By PiQuadratCiao Folks!
What does the new Uno Synth Pro X from IK Multimedia has to offer "For a Fistful of Dollars"? Find out in this video! Hasta la Vista Baby!
Here you can directly order your UNO SYNTH PRO X!
If you like to watch old movies, you definitely know Italo or Spaghetti Westerns!
There were funny flicks with Bud Spencer and Terrence Hill, or deadly serious ones by Sergio Leone like "Once upon a time in the west" with the legendary harmonica soundtrack by Ennio Morricone!
That said, now you're asking yourself, what the heck does that have to do with this new synthesizer here?
Quite a lot! Because this inconspicuous little plastic box comes directly from Modena, a neat little northern Italian town, where various other famous delicacies and also racy sports cars have their home.
And secondly, its sound is just as rough and rugged as the dusty, sweaty actors from the studios of the Cinecittà!
Therefore today no Asian Synth Cloning Kung Fu!
The gunslingers were real daredevils with clear but not always impeccable moral concepts! But in the end, the nastiest bad guys would always die and the hero would ride off into the sunset, usually still bleeding from fresh bullet wounds.
Quite in contrast to the clean-shaven US cowboys à la Ronald Reagan or John Wayne, who in their freshly ironed shirts defended mainly pious settlers and their cows against evil, deceitful Indians. Without the oversized white shining Stetson ever flying off their heads. But that's a whole other story!
So. What do you get for a" For a fistful of dollars", which this synthesizer here only costs?
An elegantly sovereign Clint Eastwood, who shoots faster than his shadow? Or rather the ponderous punch of a Bud Spencer in front of a cheap coulisse? Or did they even call him "Trinity"? Let's find out!
By the way, this video is not sponsored by anyone except me, my label Drehstrom and my wine store Wein Et Cetera in Berlin. The synthesizer was sent to me by IK Multimedia for testing, knowing that I am expressing my clear opinion about this instrument! After making the video the told me to keep it for the effort I invested. Grazie Mille!
But before I go into more detail about this synthesizer, some sound first!
IK Multimedia introduces the synthesizer with the following features:
Sound und Funktionen:
- 3 Wave-Morphing-Oscillators
- Very complex oscillations with a lot of sound shaping possibilities. Not necessarily comparable but reminds distantly of the Polybrute oscillator.
FM and ring modulation. -> Strangely enough, the FM rameter for oscillators 2 and 3 is missing in the editor. 3-voice paraphony - A bit difficult to get good low end into the sound. Makes creating deep bass sounds a bit trickier.
- If you are in paraphonic mode, the same oscillator is always used in unison. Here a Round Robin mode would be super like in the Monopoly or the Matriarch! That would be certainly fun even with 3 oscillators! So the Paraphony is rather a makeshift to play some chords than a creative tool in this domain!
- OTA-Multimode-Filter mit HP- und LP-Modi (MS-20-Filter!)
OTA multimode filter with HP and LP modes (MS-20 filter!) SSI2164 chip-based LP filter with self-oscillation and 2/4 pole slope - Serial and parallel configurations with phase inversion. - Both envelopes have the possibility to switch between attack and decay. When the knob is ON, it returns to the attack phase after the decay phase ends and repeats the envelope cycle until it is stopped.
- Nice snappy envelopes! Just the way I like it! It's not Juno or SH snappy, but well balanced and usable!
- Envelope 3 has no fixed routing, instead it can be adjusted in the modulation matrix to any sound parameter.
- Attack, decay and release can be long! Up to 30s!
- 2 LFOs
There are two LFOs, which can be assigned via the ->.
-> 16-Slot Modulationsmatrix
This makes the UNO PRO X almost a modular synthesizer!
- Master:
Analog drive circuit to fatten up the sound.
- 3 effect slots - reverb, delay, modulation: Effects are nice and useable. Modulation FX consists mainly of a Roland inspired Chorus and Vibrato section. Delay is simple but efficient! Reverbs are grainy and Lofi, even the Shimmer-Verb. This is not ment as a critic! Actualy I like it and it harmonises perfectly with the character of the Synthesizer!
- 256 user editable presets
- 10-Mode Arpeggiator on board The arpeggiator can do everything you would expect. What I would still wish, would be that in paraphonene voice mode, the oscillators would be addressed one after the other. This would then also allow so-called round-robin effects. What's also cool is that you can record the arpeggiator into the sequencer!
- A 64-step sequencer with parameter recording for each step!
Wine & Synths Score:
Sound-Fazit:
Sometimes it is a bit difficult to find the sweet spot of the waveforms in the bass range. If you understand this, it works a bit better!
Sound designers for retro sci-fi, espionage thrillers and spaghetti westerns are well advised to use the UNO Synth Pro X! The UNO's strengths really shine through when it comes to wacky sounds! Ringmodulator, Sync, FM! Everything your hearts desire! What I'm missing to my complete happiness is a spring reverb algorithm in the reverbs!
So all in all an extremely versatile sound generator, which is unparalleled among the analog competition, even in the expensive price sector. Only in the low-end I would like to have a little more pressure! 17 points
Ease of Use / Creativity
Great! The synthesizer is 98% self-explanatory. And you can figure out the rest quickly with a little trial and error!
The interaction between synthesizer and sequencer is intuitive. The operation of the synthesizer is clear and logical despite or maybe thanks to a single SHIFT level.
The UNO Synth PRO X is also a perfect sofa synthesizer thanks to its light weight and its many knobs and buttons. 18 points
DAW-Compatibility / MIDI:
Great! If the hardware interface doesn't give you enough control, IK also has an editor/librarian app for Mac and PC. This makes MIDI configuration a self-explanatory breeze. We tested the UNO sequencer as a slave, on the one hand via DIN-Midi on our Multiclock and on the other hand also via USB with Ableton. This all went without a hitch and, in the case of USB, without any distracting noise. Hello Roland?
The synthesizer parameters are also controllable via MIDI controllers. Since nothing is missing here and no obvious bugs appeared during the test, we give it a smooth 20 in this point!
Quality and workmanship:
The whole thing has roughly the feel of a yogurt cup. I would definitely not recommend dropping this synth on the floor. Where other instruments tend to leave a notch in the parquet, here you can probably sweep up the shrapnel afterwards. So be careful! Otherwise, the controls feel very direct. The buttons and pots react immediately without any latency. No excitement here and a 14.
Price-Fun-Ratio:
Extremely! The whole thing is supposed to cost around 500$! For a monophonic analog synthesizer with such a lot of features and clever functions this is a true bargain! In a nice, heavy steel case, noble polished wooden panels and a fancy brand name, you could easily call the triple for such a synth! 19 points!
Kultfaktor
Personally, I wish that the UNO Synth Pro X would quickly became more popular. Its predecessor had a bit of a hard time with that. But here so many improvements were accommodated, that this small plastic box becomes for me thereby a genuine secret tip!
Therefore here today 17 insider tip points!
Wine & Synths Score:
In total we hgave a W&S Score of 17,5! Congratulations!! Well done!!!
Conclusion
Despite its unpretentious appearance, the UNO Synth Pro X is a powerful little analog powerhouse. If you're looking for a versatile, jam-ready, true monophonic analog synthesizer in a small format, this is it!
If you are enthusiastic about a SH-101 for example, you will also get your money's worth here. Only that there is a little bit more of everything and the sequencer is much clearer to use. Therefore, I would say: a perfect addition to any live setup, but also a real sonic enrichment for the studio. The powerful sequencer, which can also be used for external devices with CV-Gate, and the arpeggiator are also very inspiring creative tools in the studio. So thumbs up to Modena! Bellissimo!
If you want to get your hands on a UNO Synth Pro X now, just order one via our affiliate links in the description. We will get a small share of each order. Of course the affiliate system also works for all other items you buy from these vendors via our links. Thanks for that! Grazie Mille!
So? Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson or Bud Spencer?
I would say that IK Multimedia has created here, a real character guy! In the best tradition of the original classic Italian manufacturers like Crumar or Elka. A little anti-hero, but one that will always provide justice to analog sound in your studio! And you won't have to rob your bank or steal cows to do it! Bang!
And who is short of money is happy about a Mediterranean alternative to the everlasting Chinese takeaway in the synthesizer price entry range! And all that just for "A few dollars more"! Ottimo!
Well then! See you in the next video! Mille Grazie, Arrivederci and Peace!
