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Trying to decide between Uvi Falcon 2 or MSoundFactory as my next synth platform.

Dewdman42 said:
My two cents, maybe melda’s synth sampler will become a “thing” but at this point I would consider it a new territory of exploration. Uvi definitely has decades of experience building samplers and synths and OEM sound engines in other products. There is most definitely a lot more third party content for falcon then melda, not to mention a wealth of experience.

melda is a crafty developer that does some interesting things sometimes, I own a couple things like his mcabinet plugin and a coupe others but I rarely use it because in reality I have better solutions. Melda tends to put out plugins with approximately one buzzillion parameters in each one for total sonic flexibility but I find that to be cumbersome and often leading to poor results. In my mind they tend to lack foresight to direct users to good results. Their paradigm is provide a gui to change every possible parameter you can think of. And hey some people may like that ability in which case he is very likely to have a Swiss Army knife plugin that will give that power with a very utilitarian kind of interface. But I usually find someone else has made a more crafted plugin that does what I went with only a dozen parameters to think about and is directing me towards good sound.

will be interesting to see what melda does with software instruments but honestly I thinkfor now falcon wins in spades
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Some very good points.

As corny as it sounds I'm following my heart on this decision. My instincts tell me UVI Falcon all the way. Melda stuff appeals more to my head. MPowerSynth is a great example. It takes a lot of brain power to get that thing working for the reasons you describe. Everything is tweekable. And some of the more common things are buried in sub menus or put off to the side and named something weird so you can't figure out what its suppose to do. All this makes it not fun but......it can do things other synths can't do and I hear some of that in MSoundFactory.

The more I look at UVI Falcon the more I LOVE IT. So my heart is winning out on this. Falcon sounds soooo clean but, I hear it doesn't do multicore. So it all rides on a single core and I don't care how badass your machine might be, if it's running on one core it will cripple your machine in a hurry.

Pro's a cons for sure. That's why I've been toying with the idea of using separate computers for various platforms but I never really liked working with remote desktop stuff either. I've kept my setup lean with 2 computers that I switch between. But, if I get a Mac laptop I can use UVI and Reason for sound design and it could be fun to get those two working together on their own machine. Lots of decisions to make.
 
José Herring said:
Some very good points.

As corny as it sounds I'm following my heart on this decision. My instincts tell me UVI Falcon all the way. Melda stuff appeals more to my head. MPowerSynth is a great example. It takes a lot of brain power to get that thing working for the reasons you describe. Everything is tweekable. And some of the more common things are buried in sub menus or put off to the side and named something weird so you can't figure out what its suppose to do. All this makes it not fun but......it can do things other synths can't do and I hear some of that in MSoundFactory.

The more I look at UVI Falcon the more I LOVE IT. So my heart is winning out on this. Falcon sounds soooo clean but, I hear it doesn't do multicore. So it all rides on a single core and I don't care how badass your machine might be, if it's running on one core it will cripple your machine in a hurry.

Pro's a cons for sure. That's why I've been toying with the idea of using separate computers for various platforms but I never really liked working with remote desktop stuff either. I've kept my setup lean with 2 computers that I switch between. But, if I get a Mac laptop I can use UVI and Reason for sound design and it could be fun to get those two working together on their own machine. Lots of decisions to make.
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You’ll love Falcon. Its interface is very well thought out once you’ve found your way around. And the sounds are gorgeous...
 
José Herring said:
Sorry for the late response. Sometimes I seem to lose track of threads and I haven't figured out exactly why.

But, MpowerSynth is a great sounding synth. It's just not setup in the same way as what I'm use to and the results while very good aren't that different that many other synths so it sits there not getting used then I pull it out and have to reteach myself again how it works. Then it has the added bonus of them changing certain things during updates and OMG, if I have to figure out one more time how to adjust the envelope depth of that damn filter I'll scream. It ain't intuitive which doesn't bother me if the results gotten were unique.

That being said, It was my first serious softsynth other than Reason's Thor. Thor got dated and MpowerSynth was like a sonic breath of fresh air. The osc sounded amazing. It was my first foray into Additive synthesis. My first real crack at audio rate modulation, they call it FM but really if you only have 3 osc then it's audio rate modulation. The first time I heard a supersaw in real life. There were so many first on that synth. It was my first real synth love. It was also one of the first times that I felt comfortable using a synth upfront on a film cue. I had always buried them before. But, I could get MPowerSynth to sound like the big boys.

In the end now that I got Zebra2 and Reason has updated their synths and I've got Tons of RE's and many more VST, while MPowerSynth is still in my template it's the last to get called and I feel like it's like the last kid that you want on your team. After you've picked all the other players, then you pick that one.

In the end, besides Reason's Parsec which isn't really fully additive it's the only true additive synth I have where you can build a sound from partials. I don't particularly dig additive too much but one day I might get into it and I'll pull out MpowerSynth again.

I feel that MpowerSynth will eventually just get folded into Melda's new platform. It seems like it already has all of MpowerSynth in it. Which would be good because I can use that as a starting point and learn the rest of MSoundfactory from there.

As for now, I'm going to give it a year or two on MSoundFactory. It's seems like its in its infancy and Melda mentioned that it's the last instrument they are going to build so I have a feeling that it's going to included a whole lot of stuff in the near future with a lot of refinements.

As far as UVI falcon I've invested so much in Reason over the years and with RE's I nearly have everything that UVI Falcon offers now. So it's kind of redundant for me, but never say never because UVI falcon sounds sooooo good to me. I just want to wait for what Reason is going to do with Reason 11.5 and 12. They signaled they are heading in a new direction and that seems like it could be interesting.

So for now I'm switching my focus to libraries and a decent romplers. I'm in geeky love with 90's Roland and Korg romplers so I'm looking into Roland's Zenology and Triton VST. I just got to get me some of my first loves in my studio again :) Looking into more modern rompler's too like Nexus 3 and DNA labs for Reason.

I feel like I have a purpose and I'm getting to it in a weird way, but part of my was so happy when I just had my Korg and my Roland I headed to the studios to record with real people. Part of me is yearning to get back to that way of working. So in this day and age, I'm half leaning towards just getting 4 rack mount computers and a main DAW. use two computers for softsynths and two for sample libraries and cap it at that. Using the DAW for midi and audio only.

That's why I'm looking into getting synth platforms. I use Reason primarily as a rack and I guess i"m looking at other alternatives like Rolands Zenology.... I have a lot more to say but it will crop up from time to time.


As for how MpowerSynth sounds, I'll try and whip up something
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I was gonna say UVI, it's in my purchase list too, just because I really like some of the synths in there, like the Supernova. But you said Roland... if you don't use the cloud yet, just do it... those things are really well made, I haven't even tried Zenology yet but the older are simply amazing.
 
classified_the_x said:
I was gonna say UVI, it's in my purchase list too, just because I really like some of the synths in there, like the Supernova. But you said Roland... if you don't use the cloud yet, just do it... those things are really well made, I haven't even tried Zenology yet but the older are simply amazing.
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I hate the idea of subcription models though. That's why I haven't done it. Plus I heard a certain composer who shall not be named that got accused of rape, then instead of facing his accuser called her a crazy liar then cut bait and ran like a guilty person-- is part owner of Roland Cloud. The idea of my yearly $99 going to line this coward's pocket makes me want to throw up. But, I really like Zencore and Zenology is the only way I can get to it right now so I might just bite the bullet and drown my sorrows in booze and good music.
 
José Herring said:
I hate the idea of subcription models though. That's why I haven't done it. Plus I heard a certain composer who shall not be named that got accused of rape, then instead of facing his accuser called her a crazy liar then cut bait and ran like a guilty person-- is part owner of Roland Cloud. The idea of my yearly $99 going to line this coward's pocket makes me want to throw up. But, I really like Zencore and Zenology is the only way I can get to it right now so I might just bite the bullet and drown my sorrows in booze and good music.
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me too thing is going strong in America huh...

it simply is well done. I try to be more objective in these decisions. don't like subscription models neither, it's any entrepreneuer dream and a burder for customers really
 
Been having a nice chat with the developer of Melda and there's definitely some very interesting things on the horizon for that one, But yes I agree, Falcon2 is my personal "build it quick and dirty" platform at the very moment, but man, MeldaSF is chomping on that position with it's super sleek performance and just all out freedom to create with the flexible modularity, also the sound doesn't pale next to Falcon at all!. Once the architecture of MSF is kinda clear in your head it becomes just super duper neat and obvious, but for sure right of the cart it might feel a bit too "do whatever, we don't care" kinda too much freedom, and not as self explanatory as Falcon that relies on a more conventional architecture. I got both and I'm itching to move towards MeldaSF constantly. Bottom line, just get both and stop fussing about it. The other is more "mature product" sure, but the other one is quickly gaining momentum and I'm sure you want to be aboard the nerd train when its whooshing past the competition. :D

Also MeldaSF has all the Melda effects built in, including all the multi-band crazys, as well as the ability to nest the modularity and even additional MSF inside MSF and stuff, that's like a mad sound design scientists fever dream right there. Just sayin... It's pretty bonkers.
 
Vartio said:
Been having a nice chat with the developer of Melda and there's definitely some very interesting things on the horizon for that one, But yes I agree, Falcon2 is my personal "build it quick and dirty" platform at the very moment, but man, MeldaSF is chomping on that position with it's super sleek performance and just all out freedom to create with the flexible modularity, also the sound doesn't pale next to Falcon at all!. Once the architecture of MSF is kinda clear in your head it becomes just super duper neat and obvious, but for sure right of the cart it might feel a bit too "do whatever, we don't care" kinda too much freedom, and not as self explanatory as Falcon that relies on a more conventional architecture. I got both and I'm itching to move towards MeldaSF constantly. Bottom line, just get both and stop fussing about it. The other is more "mature product" sure, but the other one is quickly gaining momentum and I'm sure you want to be aboard the nerd train when its whooshing past the competition. :D

Also MeldaSF has all the Melda effects built in, including all the multi-band crazys, as well as the ability to nest the modularity and even additional MSF inside MSF and stuff, that's like a mad sound design scientists fever dream right there. Just sayin... It's pretty bonkers.
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Thank you Henri.

Using Reason and Reaktor I can only face learning one more synth platform this year. Was leaning towards Falcon but now I'm leaning back towards MSF. Especially since doctoremmet wanted to hear MPowerSynth, I had forgotten how good Melda synths sound.

I assume that when he does and upgrade that it will be free to existing users like his other plugins.

I put some time and some money into a few Melda Plugins. I like his gear. I was a little put off by him when he went on a long rant about abandoning Apple. Thought it a bit unprofessional. But, oh well. He's no Behringer and I still use my Neutron.

I really am looking for that platform that is like no other and was my original idea when I got MPowerSynth.

I will be finished with my new slave machine this coming week then I'll work on my new DAW. Once completed I'll probably just get on board again with Melda.
 
I just picked up MSoundFactory -- what a monster! If you go that route maybe we (and others) could get a thread going on the forum to discuss/troubleshoot/investigate it. It is DEEP and the trying to read the manual makes my head hurt. So far I'm impressed with it and having fun.
 
Jeremy Gillam said:
I just picked up MSoundFactory -- what a monster! If you go that route maybe we (and others) could get a thread going on the forum to discuss/troubleshoot/investigate it. It is DEEP and the trying to read the manual makes my head hurt. So far I'm impressed with it and having fun.
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Absolutely. It will be a few weeks before I get it.
 
José Herring said:
I hate the idea of subcription models though. That's why I haven't done it. Plus I heard a certain composer who shall not be named that got accused of rape, then instead of facing his accuser called her a crazy liar then cut bait and ran like a guilty person-- is part owner of Roland Cloud. The idea of my yearly $99 going to line this coward's pocket makes me want to throw up. But, I really like Zencore and Zenology is the only way I can get to it right now so I might just bite the bullet and drown my sorrows in booze and good music.
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José - for Zenology it seems you need just the 'Core' subscription - and get all of ZEN sounds with packs and expansions (which includes as seems all of SRX modules, as well as XP-5080, JV-1080, but also some of others) for 30$ per year - so you don't need to have Pro subscription - I've just started to look into Roland Cloud and was driven by that fact (30$/y for most of Roland product's sounds). Pro is needed if you want some "full" versions of modules and collection - as it looks to me.
 
danijell said:
José - for Zenology it seems you need just the 'Core' subscription - and get all of ZEN sounds with packs and expansions (which includes as seems all of SRX modules, as well as XP-5080, JV-1080, but also some of others) for 30$ per year - so you don't need to have Pro subscription - I've just started to look into Roland Cloud and was driven by that fact (30$/y for most of Roland product's sounds). Pro is needed if you want some "full" versions of modules and collection - as it looks to me.
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Yes, I saw that. I'm just wondering if I'll miss the Pro when it is eventually released. I may just get the core then buy Zenology pro when it is released. I'm only really interested in Zenology. Jv-1080 would be more for nostalgia sake.
 
After using MSoundFactory for a bit I'm feeling like it won't take the place of ZebraHZ anytime soon. I've definitely been enjoying it seems like a seriously good box of tricks, but I agree with a few comments I've seen on other forums that the filters might leave something to be desired. Also, a couple of the more spectacular patches I've made destroy my 9900K CPU in real world scenarios with only one instance or two instances going in a Cubase session. Just some food for thought for José and others interested in the platform.
 
Jeremy Gillam said:
After using MSoundFactory for a bit I'm feeling like it won't take the place of ZebraHZ anytime soon. I've definitely been enjoying it seems like a seriously good box of tricks, but I agree with a few comments I've seen on other forums that the filters might leave something to be desired. Also, a couple of the more spectacular patches I've made destroy my 9900K CPU in real world scenarios with only one instance or two instances going in a Cubase session. Just some food for thought for José and others interested in the platform.
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And, the pendulum has swung back towards UVI Falcon. Thx

If the filters are anything like the ones in MPowerSynth they are fantastic they just aren't straight forward and it takes A LOT of fiddling with the parameters and I'm still not sure what each little knob and slider does. But, if you take the time it will certainly yield great results.

I'm not worried about the CPU hit. With a platform like that I'll usually just use it to design sounds and loops, record the output then use them as audio files or kontakt instruments. I'd treated it like MetaSynth.

But, I'm really worried about it being unmusical and more "techie" oriented. I have Reaktor and every time somebody creates a cool new ensemble, I faithfully download it only to be like OMG seriously, I make music and I don't want to spend 10 years learning what this obscure little button does.

I have the fear that MSoundFactory will be like that. Not that I won't spend the time. To a certain extent, Reason was like that as well. I just only have so many decades left now, if you know what I mean.
 
Just leaving this here for the passers-by in 2020, 2021 and beyond ;) who have done a search for MSF and are (re)reading entire threads... (I know these people exist, do not ask me how).

40 minutes of MSoundFactory goodness by Simon Stockhausen. The same guy ALSO does Falcon2 expansions. He knows what’s hot. Enjoy.

 
doctoremmet said:
Just leaving this here for the passers-by in 2020, 2021 and beyond ;) who have done a search for MSF and are (re)reading entire threads... (I know these people exist, do not ask me how).

40 minutes of MSoundFactory goodness by Simon Stockhausen. The same guy ALSO does Falcon2 expansions. He knows what’s hot. Enjoy.

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I'm just getting to these and they sound great.

It's funny that you posted these yesterday. Yesterday the pendulum swung back to MSoundfactory. I was playing around with MPowersynth and realized that the learning curve for MSoundfactory wouldn't be as bad because it's similar to MPowersynth and I know that already.

Plus MSoundFactory has a more clinical sound, and though that would usually be pretty bad for me, it's actually good. I'm building up analog gear and have so many analog emulations that it might be better for me to get something that's more digital sounding if that makes sense.

In the end though this was always in my mind as to which one I'm going to get first. I'll end up with both at some point.
 
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