Diversion vs Helix vs Omnisphere vs Synthmaster vs etc. (for subtractive synthesis)

[Acer Hyperspace]

I really like Diversion, and I plan to make it my main subtractive synth. But I also love Helix. I really like Synthmaster too. I love Omnisphere so much that it is already in my list of to-purchase.

And I don't have that much money to buy all. Basically, I want a really powerful subtractive synth (or a hybrid synth that has subtractive synthesis) that can complement Omnisphere, already in my list of to-purchase.

-Helix sounds great, and I really like it. But it feels a little old and outdated compared to the other synths.
-Diversion is next up. Sounds weak, and not to my liking anymore.
-Synthmaster sounds nice, but it felt a little bad. After some experimenting I began to like it again!
-Diva sounds great as well. Still testing out and a little hesitant to jump in...

Basically what I need is a synth that does electronic music well. Fat basses, soaring leads, dreamy pads and atmospheres, weird FX and the like. And then I need it to be a flexible synth for sound design purposes.

And, I don't mean monster synths! I just want an extra-flexible subtractive synth, that's all...

Thanks for your input! Gotta stop myself from over-spending this Christmas

[bailees7irish]

none of the above.

get Diva.

[pdxindy]

I have to add Zebra to that list.

"Basically what I need is a synth that does electronic music well. Fat basses, soaring leads, dreamy pads and atmospheres, weird FX and the like. And then I need it to be a flexible synth for sound design purposes. "

Zebra fits that perfectly and it is being regularly developed so it gets new goodies

[PraxisCat]

Synthmaster is pretty great, but I have to admit there is a big advantage if you are going into it with a very good grasp of synthesis. It is very rewarding if you know your way around synthesis and sound design. While it is not perfect, I do love it. I was kind of rolling my eyes a bit in terms of synths that are good at what you listed. You can pull those off with most two oscillator synths.

I do have a question, as much as you are looking into omnisphere, have you looked into getting Komplete first? Omnisphere is one synth, while it is very deep, I think there are major advantages in having Komplete before Omnisphere, especially if you do electronic music. This is not to say omnisphere is bad by any means, just that it may be a good idea to look into getting something a bit more...diverse. Most people don't mention this because there is often the assumption that one already has some version of Komplete. From what it sounds like you are looking for your first commercial synths, omnisphere because of the reviews is very tempting. But realize these are reviews by people who often have other tools.
There is very deep flexibility with komplete if you want to do sound design. In fact it is a bottomless pit because of reaktor's visual programming and the scripts in kontakt. I know from looking at Native Instruments website it is hard to judge, but from using the synths it is a very useful package.

My advice is this...get Komplete first, and just komplete...then think about other synths afterwards. If you are looking into doing electronic music it will probably suit your needs fine on its own. Just my advice.

Zebra 2 is great as well. Again its another "people just assume you have it synths". Diva is very cpu intensive, and I am running on a quad core i7 sandy bridge chip. It does sound good though.

I have read your previous thread, I have absolutely no clue why you are against the NI stuff.

Also not mentioned is Tassman 4, which is older, but still one of the best sound design synths on the market because of its modular nature. However its UI has not aged as well as others. But it sounds as beautiful as ever if you have the patience.

[Lotuzia]

Substractive :

Add to the list Korg Analogs ( Ms-20, MonoPoly etc ), ImpOSCar II, AAS Ultra Analog, ACE, Arturia SEM V, and finally Xils-Lab Synthix, PolyKB II and Xils 3 ( Fully modular)

All great substractive synths, some have more complex sound design possibilities than others.

Just try the demos, and listen to demo tracks using these synths : YOur ears ad own taste will make the difference.

[PietW.]

none of the above.

get Diva.

+1

[Acer Hyperspace]

none of the above.

get Diva.

I am still trying it out, so I haven't decided whether it should be added to the list. Mind blowing though so far...

[Acer Hyperspace]

Synthmaster is pretty great, but I have to admit there is a big advantage if you are going into it with a very good grasp of synthesis. It is very rewarding if you know your way around synthesis and sound design. While it is not perfect, I do love it. I was kind of rolling my eyes a bit in terms of synths that are good at what you listed. You can pull those off with most two oscillator synths.

I do have a question, as much as you are looking into omnisphere, have you looked into getting Komplete first? Omnisphere is one synth, while it is very deep, I think there are major advantages in having Komplete before Omnisphere, especially if you do electronic music. This is not to say omnisphere is bad by any means, just that it may be a good idea to look into getting something a bit more...diverse. Most people don't mention this because there is often the assumption that one already has some version of Komplete. From what it sounds like you are looking for your first commercial synths, omnisphere because of the reviews is very tempting. But realize these are reviews by people who often have other tools.
There is very deep flexibility with komplete if you want to do sound design. In fact it is a bottomless pit because of reaktor's visual programming and the scripts in kontakt. I know from looking at Native Instruments website it is hard to judge, but from using the synths it is a very useful package.

My advice is this...get Komplete first, and just komplete...then think about other synths afterwards. If you are looking into doing electronic music it will probably suit your needs fine on its own. Just my advice.

Zebra 2 is great as well. Again its another "people just assume you have it synths". Diva is very cpu intensive, and I am running on a quad core i7 sandy bridge chip. It does sound good though.

I have read your previous thread, I have absolutely no clue why you are against the NI stuff.

Also not mentioned is Tassman 4, which is older, but still one of the best sound design synths on the market because of its modular nature. However its UI has not aged as well as others. But it sounds as beautiful as ever if you have the patience.

Well, I am against them because of GUI problems. Their interface design isn't my taste, so I don't plan to get their products.

Zebra and Diva is still under intensive demo-ing by me. So I'll see.

Tassman and the modular stuff sin't for me, as I need a fast way of getting sounds. Less flexibility, but faster. You see, I am learning a lot more stuff besides music production, so I can't spend to much time on it...

[Acer Hyperspace]

Substractive :

Add to the list Korg Analogs ( Ms-20, MonoPoly etc ), ImpOSCar II, AAS Ultra Analog, ACE, Arturia SEM V, and finally Xils-Lab Synthix, PolyKB II and Xils 3 ( Fully modular)

All great substractive synths, some have more complex sound design possibilities than others.

Just try the demos, and listen to demo tracks using these synths : YOur ears ad own taste will make the difference.

Actually, I prefer digital synths than vintage gear emulations...

[D N A]

First, describe electronic music

For some people it's J.M. Jarre, for other it's Beatport stuff or some stuff like Avicii, David Guetta etc.

As far as I remember Diversion had lot of modern sounding presets which makes me think that you're interested more in "modern electronic music". In such scenario Diversion is nice, also Sylenth with great factory bank.

If you need fat basses then how about NI Massive ?

If you're on the budget then maybe pick something which is already on sale ?

Synapse Dune is for 99 $
FX Pansion DCAM Synth Squad is for 99 $
FAW Circle for 69 $ is also great deal but it's hmm not a monster synth - it reminds me V-Station - just good features packed in nice workflow.

On the other hand some people may automatically think: subtractive = analog = warm bla bla ? If that's the case then pick Diva - great sound but kills my CPU, or Zebra or Xils-Lab stuff.


ps. how many synths do we have left ? There is Zebra as always, there is Diva, Dune, Sylenth, Massive, Synth SQuad, Circle, Xils Lab

[pdxindy]

none of the above.

get Diva.

I am still trying it out, so I haven't decided whether it should be added to the list. Mind blowing though so far...

The sound quality of Diva is outstanding. However, I would not classify it as an all around sound design tool in the same way as Synthmaster, Diversion, or Helix. In that category would be Zebra... and if you want presets, then Zebra has a greater range and quality of presets than any of those 3. They are all modern versatile synths and you really cannot go wrong with any of them. IMO Zebra is the most elegant, well developed and supported of the bunch. I like modular synthesis but find something like Reaktor or Tassman too complicated and time consuming. For me, Zebra strikes the perfect balance between modular flexibility and ease of use.

Synthmaster is also interesting, though it is still a bit buggy and rough. The developer is very responsive though. I recently posted in a similar thread to this one and mentioned a bug and even though I am not a registered user, he sent me a private message saying he found the bug and it is fixed. That is a dedicated developer! I think you can count on the rough spots being smoothed out!

Diversion does not have a Mac version yet, so I have not tried it. I like the sound of the audio demos I heard. My impression from looking at the GUI is that it is not as flexible as Synthmaster or Zebra.

One thing I really like about Zebra is how visually available the structure is. You can see at a glance what the signal path is. Also, and this somewhat depends on your use, but if you like to craft sounds, then the multiple channels are so handy. Have a sound you like and want to add some noise with its own filter? So easy to do that independently without affecting the initial sound. Likewise, it is really easy to send all or part of a preset sound to its own channel, eq it before sending it to a dedicated delay. So, for example, it would be a snap to craft a sound where one osc creates the attack, and a second osc creates the body of the sound and then send either of those separately to an effects chain and mix it back in... The GUI is exceptional for this sort of thing. So I think it depends on how much sound crafting you do how much you would appreciate the power and flexibility of Zebra.

[awol9000]

I really dig the x/y pads on Diversion. Lovely GUI unlike Synthmaster. Better sound IMO too. Plus the developer is adding new features and "growing" this synth.

[liquidsound]

Predator can get you a great palette of electronic sounds you seems to want and BLUE is endless but difficult, but again it's an unpopular monster.
Coming back to Zebra, as you see it's becoming your nightmare , check this guy work and his sound bank for Zebra, Sylenth1 and Blue here
http://www.arksun-sound.com/products.html
I have a feeling you are going to regret the Zebra factor... soon....

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

i think diva and omnisphere would be the killer one-two, though you might be happy with omnisphere's stab at analogue-ishness

zebra also seems really cool

[kv331]

I really dig the x/y pads on Diversion. Lovely GUI unlike Synthmaster. Better sound IMO too. Plus the developer is adding new features and "growing" this synth.

Hey we'd love to hear your comments for improving the GUI of SynthMaster.

Also, keep in mind that SynthMaster has been constantly "growing" for the past 2 years, the releases notes is clearly a proof of that.