UVI Quadra: Muted and Harmonics and now Metal and Wood.

[Gribs]

Is Quadra more about the sequencers or the sound of the samples?

I waited over night for it to download and just started getting into it.

I am on a little vacation through early next week and watched pretty much all the videos I could find yesterday, including Simon's and the Marula Music guy's video. I would say it is both. The samples sound really good to me and there are significant editing possibilities for the four layers. Having said that, I wouldn't buy this to be a deep-sampled guitar, harp, or other library (in fact if that were what it is I would not have purchased it due to having my own collection or real guitars). It is an instrument that uses vector-style morphing between sample-based sound generators with different subtractive filtering for each layer and interesting sequencing/arpeggiating possibilities for modulation. It is not necessary to use the arp if you don't want to. In fact, Jordan Rudess posted a short video where he just shreds on a few of the instruments.

Even thought it is not a deep sampled guitar library, one of the things I'm planning to do with this is mess around with turning off all the effects and playing it through some amp modeling software as effect (Amp Room in my case). I want to try putting similar-to but not-guitars through it.

[plexuss]

Is Quadra more about the sequencers or the sound of the samples?

Both. It appears UVI spend time getting samples that work well in the context of layered sequences. As well, the squencers are the most sophisticated I've seen so far in an UVI instrument. It makes sense that both would show signs of product quality focus consdiering they are the essence of this instrument. I am surprised at how polished and produced the presets sounds - thats partly the production on the samples shining through.

[Dirtgrain]

In fact, Jordan Rudess posted a short video where he just shreds on a few of the instruments.

Ya, I noticed that one. He is a human sequencer. Also maybe he doesn't want anything to do with sequencers, given his talent/skill.

[dblock]

You can directly try UVIWorkstation which is free.
If it works, then Quadra will work as it's soundbank running in it.
Windows 7 is not officially supported but it works fine AFAIK.

Oops!I kind of screwed myself. I bought Quandra because it made perfect sense that if I can use my UVI Workstation with the libraries I have, Quandra should work but what I didn't realize is that I didn't have the latest version of UVI Workstation needed for Quandra to work. When I tried downloading the UVI Workstation update, the prompt said "This program doesn't support the version of Windows (7) I'm running" so I can't install it therefore I won't be able to run Quandra. I'm not complaining. I took the risk. Just letting people know to ALWAYS make sure they have the latest version of UVI in determining if the newer software will work on an older system. I'm stuck with Windows 7 for now because My workstation can be upgraded since Openlabs doesn't support NekoXXL hardware anymore. Oh well, lesson learned.

[plexuss]

You can directly try UVIWorkstation which is free.
If it works, then Quadra will work as it's soundbank running in it.
Windows 7 is not officially supported but it works fine AFAIK.

Oops!I kind of screwed myself. I bought Quandra because it made perfect sense that if I can use my UVI Workstation with the libraries I have, Quandra should work but what I didn't realize is that I didn't have the latest version of UVI Workstation needed for Quandra to work. When I tried downloading the UVI Workstation update, the prompt said "This program doesn't support the version of Windows (7) I'm running" so I can't install it therefore I won't be able to run Quandra. I'm not complaining. I took the risk. Just letting people know to ALWAYS make sure they have the latest version of UVI in determining if the newer software will work on an older system. I'm stuck with Windows 7 for now because My workstation can be upgraded since Openlabs doesn't support NekoXXL hardware anymore. Oh well, lesson learned.

I am sure UVI would refund you if you ask. Worth a try if you want to go that route.

Your warning is a good one. Also makes sure to look at other things like CPU and memory requirements. There are some plugins that only support certain CPU technology as well which can be a trap if you don't check first. For example Massive X only supports AVX and Equator 2 only Metal video framework (on mac) - both which I don't have. Sometimes the OS is not the only limiting factor.

[dblock]

You can directly try UVIWorkstation which is free.
If it works, then Quadra will work as it's soundbank running in it.
Windows 7 is not officially supported but it works fine AFAIK.

Oops!I kind of screwed myself. I bought Quandra because it made perfect sense that if I can use my UVI Workstation with the libraries I have, Quandra should work but what I didn't realize is that I didn't have the latest version of UVI Workstation needed for Quandra to work. When I tried downloading the UVI Workstation update, the prompt said "This program doesn't support the version of Windows (7) I'm running" so I can't install it therefore I won't be able to run Quandra. I'm not complaining. I took the risk. Just letting people know to ALWAYS make sure they have the latest version of UVI in determining if the newer software will work on an older system. I'm stuck with Windows 7 for now because My workstation can be upgraded since Openlabs doesn't support NekoXXL hardware anymore. Oh well, lesson learned.

I am sure UVI would refund you if you ask. Worth a try if you want to go that route.

Your warning is a good one. Also makes sure to look at other things like CPU and memory requirements. There are some plugins that only support certain CPU technology as well which can be a trap if you don't check first. For example Massive X only supports AVX and Equator 2 only Metal video framework (on mac) - both which I don't have. Sometimes the OS is not the only limiting factor.

I will just move on and consider it lucky I'm getting away with a relatively inexpensive lesson learned before doing something like that on a major big buck library purchase. The system recommendations were clear, It was also clear Windows 7 is not officially supported,I hadn't gotten the latest UVI update to even consider the purchase. This was all me. I'm not going to be "that guy" asking for his money back after screwing up that bad. When I finally upgrade my system, I still own Quadra and will be able to use it then. It's all good.

[rasmusklump]

You can directly try UVIWorkstation which is free.
If it works, then Quadra will work as it's soundbank running in it.
Windows 7 is not officially supported but it works fine AFAIK.

Oops!I kind of screwed myself. I bought Quandra because it made perfect sense that if I can use my UVI Workstation with the libraries I have, Quandra should work but what I didn't realize is that I didn't have the latest version of UVI Workstation needed for Quandra to work. When I tried downloading the UVI Workstation update, the prompt said "This program doesn't support the version of Windows (7) I'm running" so I can't install it therefore I won't be able to run Quandra. I'm not complaining. I took the risk. Just letting people know to ALWAYS make sure they have the latest version of UVI in determining if the newer software will work on an older system. I'm stuck with Windows 7 for now because My workstation can be upgraded since Openlabs doesn't support NekoXXL hardware anymore. Oh well, lesson learned.

That Version did run on my windows 7.you just need a certain update to be installed.

[dblock]

You can directly try UVIWorkstation which is free.
If it works, then Quadra will work as it's soundbank running in it.
Windows 7 is not officially supported but it works fine AFAIK.

Oops!I kind of screwed myself. I bought Quandra because it made perfect sense that if I can use my UVI Workstation with the libraries I have, Quandra should work but what I didn't realize is that I didn't have the latest version of UVI Workstation needed for Quandra to work. When I tried downloading the UVI Workstation update, the prompt said "This program doesn't support the version of Windows (7) I'm running" so I can't install it therefore I won't be able to run Quandra. I'm not complaining. I took the risk. Just letting people know to ALWAYS make sure they have the latest version of UVI in determining if the newer software will work on an older system. I'm stuck with Windows 7 for now because My workstation can be upgraded since Openlabs doesn't support NekoXXL hardware anymore. Oh well, lesson learned.

That Version did run on my windows 7.you just need a certain update to be installed.

The current installed version of UVI Workstation that I'm able to run on windows 7 is 3.0.14.0. Attempting to load a Quadra patch under this version I get "This script was created with a more recent version of UVIScript:19 Please upgrade your software" which I assume is meaning the UVI Workstation software. When I open up the portal to update the UVI Workstation, it asks if I want to update to the latest version. I click yes to update and It gets to 93% then get, "program doesn't support the version of Windows you're running."

[Cepheus]

You can directly try UVIWorkstation which is free.
If it works, then Quadra will work as it's soundbank running in it.
Windows 7 is not officially supported but it works fine AFAIK.

Oops!I kind of screwed myself. I bought Quandra because it made perfect sense that if I can use my UVI Workstation with the libraries I have, Quandra should work but what I didn't realize is that I didn't have the latest version of UVI Workstation needed for Quandra to work. When I tried downloading the UVI Workstation update, the prompt said "This program doesn't support the version of Windows (7) I'm running" so I can't install it therefore I won't be able to run Quandra. I'm not complaining. I took the risk. Just letting people know to ALWAYS make sure they have the latest version of UVI in determining if the newer software will work on an older system. I'm stuck with Windows 7 for now because My workstation can be upgraded since Openlabs doesn't support NekoXXL hardware anymore. Oh well, lesson learned.

That Version did run on my windows 7.you just need a certain update to be installed.

The current installed version of UVI Workstation that I'm able to run on windows 7 is 3.0.14.0. Attempting to load a Quadra patch under this version I get "This script was created with a more recent version of UVIScript:19 Please upgrade your software" which I assume is meaning the UVI Workstation software. When I open up the portal to update the UVI Workstation, it asks if I want to update to the latest version. I click yes to update and It gets to 93% then get, "program doesn't support the version of Windows you're running."

What if you don't use the portal, but go My Products at the UVI site and download the Workstation installer. Perhaps that would work?

[dblock]

You can directly try UVIWorkstation which is free.
If it works, then Quadra will work as it's soundbank running in it.
Windows 7 is not officially supported but it works fine AFAIK.

Oops!I kind of screwed myself. I bought Quandra because it made perfect sense that if I can use my UVI Workstation with the libraries I have, Quandra should work but what I didn't realize is that I didn't have the latest version of UVI Workstation needed for Quandra to work. When I tried downloading the UVI Workstation update, the prompt said "This program doesn't support the version of Windows (7) I'm running" so I can't install it therefore I won't be able to run Quandra. I'm not complaining. I took the risk. Just letting people know to ALWAYS make sure they have the latest version of UVI in determining if the newer software will work on an older system. I'm stuck with Windows 7 for now because My workstation can be upgraded since Openlabs doesn't support NekoXXL hardware anymore. Oh well, lesson learned.

That Version did run on my windows 7.you just need a certain update to be installed.

The current installed version of UVI Workstation that I'm able to run on windows 7 is 3.0.14.0. Attempting to load a Quadra patch under this version I get "This script was created with a more recent version of UVIScript:19 Please upgrade your software" which I assume is meaning the UVI Workstation software. When I open up the portal to update the UVI Workstation, it asks if I want to update to the latest version. I click yes to update and It gets to 93% then get, "program doesn't support the version of Windows you're running."

What if you don't use the portal, but go My Products at the UVI site and download the Workstation installer. Perhaps that would work?

IT WORKED! Kudos Cepheus! Excellent suggestion. Now THAT was weird. I downloaded the UVI Workstation version 3.0.17 directly from the "free WS download area". and it went through the install and then said," You have a more current version already installed, please uninstall that first when I actually had 3.0.14.0 installed but then it went on to finish the install without me uninstalling anything. I opened the stand alone version first and loaded Quadra and it worked perfectly. I opened Cubase and loaded it again and it still worked!
Maybe the Portal is set up to run under stricter technical rules or something going on there. Whatever, it worked!! That's another lesson learned. The Portal is not always right. Not just this portal but maybe any Portal "could" offer a different experience then direct downloads. I actually get to play Quandra this morning.
Thanks for the suggestion Cepheus and thanks guys for your input! Happy camper now!

[dblock]

Man, I've only been checking out a few Quadra presets without even looking into what can be done with it and I can immediately tell that I'm going to get a lot of use out of this thing for TV cue work. Quadra has some beautiful sounds but also capable of making disturbing ones and a wide range of sounds in between without it robbing you of the creative input needed to make your footprint with it. Sound quality is excellent. Only thing is though, cpu meter ranges from reasonable to downright expensive. Not totally shocked since you've got 4 instruments using a bunch of voices at once but still It'd be nice if UVI could reel some of that in a bit. Overall,nice job UVI! Very useful,good sounding Instrument.

[otristan]

Regarding CPU usage, the issue is mainly with pitch drift that make the voice count really jump.
You easily can have hundreds of voice running.

[SHall1000]

Quadra: Metal and Wood released. Doesn’t look like you can mix and match sounds with the original Muted and Harmonics library which is a missed opportunity.

[plexuss]

Quadra: Metal and Wood released. Doesn’t look like you can mix and match sounds with the original Muted and Harmonics library which is a missed opportunity.

Yes that's true. I get around that by running them both in Unify. It's just a limitation of the UVI library design. Still, a very nice library.

[SHall1000]

On reflection, I guess you can run both libraries in UVI workstation or Falcon and switch between them, but not very eloquent. Are there advantages to Unify?