Best all-round synth with character?

[Sound Mechanics]

In terms of getting to know one synth really well....

Which would you recommend as the best all-round softsynth to cover as many synthesise types as possible, with loads of character?

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

Tal u no lx is not the most versitile but is the most fun and full of character.

Synthmaster 2.8 covers alot of ground and does have some character.

Fathomsynth covers alot of ground and is has a unique character. More of a digital character (in a good way like U he Bazille ).

Waves Element 2 is full of character, easy to program. It is a bit limited but that may be a good thing.

All of those except Tal can get you where your going. Tal simply takes you to its place which is always cool.

[nilhartman]

Bazille, definitely. From analogue-like lushness to digital crispiness... and everything in between (and more).

[egbert101]

<delete>

[Sound Mechanics]

Thanks for the replies.

I 'd like to test a synth that can cover Subtractive, FM, etc... to see how it compares to individual synths that focus on one type.

[EvilDragon]

Zebra 2, beyond shadow of a doubt.

Even better: ZebraHZ, with Diva filters.

[ariston]

I think that "character" and "lots of synthesis types" are probably at odds with each other. I wouldn't attribute "character" to jacks-of-all-trades like Synthmaster, Falcon, Zebra, Avenger, etc. The TAL emulations, Repro, Diva, the XiLS synths... those have character. But maybe you have a different definition of character.

The only one that comes to mind is Bazille, because it is that wild and pretty unique digital/analogue modular hybrid that can go from silky smooth to gnarly and raucous in a heartbeat.

[atya]

I'd second Synthmaster 2. It's one of the most flexible and capable synths out there, sounds great, easy to program, has tons of modulation options and decent FX, doesn't break the bank and Bülent doesn't get tired of improving it.
As to 'character' it will take some time to really get to know something as complex and flexible as SM 2.x but to me both Synthmasters definitely have their own signature sound, maybe not as pronounced as some other more specialised beasts like e.g. AAS Ultra Analog 2 et al. but it's there.
BTW, UA2 has tons of that elusive quality; mainly owed to some really unique filter sections - nothing for silky, dreamy pads but it rocks big time in the ambient, 'cinematic' or FX departments and keeps surprising me on a daily basis. If that's your thing just take a listen to some of Daniel Stawczyks patches ('Cinemateque' etc...), he really knows how to max out that sucker.

[Sound Mechanics]

How about ACE... it seems to cover quite a broad set of sounds and isn't too expensive?

[wagtunes]

Until somebody can define "character" in any meaningful way, I have no clue.

As far as synths that can do a lot of shit, there's plenty.

Falcon
Avenger
Zebra 2
Synthmaster 2
Bazille
Blue 2
MUX
Karma FX
Omnisphere

Which one of those have character? I don't know. You tell me.

[Sound Mechanics]

Until somebody can define "character" in any meaningful way, I have no clue.

As far as synths that can do a lot of shit, there's plenty.

Falcon
Avenger
Zebra 2
Synthmaster 2
Bazille
Blue 2
MUX
Karma FX
Omnisphere

Which one of those have character? I don't know. You tell me.

Character from drifty raw oscillators and filters - I'm not sure how the devs do it but it seems to vary between synths and they certainly get it with emulations like Repro 5!

[wagtunes]

Until somebody can define "character" in any meaningful way, I have no clue.

As far as synths that can do a lot of shit, there's plenty.

Falcon
Avenger
Zebra 2
Synthmaster 2
Bazille
Blue 2
MUX
Karma FX
Omnisphere

Which one of those have character? I don't know. You tell me.

Character from drifty raw oscillators and filters - I'm not sure how the devs do it but it seems to vary between synths and they certainly get it with emulations like Repro 5!

Well, I still don't know what you mean by character. So an oscillator drifting is character? Okay, that's a new one for me.

Now as far as filters, if you mean that some filters when you adjust them seem to do very little or sound dull while others seem to do a lot and don't sound dull, yeah, some synths filters are "better" than others. My personal favorite is MS-20 from the Korg Collection. Of the synths I mentioned above, Zebra 2 has the best filters.

Sorry, but I get a kick out of the way people describe synths.

Warm
Cold
Digital
Flavorful

And whatever other terms get thrown around. I either like the way a synth sounds or I don't. I don't get hung up on terminology.

I still have no idea what a digital soft synth is when they're all freaking 1s and 0s.

[Sound Mechanics]

Until somebody can define "character" in any meaningful way, I have no clue.

As far as synths that can do a lot of shit, there's plenty.

Falcon
Avenger
Zebra 2
Synthmaster 2
Bazille
Blue 2
MUX
Karma FX
Omnisphere

Which one of those have character? I don't know. You tell me.

Character from drifty raw oscillators and filters - I'm not sure how the devs do it but it seems to vary between synths and they certainly get it with emulations like Repro 5!

Well, I still don't know what you mean by character. So an oscillator drifting is character? Okay, that's a new one for me.

Now as far as filters, if you mean that some filters when you adjust them seem to do very little or sound dull while others seem to do a lot and don't sound dull, yeah, some synths filters are "better" than others. My personal favorite is MS-20 from the Korg Collection. Of the synths I mentioned above, Zebra 2 has the best filters.

Sorry, but I get a kick out of the way people describe synths.

Warm
Cold
Digital
Flavorful

And whatever other terms get thrown around. I either like the way a synth sounds or I don't. I don't get hung up on terminology.

I still have no idea what a digital soft synth is when they're all freaking 1s and 0s.

I also have the MS-20, and I agree that it's full of character.
I'm not a dev so I don't have a clue how they do it but getting some sort of ********** into the sound is what I'm after .......
like the MS-20 but not necessarily sounding like an MS-20 (I already have that sound )

[egbert101]

<delete>

[wagtunes]

Until somebody can define "character" in any meaningful way, I have no clue.

As far as synths that can do a lot of shit, there's plenty.

Falcon
Avenger
Zebra 2
Synthmaster 2
Bazille
Blue 2
MUX
Karma FX
Omnisphere

Which one of those have character? I don't know. You tell me.

Character from drifty raw oscillators and filters - I'm not sure how the devs do it but it seems to vary between synths and they certainly get it with emulations like Repro 5!

Well, I still don't know what you mean by character. So an oscillator drifting is character? Okay, that's a new one for me.

Now as far as filters, if you mean that some filters when you adjust them seem to do very little or sound dull while others seem to do a lot and don't sound dull, yeah, some synths filters are "better" than others. My personal favorite is MS-20 from the Korg Collection. Of the synths I mentioned above, Zebra 2 has the best filters.

Sorry, but I get a kick out of the way people describe synths.

Warm
Cold
Digital
Flavorful

And whatever other terms get thrown around. I either like the way a synth sounds or I don't. I don't get hung up on terminology.

I still have no idea what a digital soft synth is when they're all freaking 1s and 0s.

I also have the MS-20, and I agree that it's full of character.
I'm not a dev so I don't have a clue how they do it but getting some sort of ********** into the sound is what I'm after .......
like the MS-20 but not necessarily sounding like an MS-20 (I already have that sound )

So in other words, it's like porn. You can't define it but you know it when you hear it.

Yeah, well good luck with that because one man's character is another man's "sounds like crap" which is more than obvious by some of the opinions of some of the synths here.