UVI Falcon vs Synthmaster?

[enCiphered]

I have considered buying Falcon many times but I see a lot of people are selling their copy on the marketplace, this is really irritating. Is it buggy or what could be the reason?

[EvilDragon]

It's not really buggy, actually. it could be that it's either too complex, or uses too much CPU on their machines (because it doesn't support multicore processing like Kontakt does).

[EnsoLake]

I have considered buying Falcon many times but I see a lot of people are selling their copy on the marketplace, this is really irritating. Is it buggy or what could be the reason?

I bought Falcon last year and I regret it.
If there had been a demo I would have tried that and would have decided not to buy it.
Why?
You can say it is a complex synth or you can say it is a mess.
The manual is not helpfull at all, it is not more than a description of the parts. It doesn't learn you how to do simple things. It doesn't guide you.
The GUI, the lay out is not intuitive at all.
I am always searching for the right knob or the right view.
If you select something in the left column, you still have to select the corresponding tab in the middle column.
Then you have to go searching for one of the tabs at the bottom if you want to change a setting.
You can't see what is connected to what in a simple overview.
It wears you down. Your inspiration goes out the window.
If you finally learn how to do things and you leave Falcon a few days, you have to learn it again because it is just not intuitive.

My two cents.

EnsoLake

[rlared]

I bought and sold it as well. I actually think it's pretty awesome though.

At the time I had bought it thinking it would be the one synth that I could use for everything (sampler and synthesis). While that is true, I found that I was going to have to spend a fortune to get it to that point. I think for the price it should definitely come with more content.

It does not have the friendliest user interface, but it's manageable. The way automation works is really nice. One thing I hated though is that there's no 'undo' and it's really easy to accidentally delete modules.

I think the reason a lot of people buy it is because it can do everything, which seems ideal. But then, if you're like me, you realize that you really don't need super complex evolving landscapes with 20 oscillators, all with their own filters and envelopes, and so Falcon is total overkill.

[pdxindy]

I think the reason a lot of people buy it is because it can do everything, which seems ideal. But then, if you're like me, you realize that you really don't need super complex evolving landscapes with 20 oscillators, all with their own filters and envelopes, and so Falcon is total overkill.

Plus it is easy enough to do that sort of thing in ones DAW on the occasion you need/want it.

[quantum7]

I really enjoy Falcon, but agree that it isn’t the most user-friendly synth out there. I suppose though, that once you get used to its workflow it wouldn’t be that bad. I personally don’t use it enough though, therefore find it confusing to use at times. Falcon is definitely a sound designers dream though.

[SoundPorn]

LOL true, I think i forgot to type the rest of what I was saying and now I forget because Synthmaster was my fav synth at the time, now it's tied with Flow Motion as my fav synth.

I don't think they compare. Synthmaster is used to make music. Falcon can be used to make anything you can imagine. The only thing that really compares to Falcon is Reaktor.
Synthmaster has 2 oscillators.

2 oscillators? That's what it may seem if you never dig into it... it has 6 oscillators PER layer (2 main oscillators with 4 modulators which are full fledged oscillators themself), each main oscillator with 16 detunable voices or 8 addictive sub oscillators, and each layer has unison to 8... so you have a large number of oscillators per layer, the exact number is variable with the type of oscillators you choose

Adding the 2 layers you can saturate the 64 voices of polyphony just with one note if you use 16 voices per osc and 8 unison for the 2 layers

[Max369]

I have considered buying Falcon many times but I see a lot of people are selling their copy on the marketplace, this is really irritating. Is it buggy or what could be the reason?

Falcon is the BEST synthesizer I ever had or tried and one of the most stable applications for Windows in general. Before buying it I bought so many cheap (and not that cheap) synthesizers that I'm not using at all and can't sell or gift them to someone as Ilok transfer fee and Waves WUP and then transfer fees are higher than the sale price.

Then I said myself: STOP! You've spent hundreds of bucks on useless stuff. Now it's time to pick up one really powerful tool.

As to reselling in "Sell and buy" thread, please note that there are so many EZDrummer, Addictive Drums, EZ and Addictive Keys, Valhalla stuff, Kontakt, Komplete and other very popular products. It does mean nothing.

Sometimes one buys Falcon and then sell it to free up 250-300USD as he sees it as a large investment (and very funny expression friend of mine used when sold it: "It Excels my needs!" Come on guys, a big part of humans doesn't use their brains at all! Human brain's power "Excels their needs hundredfold!" but they don't even think to do anything with it! Keep this amazing instrument and get back to it's deep possibilities in the future. )

One thing I find very frustrating: Falcon is VERY Underrated! As very few users point the usability of Falcon as "Preset player" instrument. It can be as "Lite" or as "Complex" as you want! You choose your style of using it. And this is the strong side of it. Just look at it's over than a thousand preset factory library! And they are created not similar to each over as most over synths. And certainly have to mention third-party expansion pack developers like Simon Stockhausen: Guys you are just incredible! Their work is literally ART!

My advice will be buying Falcon and digging in! Good luck!

[metaside]

Falcon and Synthmaster are both great and extremely flexible synths, with Falcon taking the lead imho. But both might feel a bit clunky to program with modulation assignment and so on when compared to other, more streamlined, synths. For me personally, I still use Falcon from time to time, but it takes more power than other synths and most of the time, I work faster with other synths without missing much.

[Max369]

Synthmaster is a great synth. Nobody will argue that. But Falcon is in another league of its own: God-mode synth. Being God is not a simple task.

Can anyone create something similar with the over synth? Without using several instruments in a DAW: Just using another single synth. Sure you have to be Simon Stockhausen using Falcon to achieve these results.

https://soundcloud.com/sampleconstruct/ ... bass-flute

Speaking about synths but don't forget that Falcon is an AMAZING sampler! Don't forget it, please when you say "without missing much". You miss whole sample-based modeling part of the Falcon in your ordinary synth. There are two strongest samplers available now: "Native Instruments - Kontakt" and "UVI Workstation". Now think that "UVI Workstation" is a "cut-down" version of the Falcon.

[zvenx]

Your example is the perfect example of my thoughts of Falcon. Yes maybe it can do unbelievably fascinating stuff, but the sound always leaves me blah... its like looking at an exquisitely prepared meal that aesthetically blows your mind but when you actually taste it, it is at best so so....
Still to hear anything from Falcon that appeals to me.

Btw how come did you leave Halion out of it? Is it you are using the amount of (Third Party) banks available? In which case I agree with you, but not if you are using sound (which is subjective) or features.
rsp

[Max369]

I really enjoy Falcon, but agree that it isn’t the most user-friendly synth out there. I suppose though, that once you get used to its workflow it wouldn’t be that bad. I personally don’t use it enough though, therefore find it confusing to use at times. Falcon is definitely a sound designers dream though.

Totally agree.

You have to spend much time to get benefits of using it.

Levels of Falcon users:

1. Just bought it totally newbie
2. Power user
3. Pro user
4. God

There should be three or four positions between 1 and 2, but Falcon forces you to leave or to be a Pro. To be, or not to be...



To those who find the interface very complex and distracting.

Instead of the scary scientific interface below:

Pay attention to "Edit" tab




Use User-friendly interface below:

Pay attention to active "Info" tab




You still have that great sound and ability to tweak it a little.

[metaside]

Don't forget it, please when you say "without missing much".

I'm not forgetting that or the great granular features and variety of effects, but generally I enjoy using multiple synths since all have strengths and weaknesses. Also, I like wavetable synthesis and resynthesis - last time I updated it, Falcon wasn't really that good with regard to wavetable handling when compared to dedicated wavetable synths, it couldn't modify wavetables apart from some basic FM/PD options and it couldn't generate wavetables (at least I didn't see any option to do it). This and general subjective workflow are the reasons why I prefer some other synths (Serum, Icarus, Infinite, Avenger) right now.
But Falcon is a great synth, as I stated before, no doubt about that.

[Niowiad]

Can anyone create something similar with the over synth? Without using several instruments in a DAW: Just using another single synth.

Likely true.

But if on one side, time ago, I was really fascinated by the idea of a synth which could do it all, over time I've been developing somewhat of an opposite tendency.
I wouldn't like to use only one synth for everything unless I was being forced to for some kind of challenge.

One thing is certain: a synth/instrument which does "everything", has a remarkably high "sound design capabilities over price" ratio, so it could be possibly the best investment (besides Reaktor) for people starting out... but people around here, and Falcon owners, likely have hundreds/thousands of dollars worth of softsynths and other virtual instruments anyway.

I really like, I love and truly want to use a multitude of different instruments in a DAW, and I would guess this goes for the vast majority of users.

[pdxindy]

Can anyone create something similar with the over synth? Without using several instruments in a DAW: Just using another single synth. Sure you have to be Simon Stockhausen using Falcon to achieve these results.

I appreciate your enthusiasm for the synth... but let's hear what you created with the synth. Simon can make an old tin can sound great. Plus of course I have heard amazing stuff done on many synths.

Personally, I prefer to use multiple synths in my DAW to make a composition, not try to do it all in one instance of a synth. That is not a selling point for me. One synth, no matter how comprehensive cannot come close to the diversity of a number of different synths and FX.