Never tried it tbh,

Another cool synth for useable presets is SQ8L http://www.buchty.net/ensoniq/

I'm sure the original factory presets are in there too, I actually showed my hardware enthusiast well known acid/electronica producer mate my VST's and he was most impressed with SQ8L over everthing else(I showed him Xils Lab stuff/OP-X Pro II etc). Before hand the other week he dismissed VST's until he heard that one. And it's donationware

For me it is also unbelievealbe, that only Omnisphere comes very near to my expecations of a VSTi. Load and play live are my most expectations (without miditrack set up and so on...only play). Especially for me the preset switch next previous via midi from my hardware equipement is very important (only Omnisphere has it as learnable midi function).
But also with Omnisphere: for me are only 20% of the soundsets playable. I don't need all the atmosphere, "disaster", "ducky", "fluty" sounds
In all my other VSTi only 10% of the soundsets interesting.
I'm looking always for a VSTi with good piano, epiano, choirs, orchestral sounds. Also it would be great to have VSTi with automatic accompanieds, rhythms incl. solo sounds FOR LIVE PLAYING (Band in a box: much to complicate and the sounds...!).

Instead of spending time looking through soft synths and finding which presets are best, why not twiddle the knobs on one you have already and learn how to make sounds? They're synths. They're meant to be tweaked.

Good / best / a lot of presets ?

1. Korg M1 + Wavestation VSTi

tons of presets

2. I like NI FM8 factory library too - a lot of "universal" sounds.

3. also, maybe another sample based synth would work for you ? ie. IK Multimedia SonikSynth or SampleMoog. (there was a great promo about 2-3 months ago for it, who knows maybe there will be another one)

Bladerunner,
I agree with you on the percentages, but here is my problem with Omnisphere . . .
In most other soft synths you can adjust the preset/patch libraries . . . delete the 90% unusual stuff if you want.
In Omnisphere you are stuck with that 40+gig block of 80% unusable! If the library was open and expandable and contractable it would be more attractive. It is just not universal enough. Look at Stylus RMX . . . all your .wav sample library sounds are almost useless unless you want to convert them one-by-one with another 3rd party tool for REX files. YIKES! Why can't companies keep it simple and powerful and UNIVERSAL? Don't be like Sony and make a cool devise and then require the user to pay $50 for some cable with a freaky connector that only Sony makes!

Come on companies. Do the right thing. If you give love you just might get love back in the form of $ and less cracks!
Last edited by tommyzai on Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:34 am; edited 1 time in total

+googol-plex, at least!

I really don't mean to be bitchy, but I found your sound "Harmonica" very funny... Maybe one day I need a mortally wounded dog dying inside a pipe, and that's it!! (no harm intended, really)

Well, Arturia Analog Factory has 3500 presets, and I believe I've gone through them all, but I'm not sure. Good thing it has a Favorites tab....

No problemo, wich harmonica in wich soundbank are you refering to ? We have thousands of presets for 23 different synths, soon 24, hours of audio demos on the site.

Btw our Sound Designers have populated loads of HW and SW factory libraries for the most prestigious companies ( so that you know ). If you have played a lot of synthesizers, there a real chance that you have played one, or much more, of our presets in the past, and eventually enjoyed it/them ( or maybe the cat in the house enjoyed it )

What's the hype about Zebra presets? It may be great for programming but the presets are weak, even the commercial ones.

Best presets are: Nexus2 and Alchemy and they have great expansions.

Worth cheking: Korg M1, ImpOSCar and OPX PRO II

I guess we all have very different perceptions as to what constitutes a "good" or "weak" preset.
This comment was really an unwarranted kick in the teeth of some of the best sound designers around. But maybe BananaJoe can upload some of his own presets, which are undoubtedly much, much better than anything Howard Scarr or Bigtone or Michael Kastrup can whip up.

Anyways, Predator includes a ton of varied and usable presets.

Which commercial ones have you bought?

None, just listened the demos.

I did not even know it was by "some of the best sound designers around", that's probably where the hype come from. Surely i can't do any better myself, like the OP i'm into presets.

It is my perception obviously, and i am generalizing. And for a matter of fact the OP asked for all-around presets, while no VSTi covers everything at the best, Zebra is one of the most focused presets cited here, it's kind of cinematic only.
Last edited by BananaJoe on Sun Oct 28, 2012 5:53 am; edited 1 time in total