KVR Audio

MachFront · Post by **MachFront** » Sat May 27, 2017 5:44 am

Despite my love and relative satisfaction with freeware, I'm finally in the market for a payware synth.
Only I'm on a severely limited budget and cannot decide.

I dig early-to-mid 80s sounds/styles. 80s Tangerine Dream, synthpop, modern synthwave, 80s b-movie synth scores,etc.
As such, I sincerely doubt I need or want all the whiz-bangs of the most modern top-of-the-line synths/VSTi such as Dune 2 or Synthmaster and so on...

TAL U-NO-LX seems to be my #1 contender.

I will admit I'm more than a bit of a preset whore (though I prefer the ability to edit said presets).

I also need the synth to be as cpu-efficient as possible. (I have old machines. My most 'modern' is a five-year-old Win7 laptop.)

I also desire a simple and intuitive interface. This is a large part of why I enjoy synths like TAL U-NO-62, Plastique, Dominator (from CM), Tyrell Nexus 6 (though my XP desktop can easily handle it, my Win7 laptop is not a fan), PG-8X and Synth1.

I'm considering Ultra Analog Sessions. However, depsite the KVR page it does not seem to be for sale by itself instead being available only as part of the Sessions Bundle with Lounge Lizard Session and Strum Session both of which I've no interest in.

Also on my radar is the newest iteration of the old Analog Factory: Analog Lab 2.
I really dig the idea of so very many presets, but of course I have to wonder how many of them will be well outside my preferences of sound and style.

The Korg Polysix vst is certainly within the realm but its presets and available third party soundsets seem to be thin on the ground.

PolyKB II Player and Steinberg's Retrologue are others I have an eye on as well.

Obviously I also have to wonder about the CPU efficiency of those aforementioned.

Considering my CPU and preset concerns/desires...I hope some of you folks can school me on where I might most focus my sites and wallet.

ZaBong69 · Post by **ZaBong69** » Sat May 27, 2017 7:04 am

Sunrizer is a good inexpensive synth with very low CPU requirements.

Best,

K

tibah · Post by **tibah** » Sat May 27, 2017 7:36 am

MachFront wrote:Also on my radar is the newest iteration of the old Analog Factory: Analog Lab 2.
I really dig the idea of so very many presets, but of course I have to wonder how many of them will be well outside my preferences of sound and style.

I would consider Analog Lab 2 as well, but yes, it's very different from having a fully featured synth and the sound may or may not be your cup of tea as there are more advanced options these days, but they probably also come with a higher CPU hit. I still enjoy the vibe I get from it. I also enjoy having this one stop for vintage needs in one instrument, though the interface is a bit clunky at times and rather falls into the "it works" category.

I like the presets so far but of course I can't review all of them and of course, you only have a set of fixed parameters to edit, depending on the preset. CPU wise it's hard to beat though. It's a great writing tool as you can quickly find things that fit or make own favorites for later use. My impression of the presets so far: some bread and butter, but also some experiments and sounds that managed to surprise me.

There is a demo. Not sure about sales or finding it here on the market place for cheap, since it would be a little over your budget.

Cinebient · Post by **Cinebient** » Sat May 27, 2017 7:55 am

ZaBong69 wrote:Sunrizer is a good inexpensive synth with very low CPU requirements.

Best,

K

Indeed, but it's more a kind of JP8000 thingie and is not the best for 80's vintage sound.
It's more about 90's trance or so

Scrubbing Monkeys · Post by **Scrubbing Monkeys** » Sat May 27, 2017 9:45 am

PPG 2.2v. Part of the Waldorf edition bundle.

D-Fusion · Post by **D-Fusion** » Sat May 27, 2017 9:58 am

Hunt down all the JX8P sysex you can get for your PG8-X

Tal Uno LX is great for the 80's and comes with many presets so i would get that based on your preferences.

I have All the Arturia V4 plugins and i would not recommend Analog lab since i don't like the endless sound browsing and little tweakabillity

I would get The Jupiter 8V or Prophet 5V instead.

evilantal · Post by **evilantal** » Sat May 27, 2017 1:18 pm

A suggestion from left field.... Phonec 2

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Sat May 27, 2017 1:22 pm

Waves Codex is for $59 now. It has many 80's presets and it is both, a capable and easy to use synth, but it's not very light on the CPU (neither heavy).

Check the tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le28ALEUZ84

sqigls · Post by **sqigls** » Sat May 27, 2017 1:36 pm

You can buy DARKLIGHT IIX from me at half price.
Can't get any more 80's than THAT synth!
possibly

HiEnergy · Post by **HiEnergy** » Sat May 27, 2017 1:53 pm

You should wait for a sale on Xpand2. The lowest price for this I ever saw was US$1. Currently it's at hundred dollars, though.
http://www.airmusictech.com/product/xpand2

EDIT: here's the current sale on this: http://www.pluginboutique.com/product/1 ... 60-Xpand-2

Now be fast and get it for ten bucks...

fluffy_little_something · Sat May 27, 2017 2:09 pm

Maybe ask yourself what your favorite bands from that era are and then investigate which synths they used. The Jupiter 8 for instance was very popular in the genres you mention, so you might look for an emulation of that.

The U-NO-LX is also very good, but it has zero delay feedback filters, and synths with such filters tend to be more demanding on the CPU. With pads with decent release times the U-NO-LX can be quite a hog, at least on my computer (6 years old, AMD Phenom 1100, W7).

Papen's Predator also has that old-skool vibe, and lots of presets. Maybe someone sells it at half the price on KVR...

Since someone mentioned Air, Hybrid 3 might also be of interest, it is frequently sold on KVR.

Vortifex · Post by **Vortifex** » Sat May 27, 2017 3:42 pm

fluffy_little_something · Sat May 27, 2017 3:52 pm

Vortifex wrote:
evilantal wrote:A suggestion from left field.... Phonec 2
Phonec 2 is a fantastic synth, it's a shame I hardly ever see it mentioned anywhere.

Memorymoon ME80 is another one that the OP will want.

Both were programmed by Chris Kerry, the guy who created so many SynthEdit modules in the past, along with a few interesting synths of his own:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JTW_gp66jPM/T ... owcase.png

rod_zero · Post by **rod_zero** » Sat May 27, 2017 4:05 pm

I would check for uhe hive second hand, it is good and as a substractive synth it can get all those 80s synth.

Of course there is also Repro1 but it is more resource demanding.

pheeleep · Post by **pheeleep** » Sat May 27, 2017 4:25 pm

Hi. I am selling an unregistered copy of ultra analog sessions for $15 if you are interested: viewtopic.php?f=43&t=484879&p=6793988#p6793988

Otherwise I suggest an FM synth such as FM8 to get that highly used DX7 synth in the 80's (synth pop, etc...). Oh and it comes with a gazillion presets and you can find a ton online as well.

Guidance on sub-$80 and CPU-efficient payware synth (80s sound/style)