Particular favourites include BT Punchy Chicago, RL Tech House 88, RL Power Pad and RL So Progressive. These range from solid basses and rich evolving pads, to Kraftwerk-esque stacked tech sounds, percussion and some tasty effects. More complex uses could include pitch or filter manipulation.Ī spin through ACE's presets demonstrates an amazingly broad palette for what is by soft synth standards a reasonably simple design. At its simplest, you can use this to add predictable panning to a sound. And finally, you've got the "mapping generator," which adds a further layer of modulation but in a step format. On ACE's tweak page you'll find three circuit bending controls: "slop," "crosstalk" and "osc cap failure." These round off the edges in one way or another, including saturation and low frequency thinning. These can only be controlled by either the envelopes or a gate option, so in practice you have to actually play a note to get any sound out of ACE. Finally, ACE has two output amplifiers (allowing easy hard-panned stereo sounds). Both filter options are very similar (1, 2, 3 and 4-pole low pass, high pass, band pass and band reject), but filter 2 can be offset in various ways against filter 1. By contrast VCO2 can be ring modulated by VCO1 and can also be synced to and cross modulated by VCO1. Both oscillators have blendable saw/pulse waveforms, but VCO1 can also be switched to a softer peak/triangle waveform. The core modules are listed in the spec below, but here are some important aspects.
U he ace. Patch#
In fact the only option that isn't available is the ability to temporarily "bypass" a patch connection. And if dragging cables doesn't appeal, you can simply right click over an input and select a source output from the menu. Beyond this, you can daisy chain inputs one to the other, so one output can easily feed more than one input. And if the cables start to get in the way (which they can), right clicking over them brings up the option for "see thru" mode. Outputs are coloured dark grey and inputs light grey so you shouldn't get too confused. Using patch cables is similarly easy: You simply drag between an output and an input and a cord appears (Reason anyone?). If you're simply tweaking a preset, it's all pretty straightforward (note, there's a MIDI learn option for easy hardware controller assignment). Utilising three main screens (synth, tweak and patch) unless you're trawling through the 500 or so preset patches via the patch window, you'll spend the vast majority of time on the main "synth" page. If this all sounds a bit scientific, you'll be glad to hear that the interface is anything but. ACE also includes a four-position quality setting, and this influences oversampling as well as CPU usage. Rates vary depending on modules (anything from x2 to x16). ACE also has a further trick up its sleeve, as it uses internal oversampling not only for audio but also control signals.
![u he ace. u he ace.](https://www.nstuffmusic.com/images/product/large/ae00-44180.jpg)
However, the real power lies in the ability to freely connect modules. In keeping with the semi-modular concept, the modules are essentially hard-wired in a standard oscillator/filter/envelope/amplifier configuration, so ACE makes a noise even if you have no cables connected.
![u he ace. u he ace.](https://cdn3.volusion.com/vxaqe.wymhp/v/vspfiles/photos/UHE-ACE-2.jpg)
On the technical front you have 24 potential output sources (including two VCOs, two LFOs, white and pink noise, and +5 volt constant voltage) and over 30 inputs (two ADSR envelopes, two filters and so on). It's what Urs calls a "pimped-up ARP 2600 using modules from a Roland SH-7 with (almost) the patching flexibility of an EMS VCS3." In typical soft synth style it's stereo and polyphonic (though can also run in two monophonic modes: retrigger and legato).
![u he ace. u he ace.](https://u-he.com/products/ace/assets/images/uhe-ace-screenshot-presets-1000x569.jpg)
![u he ace. u he ace.](https://d29rinwu2hi5i3.cloudfront.net/article_media/21df82f0-ee1f-4919-ac58-e57667e022bc/w512/headline_new-ace-13.jpg)
It uses a combination of proper analogue modelling (filters, oscillators and envelopes) and typical soft synth coding to deliver a modern take on the traditional modular synth.
U he ace. for mac#
But this time it's simpler (semi-modular), cheaper and if he's done his maths right, more fun to use, whether you're a synth newbie or seasoned knob twiddler.ĪCE comes in plug-in form only (so no standalone) and is for Mac (RTAS/VDST/AU) and PC (VST). His latest venture, ACE (Any Cable Everywhere), is once again on a modular tip.