UAD Anthem - Very Good Sounding

[bnz]

Regarding the price discussion: if you want other UAD plugins anyway, you can go for a custom bundle (like the currently 3+3 custom bundle for $199) and put anthem in it. You then get 6 UAD plugins for $199 instead of one for $149. This would make the price for anthem better depending on what else you choose. Bear in mind though that the 10 plugins for $100 summer deal is going on. It's probably a bad value to choose anything that can be selected within that deal.

[rod_zero]

UAd lacks imagination for making synths,

[_leras]

Not totally sure about that. I think this is probably a direct response to criticism about polymax being too clean for some people.

To me they're just getting started and laying ground work. They now have a very serious set of parts from the synths they've released so far. And importantly it seems they're testing better modulation mapping.

It's true that this is a pretty simple synth. But I'm all for being able to reach for a simple synth that I know the tone and texture of. I also have some of this sound covered, but I'm excited to try it properly and check out the times.

[legendCNCD]

It is a heavy No again for us.

[BCKeys2020]

I'm sure it will go for much cheaper within 6 months. $149 intro for something this limited in 2025 is a bit of a joke.

We still use to buy $1000 phones in 2025 so can we really judge UAD's price policy ?

Well I'm judging it, based on everything else that's already out there To me this is a $120 synth absolute max purely based on the features, and that's if it sounds Softube analog emu levels of good and also sounds sufficiently distinct from what's already available, which is tough to do for a straightforward subtractive synth these days.

Well, we are Softube Model Synths's friends


... but I have to admit that I'm demoing Analog Anthems and... holy cow, it sounds good!!!

[JoeCat]

In theory, you could purchase two out of three of the "big" synths like Serum, Pigments, Diva, and have your bases covered enough that you never need to purchase another synth unless you need a very specific sound.

But I appreciate the limited plugin synths because they satisfy GAS with the feeling that you're purchasing a unique piece of hardware for a fraction of the cost, and at reasonable prices you can do it often.

But over $100 USD for a (mostly) mono synth is always an issue. I remember Beep Street's Dagger setting a bar for that, at around $35 I think. I'm sure a lot of work went into Anthem (looks and sounds great), but at that price it competes with almost everything.

[ere2learn]

Its UAD so its never $149 unless you need it, need it,

Its gonna be $49 for 90% of the year

[woodsdenis]

It's really only with it if you combine it with their 2 Bundle, but obviously only if you need something else. It does sound good but a CPU hit.

[nusound mind]

Great sound quality but sounds kinda vanilla at the same time, characterless imo. I'm a big fan of Polymax and esp. Opal but I'll pass on this. It's not really bringing anything new to the table in my synth stable. I'd prob get Moog Mariana over this b/c it's featured as a bass synth at least, but I passed on that too. To me this is generic classic growly analogue synth. No real use for it pers. sp. Minimonsta probably covers that to some extent, among others. That softube one that I also never use as well.

[Uncle E]

UA posted some good info on the UAD Forum:

Is Anthem an emulation of a specific synth?

Anthem's goal from the start was to be single, simple instrument that's "the closet full of dented up mono synths" that add unique character to a track. The filter section is a circuit model based on a modded Korg 35 topology, so you'll hear similarities to not only the MS series, but the 700 series as well. You can push it harder, the controls are less squirrelly and the characteristic "growl" is decoupled from the drive. We played around with a lot of versions of that topology including some DIY circuits that deliberately had "wrong" components in order to get a tone that wouldn't be achievable in a direct emulation.

The attack/decay curves are derived from Moog for a kind of punch that a lot of other monosynths don't have. The release is a bit smoother like a Sequential Pro-1.

The modulation options have their roots in the Arp Odyssey, because it packed so much sonic flexibility into so few controls. We added a few extra options, but stayed true to the goal of simplicity.

Inspiration for chorus and spring started with how dirty the chorus and spring are on the Korg 700 series, but takes a slightly different direction. The stereo mode has the 90º "swirl" that Roland choruses are famous for, and the spring has modeled driver circuitry from a vintage guitar amp to give it extra "sproing" and tankiness. The phase shifter has the grunge of a pedal, but the flanger is a more high-end 1024 stage bucket brigade for better sweep than with lower-fi designs. The echo is a tape topology similar to Galaxy, but the repeats decay in a different way.

The sequencer is not based on a specific design, but rather to have a fast and intuitive flow. The ability to have different lengths for the respective lanes came from UA's own sequencer in Moog Multimode Filter XL.

Why Paraphonic rather than fully Polyphonic:

Firstly, that filter is a total beast when it comes to CPU, so there was only room for one. Although care was taken to optimize it, here's a certain level of quality that can't be achieved without brute force (that's why Minimoog is monophonic).
Secondly, when filters generate a ton of harmonics, phase incoherency among the layers can actually thin out the sound. You can actually get a fatter sound from one filter than many
The limitation of four voices is about more than just CPU. The filter is always a little saturated, and the volume buildup of eight+ oscillators made the drive very squirrelly and unintuitive

Does Anthem "share DNA" with PolyMAX?

Anthem is definitely a different beast from PolyMAX. You can even hear differences in a raw sawtooth with the filter wide open. One of the biggest differences is in the filter resonance. Even when Anthem is resonating cleanly, the curve of the resonance is substantially different from the two-pole option of PolyMAX. There is a smattering of shared DNA though: Most notably the hall reverb and the flanger.

In the end, Anthem has its own personality that is unique in both the software and hardware world. It's not just a gluing together of vintage synth circuits, it's a "recipe" where the ingredients are transformed, and the interactions between the parts are just as important as the parts themselves.

[pekbro]

Im waiting until the price gets to $29 or less before I even look at it.

[db3]

Absolutely love the sound of this, but I can wait on price.
Scratching my head why such a mod friendly synth doesn't appear to have an aftertouch config option.

[zerocrossing]

I'm sure it will go for much cheaper within 6 months. $149 intro for something this limited in 2025 is a bit of a joke.

We still use to buy $1000 phones in 2025 so can we really judge UAD's price policy ?

Yes.

[Aloysius]

They might give it away for free later on so there's no point in buying it.

[BCKeys2020]

I'm sure it will go for much cheaper within 6 months. $149 intro for something this limited in 2025 is a bit of a joke.

We still use to buy $1000 phones in 2025 so can we really judge UAD's price policy ?

Yes.

But you're free not to buy, just as UAD is free to price its products.
Analog Obsession makes great mixing plugins, Full Bucket makes great synths emulation, all for free. Then why not just using these ?
Or you could go for plugin makers with lower prices.. loads around !