u-he Repro Review: How Analogue Do Repro-5 and Repro-1 Sound?
Is u-he Repro Still The Best Analogue Emulation Around?
A disclosure first: I designed factory sounds for Repro-5, so I've spent more hours inside this synth than is probably healthy. Take that into account. With that said, Repro is one of the closest things to real analogue I've played in software, and it's also one of the hungriest for CPU. Both of those things are true at once.
What It Is
Repro is two synths in one installer. Repro-1 is modelled on the Sequential Pro-One, the early 80s monosynth that turned up on more synth pop and electro records than anyone kept count of. Repro-5 is modelled on the Prophet-5, the polysynth that more or less defined the sound of the late 70s and early 80s. Both are plugins only, so you'll need a DAW.
The Sound And The Architecture
u-he built Repro with component-level modelling, simulating the behaviour of the circuits rather than just the shape of the waveforms. You hear it in the way the oscillators drift slightly against each other, and the way the 4-pole resonant lowpass filter thickens up and starts to sing as the resonance climbs. Push the filter on a bass and it growls; open it on a pad and it stays warm without going brittle in the top end.
Both synths share the basics: two oscillators with saw, pulse and triangle waves that can be combined, pulse width modulation, sync, a noise generator, ADSR envelopes and a host-syncable LFO. The Tweaks page is the clever bit. It lets you change component behaviour under the hood, the sort of thing a tech would do with a soldering iron, plus microtuning and per-voice pan trims on Repro-5.
Repro-5
Eight voices of polyphony, or up to eight-voice unison with glide. The Prophet's Poly Mod section is here, with audio-rate modulation of oscillator A's frequency and pulse width and of the filter. This is where the clangy bells, sync leads and snarling brass come from. u-he have added a per-voice distortion stage with four modes (Soft Clip, Hard Clip, Foldback and Corrode), a tape emulation, and a stomp-box effects chain: Velvet saturation, Lyrebird delay, RESQ EQ and resonator, Drench plate reverb and the Sonic Conditioner. The 1.1.3 update brought a four-slot modulation matrix and MPE support for polyphonic presets. There are over 950 factory patches.
Repro-1
Monophonic and proudly so, with an arpeggiator with latch and a sequencer with two 32-step patterns that chain to 64 steps. It has the same effects chain, with the Jaws wavefolder in place of Velvet, and over 500 factory patches. It's a cracking bass and acid line synth, more aggressive than the Repro-5 and very quick to program.
What It's Good At
Analogue warmth that sits in a mix the way hardware does. Repro-5 pads have movement without needing chorus slathered on top, the brass stabs have real bite, and the poly mod sounds are hard to get from anything else. Repro-1 basses are punchy and round, and they cut through the low mids without fighting the kick. If you make synthwave, 80s pop, cinematic music or anything that wants a vintage poly at its centre, it does the job very well.
Where It Falls Short
CPU. Repro models a lot of circuitry, and at the higher quality settings it's heavy. A few instances of Repro-5 with full polyphony will make an older laptop sweat, so expect to freeze or bounce tracks. Repro-1 has a sleepy mode that saves CPU when it's idle, which helps, but neither synth is light.
The architecture is also deliberately vintage. Two oscillators, one filter type and a small mod matrix. If you want wavetables, multiple filter models or a huge modulation system, look at something like u-he's Diva or Zebra instead. Repro-5 also has no step sequencer of its own, unlike Repro-1.
Who It's For
Anyone after the Prophet-5 and Pro-One sound without the hardware prices and service bills. It suits synthwave, retro pop, film and TV work, and electronica that wants a warm analogue centre. If your machine is on the older side, try the demo first and check how many voices you can run.
Specifications
- Version 1.1.3
- Repro-1: monophonic, two oscillators, 4-pole lowpass filter, arpeggiator, 2 x 32-step sequencer, over 500 presets
- Repro-5: 8-voice polyphonic, up to 8-voice unison, Poly Mod, per-voice distortion, tape emulation, over 950 presets
- Component-level modelling with Tweaks page, microtuning and MTS-ESP support
- Four-slot modulation matrix, MPE support for polyphonic presets
- Mac: OS X 10.10 or newer, Intel Nehalem or newer, or Apple Silicon. CLAP, AUv2, VST3 and AAX
- Windows: Windows 7 or newer, Intel Nehalem or AMD Bulldozer or newer. VST3, CLAP and AAX
- Linux: glibc 2.28 or newer (beta)
- 1GB RAM, more recommended. Needs a host, not standalone
Get the sound: U-he - Repro + SOUND7 Sound Packs Bundle. Buy Repro and pick two SOUND7 Repro-5 packs free. The Repro licence is sent by email and the packs are an instant download.
SOUND7 is an authorised u-he reseller.
Our Repro-5 Packs
Repro5 - Esoteric Vol.1: 64 organic Repro-5 presets that go deep on the mod matrix and Tweaks panel
Repro5 - Outrun Vol.1: 64 synthwave and outrun presets
Repro5 - Chillwave Vol.1: 64 tape-soaked chillwave presets