Best soft synth for beginners? Reaktor 6/Dune 2/Omnisphere/Zebra 2?

[wurschtel]

Hey


In the last years I played a lot of classical music. That was the reason for me to buy Orchester Libraries and compose a lot of stuff midi based.
I didn't care a lot about mixing and stuff like that.
But now something has changed...
I am really into electronic music! and I wanna play around with classical instruments and soft synth at the same time. If I have some time, I wound love to make some EDM as well. I think you can learn a lot of it.


I basically have no Idea of soft synths. I played the last weeks with demos of Dune 2, Sylenth 1, Spire, Serum, Synthmaster, Zebra and the Wired blocks for Reaktor 6.



But now I have to decide which one I'll get.


I like the most:

Reaktor 6 (I think I am able to understand the Blocks Systhem, back in the days I programmed a bit. And if you understand this systhem you know how synth are in general working. It could be the best synth for a beginner like me? and I'll get this synth for 50% off, because I am a student... so it would by far the cheapest),
Dune 2 (I really like the warm sound and the user-friendly interface! I think its quite a good all rounder),
Omnisphere 2 (WOW this sounds are amazing! But I couldn't get my hands on a demo and, I think, that you can't make "normal stuff" like with Sylence 1 or Dune 2... I think its maybe not the best sound for a beginner, because I want to learn that much? It's just all about browsing the right sound?),
Zebra 2 (Zebra has Increadebly Soundpower. But I really don't understand this saint. It looks so Complex to me, that I am not sure if I should start with this one...)

I don't think that it makes sense to get all of them, because I wanna learn one soft synth properly before getting another one... and it's too expensive


I don't like that much:
Serum: too aggressive sound
Synthmaster: too complex and I don't like the interface
Silence 1, Spire: I don't know why, but if feels not 100% right... but I really enjoy the sound of both

sorry for my bad English!


I am happy for every suggestion!!


Sound/Songs I realy enjoy:

https://soundcloud.com/lisamorgenstern/ ... ysen-remix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgfHnugk1KU
https://soundcloud.com/julian-maier-hau ... tanzwueste
https://soundcloud.com/julian-maier-hau ... love-impro
and stuff like Flume is doing...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly7uj0JwgKg

[Distorted Horizon]

Synthmaster ONE or Hive could be nice for you Zeta+2 is also great, even though it's a bit old. But generally you can't go wrong with Dune2.

[wurschtel]

Synthmaster ONE or Hive could be nice for you Zeta+2 is also great, even though it's a bit old. But generally you can't go wrong with Dune2.

But hive uses only 2 oscs? does this not also restricted the possibilities?
In addition, hive should not sound particularly warm. is that correct?
Maybe I just download the demo version

[tehlord]

All that will happen here is that you'll get recommendations for all the synths out there. The best thing to do is demo and decide which one (or three, or four....) you like best.

Omnisphere does have traditional synthesis in there as well, although not as fully featured as Zebra.

I would recommend persevering with Zebra a bit because once it 'clicks', it's an immensely powerful synthesis tool.

I created a fairly comprehensive Zebra tutorial for Sonic Academy. And I've already been paid by them, so I'm not trying to sell the course to you here!

https://www.sonicacademy.com/courses/ze ... luffmunkey

[ew]

Out of what you mentioned, I'd go with Reaktor; I'd probably go with it anyway.

The plus side: Sheer versatility. Although Blocks tend to get most of the attention these days, the rest of the Reaktor factory library has some real gems in it, as does the user library. And, once you get your feet under you as far as building goes, when all else fails (or you just want something different), you can roll your own.

The minus side: It can be a serious time sponge. I've spent many days which started as "Hmm... I want to make a minor tweak" and ended hours later with a new creation either underway or done. It's not quite as efficient CPU wise as some other synths (though it's become much better over the years). And, it's going to take time to learn. As I've often said, I built my first synth within a couple days of first getting Reaktor back in 2001. My first good synth took me a couple years of working with the program.

Even back when Reaktor was selling for $400, it was hard to beat for sheer bang for the buck. With its current pricing (and a student license would be icing on the cake), it's an absolute no brainer.

ew

[wurschtel]

Many thanks for the recommendations so far!!!
I know all the synth I listed here could not be more different. That's why it is so difficult for me to decide which one I should buy.
If Reaktor really has such a big liberty, then it is probably worth the price only for this?
I was already excited by the wired blocks.

@tehlord
i checkt your tut and I realy like it.
if I get Zebra I'll buy it.

[chk071]

Out of those 4, definitely Dune 2. Dune CM was a great synth to get into sound design for me, and Dune 2 has an equally easy to use interface. If you're more experienced, Reaktor would probably be pretty good to learn how a synth works in detail. Question is if you really want to do that though. For me, a classic VA layout, perferrably with wavetable synthesis too beats that modular approach, if the feature set is right.

Make sure you look around, and demo other synths too. Nothing can be more frustrating than having spent 150 € for a synth, which looks super nice, but you just don't like the sounds coming out of it.

[bluedad]

If Reaktor really has such a big liberty, then it is probably worth the price only for this?
I was already excited by the wired blocks.

I paid $400 for it 14 years ago on the strength of the user library alone.
What it goes for now makes it a no brainer. The amount of synths AND fx is mind boggling,
then add the sequencers and samplers!

[bmrzycki]

Just my 2 cents, for what it's worth...

I own both Z2 and Omni and I'd say Z2 is better for learning. Omni has a very traditional subtractive layout and you can only change the filter routing. Don't get me wrong, the modulation in it, excellent presets, and sound sources are all top notch but if you really want to understand synthesis it's not where I'd recommend starting.

Z2 was the first synth I got serious about and took a while to learn to "read" the interface. But once I did it makes a ton of sense and I can quickly create presets of varying sound types. It can do FM, Wavetable glassy sounds, standard subtractive stuff, physical modelling, formant-type sounds, and some of my favorite pads of any synth.

Go through the factory sound bank and examine the presets. Howard tends to be a minimalist so the patches don't tend to use a lot of modules. Don't just play the sounds, take them apart. Disable/enable modulation or modules and see how the sound changes.

The Zebra tutorials are great too and show you small things in 1-3 minute chunks. Zircon and ASDR also have tutorials to help with more basic ideas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxyoA7W ... B0F03C216E
https://www.youtube.com/user/ADSRtuts/s ... uery=zebra
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 60F7CF76BA

The best part is the demo never expires. Just learn it until you think it's worth purchasing or walk away. When the notes start sounding funny just close the instance and load a new one. You can even save the presets you're working on between demo sessions. At the very least you should download the demo and just try it.

[chk071]

Frankly, Zebra seems a bit overkill for beginners. But, up to the OP, of course.

How about starting out with free synths anyway? Synth1 sounds good enough, and has a lot of synthesis power under the hood.

[Zexila]

After listening the stuff you posted, Spire definitely.

Here's free course for it:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... NEySiaDQJZ

and here's some interesting soundbanks that might fit into your thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osm1QM117cM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AOk4Xj6fH0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErV7fT60ncw

[fluffy_little_something]

Dune and Omnisphere are not modular synths, are they? After all, this thread is in the Modular Synthesis forum...

[ere2learn]

Don't forget reaktor is mono

[fluffy_little_something]

Why do you even want something modular? I don't associate modular with beginner

[fmr]

Don't forget reaktor is mono

Reaktor is NOT mono. The Reaktor Blocks are mono, but you are not limited to use Reaktor Blocks to build something in Reaktor.