Sound on Sound has taken a close look at UNO Synth in their January 2019 issue, courtesy of synth specialist Simon Sherbourne. He was hugely impressed with its portability, performance effects, patch memory and analogue sound.
Here are some of his key comments:
“I was immediately intrigued by the UNO: small, self-contained synthy things with batteries are a personal weakness.”
“UNO is certainly one of the most backpackable synths I’ve encountered.”
“UNO seems tough enough and the touch UI should make it unusually resistant to dirt and liquid.”
“Playing through the presets reveals a surprising sonic versatility, with genuine analogue warmth, depth, and grit.”
“The twin oscillators offer smooth wave shape morphing from triangle, to saw, to square to pulse. The shapes can be independently modulated by the LFO and Filter Envelope, or you can modulate pulse width instead.”
“The two octave touch keyboard is more usable than you might imagine, and allows for swipes across the notes.”
“In Step Record mode you can select one step at a time and assign notes and parameter values. An excellent bonus feature is Step Edit, accessed by pressing Alt-Record during playback.”
“One area where IK Multimedia have pulled out all the stops is control software and MIDI integration.
I was particularly impressed to see a plug-in version of the editor. This is essentially the same as the standalone app, but with the added benefit of automatic patch recall when you open your project.”
“It’s portability, patch memory and the cute momentary performance effects make it a good travelling companion.”
Simon’s final verdict is:
“It has a classic analogue sound of its own and out-guns both the Korg Monologue or Arturia Microbrute in terms of motion sequencing and software control. It’s fun, simple to use and will likely become a whole lot of people’s first real synth.”
Key Plusses
+ It sounds proper!
+ USB control from computer, plug-in or iOS
+ Motion sequencing and parameter locking
+ Momentary performance effects
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