Tone2 Saurus - Best of its price range?

[BDeep]

Used to have Retrologue, it doesn't require a hardware dongle, but some software mechanism, iLok if I remember correctly.

Soft-Elicenser. Being Steinberg and all

[zerocrossing]

Honestly, I never found Saurus to sound very good to my ears. You can do a lot better, IMO, but I find your price restriction a bit misguided. Every synth mentioned so far is quite good, but why not include Diva, Lush-101, SEMv and the other top rated vintage VA emulations in your search? They're more expensive than Saurus, but I'd still put them "in that range." U-He used to even do a $50 discount if you sent him a picture of one of your vintage synths... I'm not sure if he still does that. Anyway, I say wait a few weeks and get the synth you want, not the synth you can get now. You may still end up with one of the mentioned instruments, but you'll know you picked it because you wanted it not because it was the thing you had cash for at the time.

[cowby]

thanks all for the input.

Got Retrologue and synthmaster already. Retrologue is pretty decent synth however synthmaster was not my cup of tea as I didn't like the UI. Tried the demo of K-one but I was surprise that it has no arp features... Am I overlooked?

Anyway, thanks and if you guys have any further suggestion feel free to let me know

[fluffy_little_something]

So, what exactly are you looking for that you don't find in those synths you already have?!

[yessongs]

VA is good for leads and pads for the way I use them.

Synthmaster tops my list if you get the famous patches that Nori designed into preset packs. In those you get presets from UK, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes, ELP, JMJ, Chick Corea, Wendy Carlos, Tomita, Vangelis, King Crimson and more.

Z3ta is on sale often to Sonar users. I have it and love it for leads as well as Rapture which I like more for pads now I have piscis by Galbanum.

Wusikstation is modular and may develop into something nice in this area when WK gets the 8000 complete. It has so much capability now it is a must have.

WISH LIST ITEMS BELOW

OPX also packed with lots of classic presets and on the top of my wishlist now $40 for the player then upgrade to full version later on and its on sale often.

GForce minimonsta ditto not on sale very often but at $150 it is a must have.

Korg Legacy can be had with a 61 key keyboard for $179 this gets you 5 synths including 3 VA synths MS20, Monopoly and Poly6. Plus the M1 and Wavestation.

NI monark was on sale a while back for $50 and Reaktor to has many VA synths inside it. Komplete makes the most sense band for the buck wise.

AAS modeling collection makes a lot of sense if you want to add more than just VA.

Uhe and Arturia round out my wish list

[BBFG#]

Try the free Alchemy Player next.

'Best', as always, is subjective.

[Ingonator]

Where is Ingo aka Mr. Saurus when you need him

While i got tons of other plugins (including e.g. Diva, Monark, TAL BassLine-101 and all from Xils Lab) Saurus is still my favorite VA plugin- It's as simple as that...

Until now i ust have done more than 260 patches for it (where abig amount is included with some of te official soundsets).

The point is that Saurus maybe is not the best in every respect but it simply works for me and it offers a few things that in the same way are hardly found in other synths (e.g. in the oscillator section).
As mentioned in the past for me it is the best combination of sound quality, features simple user interface and low CPU usage.


Ingo

[BBFG#]

Saurus is the one T2 synth that never really appealed to me.

For analog only with arpeggiator under a hundred, I go with AAS VA2 first.
But to each their own tastes there.

Still, since you can download Alchemy Player for free, I see no reason to not give its analog a run first.
(Although it does more than analog and what I use it for is rarely for its VA only.)

[fluffy_little_something]

The VA2 is 200 bucks

I am still waiting to see if they really release an updated version with a bigger user interface, then it would be interesting to me. Currently it is a pita to operate...

[BBFG#]

The VA2 is 200 bucks

I am still waiting to see if they really release an updated version with a bigger user interface, then it would be interesting to me. Currently it is a pita to operate...

MSRP is close to 200, but FMV is below 100. Used FMV is often below 50.

And I personally have no problem with the current UI.

[V0RT3X]

I also recommend Synthsquad if you can find it for cheap.

One of my favourites by far, but the sound might be not be for everyone.

[fluffy_little_something]

Where is Ingo aka Mr. Saurus when you need him

While i got tons of other plugins (including e.g. Diva, Monark, TAL BassLine-101 and all from Xils Lab) Saurus is still my favorite VA plugin- It's as simple as that...

Until now i ust have done more than 260 patches for it (where abig amount is included with some of te official soundsets).

The point is that Saurus maybe is not the best in every respect but it simply works for me and it offers a few things that in the same way are hardly found in other synths (e.g. in the oscillator section).
As mentioned in the past for me it is the best combination of sound quality, features simple user interface and low CPU usage.


Ingo

The last time I demoed it, it still had a bug regarding the pitch bender, if I remember correctly... After two years, maybe they will do a version 2 of Saurus as well
I like the huge interface, but the displays are hard to read somehow.

On this review there is a little demo tune about half way down the page, it sounds a bit cheap and plasticky to me. Dunno if it is because of the music or the synth, or both...
http://rekkerd.org/review-tone2-saurus- ... r-plug-in/

[Ingonator]

From the synths i own also Xils Lab Oxium, Xils Lab Synthix, U-He Diva, Admiral Quality Poly-Ana or FXpansion Synth Squad (mostly Cypher) could be replacements for Saurus while each of those has difference in e.g. CPU use, GUI, sound and features and most are also more expensive. Poly-ana is also missing an arp + step sequencer.
In fact they are different enough to keep and use them all IMO (which i do). Anyway if i would have to choose only one of that collection i would maybe end up with Saurus again...


Ingo

[fluffy_little_something]

The VA2 is 200 bucks

I am still waiting to see if they really release an updated version with a bigger user interface, then it would be interesting to me. Currently it is a pita to operate...

MSRP is close to 200, but FMV is below 100. Used FMV is often below 50.

And I personally have no problem with the current UI.

You are probably younger than me, with much better eyes

Oh, at 100 bucks it sure would be an interesting alternative...

[BBFG#]

The VA2 is 200 bucks

I am still waiting to see if they really release an updated version with a bigger user interface, then it would be interesting to me. Currently it is a pita to operate...

MSRP is close to 200, but FMV is below 100. Used FMV is often below 50.

And I personally have no problem with the current UI.

You are probably younger than me, with much better eyes

Oh, at 100 bucks it sure would be an interesting alternative...

I just have good glasses. Plus when you compare the single page of the VA-1 to the tabbed pages of the VA-2, it can be reasonably argued that VA-2 is actually larger and easier to read. Many don't like the tabbed pages though.

I think the average FMV is about 65-75 though.
And like I said, you can find it in the MP for less than that.