UVI Synth Anthology 2 Review – Vintage Vault’s Companion Soundbank

UVI’s Synth Anthology 2 sound bank is surprisingly light for a sample-based library. Barely 10GB for some 2,500 presets from a total of 77 classic, sampled synths.

From Elka to Andromeda, from Akai AX80 to ARP Odyssey, Prophet and Juno to Novations, Casios, Virus’, Polivoks, Yamaha, Vermona, Waldorf , Dave Smith, Fairlight OSCar etc etc.

It’s a huge list and important to show you so that you’re able to catch a clue about what this sound bank can bring to the table.

To install this bank you’ll need to be rocking either UVI Workstation 2.6.8+ or the amazing Falcon 1.2.

Installation is easy. Simply unzip the asset (.UFS file) and paste it into your UVI library. Mine is on an external drive. As soon as you fire up your workstation or Falcon you’ll find Synth Anthology 2 in your installed sound bank list.

Navigation

Navigating through the endless list of patches can become tiring for the untrained preset surfer. After a short while you’ll start to get the hang of the abbreviated names in the list thanks to the large thumbnails and clear labelling of the actual Synth sampled in the UI. That’s a nice touch and something that most users will want as a reference.

Preset appending and abbreviations

The layout of Synth Anthology 2’s copious content is well thought out and extremely logical with a long list of sound types.

The Sound

As to be expected from UVI, the deeply sampled sounds are exemplary in their realization and have all the vibe and expansive qualities you’d expect from real synthesizers.

Synth Anthology 2 is exactly what the tin suggests. Huge, fat gobs of analog prowess caress you whilst savage, digital darts transform your track into a fantastical, pumped up slab of classic, electronic beauty.

I literally didn’t want to take my headphones off the entire time  in case I missed a subtle, modulated tail or some LFO’d filter that might suddenly appear during the body of a sound. The FX are implemented perfectly in this library and that was a touch that I found much relief in.

It’s very easy to over do that side of sound design and even 5% too much becomes tiresome very quickly. A Juno drowned in reverb is a lot less sexy than one with a tasteful portion. Of course, with an effects complement like UVI’s Falcon, overkill is easily achieved, thanks to the incredible Sparkverb, Thorus and delay processors found on board.

Thorus, Dual Delay and Sparkverb

What’s It Like To Use?

Synth Anthology 2 is a pleasure to use. It has really smart categories that yield great sonic possibilities and you can find your classic sounds fast. I particularly liked the SWEEPS folder in each segment. Lively, filtered sweeps with delicate modulations that really fill a gap in standard sound selections. Brilliant stuff.

Speaking of modulation, I have to mention the ease with which you can oscillate the parameters of any sound. Click on the LFO tab on the left (See below). Select a parameter (like PITCH for instance) and then adjust the oscillation with the SPEED control. Dial in whatever you need for instant, uncomplicated results – This is how a sound bank like this should work.

Elegant LFO implementation

Conclusion
As a new producer, this collection is probably the perfect way to be introduced to the synthesizers that it contains. You can explore to your heart’s content, pick from the any number of classic, high pedigree machines and then easily tweak them without having to delve into the idiosyncrasies of each – the controls are the same for each patch. For the experienced producer this is a fast way to inject vintage, thoroughbred muscle into your productions in a pain-free fashion. For anyone that already owns UVI’s Vintage Vault – you can buy Vintage Vault here – this will make the perfect companion piece.

Price and Availability
Synth Anthology 2 is available now for approx. $160/140€ and you can find more info here.