Unique User Manual 1
Content About Basic Structure The User Interface Oscillator section Filter section Controllers Main Controls Arpeggiator section MIX section Effects Master section Preset System Settings Screen Installation Uninstallation Authorization Host integration Native Kontrol Standard NKS Videos Contact 2
About Unique is a pretty versatile virtual instrument. It is a well-crafted emulation of synthesizers from the golden age of analogue keyboard sounds, delivering a wide spectrum of sound-design options: from dark basses and strong leads to warm pads. Unique comes with a state-of-the-art vowel filter.
The User Interface Unique’s user interface has 5 main elements Oscillators Unique’s oscillators (upper third of the GUI) are specially designed to cover a wide spectrum of sounds: from dark basses and strong leads to very warm pad sounds. There are 5 generator setups in total: Saw Tooth Triple Saw Pulse Triple FM Noise (white-noise generator) Each oscillator can produce 8 voices in full stereo. The oscillators are anti-aliased for clearer sound at high frequencies.
Effects Unique comes with a line up of Sugar Bytes’ signature effects. There are 2 effect sections with a total of 6 effects: Delay Reverb Phaser LoFi Filter on effect 1 / Chorus on effect 2 Arpeggiator Unique has a built-in arpeggiator in the MIDI-IN section in the top-left corner. The arpeggiator can be applied independently to the oscillator, letting you explore interesting sounds and melodies. There is an intelligent double voice mode.
Oscillator section Unique has two main oscillators with five generator options each. Sawtooth Triple Saw Pulse Triple FM Noise Both oscillators offer typical ADSR parameter: Attack: adjust the attack time of the amplitude envelope Decay: the time after the attack phase until sustain Sustain: adjust the amplitude level after the decay Release: adjust the release time of the envelope The Octave knob (attenuated) sets the rootnote. The five positions allow for adding/subtracting one or two octaves.
Pulse The Pulse oscillator can create very dominant and analogue sounding signals. Modulate pulse width to get a wide range of sounds out of this oscillator. PW: the pulse width of the pulse waveform PWM RATE: speed of pw modulation (bpm-synced) Triple FM Triple FM is based on frequency modulation of three oscillators. This oscillator provides classic FM sounds, but also unheard-of and inspiring material, from thin and piano-like to fat, detuned and distorted.
Filter section Unique’s Filter section is an outstanding creative tool. Its expressive potential should not be underestimated. The 5 Filter Types Highpass 2 Pole: Only frequencies above cutoff are passed. A two-pole has a slope of 12 dB/oct. Bandpass 2 Pole: Only signals around cutoff are passed. Fits perfectly into the Vowel Mode. Bandpass 4 Pole: The 4-pole BP has a smaller bandwidth than the 2 Pole. Good fit for the vowel mode. A four-pole has a slope of 24 dB/oct.
Modulation of Filter Parameters There are five modulation sources: Envelope LFO Four Step Pitchbend Modwheel Envelope In this mode there is an ADSR envelope, which modulates the cutoff frequency. Cutoff and Peak Use the cutoff and peak knobs to set the start and end of envelope modulation. During the attack phase, the cutoff frequency moves from its starting point to the defined peak frequency. In the release phase, the cutoff will move from the peak back to the cutoff frequency.
LFO LFO lets you modulate between 2 filter frequencies or 2 vowels in Vowel Mode. Like with the envelope you select a start frequency (Cutoff) and a destination frequency (Peak). Rate: the frequency rate of the LFO (synced to the host BPM) Fade: fades in the LFO rate Fade In: time until the full LFO amount is reached Note: The LFO has one more retrigger option than the envelope. This is the Clock Start trigger mode. In this mode the LFO is retriggered when you hit play in your host.
Pitchbend Morph between two frequencies with the Pitchwheel. These 2 frequencies are once again defined by the Cutoff and the Peak parameter. With the Slope parameter you can define the fading curve. If the parameter is in middle position you have a linear fading between the frequencies. A higher Slope value results in a larger controlling range for the Cutoff parameter while a lower value does the opposite.
Controllers This section gives you access to the control panel for 4 powerful modulators: LFO Envelope Sequencer Motion Pad (x + y axis) To assign them to a parameter, just right click the destination parameter and choose from the available modulators.
LFO The LFO Modulator has a BPM synced Rate parameter. This Rate can be faded in, using the Fade Rate knob. The classic LFO waveforms (sine, saw, square, tri) can be morphed using the Wave parameter. Just click and drag the Wave view. You also can fade in the LFO intensity by using the Fade parameter.
Sequencer Eight steps to create individual modulation sequences. The speed can be adjusted by the Tempo (synced to your host BPM). Glide defines a fading time between the steps to smooth step transitions. The sequencer features different Direction modes: Direction Modes Forward mode Backward mode Ping-Pong Inverse Ping-Pong Random And finally the Range parameter for calibrating the working range. Motion Use the Motion Pad with your finger to record movements.
Pitch and Modwheel Assign a Pitch LFO to the MIDI modulation wheel (CC 1). Just click the LFO button in the Settings Screen of Unique and adjust the Speed of the LFO. There you can also define the pitchbend range of the MIDI - pitchbend wheel.
Main Controls The main controls in Unique are knobs. Just click them and drag up or down to turn them. While moving them, a display appears showing the value and unit of the parameter. The knobs have different colors, which reflect certain functionalities. White: are modulation-related parameters Red: are midi-related parameters Blue: are general sound design parameters Yellow: are amplification parameters All knobs can be modulated with internal modulators or controlled by MIDI or Host Automation.
Arpeggiator Section In this section you can control how your incoming MIDI signals are processed (see MIDI IN indicator). In the right upper corner is a menu to switch between Poly and Unison. Poly is a classic 8-voice polyphonic mode. Unison turns Unique into a monophonic synthesizer with 8 voices playing simultaneously. Spread adjusts a pitch offset of the eight voices. Glide sets the time to move from the previous note pitch to the currently pressed note pitch.
MIX section Right between the two oscillators is Unique’s Mix section. Here you can adjust level and pan for each oscillator. Top left and top right you find the Poly Buttons, which decide if the panning is handled monophonic or polyphonic. In Single mode, the pan is monophonic, like you know it from a classical pan control. In Poly mode, each voice has its own position in the stereo field. Pan defines the width of the stereo effect for each oscillator. Level controls volume for each oscillator.
Effects Two multieffect units running in series. Each unit contains 5 effects. They basically offer the same effects with the exception that Effect 1 offers a Filter where Effect 2 has a Chorus instead.
Lofi Crush: bit-crushing intensity S-Rate: amount of sample-rate reduction Mix: controls the dry/wet mix of the signal Filter Cutoff: the filter cutoff frequency Reso: resonance of the filter Type: 5 filter-types (LP, LPBP, BP, BPHP, HP) Mix: controls the dry/wet mix of the signal Chorus Rate: chorus speed synced to host-BPM Feedback: internal feedback level Depth: intensity of the chorus Width: controls the stereo widening Mix: controls the dry/wet mix of the signal BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENT 20
Master section The master section gives you all tools to finally shape the sound. Of course there is the Master volume control to adjust the overall volume. A special feature of the Master Section is the Sub Oscillator, which uses a Sine waveform. It is connected with Oscillator 1, so it uses the ampenvelope and the arpeggiator assignment of Oscillator 1. The Sub- Osc parameter adjusts its volume.
Preset System Unique’s presets are accessible via the preset menu in the top area of the interface. You can easily step through the presets with the arrow buttons on the left and right side. When the preset name is clicked from the top area of Unique, a menu will come up showing all preset categories. A special folder is the User folder. This folder is empty and is meant to store the presets you created. The little disc icon opens the ‘Save Preset’ entry and is for saving presets.
Settings Screen In the settings screen you find some global settings and functions. Pitch LFO Here you can define the amount of pitch modulation caused by the Pitch LFO in the Modwheel section and adjust the Speed of the LFO. Pitch Bend The Range parameter defines the pitchbend range of the MIDI - pitchbend wheel. Global Velocity Adjusts the velocity behavior of your incoming MIDI notes. Glide On First Note When activated Glide will work on the first note.
Installation Download (requires login) the latest version here. Double-click on the installer and follow exactly the instructions provided by the installation process. The standalone version and manual will be installed to: Windows: C:\Program Files\Sugar Bytes\Unique macOS: /Applications/Sugar Bytes/Unique Presets will be installed into Documents\Sugar Bytes\Unique. Important: Do not relocate Unique presets after installation! WINDOWS Default installation paths: VST2 C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins VST3 C:\Pro
Uninstallation To uninstall Unique, please follow the instructions: Windows Uninstall Unique under Control Panel>Add/Remove Software. macOS Delete all the following files and folders: /Applications/Sugar Bytes/Unique /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/Unique.vst /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/Unique.vst3 /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/Unique.component /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/Unique.aaxplugin ~/Documents/Sugar Bytes/Unique ~/Library/Preferences/com.sugar-bytes.Unique.
Host integration Unique works as a VST2 / VST3/ AU / AAX plugin in the most commen DAW hosts. Make sure that Unique is installed in the Plugins folder used by your DAW. Some hosts need to perform a plugin rescan when a newly installed plugin is launched for the first time. Please find all detailed instructions for your DAW below. Cubase Perform a full rescan in the Cubase plugin manager. Make sure that the Unique.dll/Unique.vst3 (Win) or Unique.vst/Unique.
Native Kontrol Standard NKS Unique supports Native’s NKS standard, giving you the same deep integration with NI controllers like Komplete Instruments. The main features are a plug-and-play support of Unique‘s preset browser and troublefree tagging/organisation for inclusion in the powerful Komplete Kontrol / Maschine browser. This lets you search the presets by sound type (e.g. synth lead), character (e.g. dark), or any combination thereof.
Videos Here are some links to youtube videos with short tutorials on Unique. They are using the old GUI version so the GUI design is different and the layout differs here and there, but they are very useful understanding some concepts. OVERVIEW 01:34 (NO VOICEOVER) MAKING MINIMAL PADS 10:01 (DAN-D, PART 1) MODULATION & CONTROLLERS 06:58 (DAN-D, PART 2) A 70'S BASS 05:15 DEMO 03:09 - HAVE A LOOK AT THIS TO SEE HOW MUCH FUN UNIQUE IS Contact Sugar Bytes GmbH | Made of passion Greifswalder Str.
