Applied Acoustics Systems Ultra Analog VA-1 Bargain-$15

[dewdman42]

$15 is a complete no brainer. Here's another purchase.

[mhschmieder]

Hmm, four days (or more) and still I didn't receive the license code...

[Shooshie]

I have [no] idea what I bought or how it sounds. It was a $15 synth, and I figure at worst, it's got to have more features than our bundled synths, right? Don't get me started about our bundled synths. I get some wonderful music out of them, and I'm not joking about that. They are highly under-rated. This will make a nice point of comparison.

That's funny! I'm glad you bought this. I was playing with the demo a few days ago and thinking that it had a lot of really great presets and the interface allows the user control over a tonne of parameters. After that recent thread where you were talking about how much you liked the MOTU's bundled synths, I couldn't help but wonder what you would think of this. It is definitely a nice sounding piece of software.

I bought it too.

Well, context is everything, of course. The MOTU synths are great for what they are, and I really do like them. This, however, blows the socks off of most anything they can do. I haven't done a feature-by-feature comparison of this vs., say, Modulo, but in terms of presets alone, this has just about everything you'd need. Not to mention the infinite variability of all the Oscillators, LFOs, Filters, Amps, and Effects. It's pretty mind-blowing just to click through all the presets! One could spend years creating more instruments, but I think the presets cover most of what you'd want to do.

I do have an original MOOG sound in mind, however, that I've been wanting to try for years. Nothing in the MOTU lineup can create it; it's just too complex. It'll be interesting to see if this will do it.

I don't know what MX4 is like, or some of the other high-end synths that are available, but for $15, this is an amazing deal. Less than a dime per preset, I'm guessing. Oh, and all the knobs I tried were capable of MIDI learn with a right-click. Lots of automation potential here. If anyone is sitting on the fence, grab this thing.

However... you might wait until someone confirms that an authorization code actually comes through! I've seen nothing yet. Maybe it has to be a weekday.

Shooshie

[Shooshie]

One bit of bad news, but not terribly bad. This caused my FIRST CRASH in DP7 and Snow Leopard! I was clicking through presets and hit "Randomizer," when the "rainbow frisbee of quasi-illness followed by silent death stalking in the tracks" struck and DP disappeared. I restarted DP, and nothing has happened since. Who knows?

Doesn't matter. I'm really impressed with this thing. Just great! Which reminds me... I need to learn its name. I still don't know what I bought.

(just checked: Ultra Analog VA-1)

Shooshie

[motuscott]

I got my serial number almost immediately. In fact I got two, I had to check to make sure I didn't double order. It had to be authorized in an administrator account which threw me for a while, but I'm new to this multi account shenanigans.
jarvis

[zed]

Just got mine (Monday morning).

[mhschmieder]

Maybe it's time I sent them an email. I didn't want to pester them in the middle of a sale. But I'm sure it is the vendor I should contact and not audiomidi.com.

[zed]

Maybe it's time I sent them an email. I didn't want to pester them in the middle of a sale. But I'm sure it is the vendor I should contact and not audiomidi.com.

Actually, the serial number came directly from sales@audiomidi.com

[mhschmieder]

Thanks; I just sent an email to audiomidi.com based on your response. My receipt listed the serial number as being on order, but didn't list it. That was the last message I got from them.

Probably their email bounced, as many vendors automatically reject emails that are attached to private servers vs. phone company providers.

[Shooshie]

Yep, mine came Monday morning, too. Up, authorized, and working.

Shoosh

[Shooshie]

By the way, I counted the number of presets that would fill one screen's worth of the list. Then I multiplied that by the number of times I could hit "page down" in the list. That came to approximately 33 X 12 = 396. I did not count the presets in the "Guided Tour," because they are duplicates of others in the list. So, there are in the neighborhood of just under 400 unique presets in this synth. At $15, that comes to about 4 cents per preset.

Just thought someone might find that interesting, and possibly influential in their decision to buy. The presets range from vintage synths and their presets to orchestral emulations, to effects, pads, arpeggiations, keyboards, basses (great basses), leads, organs, percussion, and vocals. All of analog sounding origins. There may be better ones out there -- well, of course there are better ones. But it's all very subjective. There are still things I like about MOTU's bundled synths that I haven't found in any of the presets here. But I can say that between this and the MOTU synths, you shouldn't be wanting for that certain patch you need for such-and-such.

It's a no-brainer, folks. Give up a few lattes at Starcups and get something more useful that packs a much bigger wakeup wallop for an absurd price.

Shoosh

[waterstrum]

I'm loving this thing!
For the price, it is amazing.
Reminds me of my old Memory Moog.

[jresende]

I did not receive mine.
Bought october 16 and nothing.
I've sent two E-mails to Audiomidi and no response.

[tonester]

Wow. I just got mine. This is insane! Also has the standalone. I remember demoing this awhile back when I was using Windows. Liked it, but I already had Dimension Pro, Rapture and Tassman. But at this price, how could you not go for it?

I guess if I'd payed full priced for it I'd be a little ticked off, but that's the way of the software world!

Tony

[tonester]

not serial number yet, though. I'll be patient.....