VSTi recommendations for well rounded synthesis types

[Resonator]

alos +1 for Alchemy and don't forget Fabfilter Twin

[Disease Factory]

Alchemy is like a super charged korg product because it has all those airy korg like sounds in it, mixed with that BT synth he always raved about kyma or whatever it was called. So for that I like it.

Still Bass and leads, NO VA TOUCHES A VINTAGE ANALOG SYNTH.

Shimmery sounds that glisten, VA, VST FAIL. They lack the high freqs, the nyquest filter kills those sounds, they cannot make those shimmery leads, or those plucked shimmery jupiter 8 sounds. I tried hard to do with the jupiter 8 v and laughed my ass off, the jup 8 sheen is not in that app. Depressing. Even at 96khz, fail.

[djugel]

Charlatan is a great simple analog-style free VST.

PC only tho..

[kpsiegel]

I have a Kurzweil 2600 SX and have had it for years. I can tell you that there is absolutely no replacement for it in a VST. I would strongly recommend that you keep your K2000. It also would make a fantastic keyboard controller. I use my 2600 to control my soft synths and it is wonderful. There is no way that Z3ta 2 or Omnisphere can replace it. I have them both. They are great. Try doing a B3 organ or grand piano on them that sounds as good as the K2000. Not happening. The keybed on it is really solid also as you already know.

I could go on and on but trust me if you get rid of it you will regret it.

As for VSTs it depends on what you want to do. I love Omnisphere and it has fantastic modulation capabilities. You have to learn how to use it but there are some great tutorials. Once you get the flow of how it works it really is a great creative tool. Definitely get the Bob Moog expansion library with it.

For analog sounds Diva is fantastic. I have it and love it. It eats your CPU alive.

If you want to sample mangle then Alchemy is great. Of course so is your K2000!

Tremor is really up there with me now as a drum synth. A lot of fun to play with and a very intuitive interface. It has some issues and will also eat your CPU but it is well supported.

Ken

[Andy_1138]

*edited* I replied in the wrong thread lol. Sorry

[optofonik]

I held off on Zebra till I wring everything out of the demo but so far the interface is very appealing. I downloaded ACE as well and like it better than Poly-Ana. The Poly-Ana GUI could use a bit more real estate for the sake of legibility. Sound wise there are two square wave patches, Square Dance & Touch Square, that are damn close once the cutoffs are better matched but I ACE appeals to me more. Fuller? Richer? More satisfying? Snickers! The price is similar as is the CPU hit at their highest quality. ACE is certainly analog sounding enough for me to not miss my hybrids, it's definitely different from Zebra and it's tempting to get both.

Kassiopeia is a keeper, thanks Bug.

Largo is out. I'm not to crazy about the idea of bad customer service from Waldorf; bad CS brings out my bad side and makes me say mean things. Really mean things. I wish I could find an editor for the MQ that works under Win7 x64.

I want to address the "overrated" comment in a broad sense. I bought my first synths back in 1980, two Moogs. Over the years I continued to add to my synthesis palette. When Steinberg introduced VST I was impressed by the idea but not so much the reality. The synths that sounded good at the time were, imo, nill but the idea of total recall and automation is what held my interest so I waited. Fifteen years later things are different and I'm happy to have the affordable hardware and software choices that are currently available. Some VST synths still sound like shyte and most just sound the same to me but there are a few that excel and stand on their own merits. I especially like the move away from emulations that has been occurring. For most of us back in 1980 it was impossible to imagine the choices and types of synthesis we have today. Electronic music has been around for over a hundred years now, predating both jazz and rock-n-roll, and I believe we are living in one of the genre's most interesting periods.

BTW, again, I'm not getting rid of my hardware, I just want to "replace" some bits within my daily workflow. If I feel the need for a more "authentic" synth timbre I still want it available to me.


So stop looking for my stuff on eBay.

[gruvsyco]

Originally Posted by optofonik

ACE is certainly analog sounding enough for me to not miss my hybrids, it's definitely different from Zebra and it's tempting to get both.

I bought mine like a week apart.

*edit* If you haven't watched them yet, you should also check out the programming videos for Zebra and ACE

[optofonik]

Originally Posted by gruvsyco

I bought mine like a week apart.

*edit* If you haven't watched them yet, you should also check out the programming videos for Zebra and ACE

Stop putting ideas in my head.

I'm sitting here A/B'ing Poly-Ana and ACE and am really beginning to appreciate whatever it is that Urs has done here to make it sound good, so....

[optofonik]

Comparing square wave patches again but with the Polysix VST this time. Again, pretty close in a lot of ways but ACE still sounds better to me.