UVI Falcon - v4 = 2026 released - rumors, ads, praise, kindergarden, auto-sampling and off-topic inside!

[RobGee]

Agreed, this would be brilliant if this was implemented. What was their reply?

Not even once have I ever received any replies from UVI. It's why I gave up on that company. I sent a HUGE list of usability issues with Falcon and suggestions on how to fix them, since version 1.0. It's just not a company that listens to feedback, at all.

EDIT: Well, to be fair, they have implemented some things that people on forums or in reviews have mentioned but on an individual level, responding to emails, is not something they do.

That’s disappointing. They’ve always replied when I’ve emailed them, although I’ve never emailed features/suggestions. I’m surprised you didn’t even get a reply.

[zahush76]

Small "rant".
It's exhausting setting up a controller for preset macros or parameters in general.
Well, parameters in general - i get, since the semi modular nature of this synth.
But as for presets in the Falcon expansions, unlike almost any other company where you have at least a constant number of macros that you can assign some knobs or faders to - on Falcon they keep changing it from preset to preset so you have to assign contrllers from scratch as you move from preset to preset.
In all my other synths such as VPS Avenger, Arturia synths etc - once you map controllers to macros it remembers them and you have them mapped the next time you load up the plugin.

Any workaround?

Have you tried Gig Performer? With Gig Performer you set up what is called a "rack space". You can then drag and drop knobs, buttons, faders, toggle switches, cross faders amd more onto it. You host your instrument inside of Gig Performer and then you can easily and permanently assign any of those controls to your instrument. Gig Performer works by assigning controls to the DAW Automation controls that instruments make visible. This can be thousands of parameters

You can then assign a physical controller to each knob, fader, button, etc to the onscreen controls

I set them up to mirror the controls of my Launch Control XL so 3 rows of 8 knobs, 8 faders, and two rows of 8 buttons

The advantage to this is that as you switch from preset to preset in the plugin, the controls and how they are mapped in Gig Performer stay the same

You also get the advantage of creating things like attenuation and curves for each control if you want, so you can limit the control to certain values and the speed of how they respond

If you enjoy attaching physical controls there is no better system currently and because it uses DAW Automation it's far more capable than standard MIDI CC. You are also not limited to the macro controls on synth as you can have as many or as few as you want

The thing is - this might work perfectly for any other fixed archetechture synth, but not for Falcon.
What i was trying to explain is that due to its modular nature, no preset is like the other (for good and bad).
While an instrument like NI "Play series" has a fixed amount of 8 macros which you can assign controls to, or arturia with its 8 macros, or VPS Avenger with its fixed amount of 5 macros - you assign it once and it remembers it the next time. No need for any extra plugins.

With Falcon, even within the same expansion, some presets have 3 macros, some have 8, some have 5. And so whatever you assign to one preset will be irrelevant for the next

[zahush76]

After downloading the Sonic Bundle, it seems that each and every time i open Falcon, it performs an "Indexing Volumes" routine which takes a few minutes, making the loadingup of Falcon a long and not very good experience. Why does it need to scan everything from scratch each and every time? Is there a way to avoid this? 

[bmanic]

Agreed, this would be brilliant if this was implemented. What was their reply?

Not even once have I ever received any replies from UVI. It's why I gave up on that company. I sent a HUGE list of usability issues with Falcon and suggestions on how to fix them, since version 1.0. It's just not a company that listens to feedback, at all.

EDIT: Well, to be fair, they have implemented some things that people on forums or in reviews have mentioned but on an individual level, responding to emails, is not something they do.

That’s disappointing. They’ve always replied when I’ve emailed them, although I’ve never emailed features/suggestions. I’m surprised you didn’t even get a reply.

So was I. I put a lot of work into the email (several thousand euros worth of work if measured in time spent gathering the information and carefully laying out the issues and solutions in text).

The only reason I haven't sold Falcon yet is because never in my life have I sold a piece of software.. and I've made a few hundred sounds for Falcon and I'm quite fond of some of them.

But I've 100% given up on UVI as a company and am definitely not supporting them in any way any more.

[RobGee]

Agreed, this would be brilliant if this was implemented. What was their reply?

Not even once have I ever received any replies from UVI. It's why I gave up on that company. I sent a HUGE list of usability issues with Falcon and suggestions on how to fix them, since version 1.0. It's just not a company that listens to feedback, at all.

EDIT: Well, to be fair, they have implemented some things that people on forums or in reviews have mentioned but on an individual level, responding to emails, is not something they do.

That’s disappointing. They’ve always replied when I’ve emailed them, although I’ve never emailed features/suggestions. I’m surprised you didn’t even get a reply.

So was I. I put a lot of work into the email (several thousand euros worth of work if measured in time spent gathering the information and carefully laying out the issues and solutions in text).

The only reason I haven't sold Falcon yet is because never in my life have I sold a piece of software.. and I've made a few hundred sounds for Falcon and I'm quite fond of some of them.

But I've 100% given up on UVI as a company and am definitely not supporting them in any way any more.

I still like Falcon a lot and think it’s the best sample platform currently available for creating your own sounds. They’ve added tons of stuff for free since v1. It’s not perfect but better than anything else out there imo.

[Fleer]

Same here. Very best IMO.

[IvyBirds]

Small "rant".
It's exhausting setting up a controller for preset macros or parameters in general.
Well, parameters in general - i get, since the semi modular nature of this synth.
But as for presets in the Falcon expansions, unlike almost any other company where you have at least a constant number of macros that you can assign some knobs or faders to - on Falcon they keep changing it from preset to preset so you have to assign contrllers from scratch as you move from preset to preset.
In all my other synths such as VPS Avenger, Arturia synths etc - once you map controllers to macros it remembers them and you have them mapped the next time you load up the plugin.

Any workaround?

Have you tried Gig Performer? With Gig Performer you set up what is called a "rack space". You can then drag and drop knobs, buttons, faders, toggle switches, cross faders amd more onto it. You host your instrument inside of Gig Performer and then you can easily and permanently assign any of those controls to your instrument. Gig Performer works by assigning controls to the DAW Automation controls that instruments make visible. This can be thousands of parameters

You can then assign a physical controller to each knob, fader, button, etc to the onscreen controls

I set them up to mirror the controls of my Launch Control XL so 3 rows of 8 knobs, 8 faders, and two rows of 8 buttons

The advantage to this is that as you switch from preset to preset in the plugin, the controls and how they are mapped in Gig Performer stay the same

You also get the advantage of creating things like attenuation and curves for each control if you want, so you can limit the control to certain values and the speed of how they respond

If you enjoy attaching physical controls there is no better system currently and because it uses DAW Automation it's far more capable than standard MIDI CC. You are also not limited to the macro controls on synth as you can have as many or as few as you want

The thing is - this might work perfectly for any other fixed archetechture synth, but not for Falcon. What i was trying to explain is that due to its modular nature, no preset is like the other (for good and bad).

Only it does work and does so very well, just like it works for DIVA, HALion7, and other plugins with a modular nature

While an instrument like NI "Play series" has a fixed amount of 8 macros which you can assign controls to, or arturia with its 8 macros, or VPS Avenger with its fixed amount of 5 macros - you assign it once and it remembers it the next time. No need for any extra plugins.

With Falcon, even within the same expansion, some presets have 3 macros, some have 8, some have 5. And so whatever you assign to one preset will be irrelevant for the next

Why limit yourself to 3, 5, or 8 Macros? Why not have 24? 36? 48? 96? 128? Why be forced at all to such limitations imposed by any plugin? Why not have a virtually unlimited amount of macros and controls?

The challenge with Falcon and other deep Synths like it, is that you have a ton of things you could assign to a macro controls but in the presets they are limiting to what is controlled to 3 on one, and 5 one another and 8 on another. When you move beyond the plugin for macros you are no longer held hostage to the limitations of that. If you go through those presets will find they are all for the most part just a subset of a few dozen of the same controls, if you create a permanent macro setup of those things it no longer matters which 3 or 8 of them are being used in a given preset by its designer

I don't really like or gell with the GUI of Falcon, for me I just use it to tweak presets and then sample those to bring into other synths and samplers, as such I have used Gig Performer to make my own GUI, it's simply amazing

[rasmusklump]

After downloading the Sonic Bundle, it seems that each and every time i open Falcon, it performs an "Indexing Volumes" routine which takes a few minutes, making the loadingup of Falcon a long and not very good experience. Why does it need to scan everything from scratch each and every time? Is there a way to avoid this? 

That is not normal.
Falcon shouldn't index a library unless it's a new one.
What it does is mounting the libraries at startup but that should be much quicker than indexing.

[bmanic]

I still like Falcon a lot and think it’s the best sample platform currently available for creating your own sounds. They’ve added tons of stuff for free since v1. It’s not perfect but better than anything else out there imo.

On paper, yes. In practice? Hell no. Not even close.

[IvyBirds]

I still like Falcon a lot and think it’s the best sample platform currently available for creating your own sounds. They’ve added tons of stuff for free since v1. It’s not perfect but better than anything else out there imo.

I own Falcon, I use falcon but it absolutely positively sucks compared to other tools for making your own sample based sounds

First off it can't even sample. HALion7 for example can actually make samples and sees any audio input your DAW can it can even sample other plugins. When sampling hardware or software synths it uses MIDI Note and Off messages to start and stop the recorder and automatically tag and map the wave file for the proper note.

Beyond that it lacks the solid resynthesis platform of HALion7 where you can drop in a single sample and it turns that into a playable synth part

[RobGee]

I still like Falcon a lot and think it’s the best sample platform currently available for creating your own sounds. They’ve added tons of stuff for free since v1. It’s not perfect but better than anything else out there imo.

I own Falcon, I use falcon but it absolutely positively sucks compared to other tools for making your own sample based sounds

First off it can't even sample. HALion7 for example can actually make samples and sees any audio input your DAW can it can even sample other plugins. When sampling hardware or software synths it uses MIDI Note and Off messages to start and stop the recorder and automatically tag and map the wave file for the proper note.

Beyond that it lacks the solid resynthesis platform of HALion7 where you can drop in a single sample and it turns that into a playable synth part

I hate Halion, I find the UI painful. I guess it depends on what you’re doing with samples, I don’t care that Falcon doesn’t sample. The effects and filters are better in Falcon, a lot of the effects such as the distortions can be inserted on the voice level.

[IvyBirds]

I still like Falcon a lot and think it’s the best sample platform currently available for creating your own sounds. They’ve added tons of stuff for free since v1. It’s not perfect but better than anything else out there imo.

I own Falcon, I use falcon but it absolutely positively sucks compared to other tools for making your own sample based sounds

First off it can't even sample. HALion7 for example can actually make samples and sees any audio input your DAW can it can even sample other plugins. When sampling hardware or software synths it uses MIDI Note and Off messages to start and stop the recorder and automatically tag and map the wave file for the proper note.

Beyond that it lacks the solid resynthesis platform of HALion7 where you can drop in a single sample and it turns that into a playable synth part

I hate Halion, I find the UI painful. I guess it depends on what you’re doing with samples, I don’t care that Falcon doesn’t sample. The effects and filters are better in Falcon, a lot of the effects such as the distortions can be inserted on the voice level.

And that's awesome, as I said I use it and know it well, I find it's GUI blows and much prefer HALion's especially as it's so easy to customize it exactly how you want. Liking or not liking a GUI is a personal choice

It's just hard to say it's the best synth for samples when it can't even sample which should be a basic functionality. When your "sampler" can't even sample that's an issue

[RobGee]

I still like Falcon a lot and think it’s the best sample platform currently available for creating your own sounds. They’ve added tons of stuff for free since v1. It’s not perfect but better than anything else out there imo.

I own Falcon, I use falcon but it absolutely positively sucks compared to other tools for making your own sample based sounds

First off it can't even sample. HALion7 for example can actually make samples and sees any audio input your DAW can it can even sample other plugins. When sampling hardware or software synths it uses MIDI Note and Off messages to start and stop the recorder and automatically tag and map the wave file for the proper note.

Beyond that it lacks the solid resynthesis platform of HALion7 where you can drop in a single sample and it turns that into a playable synth part

I hate Halion, I find the UI painful. I guess it depends on what you’re doing with samples, I don’t care that Falcon doesn’t sample. The effects and filters are better in Falcon, a lot of the effects such as the distortions can be inserted on the voice level.

And that's awesome, as I said I use it and know it well, I find it's GUI blows and much prefer HALion's especially as it's so easy to customize it exactly how you want. Liking or not liking a GUI is a personal choice

It's just hard to say it's the best synth for samples when it can't even sample which should be a basic functionality. When your "sampler" can't even sample that's an issue

The sampling option is a good feature in Halion but the lack of it in Falcon really isn’t an issue for me. The quality of the effects and filters, being able to insert many of them on the voice level and the virtually unlimited modulation options are more important to me than being able to sample, especially when you can easily drag audio in from you daw or browser.

[Zoopy]

Pro tip: ur daw is pretty good at recording samples

[IvyBirds]

Pro tip: ur daw is pretty good at recording samples

Can you please share how in a DAW I can quickly sample 88 notes, with multiple velocity layers, not edit them in anyway and have it then automatically generate a preset for Falcon including automatically finding the zerocrossings so they loop properly?

I can easily do all of that in HALion7

Thanks in advance. I am unaware of any that can do that but maybe you are.