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Unify 1.8 Additional libraries -Question


Tim Smith

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Last night I updated my copy of Unify to version 1.8. 

It really is an amazing program thanks to John and his team for all of their hard work.

Probably the most confusing part of the program for me so far is the way they sell patches for existing synths you may or may not already own. So far as I know Unify still accepts older VSTs. This is a boon for anyone with a DAW that went to strictly VST3.

John wrote presets for some free ones too and included a few of those in the core program. When John makes a video he is usually showing examples using other programs like Omnisphere and Serum. I'm not sure if LoFi was free of not.

So far I have BBC Core and Discovery. Last night I bought MegaMagic Pads 2 Mosaic. I don't usually buy pads but these are some very well programmed amazing pads. I also have megamagic guitars but I bought it for Kontakt. I had Surge already, so I have the pads for it which while being ok, not amazing but then Surge isn't amazing compared to other synths IMHO.

My question is, what 3rd party programs would you recommend for Unify? Omnisphere is probably a consideration, but man- It's huge anyways. Does making another 1000 presets for it really help to give us too many choices?

On Unify's built in content. Word of advice. Located sound files on another  drive if you have one. Even though the original program isn't super huge, successive library purchases are beginning to eat up my C drive.

 

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Hello TIm,

For me Unify is like a hub for your existing virtual instruments, so it works well with the titles you currently have.
John has really put a lot of time in creating a lot of addon patch banks for Omnisphere but as you say it can be really overwhelming to explore the 1000s of possibilities with this one virtual instrument. The Unify Discoverstation package is an amazing accomplishment for sure.

So Unify does support VST2, VST3, and Audio Units, but prefers to use VST2 as it has been the more established plugin format. If there is not a VST2 version of an instrument available then of course it will use what is there and Unify itself can be run as a VST3. What adds to the value like you mention is that if a particular platform does not support the VST plugin format, then Unify can act as a wrapper of sorts which is very powerful especially on the Mac platform.

So as far as what third party instruments, it all depends on what speaks to you. John has a certain sound he loves, and it sometimes will push the boundaries for me to try something different like Kilohearts Phase Plant. I think some of the other synths he loves are Vital and Plasmonic. I am into the more orchestral and acoustic sounds and that is why I have been working on Unifying the Spitfire Audio instruments I have. I am working on the Originals Abe Jr. Drums and Eric Whitaker Choir. If you already have these instruments, having the unified patches are super helpful, and these will always be free.

I hope that helps a little.
Joyfully,
Simeon 

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Best way to answer that is to listen to the demos of the libraries and see if any of them are things you would use. Obviously, the vast majority of libraries are Omnisphere based so if you like those libraries and can afford it then get Omnisphere. If you have Komplete, then there are a lot of Unify/Komplete instrument libraries as well. I don't think there are any third party plugins I would specifically recommend that work any better than anything else. The power of Unify is what it can do with any vst you throw at it.

I wish I could afford Omnisphere but I just do not have a spare $500 to throw at it.

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2 hours ago, Doug Rintoul said:

 

Best way to answer that is to listen to the demos of the libraries and see if any of them are things you would use. Obviously, the vast majority of libraries are Omnisphere based so if you like those libraries and can afford it then get Omnisphere. If you have Komplete, then there are a lot of Unify/Komplete instrument libraries as well. I don't think there are any third party plugins I would specifically recommend that work any better than anything else. The power of Unify is what it can do with any vst you throw at it.

I wish I could afford Omnisphere but I just do not have a spare $500 to throw at it.

True. Best to wait for a 15% off coupon at Musician’s Friend. On the other hand, Omnisphere 3 may be on the horizon. 

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@Tim Smith

Omnisphere was certainly a considered purchase for me but was well worth it (and I got it cheaper than usual in a sale).  As well as the PluginGuru Omnisphere libraries which are excellent and have now all been Unified, there are also a load of top quality 3rd party Omnisphere libraries. 

Having said that, John has now largely moved away from making new Omnisphere libraries, partly because he was fed up seeing PG Omnisphere libraries for sale on eBay for peanuts. His Unify libraries are protected via serial number and he is gradually building up a good set of these with many more planned. They have the advantage (if you don't own Omnisphere) of only requiring Unify to run. Uni Lo-Fi is one such paid library and one of my favourites of late.  MegaMagic Keys is another recent one for Unify which is worth checking out.

As others have said, check out his videos for specific products to see if they float your boat.

Incidentally, if you don't already have them you can still get the free (or optional donation) UniScream 2020 and 2021 libraries for Unify.
These don't appear under products on their website but the direct links are here...

https://www.pluginguru.com/products/free-uniscream-2020-library-for-unify/

https://www.pluginguru.com/products/pluginguru-uniscream-2021/  

 

Edited by ZincT
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4 hours ago, Simeon Amburgey said:

Hello TIm,

For me Unify is like a hub for your existing virtual instruments, so it works well with the titles you currently have.
John has really put a lot of time in creating a lot of addon patch banks for Omnisphere but as you say it can be really overwhelming to explore the 1000s of possibilities with this one virtual instrument. The Unify Discoverstation package is an amazing accomplishment for sure.

So Unify does support VST2, VST3, and Audio Units, but prefers to use VST2 as it has been the more established plugin format. If there is not a VST2 version of an instrument available then of course it will use what is there and Unify itself can be run as a VST3. What adds to the value like you mention is that if a particular platform does not support the VST plugin format, then Unify can act as a wrapper of sorts which is very powerful especially on the Mac platform.

So as far as what third party instruments, it all depends on what speaks to you. John has a certain sound he loves, and it sometimes will push the boundaries for me to try something different like Kilohearts Phase Plant. I think some of the other synths he loves are Vital and Plasmonic. I am into the more orchestral and acoustic sounds and that is why I have been working on Unifying the Spitfire Audio instruments I have. I am working on the Originals Abe Jr. Drums and Eric Whitaker Choir. If you already have these instruments, having the unified patches are super helpful, and these will always be free.

I hope that helps a little.
Joyfully,
Simeon 

@Simeon Amburgey I was on the fence on the Eric Whitacre Choir. Knowing that it will be available for Unify is certainly not helping my wallet…

Edited by Yan Filiatrault
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8 hours ago, Simeon Amburgey said:

So as far as what third party instruments, it all depends on what speaks to you. John has a certain sound he loves, and it sometimes will push the boundaries for me to try something different like Kilohearts Phase Plant. I think some of the other synths he loves are Vital and Plasmonic. I am into the more orchestral and acoustic sounds and that is why I have been working on Unifying the Spitfire Audio instruments I have. I am working on the Originals Abe Jr. Drums and Eric Whitaker Choir. If you already have these instruments, having the unified patches are super helpful, and these will always be free.

Thanks @Simeon Amburgey

Though I have mostly used only patches John has programmed, I plan to venture into making a few of my own. Being a versatile wrapper as you say, is only one of the things that makes the UNIFY amazing.

Thanks for bringing up these other titles. I tend to be similar to you in that I am mostly looking at orchestral and acoustic patches. I also like to venture into other things occasionally.

@ZincT

@Fleer

I keep hearing this about Omnisphere. For me it would be more than just buying the software. I would need to expand my system hard drive capacity. It is a little salty as @Doug Rintoul alludes to, but then it isn't a small program and it isn't lacking in what it is capable of.

At some point I'll be there. I have trouble keeping the mail cleared off my kitchen table. If I had Omnisphere..............let's just say I'm thankful for metadata and organized libraries. I see myself searching "electric pianos" and 500 of them pop up. I'll need to pop the B vitamins and caffeine to get through the searches. It's always been a problem for me though. I let all the presets in my hardware keyboards intimidate me. 

 

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TBH I particularly appreciate Omnisphere in its connection to Keyscape as I’m primarily a keyboard enthusiast. Furthermore, you need Omni if you want to fully enjoy devs like The Unfinished, Luftrum or Hollo Sound, to name but a few. And PlugInGuru of course. 

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10 hours ago, Tim Smith said:

 

@ZincT  @Fleer

I keep hearing this about Omnisphere. For me it would be more than just buying the software. I would need to expand my system hard drive capacity. It is a little salty as @Doug Rintoul alludes to, but then it isn't a small program and it isn't lacking in what it is capable of.

At some point I'll be there. I have trouble keeping the mail cleared off my kitchen table. If I had Omnisphere..............let's just say I'm thankful for metadata and organized libraries. I see myself searching "electric pianos" and 500 of them pop up. I'll need to pop the B vitamins and caffeine to get through the searches. It's always been a problem for me though. I let all the presets in my hardware keyboards intimidate me. 

I think the base install of Omnisphere is around 64Gb. Mine is currently 70Gb but that's with a few add-on libraries that included sample content.

I just did a search in Omnisphere for "electric piano" with just the factory library selected.  With All categories selected this came back with 27 results and with Keyboards category selected there were 11 results.  Not that many, but that's probably because they want you to buy Keyscape for EP and other keyboard sounds.
Omnisphere also has the Sound Match feature where it will search for similar sounding presets to the current selection which is a handy way to find sounds.

10 hours ago, Doug Rintoul said:

One thing I have heard about Omnisphere...some people say that they would have saved a lot of money if they had just bought Omnisphere first because they would have needed little else. I am not sure how true that is.

That's probably true but I did it the wrong way around; buying Omnisphere after already buying most of the other major synths. That's GAS for you I guess :) 
Then again I do like to have choices. 

10 hours ago, Fleer said:

TBH I particularly appreciate Omnisphere in its connection to Keyscape as I’m primarily a keyboard enthusiast. Furthermore, you need Omni if you want to fully enjoy devs like The Unfinished, Luftrum or Hollo Sound, to name but a few. And PlugInGuru of course. 

That's a good point Fleer. Some day I would like to add Keyscape and Trillion and I'll be intrigued to see what is added to Omnisphere 3 whenever that appears.

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2 hours ago, ZincT said:

I think the base install of Omnisphere is around 64Gb. Mine is currently 70Gb but that's with a few add-on libraries that included sample content.

Hmmmmm. That's much smaller than I realized.

Sampletank 4 MAX is 300 gb. Makes Omnisphere look small in comparison. I could probably do some rearranging on my SSDs and cough up that much space.👍

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