DarkLight IIx – A Virtual Fairlight For Your DAW

UVI has introduced DarkLight IIx, a new virtual instrument inspired by the most iconic synths of the 80’s, the Fairlight Computer Music Instrument.

Here’s what UVI has to say about their new virtual take on the Fairlight CMI:

We took our obsession to the next level, creating a complete set of instruments, sounds and sonic tools deeply inspired by the original digital monster. A unique, hybrid process of exhaustive multi-sampling, analysis, and advanced audio processing allowed us to not only capture the original character of this machine but to enhance its ability with a host of today’s most powerful analog modeled filters, LFOs, envelopes and effects–packaged beautifully in an old-school interface.

 Here’s the official intro video:

DarkLight IIx is available now, for $199. See the UVI site for details and audio demos.

 

18 thoughts on “DarkLight IIx – A Virtual Fairlight For Your DAW

  1. At half the price this is a no brainer! But at 2 bills, not sure its worth it since the kontakt fairlight project is coming along so nicely.

  2. UVI makes beautiful instruments – they LOOK gorgeous too – but they’re way way too expensive. They recently did an Emulator II instrument, but it was like $200 also.

  3. ok, I’m pretty sure this doesn’t have a sampler. The fairlight sounds were cool and all, but I think things like Nostalgia have them covered. What would be really neat is something that approximated the sampling abilities of the Fairlight. Take a look at the video of Peter Gabriel recording samples at the junkyard and then dumping them into the fairlight. And yes, I know that this feature is available in a number of places (Kontakt etc) but something that also emulated the sonic characteristics of the Fairlight would be cool. To me, cooler than what is essentially another soft synth.

  4. “Organic Digital”? Really?
    There was a day when I would have probably traded a critical body part for a Fairlight, but other than living the nostaligic dream of fighting a clunky, antiquated UI, I have a hard time understanding the appeal of this. I’d be curious to hear from somebody who’s used it and is really into it. The “sound generation” capabilities seem way limited to me, so it’s kind of a glorified preset player as far as I can tell.

    1. Totally. There wasn’t some magic process going on inside a Fairlight… it was just the right sound at the right time to make a big impact. These products are all nostalgia based. I bet someone could make a ton of money by putting together a “How to sound like a Fairlight using modern instruments” tutorial set and selling it for $25.

  5. Whenever I see emulations of vintage equipment “enhanced” with additional features I usually find the emulations aren’t very good, or accurate, and are being glossed over with these “enhancements”.

  6. Why is it that every time an emulation is released I have a stronger desire to get the real thing?
    There’s always something about it that disappoints, in this case being the lack of sampling.
    I’ll be looking for an S612 now, so I can sample and get the same sort of lo-fi quality. At least an S612 or Mirage is cheaper than this plug-in.
    The ball is really now in Fairlight’s court, because they’re the only ones who can blow this plug-in away by releasing a true Fairlight plug-in including sampling, hopefully at a much more attractive price.

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