I need a Recommendation for a soft synth

[cramseur]

Okay, I have a few softsynths, but I'm just not satisfied.

I'd like one with a softer side to the analog sound. Many of the synths today, while good for trance, etc. Just don't have the "softness" of older analog synths.

What softsynths capture that vibe? Not necessarily ambient specialists like Wavestation, and Atmosphere, but not hard edged like Virus/Z3ta+, Rapture.

Thanks!

[Cojo]

The cs80. (Sorry but I don't remeber what it's called as a software synth)

[jayf]

Yeah, the CS80 is nice.

[morebutter]

cs80. i think it sounds better than the moog that arturia also makes.

+1

[cramseur]

Originally Posted by jayf

Yeah, the CS80 is nice.

Wa Wa Wee Wa!


This is a whole lotta synth here. Thanks, I think!

[riecespieces]

TimeWarp 2600 has one of the biggest sub basses some great fx an great sounds that may be some thing to check out if your not big on how real it sounds Sonic SYnth is a great pick up and is pretty cheap on ebay used if thats the route u wanna take.. Trilogy has excellent bass patches and you can do a lot of tweaking.... Korg Legacy of course is also great I love absynth it really takes tweaking to a whole nother level and sounds great.. Gmedia Mtron and the other emulation program they have is great But I said all that to say this Ive used almost every soft synth out there however after switching to hardware I can never use a soft syth again to each his own tho and good luck

[kikumoto]

Another vote for the cs80 here!!!

To add other suggestions - all that korg legacy stuff is impressive,
also the Gmedia - Imposcar is good too!

[gotpop]

Wow, I was thinking the CS-80 as soon as I heard the words "analog" and "smooth."

[Notron Fan]

What abou U-He Zebra 2.31?

It's not a trance beast, but a superb semi-modular with some pretty nifty patches available from 3rd parties.

Even some nifty free ones

[FUBAR]

Alchemy - Additive, Granular, VA, Sampler Synth - VSTi Instrument, Audio Units plugin

[revstate]

minimonsta, oddity, impOSCar, and timewarp 2600 are the best at reproducing the "analog" sound for the computer. imo

[greggybud]

My only issue with Arturias CS-80 is the GUI. Sure, since it's an emulation go ahead and make it look like the CS-80. But PLEASE PLEASE...give the option to make it fill up most of my screen.

I'm tired of squinting.

[Doktorfuture]

The TimeWarp 2600 is very powerful.

My fave soft synth right now is the Linplug Octopus tho. It's still extremely fresh.

I just went through and bought a bunch of soft synths in the last month:
- Native Instruments Komplete, Kore 2
- Applied Acoustics (everything they make)
- Some Image Line (FL Studio) stuff like Toxic Biohazard and Sytrus
- Most of what Linplug makes.

The Octopus is very very nice. The Applied Acoustics deal is killer (if it is still offered). Their synths sound pretty great, and the package-deal was just super.

I'm still coming to terms with the NI stuff. A lot of their synths sound pretty reverb/delay smothered. But the Octopus sounds I've been cranking out are simply magical.

P

Originally Posted by cramseur

Okay, I have a few softsynths, but I'm just not satisfied.

I'd like one with a softer side to the analog sound. Many of the synths today, while good for trance, etc. Just don't have the "softness" of older analog synths.

What softsynths capture that vibe? Not necessarily ambient specialists like Wavestation, and Atmosphere, but not hard edged like Virus/Z3ta+, Rapture.

Thanks!

[W-W-Int]

fm-8 is very good at recreating old dx-7 / tx-81z patches. it even imports the original sysex files for those machines. what do you mean exactly?

and also i love fm-8 as a v.a. as well. it's got a good mod routing system, has 6 oscillators, and dual filters. does very smooth analog type sounds and also very thick layered sounds as you can set up a percussive 2-3 op fm sound and use a 3 osc saw or square wave subtractive patch in the same patch. then morph it into another stacked layered analog type patch using it's morph function.

[Doktorfuture]

Sytrus is ok. As you say, does the 80's FM sounds quite well. Nice for pads, 80's FM.

Overall, you're right that FM8 blows it out of the water. FM8 is really fresh. But I still use Octopus as my go-to FM/additive synth. It has very nice spectral editing, a huge tonal range and wows me a lot (kudos to the programmers), but it is similar in sound to FM8.

Originally Posted by Drone

NI's FM8 is pretty cool. you can create new generation FM sounds. Not the best if you want to accurately
reproduce the yamaha classics. How do you like citrus ? Is it pretty good for those fm sounds of the 80s ?
Regards,
Erik

[vixapphire]

Originally Posted by cramseur

Wa Wa Wee Wa!


This is a whole lotta synth here. Thanks, I think!

I'm looking forward to the day that Flash implements a "zoom/resize" feature. All these softsynths are so dense, with their 5 pt. type labels, that I feel like I need a magnifying glass to operate them anymore!

[GeorgeHayduke]

I really, really think that what you are looking for is Imposcar:

M-AUDIO - GForce impOSCar - Virtual Vintage Analog Synthesizer

Make sure you try the demo, before you decide on something else!!

-hayduke

[tribeofenki]

Motu, e-Mu, Camel Audio, Lennar Digital, Korg Legacy ...

[Notron Fan]

Originally Posted by vixapphire

I'm looking forward to the day that Flash implements a "zoom/resize" feature. All these softsynths are so dense, with their 5 pt. type labels, that I feel like I need a magnifying glass to operate them anymore!

That's one thing I appreciate about Zebra and U-He's plugs, you can set the size of the plug to your liking.

[Strobian]

Imposcar is a must have for a softsynth its $99 and it sounds great. I use it quite a lot.

How about a Mopho, you could get some nice lead sounds out of it... yeah its analog, but cheap

[msl]

I've really been enjoying FM8 and Zebra the last year, I've joined the Sylenth1 group buy so will get to have some fun with that one too soon.

[Drill_K]

The MiniMogueVA MinimogueVA

Da Hornet KVR: DASHSignature daHornet - Virtual Instrument

those are my two favorite Soft Synths/VSTIs

[Pip]

Imposcar - the best VA
FM8 - great

[STJ]

Strangely enough, I've found the instruments and plugins included with Logic Pro to be very impressive, considering you have a good fundamental understanding of sound synthesis and design.

[lhm1138]

WayoutWare KikAxxe is good. Only $50.

Most the best have been mentioned already.

A-Synth is getting long in the tooth, but is still good for soft vintage tones. Freeware too.

[Feinstrom]

I'd recommend Kiesel Software HELGA and that little freeware OBERON-8 by Land of Cockaigne.
Both are amezing!

Cheers,
Bert