That's a tough question. I own Falcon outright and I have subscribed off and on for a month or two (or three) to SonicPass so I could gain access to the huge sample library which I then sampledmusicproducerdee wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2024 2:06 am If you'll had to choose between a Roland Cloud subscription or the UVI SonicPass subscription, which would you choose?
I'd rather not have a subscription as well, but if we had to?
The first observation as someone who has subscribed to both, is that the licensing/authorization software that UVI uses to keep SonicPass active on your computer is 1,000,000% better then what Roland uses. It just works and the Roland Cloud Manager hasn't for me.
Outside of that it comes down to how you want to work
SonicPass comes with Falcon and Falcon is very very deep. If you want a serious sound design tool Falcon is it. Falcon has multiple sound engines that do multiple synthesis types. While that is obviously a huge plus, it comes with a steep learning curve
The closest alternative in the Roland Cloud would be Zenology Pro. Zenology Pro can be a pretty deep sound design tool that you can make complex patches with. It doesn't have all the sound engine types Falcon has like Wavetables and Granular, however it's also way easier to learn
Falcon allows you to create deep layered patches. Zenology Pro allows you to layer four basic patches which can be either VA or sample based, but again it's a much easier process. Roland Cloud also has Galaxias which allows to layer a bunch of presets from all the instruments
The biggest difference is the rest of the two packages. With Roland you get virtual versions of a bunch of vintage Roland Instruments, and many of those are iconic. So if you want a virtual Jupiter 8 that you can program sounds on like a real Jupiter 8 you can
With UVI SonicPass you don't have that. You get Vintage Vault which has sample based instruments that represent tons of different vintage instruments. You can if course tweak the presets and if you lead the samples into Falcon use them to make really good sounding patches. With Falcon you can also use the VA engine to make any kind of "Analog" synth sound you can imagine
So if you want "authentic" emulations of classic Roland instruments the Cloud is the winner, if you want a variety of vintage instruments that are sampled exceptionally well and are comfortable with a sample based workflow UVI is the winner as you get a lot more than just Roland's instruments
One more point to consider is that the massive sample library that UVI has also includes an incredible amount of samples that are not vintage synths and keyboards. Orchestral, pianos, world instruments, and all kinds of weird sounds
Roland has that also in the SRX instruments from the old XV5080 expansion cards that Eric Persing made and they are in Zenology as well. You just get a lot more of them with UVI and since they are newer they tend to be longer and can have more articulations.
I said all that to say this. Issues with the authorizations in the software aside, UVI is awesome if you want a deep sound design synth in Falcon that can be difficult to learn and use and are also looking for a sample based workflow with a GIANT sample library
Roland Cloud is the winner if you want a deep sound design tool that is easier to use than Falcon and want virtual instruments over sampled one
Only you can decide what is best for you
, it is very sad to have another year (glad i unsubscribed already last year) full of disappointment.