The most underestimated synths...

[jancivil]

Hey guys --

You don't actually think we read your 5+ paragraph posts, do you?

We don't. Ever. Nobody does. Seriously.

In fact, I read all of sjm's latest post here. The exchange I had with him was just like a conversation.

Who are you again?

[jancivil]

I reported some of your guy's way-too-long, way-too-many, way-too-overblown, with way-too-many-insults posts fighting wagtunes (as off-topic posts, basically, though they sure break the "be respectful" rule too), so don't think it was "wagtunes running to the mods" if your post got deleted or you got a mod warning.

such drama! who knew this was such a soap

[wagtunes]

I reported some of your guy's way-too-long, way-too-many, way-too-overblown, with way-too-many-insults posts fighting wagtunes (as off-topic posts, basically, though they sure break the "be respectful" rule too), so don't think it was "wagtunes running to the mods" if your post got deleted or you got a mod warning.

such drama! who knew this was such a soap

Honestly, I'm bored with the whole thing. Aside from ghetto's TB 303 example, who here's to say what an underestimated VST is? Outside of maybe a few that we know are widely used (Like Sylenth1) do we really know what synths are underestimated? In fact, by ghetto's definition, won't we really only find out if a synth was underestimated after the fact, meaning when the synth seemed to die in obscurity, like the TB 303 and then suddenly come to life years later?

I mean maybe synths that don't get used don't get used for a reason and will never be used. But we're never going to know that until the time comes when that synth that wasn't used suddenly GETS used.

[Hink]

it's getting old fast

[Dasheesh]

It's not what it is, but how you use it, and there is a difference between a pro and a professional. One makes money, the other is who you are.

[Armagibbon]

Linplug Spectral, easily.

It's one of those synths that suffers because of bad presets. And because you really have to dig to make use of its capabilities -- it's not like Diva, where you can turn one knob and get a good result. Spectral is NOT an instant gratification synth.

It may have the best FM/AM/RM/filter modulation available, IMO, at least as far as implementation goes -- I'm sure you can find some mad-scientist project out there that does more (but is comparatively unusable...). Then the ability to additively design and crossfade between your own custom waveforms, design your own filter curves... very powerful. And if you don't want to deal with the complexity, you can treat it as a subtractive synth.

It's a synth for people who really like to tinker and get crazy, utterly unique results. It's a one-of-a-kind synth, it sounds fantastic, and despite the complexity, the design is as ergonomic and deceptively simple as possible -- very mature design.

The only thing I wish it had that it does not is MSEGs -- of course, you can use the arp/sequencer as a modulation source...but that's not quite the same as an MSEG.

I was taking a look at Spectral the other day after a visit to Linplug's site to pick up a new-old copy of Albino3. Now I'm not all that keen on additive synthesis, a drawbar synth is about as far as I'll go in that direction because the results are always good and easy to get. Spectral, well, leans hard on cpu and using it as a plain ol subtractive synth feels like a waste.

So how do you approach the more complex stuff and make use of all that? Start with a fundamental and plop in specific harmonics around and above it? Is there some formula or starting point you always grab for certain sounds? I'd love to know how you come to grips with that kinda thing and make it fly. Just seems a tad tedious to do it all by hand... maybe that's why it's underestimated huh!

[machinesworking]

Oh, and I agree about Absynth, still use it to this day, even though it could use an update. I really hope NI doesn't abandon it, but NI have that history...

Love what they did with Reaktor 6, but really its time they threw their non Reaktor stuff a bone. Absynth especially is feeling long in the tooth, even if it still sounds great. They could give the UI an overhaul and I would program patches with it again.

It could use some updated filter types, more modulation possibilities and yes, a freaking scalable modern GUI. It doesn't have to sound thinner than Zebra in terms of wavetable synths, and it could use some other FX besides delay based ones, distortion and limiter for example. I would pay for that upgrade.

Then again speaking of good synths that need love, Symtohm is probably dead in the water considering Ohm Force's weird non upgrade policy....

[ghettosynth]

I reported some of your guy's way-too-long, way-too-many, way-too-overblown, with way-too-many-insults posts fighting wagtunes (as off-topic posts, basically, though they sure break the "be respectful" rule too), so don't think it was "wagtunes running to the mods" if your post got deleted or you got a mod warning.

such drama! who knew this was such a soap

Honestly, I'm bored with the whole thing. Aside from ghetto's TB 303 example, who here's to say what an underestimated VST is? Outside of maybe a few that we know are widely used (Like Sylenth1) do we really know what synths are underestimated? In fact, by ghetto's definition, won't we really only find out if a synth was underestimated after the fact, meaning when the synth seemed to die in obscurity, like the TB 303 and then suddenly come to life years later?

I mean maybe synths that don't get used don't get used for a reason and will never be used. But we're never going to know that until the time comes when that synth that wasn't used suddenly GETS used.

I think that you have to have some way in which a synth was underestimated. Some might argue that Alchemy was underestimated because everyone was taken by surprise on the sale. That is, the community did not correctly estimate, that's a word that means something, the degree of success that it would achieve prior to it achieving that success.

If you're going to assert that something was underestimated, then you have to at least discuss where the blinders were that caused that underestimation.

[Dasheesh]

Mppowersynth is one of the most sonically powerful pieces ever made. What are you doing with it?

[wagtunes]

Mppowersynth is one of the most sonically powerful pieces ever made. What are you doing with it?

Not my most used synth but I've used it a bit. I'd post something but then I'd only end up getting accused of spam again and I'm tired of the whole thing so I won't.

But yes, I use it. Nice synth. Very digital sounding. There is a harshness to it which is why I don't use it for a lot of things unless I want that particular sound.

As far as modulation possibilities, number of filters, FX, the thing is an absolute gold mine. If it had a warmer sound, I'd probably use it more than I do.

[Dasheesh]

Mppowersynth is one of the most sonically powerful pieces ever made. What are you doing with it?

Not my most used synth but I've used it a bit. I'd post something but then I'd only end up getting accused of spam again and I'm tired of the whole thing so I won't.

But yes, I use it. Nice synth. Very digital sounding. There is a harshness to it which is why I don't use it for a lot of things unless I want that particular sound.

As far as modulation possibilities, number of filters, FX, the thing is an absolute gold mine. If it had a warmer sound, I'd probably use it more than I do.

All absolutely true but I'm not personally afraid of digital synthesis.

[DJErmac]

+1

MPowerSynth is the synth I use the most.

If I had to pick one, just one totally underestimated synth, this would be MPowerSynth for sure. This is a sonic beast and people usually don't even think about it when they talk about wavetable synths.

But its GUI is meh, its presets are very very meh, so nobody ever talks about it.

[Michael L]

I think that you have to have some way in which a synth was underestimated.

Yes, we have "expectations" and are surprised when a synth is terrific even though it has: a tiny GUI, is Old as Dirt, by a small developer, is still in Beta, has very few presets, is DAW-specific, is freeware or inexpensive, has an ugly UI, is Just Another Sub, is standalone only, uses a strange synthesis method, has a steep learning curve, the factory presets are poor, it has a confusing organisation, is abandoned, endorsed by Jordan Rudess the list goes on....

[ghettosynth]

I think that you have to have some way in which a synth was underestimated.

Yes, we have "expectations" and are surprised when a synth is terrific even though it has: a tiny GUI, is Old as Dirt, by a small developer, is still in Beta, has very few presets, is DAW-specific, is freeware or inexpensive, has an ugly UI, is Just Another Sub, is standalone only, uses a strange synthesis method, has a steep learning curve, the factory presets are poor, it has a confusing organisation, is abandoned, endorsed by Jordan Rudess the list goes on....

Sure, you can say that you "underestimated" a synth. That, however, does not satisfy the rest of the topic which specifically asks for the most underestimated synths. That necessarily implies that you have enough knowledge of a synth's underestimation that you can impart some kind of ordering. In practice, this means that you KNOW that other people or the manufacturer "underestimated" a synth's potential.

[Michael L]

you have enough knowledge of a synth's underestimation that you can impart some kind of ordering.

So we need to create a 'point system' to rank each synth using a ratio of estimated value before using it vs actual value after using it, yesno?