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Best Kontakt library for 80's synthwave sounds?

Mike Fox said:
Ive been eyeballing Zero-G's Future Wave. Does anyone have it?

What do you guys recommend?
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I picked up Future Wave on intro pricing. TBH I don't even think it'd be worth it at 50% off... the guitar samples are especially disappointing. It's not 'bad' per se but it's not great & IMO not worth the price.

For synth sounds TAL-U-NO (my number 1 go to for synthwave bass), OP-X Pro gets a ton of use and Synth 1 (which is free). Serum is worth a look and I also use a lot of IK's Syntronik as it's really easy to get huge sounds with the stacking/multi function.

For drums I've been using Spark2 (Linn Dream Kit mainly) but I picked up Revolution in the BF sale but haven't had a chance to try it in anger as yet. I've been using a TR8s externally for my last few tracks with the Spark samples dropped into it. There's something about punching patterns in on physical buttons which makes the writing process more satisfying! ;)
 
ChazC said:
I picked up Future Wave on intro pricing. TBH I don't even think it'd be worth it at 50% off... the guitar samples are especially disappointing. It's not 'bad' per se but it's not great & IMO not worth the price.

For synth sounds TAL-U-NO (my number 1 go to for synthwave bass), OP-X Pro gets a ton of use and Synth 1 (which is free). Serum is worth a look and I also use a lot of IK's Syntronik as it's really easy to get huge sounds with the stacking/multi function.

For drums I've been using Spark2 (Linn Dream Kit mainly) but I picked up Revolution in the BF sale but haven't had a chance to try it in anger as yet. I've been using a TR8s externally for my last few tracks with the Spark samples dropped into it. There's something about punching patterns in on physical buttons which makes the writing process more satisfying! ;)
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Thanks for that info! I'll be sure to pass on Future Wave then.
 
JPQ said:
Arturia V dont sound accurate i think and dont even have all synths. where is Roland Junos ,Korg Polysix for example?
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The Arturia collection has a Jupiter 8. IMHO if you can't get a Juno 106 or Polysix sound out of a Jupiter 8 then you might want to look into learning some additional programming skills. I owned both a Polysix and a Juno 106 (boy, I wished I had kept those money-wise) and they both had the same saw, pulse and triangle(?) wave forms. The Juno's chorus was beautiful and the poly 6 had a nice ensemble effect. Yes, technically they are different keyboards but in a mix I doubt there are many of us here that could identify a single Jupiter 8 sawtooth from a Polysix or Juno 106 sawtooth.

Then to know you have the Synclavier, the DX7, the Fairlight the Prophet 5 and VS, etc, etc. IMHO that's a lot of bang for the buck.
 
JPQ said:
and dont even have all synths. where is Roland Junos ,Korg Polysix for example?
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I can see the "not sounding accurate" as a problem but how du you expect them to have an emulation of every synth? It is already a huge amount of content and value. I'll stick to Diva though.
 
Oh, and i hidden gem that not many people talk about is Psychic Modulation's Phonec. If you ever bought an issue of computer music you should be able to download the CM version which is pretty damned good for a CM synth!
 
I can fully endorse Mike’s review - at the price point it’s about as much of a no-brainer purchase as you can get if you do any synthwave or similar material.
 
Not to take away steam from Power Move as it does seem like a nice library but there are quite a few Kontakt libraries that have been focusing on these sounds for a long time as well as usable interfaces to manipulate them to the extent that these samples can be manipulated. All of them have done so at some pretty affordable prices too.

Some that come to mind are:

https://www.cl-projects-sound-design.com/
https://www.hollowsun.com/
and
https://www.kontaktbanks.com/

Having said that I personally prefer soft synths a little more for anything synth related as they are more tweak-able and of course you can create something from scratch if you dig in and learn.
Stuff from UHE have always been famous for that "analogue" sound and I've recently been really impressed by the sounds coming out of Ultra Analog VA-2 by AAS. I don't own this one yet but I do have the stripped down Ultra Analog Sessions and picked up some sound packs for free that can be played in their free AAS player and I have to say that while the player is extremely limited with only modwheel control and that's it, the sounds themselves have blown me away even if the tweaking was minimal. I'm thinking the upgrade to the full version for $49 is a better investment for me than another Kontakt synth library.

On the other hand, a genre focused kontakt instrument can certainly be a great way to assist in a fast workflow for projects calling for that type of sound, so there is definitely merit in that and I have gotten use out of my Pink Studio stuff from Kontaktbanks.
 
VSTBuzz said:
Hey @Mike Fox we're about to launch a new library called "Power Move" that is perfect for what you're looking for. Drop us an email to [email protected] and we'll hook you up with a free copy
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Mike Fox said:
Alright guys, brace yourself for one of the best (if not the best) one stop shops for 80's synthwave sounds. Seriously. Power Move is that good!
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:rofl:

Damn, I might be new around these parts but do members here really fall for this shit as often as it seems around here?!
 
UVI has some collections, and the ones I have do sound very good. However, they use their own sampler/player, and not Kontakt. But it works and sounds as good.

Paolo
 
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