The most underestimated synths...

[pdxindy]

I think that you have to have some way in which a synth was underestimated.

Yes, we have "expectations" and are surprised when a synth is terrific even though it has: a tiny GUI, is Old as Dirt, by a small developer, is still in Beta, has very few presets, is DAW-specific, is freeware or inexpensive, has an ugly UI, is Just Another Sub, is standalone only, uses a strange synthesis method, has a steep learning curve, the factory presets are poor, it has a confusing organisation, is abandoned, endorsed by Jordan Rudess the list goes on....

Sure, you can say that you "underestimated" a synth. That, however, does not satisfy the rest of the topic which specifically asks for the most underestimated synths. That necessarily implies that you have enough knowledge of a synth's underestimation that you can impart some kind of ordering. In practice, this means that you KNOW that other people or the manufacturer "underestimated" a synth's potential.

Or we could just enjoy a conversation about synths we feel have gone relatively un-noticed and post some cool sounds and maybe discover a gem we had previously overlooked

[machinesworking]

you have enough knowledge of a synth's underestimation that you can impart some kind of ordering.

So we need to create a 'point system' to rank each synth using a ratio of estimated value before using it vs actual value after using it, yesno?

It's IMO pretty simple really:
Do people overlook it when talking about great VI's?
Is it powerful and capable?
Does it offer a uniques sound?
Or is the workflow intuitive to the point of making it a "go to" for you, but you never hear people talking about it?

With that in mind, Alchemy was always given due credit as a powerhouse. It's like saying Massive, Reaktor, Sylenth, or Zebra are underestimated. It's just not true in any way shape or form.

Talk about Aalto or Loom or Syn'thX, Melda etc. and you could make a point that people don't seem to see the power etc.

Absynth used to be highly rated, but it's age is showing, so it's worth mentioning in an "I'm not dead yet!" sort of way.

I think for the most part people understand what it means when you say underestimated or underrated, it's ambiguous enough to allow for both definitions to apply.

[musical android]

As VSTi - Lounge Lizard
As a mini DAW Workstation - Nanoloop having a very distinct and to me a beautiful fragile sound (if you want). Gameboy, Android and iOS wish that it was released as VSTi

[Cinebient]

Not sure if it was mentioned already but after i finally had time to play more with DRC synth.
It´s really a little beast. Available for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
I also like the GUI (especially the day version).
I can´t believe i got it once for under 3 bucks (iOS and on sale).
I tryed now the plug-in and it´s really good (but of course i can´t get behind my psychological border to have to pay 30 times more for the plug-in, still 9 times compared to the normal iOS price).

[sjm]

Or we could just enjoy a conversation about synths we feel have gone relatively un-noticed and post some cool sounds and maybe discover a gem we had previously overlooked.

[Cinebient]

I have to add that i can f.e. run easy 100 instances of DRC from a not too complex 2 OSC patch on my Macbook pro from 2013 (i7 quad 2.0 Ghz, 8GB RAM) at the same time.
This makes it also one of the best optimized synth engines for me if i judge the sound quality and the amount of instances i could run in realtime.
I now feel i have to support the developer for this and have to buy this as plug-in too
Or is it just G.A.S.?
Edit: And i din´t find a single KVR thread dedicated to this synth (or i missed it somewhere) which makes it legit for this thread. Sound wise it can compete with most of my other stuff from U-he, Synapse Audio etc. while it seems to use way less cpu.
But i have to dive in deeper and wait for the 7 day trial to end until i can judge it really.
But call me impressed after the short time. Maybe it´s just my flavor.
I just miss some things because it seems it was made with multi-touch in mind. F.e. i miss two fingers track pad scroll (mouse wheel) support for fine editing/turning knobs, resizable GUI (but it is very usable like it is) and that i can´t hide the virtual keys in the plug-in.
Of course i also wish it was cheaper (especially compared to the iOS version) but then i can do more with it (yet) as plug-in and other not much better (or even not better) synths costs 2 times more as plug-ins.

[wagtunes]

I have to add that i can f.e. run easy 100 instances of DRC from a not too complex 2 OSC patch on my Macbook pro from 2013 (i7 quad 2.0 Ghz, 8GB RAM) at the same time.
This makes it also one of the best optimized synth engines for me if i judge the sound quality and the amount of instances i could run in realtime.
I now feel i have to support the developer for this and have to buy this as plug-in too
Or is it just G.A.S.?
Edit: And i din´t find a single KVR thread dedicated to this synth (or i missed it somewhere) which makes it legit for this thread. Sound wise it can compete with most of my other stuff from U-he, Synapse Audio etc. while it seems to use way less cpu.
But i have to dive in deeper and wait for the 7 day trial to end until i can judge it really.
But call me impressed after the short time. Maybe it´s just my flavor.
I just miss some things because it seems it was made with multi-touch in mind. F.e. i miss two fingers track pad scroll (mouse wheel) support for fine editing/turning knobs, resizable GUI (but it is very usable like it is) and that i can´t hide the virtual keys in the plug-in.
Of course i also wish it was cheaper (especially compared to the iOS version) but then i can do more with it (yet) as plug-in and other not much better (or even not better) synths costs 2 times more as plug-ins.

Never heard of this until today. Listened to the Soundcloud demos. Very analog sounding. As good as any synth I've heard doing what it does. What it lacks in "features" (it is a pretty simple synth) it more than makes up for in sound quality.

I was genuinely surprised at what I heard. And these days, that takes a lot of doing.

[Cinebient]

I have to add that i can f.e. run easy 100 instances of DRC from a not too complex 2 OSC patch on my Macbook pro from 2013 (i7 quad 2.0 Ghz, 8GB RAM) at the same time.
This makes it also one of the best optimized synth engines for me if i judge the sound quality and the amount of instances i could run in realtime.
I now feel i have to support the developer for this and have to buy this as plug-in too
Or is it just G.A.S.?
Edit: And i din´t find a single KVR thread dedicated to this synth (or i missed it somewhere) which makes it legit for this thread. Sound wise it can compete with most of my other stuff from U-he, Synapse Audio etc. while it seems to use way less cpu.
But i have to dive in deeper and wait for the 7 day trial to end until i can judge it really.
But call me impressed after the short time. Maybe it´s just my flavor.
I just miss some things because it seems it was made with multi-touch in mind. F.e. i miss two fingers track pad scroll (mouse wheel) support for fine editing/turning knobs, resizable GUI (but it is very usable like it is) and that i can´t hide the virtual keys in the plug-in.
Of course i also wish it was cheaper (especially compared to the iOS version) but then i can do more with it (yet) as plug-in and other not much better (or even not better) synths costs 2 times more as plug-ins.

Never heard of this until today. Listened to the Soundcloud demos. Very analog sounding. As good as any synth I've heard doing what it does. What it lacks in "features" (it is a pretty simple synth) it more than makes up for in sound quality.

I was genuinely surprised at what I heard. And these days, that takes a lot of doing.

Yep. I really thought it is a really simple synth but if you dive in deeper it is just amazing how versatile this thing can be. Maybe i could even say it´s the most versatile synth for the amount of parameters it offers.
It´s a real hidden gem. I have it since a while on my iPhone (amazing to have such a tool on a smartphone) but never really used it until someone (thank´s) in an iOS forum remind me of it.
Still can´t believe i got it for freaking 3 bucks and it sounds like my 150 bucks plug-ins

[Cinebient]

But watch out for the self growing reverb decay (if you crank that up and pull down the damp). It can blow everything to death.
Def. use it with a limiter if you experiment with it.
I also love the GUI. But that´s flavor too of course.
The ring modulation, drive and some other stuff in this synth are so great.

[wagtunes]

But watch out for the self growing reverb decay (if you crank that up and pull down the damp). It can blow everything to death.
Def. use it with a limiter if you experiment with it.
I also love the GUI. But that´s flavor too of course.
The ring modulation, drive and some other stuff in this synth are so great.

Question: Where are presets stored? I just created one and did a search on my hard drive for it and the search came up empty. If presets are only stored internally in the dll this is going to discourage 3rd party developers.

[egbert101]

<delete>

[Cinebient]

But watch out for the self growing reverb decay (if you crank that up and pull down the damp). It can blow everything to death.
Def. use it with a limiter if you experiment with it.
I also love the GUI. But that´s flavor too of course.
The ring modulation, drive and some other stuff in this synth are so great.

Question: Where are presets stored? I just created one and did a search on my hard drive for it and the search came up empty. If presets are only stored internally in the dll this is going to discourage 3rd party developers.

I just can speak for the macOS version i´m trying since a day yet.
I created a patch and it seems to be stored in the local folder of DRC.
I can find it in my document > Imaginando > DRC folder.
But it just shows the "local.json" file. I tryed to copy it and then delete the file, put the file back to see if it works. And it seems to work, my patch was there again in the local folder of DRC when i opened DRC again.
But i have to try myself if i can create own folders and stuff.....

[wagtunes]

But watch out for the self growing reverb decay (if you crank that up and pull down the damp). It can blow everything to death.
Def. use it with a limiter if you experiment with it.
I also love the GUI. But that´s flavor too of course.
The ring modulation, drive and some other stuff in this synth are so great.

Question: Where are presets stored? I just created one and did a search on my hard drive for it and the search came up empty. If presets are only stored internally in the dll this is going to discourage 3rd party developers.

I just can speak for the macOS version i´m trying since a day yet.
I created a patch and it seems to be stored in the local folder of DRC.
I can find it in my document > Imaginando > DRC folder.
But it just shows the "local.json" file. I tryed to copy it and then delete the file, put the file back to see if it works. And it seems to work, my patch was there again in the local folder of DRC when i opened DRC again.
But i have to try myself if i can create own folders and stuff.....

I just tried renaming the local.json file to something else, leaving the extension. Doesn't recognize it upon load up and local now shows blank.

So it appears that 3rd party developers are SOL.

Shame. Would have been a nice addition to the collection.

[egbert101]

<delete>

[wagtunes]

Can't believe it was only $25 during the promotion period on release. KVR community dropped the ball on promoting this synth at the time.

You know what? It's a personal use synth and that's it. There is no way to provide 3rd party support. I have no idea what these guys were thinking but I can now see why nobody talks about this thing here.