# UVI launches Falcon 2



## UVI (Oct 11, 2019)

UVI launches *Falcon 2* with a special promotion, significantly updating their flagship hybrid instrument, free for all existing users.

*Falcon 2* now features 16 oscillators, 90+ effects, 11 modulators, dozens of scripts including sequencers, analyzers, harmonizers and utilities, over 1,000 handcrafted presets, 500 wavetables, MPE controller support, microtonal tuning, native multichannel audio up to 10.2 channels and more. The new version is available immediately and is free for all existing users.

*Falcon 2* adds the brand new Additive oscillator, an easy-to-use additive oscillator inspired by classic subtractive synthesis with additive twists like partial stretching, frequency shifting, fractional order filtering, even/odd harmonic control, continuous morph from square to saw and more; new effects such as Tape Echo, a recreation of the famous ‘70s hardware tape delay; SKF, a circuit-modeled second-order single op-amp nonlinear Sallen-Key lowpass filter; Formant Crusher, a screaming lo-fi take on formant filtering; updated Redux effect with an entirely redesigned algorithm for analog bit-crushing; a new Parametric LFO modulator, giving parametric control to shape, symmetry, pulse width, and swing; multiple new script-based sequencers including Euclidean Tonal, Euclidean Drum, and the featured 8-part X0X-style Drum Sequencer; 150+ new wavetables and 100+ new factory sounds.

As well, *Falcon 2* adds many quality-of-life updates such as the new Modulation Quick Menu, improving usability of complex patches by providing easier navigation of modulators; and User Templates for keygroups, allowing users to create their own keygroup starting-points in addition to the factory Synth and Sample options.




To mark the milestone, UVI is offering a special promotion of *30% off with 2 free Falcon Expansions*. Users can choose from Analog Motion, Atmospherics, Cinematic Shades, Devinity, Digital Motion, Eternal Funk, Ether Fields, Pulsar, Spectre and SubCulture. Additionally, every purchase of Falcon includes a $100 / 100€ voucher good towards any subsequent purchase. This deal is available immediately at uvi.net, valid through October 27th, 2019.

______________________

Falcon represents the pinnacle of hybrid instrument design, allowing unrestricted use and layering of oscillators, effects, modulation generators and event processors for nearly unlimited sound design potential. Falcon offers native 64-bit operation in stand-alone and plug-in formats, supports surround setups up to 10.2 channels, is compatible with all UVI and UVI-Powered soundbanks, and allows simultaneous authorization on up to 3 computers or iLok keys.

*Pricing and Availability*:

Owners of Falcon can download Falcon 2 and the updated factory library through UVI Portal or ‘My Products’ on uvi.net immediately, *free of charge.*
Falcon and 2 free Falcon Expansions are also available at the reduced price of $244 / 244€ through October 27th 2019 (regularly $427 / 427€). Discount applied automatically when users add Falcon and 2 Falcon Expansions of their choice to their cart.

*Additional information on Falcon is available at*:
>> http://www.uvi.net/falcon

*Discover* *Falcon 2 >>*


*Listen to* *Falcon >>*


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## AllanH (Oct 11, 2019)

I downloaded last night but haven't had a chance to play with it. This looks like lots of improvements and enhancements. Pretty impressive! And Free


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## elpedro (Oct 11, 2019)

Awesome! Thank you, I still haven’t scratched the surface and am diving deeper!


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## dzilizzi (Oct 11, 2019)

I bought this during the sales last year and have yet to use it for more than a player. I was hoping I could take some sounds, like the True Pianos I have, and do some unusual things to them. Time to pull out the manual, I guess. looking forward to seeing what the new version can do.


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## idematoa (Oct 12, 2019)

*First contact with V2*

01 - UVI - Falcon V2 - Abyss 2.0 - Tinkle Textures
02 - UVI - Falcon V2 - FM Walled City 2.0


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## Wes Antczak (Oct 12, 2019)

I was excited to hear about Falcon 2 and even more excited when I read that the update is for users of Falcon 1. Thank you very much, UVI!!!


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## Brian2112 (Oct 12, 2019)

About the best bang for the buck there is.


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## AllanH (Oct 13, 2019)

This is really a good upgrade. I spent significant time with it yesterday and to me everything sounds more "alive" and dynamic. I'm not sure what to make of it, but even Falcon 1 presets seem more vibrant than previously. I seems as if maybe some of the FX received subtle upgrades as well. I very much like what I hear and will be exploring more.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Oct 13, 2019)

Every year around this time I consider Falcon. Of the new features, I am particularly interested in the MIDI processors. The Euclidean mode is very familiar to iPad musicians because of the popular drum app, PATTERNING. You can see how easily and quickly complex polyrhythms can be created.



But Falcon also has tonal Euclidean tonal sequencers. 

Also...

@UVI (or anybody) As this deal comes with the two expansions plus the $100 credit, would I be able to hold onto that credit until later? Any time limit before using it?

For those of you who own expansions, which ones do you think show off the unique sound of FALCON the most? I realize that what you like depends on what kind of music or sounds you want to make.

As a fan of Simon Stockhausen, I'm most interested in ETHER FIELDS. i'm also interested in ATMOSPHERICS, DIGITAL MOTION (love FM) and DEVINITY.


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## idematoa (Oct 13, 2019)

Among the ones you mentioned, I use less "Devinity"


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## The Sarge! (Oct 13, 2019)

I´m also interested in suggestions
Simon´s expansion is set, but what else?
Eternal Funk is nothing for me, Devinity I´m unsure as Cinematic Shades and SubCulture
so Atmospherics, Spectre, Pulsar and the Analog & Digital Motion are left


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## Reid Rosefelt (Oct 13, 2019)

I'm a fan of *Richard Devine*. I have the expansions he did for AAS instruments: Epicycles, Abstractions, Harmonic Geometry, and Microsound Textures. If you're interested in checking him out you can get AAS's free *Swatches* library that has free examples of all their expansions.

I just found this VI:Control *POST* on Falcon Expansions. The same deal, $244 + 2 expansions, was offered last October on Falcon 1.

There are also some YouTube videos on some of the expansions that offer more info than what's on the UVI site.

For people trying to get a simple handle on what Falcon is, it's essentially a layering synth, like HALion. Lots of different kinds of synthesis that can be layered to create really complex sounds. They are kind of like super-synths, with many synths in one.

It has nothing to do with Omnisphere (all samples) or any synthesizer that only uses only one or two different kinds of synthesis at a time. The power of Falcon and HALion is in stacking sounds in complex multis, with different kinds of arpeggiators, effects, etc. The new MIDI effects in Falcon 2 should be very inspirational to sound designers.

And the thing that makes Falcon appealing to me is that I have a big investment in UVI and UVI third-party libraries. Owning Falcon would take them to a whole new level. 

Falcon has a lot of MPE patches, so I'm wondering if some of my UVI instruments would be able to take advantage of the glide MPE features. You need to set up a very high pitch bend range (ROLI recommends + or - 48 semitones) and you can adjust that with Falcon but not the free Workstation.

Damn, I have resisted Falcon for years, but it looks like I am talking myself into yet another expensive thing I don't need.


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## AllanH (Oct 13, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> []
> 
> Damn, I have resisted Falcon for years, but it looks like I am talking myself into yet another expensive thing I don't need.



Of course you "need" it - that's the whole point 

FWIW, I found the Richard Devine expansion 100% uninpired. Of the expansions I have, it's only one that I find useless. It's essentially a bunch FX on top of built-in sounds. Total size is 16 MB. The Falcon Factory presets are vastly superior. [Sorry; I rarely complain loudly, but this one is a stinker, imo]


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## Virtuoso (Oct 13, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> As this deal comes with the two expansions plus the $100 credit, would I be able to hold onto that credit until later? Any time limit before using it?
> 
> For those of you who own expansions, which ones do you think show off the unique sound of FALCON the most? I realize that what you like depends on what kind of music or sounds you want to make.


You have up to 2 months to use the $100 voucher, so I'm holding out until Black Friday to pick up some more expansions*. For the two free ones I chose Ether Fields and Analog Motion, which are both great.

*The voucher condition says 'valid for a single purchase', which I hope means a single order rather than a single product.


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## Michel Simons (Oct 14, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> Damn, I have resisted Falcon for years, but it looks like I am talking myself into yet another expensive thing I don't need.



I know the feeling.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Oct 14, 2019)

After listening to many YouTube demos of Falcon expansions, I made my decision to buy it based on this one for ANALOG MOTION.  It's one of the only videos that demonstrates how to use the simple interfaces of the expansions to turn layers on and off.



I like ATMOSPHERICS too. Probably my second choice. 



FYI, here is a look at the Falcon Factory Presets.



Don Bodin demonstrates Simon Stockhausen's ETHER FIELDS here




Overall I would say I'm not crazy about ALL the video demos of Falcon expansions I've looked at so far, but maybe it's just because I don't work in the genres they come from. But they show how the thing works and I can easily see how I would put my own layered presets together.

Bringing my UVI synths, pianos and World Suite into Falcon... that's pretty exciting.


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## Dewdman42 (Oct 14, 2019)

I picked up Falcon this time during this sale. I ended up getting 5 Falcon expansions( Ether fields, Devinity, Eternal Funk, SubCulture and Atmospherics. Lots of material to explore. I already has previously the UVI string machines and digital sensations sample libraries that I was using under UVIWOrkstation, as well as the Ravenscroft piano. They all open in Falcon now, providing options to add more FX or use those samples as the basis for synthesis. The Digital Sensations pack in particular, which is dirt cheap if not free sometimes, sounds way more interesting in Falcon and provides the possibility to start out with samples from some classic 80's digital synths and then apply various filters and what not to them, Falcon is breathing entirely new life into that expansion. I might find a way to use the string machine expansion that way as well, but we shall see. I don't see myself using Ravenscroft piano very much differently then stock, but maybe eventually I'll create some layered stuff.

Regarding Falcon, I think its a bit dissapointing that the factory library does not include more sample based content. They do give you a $100 voucher, which I used for falcon synth expansions..and most of their sample expansions are actually analog synth stuff, which is kind of a moot point when using Falcon. What would have made this a lot more valuable would be a factory content more akin to what you get with Kontakt.. usable bread and butter sounds like used to be included with MachFive. Pianos, basses, strings, drum kits, etc.. Falcon is an excellent sample engine, but the factory content really does not showcase that capability at all, it focuses on the synth.

The content sounds exceptional. The FX in particular are very high quality. Lots of great filter options, etc. I haven't dived that deep yet, but it sounds like very flexible modulation and able to put filters, envelopes, mods, etc...and many different points..so this thing can create big layered sounds, but also can do a lot of advanced synthesis with many oscillator types..But.. The UI is not the best to work with frankly.. with all that flexibility you have t know what you're doing to design a preset, you can't just dial knobs and make cool sound like you can with most synths out there, You basically need to construct a synth setup.. its more like Reaktor then anything else I've seen out there...but its not reaktor either..but I'm just saying...its kind of an open books. Sounds awesome, works great with UVI expansions...and I am looking forward to exploring synthesis with it.

I was not as blown away as I thought I would be. I also own some other powerful systems like Zebra, Omnispheres and others.. Ultimately, Falcon does not inspire me like some of those others do when I sit down and start playing with it, though the presets provided sound incredible. But I also feel that the utilitarian nature of it will force me to pay more attention to synthesis fundamentals and learn more about how to construct a synth model from scratch..


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## sostenuto (Oct 14, 2019)

Was not hyped for Falcon for long time, but MPE is gaining interest now as holidays may result in Roli purchase. Need to update awareness of other synth MPE options post haste .....


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## kgdrum (Oct 14, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> Regarding Falcon, I think its a bit disappointing that the factory library does not include more sample based content. What would have made this a lot more valuable would be a factory content more akin to what you get with Kontakt.. *usable bread and butter sounds like used to be included with MachFive. Pianos, basses, strings, drum kits, etc.* Falcon is an excellent sample engine, but the factory content really does not showcase that capability at all, it focuses on the synth.
> 
> The content sounds exceptional. The FX in particular are very high quality. Lots of great filter options, etc. I haven't dived that deep yet, but it sounds like very flexible modulation and able to put filters, envelopes, mods, etc...and many different points..so this thing can create big layered sounds, but also can do a lot of advanced synthesis with many oscillator types.




In case you're not aware of this, if you have Mach 5 you can import the content to Falcon.


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## Dewdman42 (Oct 14, 2019)

I don't have it and don't want to pay extra for it. I think Falcon should include more content like that though, Its a little disappointing that it doesn't. The factory content is very much synth focused.


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## dcoscina (Oct 14, 2019)

I finally jumped at it and don't regret it. I have tons of UVI libraries and they all work with this player so I'm quite happy. the sound, especially the low end, if ear shatteringly great. Seriously happy with this purchase.


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## Dewdman42 (Oct 14, 2019)

the sound quality is exceptional! I agree with that.


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## kgdrum (Oct 14, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> I don't have it and don't want to pay extra for it. I think Falcon should include more content like that though, Its a little disappointing that it doesn't. The factory content is very much synth focused.



Agree 100% I have Mach 5 and adding the included content was the 1st thing I did when I purchased Falcon.
This might be a reason Falcon hasn't caught on in the market as it should, otherwise it's a great platform.I presume creating sample content requires more $$ and manpower than creating sampled synth expansions. I'm a bit surprised UVI hasn't bought sample content from 3rd parties to make Falcon the powerhouse it should be.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Oct 14, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> I picked up Falcon this time during this sale. I ended up getting 5 Falcon expansions( Ether fields, Devinity, Eternal Funk, SubCulture and Atmospherics...
> They do give you a $100 voucher, which I used for falcon synth expansions..



So to be clear, you got 2 expansions with Falcon, and then you were able to buy 3 more at $39 each, and used the voucher to get $100 off all three? I wasn't sure whether you could buy only one UVI product with that $100.

If I get Falcon I will wait until BF to use the voucher, because there was a 30% off storewide sale at UVI last year.



Dewdman42 said:


> Regarding Falcon, I think its a bit disappointing that the factory library does not include more sample based content.



That is a disappointment, but at least high-quality sampled instruments are available for Falcon, from UVI, AcousticSamples, PSounds, Virharmonic, etc. 

How many sampled instruments are included with Falcon? What kinds?


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## Dewdman42 (Oct 14, 2019)

you get two falcon expansions and $100 voucher towards whatever you want from UVI. I chose to buy 3 more falcon expansions instead of one single sample-based one... I had to throw in an extra $20 for that... 

No idea whether the voucher will still work when they have 30% storewide sale later...might be worth the wait, I thought about it but decided I didn't want to wait and there is a good possibility that will time things so that you will not be able to use the voucher by then in some way. Maybe not though. never know.

Falcon doesn't include any sampled instruments as far as I can see...other then samples used to create various different kinds of synth sounds. the factory content is synth oriented, not sample...

Of course we can buy more expansions that are out there...just like you can with kontakt. Kontakt, for less money on sale, includes a pretty decent factory library of sample content...but admittedly...has little to no synth programming.. in any case, just saying would have liked to see for the price Falcon is...a bit more sample content...because I think Falcon is not only a great synth, its also a great kontakt alternative.


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## dzilizzi (Oct 14, 2019)

I bought last year's sale and used the voucher for the augmented piano which was on intro sale. So I was happy. The expansions were mostly just okay for me. I really planned to do stuff to my sample libraries but was having trouble figuring out how to do much once I loaded the library. And, I got distracted by other libraries and forgot about it. Yeah, that happens too often.


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## Dewdman42 (Oct 14, 2019)

I got some cool sounds right away by opening up some digital sensations library patches and then tweaking it with analog filters and have just barely scratched the surface. I almost got the Roland Synth expansion..because it sounds fat like my Jupiter-80... would make for some interesting starting samples to build from. But ultimately I decided to get as many of the actual Falcon Expansions as possible in order to learn how to program the thing more than anything. Most of the UVI expansions aren't really that interesting to me.


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## AllanH (Oct 14, 2019)

to spend the $100, I would recommend either Synth Anthology II or Ob Legacy. Those are my two favorites, with Anthology being most-used.


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## EvilDragon (Oct 14, 2019)

Dewdman42 said:


> The factory content is very much synth focused.



Which also tells where UVI's heart is. They aren't focusing on the sampling part of it at all (well, there's the great granular and multi granular oscillator), so rather than going head to head with Kontakt (which MOTU failed with MF3 and consequently first version of Falcon also didn't make any grand waves really considering 3rd party developer libraries, apart from just a few notable entries), they are focusing on the synth part of it, and placing it as a sound designer's playground rather than "we gonna beat Kontakt yo". All the updates in version 2 support this (extra filter types, FX and additive oscillator).

I would consider it more akin to Omnisphere, with support for user multisamples, which Omni doesn't support.


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## Dewdman42 (Oct 14, 2019)

I could care less about beating Kontakt. Just wish it had more sample content is all.


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## GtrString (Oct 15, 2019)

This is competing with Zebra and Omni? It does sound good, but I would be much more interested in sample content, and perhaps 3rd party offerings.

Can never get enough options for samples. Wouldn't mind having more bead & butter options for sure.


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## AllanH (Oct 15, 2019)

Regarding sample content: I enjoy all the various sampled synths, but with 1000s of presets I'm not sure I've even listened to all of them 

The real value of Falcon is imo to use the presets as inspiration and then create my own. That being said, UVI is excellent at sampling synths and their collection is immense and well-worth the money. 

Regarding orchestral instruments, I truly wish that they had good orchestral instruments, e.g. something like MA1/MA2 or HO, in Falcon as I would be able to use Falcon's FX and work flow for some very interesting things. I may not have given UVI's Orchestral Suite enough of a chance, but the demos just do it for me, so I haven't bothered.


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## AllanH (Oct 15, 2019)

Now, if UVI could make Falcon a VST host, and I could load a "VST Oscilator" that would increase the value immensely. I've asked for it a year or two ago, but I don't think that is on their to-do list


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## Reid Rosefelt (Oct 15, 2019)

EvilDragon said:


> I would consider it more akin to Omnisphere, with support for user multisamples, which Omni doesn't support.





GtrString said:


> This is competing with Zebra and Omni?



I would gently disagree with these statements, as loathe as I am to ever disagree with anything @EvilDragon says. There are infinite differences between Omni and practically everything else. For one thing, the massive amount of content made by the world's greatest samplers and sound designers that come with it. Yes, you can drag your own samples into Omni, but how many people do that when there are 14,000 magnificent ones already there? And many others available in third-party libraries? 

On the other hand, HALion and Falcon are extremely similar and you can make apples to apples comparisons between them. They are super-synths built for layering different kinds of synthesis. They work the same way, do the same things, and share the same tree-based interface, and include a wide variety of arpeggiators and effects. They both make it super easy to create your own interface with lots of macro knobs, which is not a common feature. In general, Falcon naturally leans more towards synth sounds and HALion leans more towards sampled sounds, but you could use both for either.

I think Falcon and HALion are in a class by themselves and can't fairly be compared with any other synth until somebody builds something similar. Neither Falcon nor HALion is trying to compete with Massive or Zebra or Sylenth or Serum or Synthmaster or any other great piece of software. It's certainly not trying to recreate anything that existed in hardware.

One of the reasons I am agonizing over the decision about whether to buy Falcon, is I have been watching a lot of videos, and I know what a hole I fell into when I got HALion and spent months plumbing its depths. I love designing my own sounds, but I know it will distract me from writing music.


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## EvilDragon (Oct 15, 2019)

I don't consider every Omnisphere factory preset "magnificent", tho.  Overall, at least for my tastes, Falcon's factory library seems to have been better curated. But that's just my 2c.

Also don't forget that UVI does have Vintage Vault, which adds a BUNCH of content, there are probably some rarities there that even Omni doesn't have. But yes, it's an additional cost.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Oct 15, 2019)

EvilDragon said:


> I don't consider every Omnisphere factory preset "magnificent", tho.  Overall, at least for my tastes, Falcon's factory library seems to have been better curated. But that's just my 2c.
> 
> Also don't forget that UVI does have Vintage Vault, which adds a BUNCH of content, there are probably some rarities there that even Omni doesn't have. But yes, it's an additional cost.


I could be wrong, but I don't think that Omnisphere has 14,000 presets. I think it's 14,000 samples, which includes the phrase library. Those are just your building blocks for presets. You are right that not all of that stuff is "magnificent," but all of it is solid material for the various engines in Omni, like granular. I do think that most of the presets are "magnificent" for somebody.

Working with all that UVI content is one of the main reasons I'll probably buy Falcon. It isn't just about using all that UVI content to make new Falcon patches. It's getting more out of my UVI libraries because of Falcon. When you look at the UVI Workstation after this, it looks pretty threadbare.

There is actually a 3rd party Falcon expansion, called *Mercury*, by Expressive E, the company that makes the Touche. It works in the Workstation too. I wonder if you can make expansions for Falcon without being licensed by UVI. If developers need to have a UVI license, that would definitely cut down on 3rd party content.


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## The Sarge! (Oct 15, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> I could be wrong, but I don't think that Omnisphere has 14,000 presets.


you seem to be wrong, cause I randomely took names from these rows and find em all as patches, so over 14000 when I calculated right
Omnisphere´s Patches

but it doesn´t really matter if 14000 or just 1400, the quality counts more


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## Reid Rosefelt (Oct 15, 2019)

That settles that. The 14,000 sounds represents the total of presets and soundsources.

9,233 patches and 144 multis is 9377 presets. All 9377 are built from the 5439 Soundsources.
But there are tons of soundsources that aren't in any of the presets, like probably most of the phrase libraries.

To get back on topic, I don't think it makes sense to compare Falcon to Omnisphere, but they are both awesome.

I think it's okay to talk about Falcon on a commercial announcement unless somebody is putting it down.

Maybe somebody should start another thread on Falcon.


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## EvilDragon (Oct 15, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


> I wonder if you can make expansions for Falcon without being licensed by UVI.



You can, but it's literally the same situation as with Kontakt Player vs full Kontakt. If you want your expansion to work in UVI Worstation (=Kontakt Player), licensing fees to UVI apply.


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## Mark Schmieder (Oct 15, 2019)

I think many may have missed that Falcon's factory library contains a rather large and useful foley and sound effects component that goes far beyond what any of the other samplers provide.

Funny timing; I sold Falcon several hours before hearing about V2 (a free update), but it's nice to see this new development. I simply decided that I don't want to do much with synthesis anymore, so I'm returning to the main UVI Workstation. But it is especially nice to see that additive synthesis was added to Falcon V2. It will be interesting to see if it is implemented or extended in such a way that it might be able to load Kawai K5000 patches at some point.

The GUI changes are quite nice, and remind me a bit of the first rev of MachFive (which I preferred to what came later, but was willing to sacrifice for the greater feature set and superior audio engine). I would suggest that an improvement to the browser be slated for consideration in a later update though, as one can lose one's continuity and train of thought when going between patches and libraries, compared to some other ways that browsing could be implemented.

I'm actually quite surprised that UVI were so generous as to offer this major upgrade as a freebie to existing customers!


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## EvilDragon (Oct 16, 2019)

Mark Schmieder said:


> It will be interesting to see if it is implemented or extended in such a way that it might be able to load Kawai K5000 patches at some point.



Nope, it works in a completely different way - it's more similar to NI Razor or AIR Loom. Additive synthesis but approached through a subtractive synthesis paradigm.


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## Mark Schmieder (Oct 16, 2019)

Ah, thanks for clarifying. Still, it's always cool to see more people adopting additive synthesis.


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## turnerofwheels (Oct 16, 2019)

I've only been using Falcon for a few days, but so far I'm really happy with the way it works. Usually when I put together samples it's with the intention of further sound design/musical fx, and I'm finding that I am picking this one up really quickly, so this is perfect for me.


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## The Sarge! (Oct 19, 2019)

btw:
someone oppinions about "Devinity"?
never heard about Richard Devine before, he seems to be a 2nd BigTone
and the demos let me expect bit overall-presets, but is it worthy to buy?


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## AllanH (Oct 19, 2019)

I offered my opinion on Devinity. I'm sure many disagree with me, as Richard Devine is highly thought of, so just listen to the playlist for yourself.


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## The Sarge! (Oct 19, 2019)

thanks @AllanH 
I heard the Soundcloud-tracks and as I posted it sounds as overall in the meaning of "nothing special" compared with Cinematic Shades, Ether Fields or Atmospherics


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## AllanH (Oct 19, 2019)

@The Sarge! - I agree. I especially like the content in Cinematic Shades. It's a bit unusual but has lots of character and "bite".


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## Michel Simons (Oct 19, 2019)

AllanH said:


> @The Sarge! - I agree. I especially like the content in Cinematic Shades. It's a bit unusual but has lots of character and "bite".



That's one of the two expansions that I want to go for when buying Falcon.


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## Dewdman42 (Oct 19, 2019)

That was definitely one of my second choices. I chose Devine because it’s more inherently just a normal musical instrument kind of usable sound. Maybe boring compared to some of the more dramatic expansions that show off creative synthesis, but I think ultimately more useful for me and I’m happy to look at richard’s programming.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Oct 21, 2019)

I got Falcon with the Atmospherics and Analog Motion expansions Saturday. I also got the Freelance Soundlabs NKS templates for Falcon and those two expansions. (If I have a chance I will do a video to show you how these templates bring the best out of Falcon.)

I had other plans for the weekend, but I couldn't stop playing with this. It's very deep and powerful, but it's also essentially easy to program, if you know things like oscillators, filters, effects, arps, etc. Every synth, effect, etc has presets--start there. Most of us are very familiar with all of this, it's just a question of learning the right place to drag everything. 

In Falcon you can take almost any parameter (although not all) in your programs and turn it into a knob or a switch. Write click and assign it. I dragged in my picture of Tiger, so in seconds all my original presets are in the Tiger The Frog expansion.  I have to tell you I find this more fun than making presets with other synths. I can see myself using different kinds of pictures for the kinds of presets I make.

So Falcon will definitely be one of my favorite things to use in my music.  I

But one question for @UVI or anybody who has had Falcon for awhile: what actually is new in 2.0? 
MPE presets are listed in the "What's New" section and there aren't any new ones--unless they aren't labeled, which would make no sense. 

When I checked the copy, it said that the MPE and Expressive E presets had been "regularly added." I think it's awesome that UVI is constantly improving the feature set of Falcon. But if there's a section called "What's New" I think it shouldn't mention anything that's not a new feature of 2.0.

There's a list of "New and Enhanced Effects" that includes FX I am pretty sure were already there, like Thorus and Sparkverb. So presumably they were improved somehow.

But I am curious: what is actually new? Enhancements are greatly appreciated, but what is in Falcon 2.0 now that wasn't in the previous version? I'm not complaining, I'm just curious.

Falcon currently includes Sparkverb, Rotary, and Thorus. Maybe someday UVI will add Plate and Relayer to it. That would be the kind of thing that would make it worth paying for an upgrade. 

The 2.0 presets are really, really good, by the way.


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## The Sarge! (Oct 21, 2019)

@TigerTheFrog new:
Additive Oscillator, these Euclidic-things, parametic-LFO, Fuzz4, maxMS, Wavetables, Presets asmm 

better you read the whole Falcon2-waht´s new-section again


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## Reid Rosefelt (Oct 21, 2019)

The Sarge! said:


> @TigerTheFrog new:
> Additive Oscillator, these Euclidic-things, parametic-LFO, Fuzz4, maxMS, Wavetables, Presets asmm
> 
> better you read the whole Falcon2-waht´s new-section again


Thank you @The Sarge! and welcome to VI:Control.

Here are some facts I know after a few minutes checking.

No new MPE presets
Fuzz4 and MaxMS were included in Falcon version 1.1 as it states *HERE*
There's a Parametric EQ with up to 16 bands in Version 1.6 *HERE*

Under New MIDI Processors they include: Step Sequencer, Euclidean Drum and Euclidean Tonal sequencers, Chord Bank, Range Limiting, MIDI Delay, Velocity Remapper and more, and have added support for AnaMark tuning. I don't think this stuff is all new. Step Sequencer?

I don't think it's unreasonable for UVI to say that they've added:

Additive Oscillator
Euclidean Drum & Tonal Sequencers
More Presets
More Wavetables
and anything else that's new in 2.0. 

And then give a list of their improvements to their existing features. 

It's possible that UVI has made a list of everything that's been added to Falcon since they introduced it, which is great. It's amazing how much they've improved it. But they should make clear what "What's New" means. 

If I bought Falcon last year I would know what's new. So again, as this forum is dedicated to "Musicians Helping Musicians," can anybody who has had Falcon for a while tell me what's really new?

This is not a post critical of Falcon. I love it and highly recommend people buy it. But I'd like to know what's new.


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## idematoa (Oct 21, 2019)

===> See p. 7 User manual of Falcon 1.0 - 2.0 CHANGE LOG


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## Reid Rosefelt (Oct 21, 2019)

idematoa said:


> ===> See p. 7 User manual of Falcon 1.0 - 2.0 CHANGE LOG


Thank you.


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## shponglefan (Oct 21, 2019)

Looking for more sample-based VSTs, decided to give this one a try and take advantage of the sale.

Though in my initial testing, I've already run into performance issues.

I was trying out presets from the Pulsar soundbank. The second preset in the Arps, "Back and Forth" immediately produced crackling noises. If I dial down the polyphony from 16 to 8, and or boost the buffer on my audio interface to 2048, it's fine. But dang, wasn't expecting issues right off the bat.

edited:

After some more testing with other presets it looks like if the reported CPU usage hits ~50% that is when the crackling starts. A lot of the presets in the Pulsar soundbank seem on the CPU heavy side. It does have some nice sounds and I can see the potential of this software, I'm just a bit disappointed to run into performance problems so quickly.

FWIW, I'm on an i9-9900K, so not exactly an underpowered machine.


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## EvilDragon (Oct 21, 2019)

Yeah Falcon doesn't support multicore processing, for starters. And considering there are no programmed limitations (you can load any number of oscillators, any number of effects and scripts, any number of modulators, in a single patch), it means it can eat a whole CPU core for breakfast if you go far.


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## The Sarge! (Oct 22, 2019)

@EvilDragon
shponglfan means that the presets from the UVI-Expansion "Pulsar" is eating the *i9-9900K* for breakfast+lunch - so if this is true, then please tell, ´cause "Pulsar" should be the 2nd Expansion when I´ll buy Falcon on Saturday 
and I only own an i7-3770K 

btw: nice to see you here too


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## EvilDragon (Oct 22, 2019)

I don't have that expansion so I don't know what's being done in the patches, but I know Falcon's capabilities, and it's quite capable of bringing most any CPU down to its knees when pushed hard enough.


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## The Sarge! (Oct 22, 2019)

thanks


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## shponglefan (Oct 22, 2019)

The Sarge! said:


> shponglfan means that the presets from the UVI-Expansion "Pulsar" is eating the *i9-9900K* for breakfast+lunch - so if this is true, then please tell, ´cause "Pulsar" should be the 2nd Expansion when I´ll buy Falcon on Saturday
> and I only own an i7-3770K



Did some more testing and the Pulsar soundbank is definitely on the CPU-heavier side. A lot of patches report 30-50% CPU usage (per the Falcon VST). Some immediately jump as high as 60%, and as mentioned, anything above 50% starts causing crackling for me unless I change buffer size or reduce polyphony.

The other soundbanks I've tried (including Atmospherics, Ether Fields, and Titanium) don't seem quite so CPU-heavy although it can vary from patch to patch. Atmospherics seems much lighter on CPU usage with most patches running in the 5-20% range for me.


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## shponglefan (Oct 22, 2019)

EvilDragon said:


> Yeah Falcon doesn't support multicore processing, for starters. And considering there are no programmed limitations (you can load any number of oscillators, any number of effects and scripts, any number of modulators, in a single patch), it means it can eat a whole CPU core for breakfast if you go far.



Do you know if there is any specific aspect of Falcon that drives CPU usage up? E.g. FX, certain synthesis types, etc? I'm wondering if it's possible to tweak some of the patches to make things easier on the CPU.


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## AllanH (Oct 22, 2019)

In my experience, Falcon is actually pretty efficient with CPU. The biggest load is with many layers of modulation. Individually, the FX and various oscillators are efficient, in my experience. 

Kontakt handles the multi-processor well and makes it a setting you can experiment with. Falcon seems to dedicate one process, or possibly thread, to each main instrument.


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## EvilDragon (Oct 22, 2019)

shponglefan said:


> Do you know if there is any specific aspect of Falcon that drives CPU usage up?



IRCAM oscillators, Redux, Dual Delay, Xpander filter is a bit more CPU intensive than most others, using unison at layer level "physically" multiplies the whole layer that many times, which is as if you played x voices with a single key, etc.


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## The Sarge! (Oct 22, 2019)

@shponglefan
thanks for testing and reporting
so "Pulsar" gets sadly out of my view


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## idematoa (Oct 23, 2019)

The Sarge! said:


> @shponglefan
> thanks for testing and reporting
> so "Pulsar" gets sadly out of my view
> [/CITATION]
> ...


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## KallumS (Oct 23, 2019)

I got this a couple of days ago and am now convinced that it's the best VST ever


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## Reid Rosefelt (Oct 23, 2019)

The Sarge! said:


> @shponglefan
> thanks for testing and reporting
> so "Pulsar" gets sadly out of my view



Well, this isn't stopping me from getting "Pulsar." The reality is that Falcon taps your system resources. That's the nature of the beast when you can add an infinite amount of stuff to a patch. There's no guarantee you'll be safe from crackling with ALL the presets on any of the expansions. Some expansions might work better on all computers, but it really depends on how expansive the designers were on a particular preset.

Look at the "Sequence Stars" patch from "Analog Motion." It's not a system-taxing patch at all, but it does show the tons of processors that are put into it. It's typical of Falcon sound design, and if some of those processors use a lot of CPU, your computer will choke.






The theoretical idea of Falcon is that you could take three or four presets from Pulsar or other expansions or the factory library and pile them on top of each other as a multi or add them to a single preset as additional layers.  Of course, this doesn't work in the real world. You'll have to tweak

To put this in perspective, I can easily load up ten HALion patches into a multi. That's because each patch is pretty simple. But HALion doesn't sound awesome to me like Falcon does!

I see a lot of the Falcon presets not as patches but as multis, because that's kind of what having a lot of layers within a single patch is. Also, I think some of the designers are more interested in showing the ultimate of what Falcon can do than they are in creating the most efficient patches.

If the sound designer used several CPU-taxing effects it's easy to turn them off and see if the sound still sounds good to you. And then tweak and add other stuff and make the preset your own.

By the way, if you're wondering why expansions like "Analog Motion" (7.2 MB) are small in size, it's because all the sounds come out of the oscillators that ship with Falcon. It is just 7.2 MB of settings.

"Atmospherics" is 437 MB. That's because it comes with samples.






I don't know whether patches with samples use more CPU, but I have found "Atmospherics" to be more CPU intensive than "Analog Motion."


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## idematoa (Oct 23, 2019)

Here : 2 "Pulsar" et 1 "Atmospherics"


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## idematoa (Oct 24, 2019)

*New Falcon Expansion - Plurality by Simon Stockhausen 

UVI Plurality for Falcon*


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## idematoa (Oct 24, 2019)

For now, I'm going through this new expansion with delight ...


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## The Sarge! (Oct 24, 2019)

thanks for the info @idematoa


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## danwool (Dec 25, 2019)

Any issues with backward compatibility with Falcon 1.x? It looks like Falcon 2 overwrites 1 so going back'd be a pain. I'd like to avoid problems with ongoing or older projects. ...2's been out for awhile so I'm guessing it's good, but thought I'd check. Thx!


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## AllanH (Dec 26, 2019)

I have had no issues that I can recall. I have Falcon (now 2) on most tracks with settings typically from one of their many libraries with some modifications (added an FX, removed the reverb etc.).


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## Reid Rosefelt (Dec 26, 2019)

danwool said:


> Any issues with backward compatibility with Falcon 1.x? It looks like Falcon 2 overwrites 1 so going back'd be a pain. I'd like to avoid problems with ongoing or older projects. ...2's been out for awhile so I'm guessing it's good, but thought I'd check. Thx!



I wouldn't worry. There haven't been many changes to 2.0. I would call it an improved instrument, not a profoundly new one. Most of what they list on their site as "new" to Falcon 2 means new since Falcon 1.01. If you check out their *manual* you can see that UVI have been adding bug fixes, enhanced features and additional presets since it was introduced in 2016.

From Falcon 1.6.6 (last update) to Falcon 2.0:

Add Additive oscillator
Add Tape Echo FX
Add Sallen Key Filter FX
Add entirely redesigned Redux FX algorithm for Analog Bit-crushing
Add Formant Crusher FX
Add Track Delay FX
Enhance 3 Band Compressor
Add Parametric LFO module
Add Step Sequencer script
Add Euclidean Drum and Tonal Sequencers script
Add Chord Bank script
Add Range Limiting script
Add User Templates
Add Modulation Quick View-
Various fixes
150 new wavetables
150 new handcrafted presets


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