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Which is Your goto VI for analog synth sounds?

Hi, I'm still a green about the gills here but I thought I'd like to chip in here, seeing as subtractive analog stuff has been my bread and butter over the years, both hardware and software.

I have the Arturia V stuff, so a reasonable amount of choice right there.

I have A|A|S VA2.

But if I am not sure what I am looking for and just want something simple and easy to use then I whack in an instance of u-he's Hive.

I invested in Hive as soon as it was released and have kept up to date ever since.

So, yeah, Hive for me :grin:
 
Like many others I have several but my favorites by far are Diva,Repro & the Zebra's.
I don't use Bazille as much but it's really interesting.
Honorable mentions that are equally amazing have to go to Omni,Phonic,Absynth,Largo,Poly KB and Legend,just to name a few..........
 
synkrotron said:
But if I am not sure what I am looking for and just want something simple and easy to use then I whack in an instance of u-he's Hive.

I invested in Hive as soon as it was released and have kept up to date ever since.

So, yeah, Hive for me :grin:
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I love Hive!

I just wish it had a couple more LFOs and filter types.
 
While a lot of people collect sample libraries, I’ve had a weakness for synths I’ve finally overcome (hardware and software haha). I think “go to” depends on the situation or style of music, so I’ll breakdown my favorite softsynths by how I like to use them.
  • For out of the box presets I think that Omnisphere is the king, with honorable mention to Arturia Analog Lab, synthmaster, Spire, Avenger, Dune 2, and Hive 2 depending on your favorite types of sounds.
  • For third party support you can make a case for Massive, Serum, Omnisphere, Sylenth1, Spire, Zebra, and Reaktor. All of them excellent.
  • What synth is the most versatile? It has to be Reaktor because it can do so many things, and let’s you make so many things. Reaktor is a platform more than a synth.
  • Best filters? Depends on what you’re after but dune 3 might have the best quick options and variety, but Uhe is amazing for the most slick analog sounding filters. If you like Moog style filter it’s hard to beat Monark (Reaktor) or Dune 3. If you like Profit style, uhe is the best. If you like A VA style filter, DiscoDSP sounds just like a nord lead. For smooth Waldorf style filters spire and sylenth1 are great.
  • Best routing? Hmm Uhe Zebra and Reaktor probably have the most options, but Serum and Pigments are the easiest to use.
  • Weird features? Massive X can do some weird stuff, but synthplant is the wierdest. Honorable mention to the glitchness of Thorn.
  • Do EDM? Serum and massive are great for glitchy and rude. Spire does amazing trance sounds. Avenger has great filters and presets but I personally don’t like the interface.
  • Best vintage sound goes to Uhe Diva/Repro and Arturia V Collection. Uhe sounds amazing, but V Collection has more presets, instruments, and the UI is excellent for mimicking the original hardware while still sounding great.
  • If I could have just one? Reaktor. If that’s cheating because that’s multiple products basically, It would depend on the day to whether I’d answer Omnisphere, Diva, Hive 2, Massive, Serum, Dune 3, or Spire. Most of the difference would come from wanting to play and hear the synth to be inspired, or do I want to make sounds. Serum, hive, and spire are probably the easiest to make great sounds for. Omnisphere and Massive just have so many free patches to play with and get lost in.
 
Yep, tastes certainly differ, as the list above doesn't come close to reaching my own top tier.

I too am sizing down and trying to avoid buying new libraries, synths, and hardware. I still give top honours to my one remaining keyboard synth, which is the Moog Voyager. It covers a lot of ground, and is so easy to dial up a fresh new sound.

Software-wise, I might use Korg's Mono/Poly more than almost any other, as it is so versatile and sounds great in almost every category. TimewARP 2600 remains my favourite, but I don't use it in quite as many categories overall.

The Arturia stuff takes a bit longer to dial up but covers a lot of ground. I actually have some custom (personal) Mini presets that I depend on, which I can't recreate on my hardware!
 
2chris said:
While a lot of people collect sample libraries, I’ve had a weakness for synths I’ve finally overcome (hardware and software haha). I think “go to” depends on the situation or style of music, so I’ll breakdown my favorite softsynths by how I like to use them.
  • For out of the box presets I think that Omnisphere is the king, with honorable mention to Arturia Analog Lab, synthmaster, Spire, Avenger, Dune 2, and Hive 2 depending on your favorite types of sounds.
  • For third party support you can make a case for Massive, Serum, Omnisphere, Sylenth1, Spire, Zebra, and Reaktor. All of them excellent.
  • What synth is the most versatile? It has to be Reaktor because it can do so many things, and let’s you make so many things. Reaktor is a platform more than a synth.
  • Best filters? Depends on what you’re after but dune 3 might have the best quick options and variety, but Uhe is amazing for the most slick analog sounding filters. If you like Moog style filter it’s hard to beat Monark (Reaktor) or Dune 3. If you like Profit style, uhe is the best. If you like A VA style filter, DiscoDSP sounds just like a nord lead. For smooth Waldorf style filters spire and sylenth1 are great.
  • Best routing? Hmm Uhe Zebra and Reaktor probably have the most options, but Serum and Pigments are the easiest to use.
  • Weird features? Massive X can do some weird stuff, but synthplant is the wierdest. Honorable mention to the glitchness of Thorn.
  • Do EDM? Serum and massive are great for glitchy and rude. Spire does amazing trance sounds. Avenger has great filters and presets but I personally don’t like the interface.
  • Best vintage sound goes to Uhe Diva/Repro and Arturia V Collection. Uhe sounds amazing, but V Collection has more presets, instruments, and the UI is excellent for mimicking the original hardware while still sounding great.
  • If I could have just one? Reaktor. If that’s cheating because that’s multiple products basically, It would depend on the day to whether I’d answer Omnisphere, Diva, Hive 2, Massive, Serum, Dune 3, or Spire. Most of the difference would come from wanting to play and hear the synth to be inspired, or do I want to make sounds. Serum, hive, and spire are probably the easiest to make great sounds for. Omnisphere and Massive just have so many free patches to play with and get lost in.
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Great info. I 90% agree, to the best of my knowledge (I don't have/haven't used all those). However...
  • I believe that The Legend beats Monark for Moog, and a lot more now, with 8 voice polyphony (I have both, though I prefer my SE-02 for monophonic sounds, so Monark never gets used anymore)
  • To me, Spire for trance is better than Dune 3, though the difference can be very small, and Dune 3 more flexible overall (when will there be a Spire 2?) - both are great synths and continue to be tempt me to purchase
  • Hive 2 filters are underrated, hell, the whole synth kind of is - it's a beast that has a ton of flexibility, including easy drag and drop routing, and I'm glad I chose it over Dune 2/3 (if the v2 hadn't come out for Hive when it did, I'd have purchased Dune 3). But I admit I'm a big U-He synth fan, though I only own 3 so far.
 
Mark Schmieder said:
Yep, tastes certainly differ, as the list above doesn't come close to reaching my own top tier.

I too am sizing down and trying to avoid buying new libraries, synths, and hardware. I still give top honours to my one remaining keyboard synth, which is the Moog Voyager. It covers a lot of ground, and is so easy to dial up a fresh new sound.

Software-wise, I might use Korg's Mono/Poly more than almost any other, as it is so versatile and sounds great in almost every category. TimewARP 2600 remains my favourite, but I don't use it in quite as many categories overall.

The Arturia stuff takes a bit longer to dial up but covers a lot of ground. I actually have some custom (personal) Mini presets that I depend on, which I can't recreate on my hardware!
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If we are talking hardware, that is a whole different world. I sold off most of my stuff for a few analog synths, Komplete Kontrol, and the Yamaha MODx8. Other then that I'm in the box. I’m looking forward to more cheap Behringer clones coming out (Pro1, SH101, Model D), analog for the masses. Props to you on the voyager!

Mono/Poly didn’t do it for me but it does sound nice. I mostly use Cubase and Live, but Propellerheads advertised the crap out of it - so I tried the RE in Reason.

Hans Zimmer is a guy set in his ways it appears, and in his masterclass and interviews has mentioned that he likes Zebra (despite an insane collection) because he knows it so well and makes sounds from his head and avoids presets which make him forget what he’s wanting. Calvin Harris is 35, has about the same net worth ($) as Zimmer doing totally different stuff, and he’s a heavy preset tweaker working to get stuff down right away kind of the opposite way.

Sometimes for the working musician the best synth is the one your clients/customers seem to prefer the sounds you get out of it, or you work quickest with. For the hobbyist it’s usually the “character” of the synth in standing out to them, or if it’s fun to use or inspires. The ones I named could certainly be trimmed down, but I've tried a ton of things to the point I don't look around drooling anymore on synths except if there's a cheap hardware recreation that sounds nice and doesn't take up too much room.
 
vitocorleone123 said:
Great info. I 90% agree, to the best of my knowledge (I don't have/haven't used all those). However...
  • I believe that The Legend beats Monark for Moog, and a lot more now, with 8 voice polyphony (I have both, though I prefer my SE-02 for monophonic sounds, so Monark never gets used anymore)
  • To me, Spire for trance is better than Dune 3, though the difference can be very small, and Dune 3 more flexible overall (when will there be a Spire 2?) - both are great synths and continue to be tempt me to purchase
  • Hive 2 filters are underrated, hell, the whole synth kind of is - it's a beast that has a ton of flexibility, including easy drag and drop routing, and I'm glad I chose it over Dune 2/3 (if the v2 hadn't come out for Hive when it did, I'd have purchased Dune 3). But I admit I'm a big U-He synth fan, though I only own 3 so far.
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It looks like we do have a similar opinion. To your points:

  • The Legend is awesome. No way around that, and you are right that it might be better than Monark. It might be the best Model D emulation to date. I had Monark first and went with Dune 3, and seem to gravitate to it because it has the same 12/24dB Moog ladder built into the Legend. That kind of pushed me toward it and away from Legend by no fault of the synth itself since I had Monark. If you own NI stuff, value comes into play.
  • I agree on Spire. Nice to meet a fellow user on here! This synth sounds so amazing I gave up on needing an Access Virus/Nord Lead. I think it's excellent for electronic music and can do so many things well. You add a great compressor and some saturation, and it shines. When certain sounds seem thin, it layers really well and isn't bad on CPU. I may prefer it to Dune 3, but Dune has this "sound" of clean modern EDM (Fx, routing, filter combinations?) that makes it stand out in mixes to the point sometimes it's hard to pick which one to use.
  • Hive 2 surprised me. I wasn't a huge fan when I demoed the original and didn't get on with it. Had I tried this version 2 BEFORE Dune 3, I might not have purchased Dune 3. If more developers would have a preset organization system as good as this, and make the UI where it's so efficient like this - it wouldn't be as exceptional. But it has those things, and the engineering of Uhe behind it. Winner!
  • You conspicuously say nothing about Reaktor. If you don't use it, do yourself a favor and try it :D haha.
 
2chris said:
You conspicuously say nothing about Reaktor. If you don't use it, do yourself a favor and try it :D haha.
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I tried using Reaktor a number of times (before Blocks existed) but desisted. I obviously recognize the potential but hated the workflow and UI.

Whenever I want more freedom I go back to Zebra. It doesn't do everything like Reaktor but it covers a lot of territory. I've been using it for years and the limit is still my creativity and synthesis knowledge.
 
It's a shame that Alchemy is now Mac-only and bound to Logic, as they fixed all of its qualitative and quantitative problems, bringing back the warmth that Cameleon 5000 had. It's the only reason I bought Logic Pro; I've never even used EXS24 or whatever it's called (their sampler engine).

I would say that Alchemy is one of the more versatile synths out there, and fairly easy to program and to tweak even if using mostly presets. But I don't use it for bread and butter stuff; it's simply my go-to for effects and atmospherics and the like. I find that I use Absynth and Ultra Analog for that a lot too, but that Cameleon doesn't have as much of a set sonic signature that permeates all patches.
 
Pier Bover said:
I tried using Reaktor a number of times (before Blocks existed) but desisted. I obviously recognize the potential but hated the workflow and UI.

Whenever I want more freedom I go back to Zebra. It doesn't do everything like Reaktor but it covers a lot of territory. I've been using it for years and the limit is still my creativity and synthesis knowledge.
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I can see that, Reaktor isn’t the most intuitive. It takes time to grow on you. Blocks changed things to be simpler to use, but the user library and the NI Instruments are quite good. The user library has all kinds of free synths and fx to try. NI’s own stuff like form, Monark, rounds, razor, flesh, and super 8 are great.

I can’t argue on Zebra. It’s great. I think if you like and get around Zebra well - you could be very well set. That’s why I’ve stopped demoing more stuff. I buy into NI’s Komplete which I’ll update every couple years, and I’m otherwise set and could give away most of my soft synths. It’s better to have a couple synths, know them well, and not worry about every new product coming out. A lot of times buying the new synth is to get inspiration from presets, or does something new. Sometimes it’s worth it, and sometimes it’s just a toy or a collection rather than an instrument/tool.
 
XILS MiniSyn'x is growing on me. I might end up upgrading to the full Syn'X (Synthex emulation). Very smooth sounding. It's a different layout and sound.

miniSyn'X - XILS-lab

Minisyn'x "my 2 favourite analog synths are probably the vcs3 and the synthex. .... i just got the minisyn'x and i am so excited as well because the synthex is a fantastic rarity. thank you to xils lab to give every one the possibility to play with them..!" jean-michel jarre - avril 2015- the...
www.xils-lab.com
 
Interestingly, this product is the reason I didn't bother spending $200 for the V7 upgrade to Arturia V Collection (I'll wait for a Black Friday sale), as the Synthax clone from Xils-Lab is so good that I can't imagine the one from Arturia being better! One of my five favourite soft synths for sound and design.
 
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