UVI Mission 6: What is it?
As analogue classics go, the Alesis Andromeda A6 is not the model that most cite as a favourite. Part of the reason for this could be that many original Andromedas have suffered component failure, placing them out of operative reach. But find one that works and you’ll hear a huge-sounding analogue from the year 2000 when analogue wasn’t really the flavour of the millennium!
Thankfully, while the price tag of an original secondhand Andromeda remains high, UVI can help you with another one of its superb re-enactments, providing the very spirit of the original analogue machine, through a vast number of samples.
Mission 6 resides within the usual UVI ecosphere, being operational through its freely available Workstation plugin, or for extended use via their Falcon synthesizer suite. For our money, the Workstation plugin presents the information in an incredibly concise manner, while being highly stable as a plugin.
You certainly will not be missing out on the party by not using it through the Falcon software, although you can take the editing capabilities far further if that’s an interest for you. You’ll need a spare 12GB of disk space, which not only confirms the sampled nature of this library but also underscores the 400 beautifully curated presets, to get you going.
This is not to say that you cannot perform deep editing, because the Mission 6 is laden with the usual UVI suspects. The main edit page draws graphical inspiration from the original machine, and, in many respects, provides a more simplistic and usable interface.
One criticism often levelled at the original machine, is that it was incredibly complicated to use, largely thanks to its comprehensive modulation capabilities, and an LCD display, which didn’t always provide the strongest and clearest clues, while in edit mode.
UVI Mission 6: Performance and verdict
This library conforms entirely to the common UVI format, allowing the loading of up to two sampled sounds/waveforms to form a patch.
• Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2
Includes numerous Hardware modes and a template for Andromeda simulation.
• LFO Audio Andromeda A6
Packed with an original set of Andromeda patches, this is a high-quality sampled emulation.
The raw samples include absolute basics, like saws, squares and triangles, along with pulse-width modulated sources and distorted tones. There are also plenty of more colourful and programmed samples, perfect for creating more elaborate and lush textures. These are all beautifully categorised, making light work of finding something suitable.
The ‘Main’ working page is also where you will find the filter settings, providing low, band and high pass iterations. These are unsurprisingly not quite the same deal as the Andromeda, in part due to the complexity of the filter section included with the original, but are perfectly functional, with four-stage envelopes to accompany both the amplifier and filter sections. Four other pages give considerable modulation, editing and effects capabilities, along with a comprehensive arpeggiated section.
Getting patched
We are very big fans of UVI here; the company has a proven track record for creating interesting products, which are production-ready, and good to go. Part of the strength of this remit is its curation of samples and presets, in a hierarchy which makes light work of the substantial content.
If you like the idea of becoming inspired by presets alone, you will find plenty of basses, brass, leads, pads and polysynth sounds, all indigenous to the Andromeda. If you prefer to get busy with editing, there is equally plenty of initial content, providing the perfect launchpad for sonic creation.
Collated within the Basics category, you can begin with a mono sound source, and right through to an initialised Unison of waves. That was always an Andromeda calling card, as the 32 analogue oscillators could be stacked to create the most almighty and super of saws! What’s not to love about that?
Mission Pros and Cons
UVI’s exemplary presentation of the Andromeda in this form provides a great sounding and production-ready alternative to the original. Many would convincingly argue that the strength of the Andromeda lay in its preset patching, with the ability to tweak at will.
While Mission 6 lacks certain elements, albeit sometimes incredibly complicated ones, what it does offer is a very healthy facsimile, which is inspirational, ready to go, and sounds very fine indeed. Mission 6 represents the very spirit of the original most admirably, in an easy-to-use and immediate incarnation, and lest we forget, it is quite literally a fraction of the price!
MusicRadar verdict: As a sample library that provides an accurate interpretation of the original Andromeda, this is an excellent package, albeit one that lacks some of the sophistication of the original.
UVI Mission 6: Hands-on demos
UVI
Nu-Trix The Synth Guy
Emlyn In The Mix
UVI Mission 6: Specifications
- Runs in UVI Workstation version 3.1.5+, and Falcon version 2.5.6+.
- iLok account (free, dongle not required).
- Supported Operating Systems: Mac OS X 10.14 to macOS 12 (64-bit). Windows 10 to Windows 11 (64-bit).
- 12GB of disk space. Hard Drive: 7,200 rpm recommended or Solid State Drive (SSD). 4GB RAM (8GB+ highly recommended for large UVI Soundbanks).
- Supported Formats: Audio Unit, AAX, VST, VST3, Standalone.
- CONTACT: UVI
