d) I have some VSTs that receive and output MIDI; how would I use them? On a MIDI lane or before an instruments? Or either?
(e) I saw in one of the videos that the Macro knobs can be renamed - are those names made available to the DAW?
(f) Given the configs that could be built in Unify, 16 or even 32 Macro knobs (or at least published parameters) would be valuable,
(g) Can a Macro knob control more than one parameter?
(h) is there a PDF User Manual?

[zoidkirb]

I'd just like to just point out this is one, if not the most responsive dev ever for something like this synth. It is definitely appreciated.

I'd barely even heard of Plugin Guru until a few weeks ago but took the plunge based on the idea of Unify and the enthusiasm displayed from the devs in the public forum. And so far Unify is living up to my expectations and more. Sure I can build similar patches in any of my 3 Daws but Unify just feels more like what a professional sound designer might come up with
Throw in portability between Daws and the inbuilt collection of sounds, vst's and patches, and on top of that devs that are listening and striving to grow this thing....it actually feels exciting to be onboard for this experience

[dionenoid]

I ran in to a small but annoying problem : When you have Macro 1 assigned to CC1 (as standard) plus assign some other parameters to Macro 1 (for example cutoff for other layers), Unify will end up writing double automation lanes in the daw. Also resulting in unpredictable behaviour when rendering/bouncing. When just using Modulation Wheel the other assigned parameters won't respond.

Also, the built-in Waterverb seems to be randomly changing settings ; when you try to automate it with a Macro, or when reopening/resetting presets. Maybe some other built-in fx do this too, i didn't use the rest that much. Other ppl notice this ?

[getdunne]

Did someone else get a forced restart (Windows) after the installation of Unify?

Hi, Shane Dunne, author of Unify here. The forced restart thing was a horrible mistake on my part. I'm very new to building installers on both Mac and Windows. I tried to save some learning-curve time by searching StackOverflow for Inno Setup examples, but was too trusting in copy/pasting what I found. I learned my lesson!

I have a new Windows installer in beta-test right now, which is much better behaved, and does things like asking where the user wants to install VST plug-ins (and remembers the selection in the Registry). I hope to have it out next week. In the meantime, I apologize to the folks whose PC's rebooted unexpectedly!

-shane

[getdunne]

I'm a bit late to this, but .... a few initial questions:

(a) is the Unify plug-in 64-bit or 32-bit or both?
(b) how many outputs?
(c) If the answer to the above is 2, can you make it, say, 16 (or 32 or 64)?
(d) I have some VSTs that receive and output MIDI; how would I use them? On a MIDI lane or before an instruments? Or either?
(e) I saw in one of the videos that the Macro knobs can be renamed - are those names made available to the DAW?
(f) Given the configs that could be built in Unify, 16 or even 32 Macro knobs (or at least published parameters) would be valuable,
(g) Can a Macro knob control more than one parameter?
(h) is there a PDF User Manual?

(a) 64-bit only. We may do a 32-bit "special edition" in future. (May even be FREE.)
(b) Stereo-out only now, multi-output support coming.
(c) Yes, given time.
(d) On a MIDI lane. There is presently no other option to put plug-ins "before" an instrument in Unify. (More flexible routing options are on our roadmap.)
(e) Not at the moment, but that's on the list too. DAWs differ; some might work better than others.
(f) We'll have support for arbitrarily-many macros in the near future.
(g) Yes, with a separate user-definable response curve for each parameter.
(h) No; manual is online at https://pluginguru.net/unify/manual and is still a work-in-progress. I see little point in making PDFs for a document that's destined to change so much.

[getdunne]

I ran in to a small but annoying problem : When you have Macro 1 assigned to CC1 (as standard) plus assign some other parameters to Macro 1 (for example cutoff for other layers), Unify will end up writing double automation lanes in the daw. Also resulting in unpredictable behaviour when rendering/bouncing. When just using Modulation Wheel the other assigned parameters won't respond.

Also, the built-in Waterverb seems to be randomly changing settings ; when you try to automate it with a Macro, or when reopening/resetting presets. Maybe some other built-in fx do this too, i didn't use the rest that much. Other ppl notice this ?

When working in a DAW, it would be better to unassign CC1 from the Macro, and make a corresponding assignment in the DAW itself. Otherwise, as you say, you can end redundantly capturing both MIDI and automation changes. I tend to suppress capture of automation data except when I need it, but DAWs vary, and everyone's approach is different, so it's not for me to say.

Re random changes in Waterverb, or any built-in plug-ins: if there's any way you can send us steps to reproduce the problem, I can track it down. Please send such reports direct to UnifySupport@PlugInGuru.com.

[DarkStar]

...
I have a new Windows installer in beta-test right now, which is much better behaved, and does things like asking where the user wants to install VST plug-ins (and remembers the selection in the Registry). I hope to have it out next week. In the meantime, I apologize to the folks whose PC's rebooted unexpectedly!

-shane

Good oh! Can the installer also ask where the Unify Data folder is to be installed - that will save messing around afterwards moving things about.

Also it might be better to avoid use of the Windows Registry and use some sort of .ini file stored wherever the standalone program is installed. (Opinions vary )

And thank you for your replies to my questions -all good

[getdunne]

...
I have a new Windows installer in beta-test right now, which is much better behaved, and does things like asking where the user wants to install VST plug-ins (and remembers the selection in the Registry). I hope to have it out next week. In the meantime, I apologize to the folks whose PC's rebooted unexpectedly!

-shane

Good oh! Can the installer also ask where the Unify Data folder is to be installed - that will save messing around afterwards moving things about.

Also it might be better to avoid use of the Windows Registry and use some sort of .ini file stored wherever the standalone program is installed. (Opinions vary )

And thank you for your replies to my questions -all good

This would be easy, straightforward, and robust on Windows, but it's a nightmare on MacOS, especially Catalina. I'm working on an approach which will completely separate all the stuff the installers manage (binaries and related files, which can live in fixed locations) from the stuff Unify itself manages (patches, samples, etc., whose locations are user-specified). It's not quite done yet, but that's where I'm heading.

[dionenoid]

I ran in to a small but annoying problem : When you have Macro 1 assigned to CC1 (as standard) plus assign some other parameters to Macro 1 (for example cutoff for other layers), Unify will end up writing double automation lanes in the daw. Also resulting in unpredictable behaviour when rendering/bouncing. When just using Modulation Wheel the other assigned parameters won't respond.

Also, the built-in Waterverb seems to be randomly changing settings ; when you try to automate it with a Macro, or when reopening/resetting presets. Maybe some other built-in fx do this too, i didn't use the rest that much. Other ppl notice this ?

When working in a DAW, it would be better to unassign CC1 from the Macro, and make a corresponding assignment in the DAW itself. Otherwise, as you say, you can end redundantly capturing both MIDI and automation changes. I tend to suppress capture of automation data except when I need it, but DAWs vary, and everyone's approach is different, so it's not for me to say.

Re random changes in Waterverb, or any built-in plug-ins: if there's any way you can send us steps to reproduce the problem, I can track it down. Please send such reports direct to UnifySupport@PlugInGuru.com.

Yeah, by now i learned to do that. Most presets in Unify have CC1 at Macro1 btw, just warning ppl.

The random changes seem to be happening because of this same thing but i shall check further.

The most important problem is the latency tho. I realize you have much work to do but that latency issue should really be priority.

[getdunne]

@dionenoid Thanks for your feedback.

MIDI CC/macro assignments used to be saved in Unify patches, but this has changed. They are now saved separately in the Unify settings (manually change assignments, and they'll be saved automatically) and in "CC Assignment Presets". I have just added a short section on this to the Unify user's manual at https://pluginguru.net/unify/manual/dok ... acro_knobs.

Regarding latency, only a few people are reporting latency issues. I made a note of your earlier posting on the topic, and noticed you said you were using Win7 with an RME Fireface audio box. One other Fireface user was having all sorts of issues with sluggish response, and it turned out to be vertical-refresh setting for his NVidia video card. Probably no connection but I mention it just the same.

The main thing I wanted to ask about latency was: can you give an example of a specific set-up in Unify where you find the latency unacceptable? If I can reproduce it, I can figure out what's happening.

Thanks in advance and best wishes,
-shane