FabFilter Twin 2 competitors?

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Hi everyone,

I'm a rock guy. Pretty new to synths in general. I like synth sounds, but I wouldn't recognize a specific synth by it's sound. I happen to really like the kinda of analog stuff that's in Toontrack's String Machine, and I like the bare-bones thing that FabFilter Twin 2 has going on. FabFilter plugins aren't exactly cheap. And to be honest, I don't necessarily need all the control over the modulation, though I do enjoy the presets that incorporate them in Twin 2. I just wouldn't know how to go about creating my own and not sure I'm interested in that so much either.

Is there anything that sounds like Twin 2 that's cheaper (even free) that might be a little more stripped down in controls?
Macs M1/M2 / Bitwig 4 / Studio One 6

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Last edited by egbert101 on Tue Feb 20, 2018 12:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Tyrell by u-he (google it) you will find the free download.
dedication to flying

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A cheap or free synth like fab twin huh.

Have you tried what ya got in your daw? What is your daw anyway, Reason? Reaper?

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Armagibbon wrote:A cheap or free synth like fab twin huh.

Have you tried what ya got in your daw? What is your daw anyway, Reason? Reaper?
I'm using Pro Tools. Occasionally studio one. Just realized I've got XPAND2 and Vacuum in PT. Gonna dog in to those a bit. Also gonna look in to all those listed above. Thanks everyone.
Macs M1/M2 / Bitwig 4 / Studio One 6

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Frankly, I think most synths in that price range are better than Twin 2 by now. Twin 2 is a pretty old synth...
Tried it a long time ago and didn't find it very intuitive, to put it mildly. The GUI may look fancy at first, but it was just not for me, I like things more conventional...

The sound is also mediocre by modern standards.

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There are plenty of freeware synths that sound better imo. Was never sure what the fuss was over that synth in the first place..
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FAW Circle is similar in concept, cheaper too.
dedication to flying

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I'll say again, I'm really new to this synth thing... but in playing around with Twin 2 some more today, I'm amazed at going through these presets how they have managed to create convincing piano, xylophones, etc, with the included Oscillators. Maybe it's more a testament to the sound programming department rather than the core capabilities of Twin 2, but this thing is awesome. Can other subtractive synths achieve exactly the same kind of results?
Macs M1/M2 / Bitwig 4 / Studio One 6

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Check out Modelonia and Chromaphone

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If you want those kinds of sounds, get Xpand2, it is dirt cheap and will sound more authentic than any such synthesizer ever could.

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fluffy_little_something wrote:If you want those kinds of sounds, get Xpand2, it is dirt cheap and will sound more authentic than any such synthesizer ever could.
I'm not actually looking for "real" sounding samples from Twin. I was just mentioning how cool it is that it can do these kind of things. I'm just impressed is all. I already own XPand2, and lots of Piano libraries, so I'm not worried about that. I'm most looking to create lots of unique sounds, and so far I'm able to coax them out of Twin 2 pretty easy, but it bares repeating that I'm new to this synth game.
Macs M1/M2 / Bitwig 4 / Studio One 6

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Ah ok :)
I also like emulating real instruments on Sylenth1, sometimes the result is more interesting than the real thing, although of course less authentic.

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skiltrip wrote:I'll say again, I'm really new to this synth thing... but in playing around with Twin 2 some more today, I'm amazed at going through these presets how they have managed to create convincing piano, xylophones, etc, with the included Oscillators. Maybe it's more a testament to the sound programming department rather than the core capabilities of Twin 2, but this thing is awesome. Can other subtractive synths achieve exactly the same kind of results?
The answer to your question is sometimes yes and sometimes no (and no I'm not trying to be funny). Twin 2, does have its own sound which is both a good thing and a bad thing when comparing to other subtractive synths. With that said, subtractive synths are numerous in availability and with sometimes subtle differences between them in terms of sound quality.

I do think the sound designers of the factory sounds (some of whom frequent these forums) did some amazing work. I believe bmanic (KVR member) did the piano one. Working within Twin 2, requires working within limitations (which is true of all synths), and an amazing modulation system (which I know you don't care for).

There's still some sounds that I've created on Twin 2, which I just can't get the same on other synths. So if you end up liking Twin 2 more than the others that get mentioned here and you still find it expensive, just open a WTB thread in the Buy/Sell section here. Twin 2 usually goes for $70-$90 on the second hand market (but there's a resell fee involved too, which I think is $14 or $16???).

Otherwise, Vacuum is a fun synth to use... there's also upgrade/crossgrade paths to Vacuum Pro and the entire AIR suite for Pro Tools users.

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fluffy_little_something wrote:Ah ok :)
I also like emulating real instruments on Sylenth1, sometimes the result is more interesting than the real thing, although of course less authentic.
Exactly. Couldn't have said it better myself. I love aiming for one goal and stumbling on something even better!
Macs M1/M2 / Bitwig 4 / Studio One 6

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