disable automatic effects loading

@jim

Hi and welcome to our forum. Thank you for posting.

Unify is not a generic preset manager for plug-ins--it does not "know" that third-party plug-ins even have presets--but "unified" libraries do provide an experience somewhat like that. These are made by loading up an instance of a specific plug-in (usually in conjunction with other effects), loading one of its presets, then saving the resulting configuration as a Unify "patch" (repeat for all presets in a series).

I assume you're using the "Unified - GForce ImpOSCar2" patch library. Those patches do in fact load various effects, but these will all come up with "neutral" settings and won't affect the sound unless you start playing with the Unify macro-knobs. The exception to this rule is that the three effects (FlexEQ, Enforcer, LoudMax) on the Master effects layer (purple layer at bottom) are always active. Click the "B" at the extreme left side of the Master layer to disable it completely (click again to toggle it back on), and you'll find that the effect on the sound is slight.

To explore the original ImpOSCar2 presets, start with an INIT patch in Unify (click INIT button), right-click where you see "Sine Wave Synth" and type e.g. "imposcar" to load ONLY a single ImpOSCar2 instance, then use ImpOSCar2's own preset-browser to run through the presets. You can do this for any plug-in you own; you don't have to use "unified" patch libraries if you don't want to.

@getdunne, Thanks for your reply. 

Yes, I'm using and referring to the Unified patch list for ImpOSCar2. 

One of the attractions to me of Unify re: ImpOSCar2 is that the ImpOSCar2 browser is FUBAR - it randomly disappears in the VI.  I have to reinstall the VI to get the browser working again for a session.  It's well overdue for an update to a browser more like the one on the new and improved Oddity3 (from GForce).  That bug has caused me to avoid using it.  There's an alternative method to choosing patches via a hierarchical menu, but it's not nearly as convenient as the properly functioning browser.

I didn't realize the FX added by Unity (other than on the Master) were essentially disabled if one didn't touch the macros.  That's good info that could solve that issue (or non-issue).  But, the FX on the Master remain, making my concern not solved.

Perhaps this should go into the Feature Request area.

@jim

Curious. I've never had any problem with the patch browser in ImpOSCar2 in Unify. You should definitely take this up with GForce.

I'll consider your request as a feature request, but it's not really a Unify issue; it's an issue with a specific patch library, which happens to have been created using extra plug-ins you don't want. If you'd like a simpler version of that library, without any extra plug-ins, someone may be able to create that for you. Post a request on the Making Unified Patch Libraries section of this forum.

UPDATE: It turns out you're in luck. If you go into the Unified - GForce ImpOSCar2 library folder (instructions below), beside the Patches folder you'll find a Patches.zip archive which contains exactly what you're looking for. Here are the steps to use it:

1. In Unify, click on the "gear" icon (bottom right) to open the Settings view.
2. Look down to where it says "Data folder" on the left, and click the "Open..." button to its right, to open the main Unify data folder.
3. Open the Libraries sub-folder, and within that, the Unified - GForce ImpOSCar2 folder.
4. Discard the Patches folder there (or maybe just move it somewhere else on your system), and replace it with the one inside the Patches.zip archive.
5. Go back into Unify, select the Unified - GForce ImpOSCar2 library, then click the "lightning-bolt" icon to rebuild that part of the patch database.
6. Open any patch, and you will get a version with ONLY ImpOSCar2--no other plug-ins at all.

The fact that the Patches.zip file is even there is actually a mistake, but in this case, a fortuitous one. The usual process for creating "unified" libraries is to start with a set of stripped-down patches, then we use some software tools to "dress them up" with effects, macro-knob assignments, etc. It just happens that the download for the Unified - GForce ImpOSCar2 library contains a zip file with those original stripped-down patches.

Should you decide later that the "dressed up" patches weren't so awful after all, you can get them back as follows:

• If you moved the Patches folder at step 4 instead of deleting it, swap it back in, then repeat steps 5/6.
• If you did delete the original Patches folder, delete the newer one, then reinstall the library by drag/dropping the the Unified - GForce impOSCar 2.guru into Unify again; Unify should rebuild the patch database again automatically.

@getdunne 

Wow, you guys are amazing.  I'm including John Lehmkuhl as well, because he also wrote a detailed answer to this and another question I asked using the Contact feature on the site.  (I wrote to him before I discovered the forum.)

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the attention you've given to my questions.

I followed your excellent directions above, and they work as advertised.

BTW, to clear up a possible miscommunication on my part, the Browser malfunctioning was happening on ImpOSCar2 well before I used it in Unify.  What happens when I click the Browser button on the ImpOSCar2 GUI is that the browser opens, but there's no text in any of the three columns (Banks, Patch, Program Change) for the presets, except for the PGM CHG slot numbers (000, 001, 002, etc.).  I will take that up with GForce.  I've learned since installing Mac OS Monterey that some of the utilities I run before cloning my boot disk wipes out some files here and there.  I will take that up with them, too.

Thank you so much!