KVR Audio

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:19 am

egbert101 wrote:
ghettosynth wrote:Oh look, it's another KVR favorites list with no real criteria to distinguish anything interesting at all about anything.
The criteria is best value of course.

Yes, for any definition of value, hence, no real criteria. How many of these stupid lists do we get weekly? I think that they need their own sub-forum.

egbert101 · Post by **egbert101** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:21 am

ghettosynth wrote:
egbert101 wrote:
ghettosynth wrote:Oh look, it's another KVR favorites list with no real criteria to distinguish anything interesting at all about anything.
The criteria is best value of course.
Yes, for any definition of value, hence, no real criteria. How many of these stupid lists do we get weekly? I think that they need their own sub-forum.

Okay, thanks for contributing your opinion.

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:24 am

egbert101 wrote:
EnGee wrote:For me 'they' are (when discounted):
1. Hybrid 3 and XPand2! for one dollar! (Crazy!) Then upgrade for $69 (I think) for the whole package!
2. Korg KC
3. Korg ARP Odyssey for $69
4. u-he RePro for $99 now!
5. All great VA/Wavetable synths under $100 when discounted (for example, Dune2, Sylenth1, Massive, Largo, ...etc).
6. Some synths even without a discount, like The Legend for $99 and ACE for 69 euro.
Hybrid 3 is currently $149.99 according to the website and XPand2! is $99.99. u-he Repro is $149.99.

So the question was current best, not what was the best.

You are absolutely right

I’ll edit or chop some of my list

rod_zero · Post by **rod_zero** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:28 am

ACE at its normal price.

egbert101 · Post by **egbert101** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:31 am

rod_zero wrote:ACE at its normal price.

Good choice. 69 Euros.

But better value than Korg M1 or others listed? Still a matter of opinion I guess.

braj · Post by **braj** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:35 am

FWIW I think these lists are helpful, if not original, they probably help a lot of people that are not that familiar with what is available.

egbert101 · Post by **egbert101** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:43 am

braj wrote:FWIW I think these lists are helpful, if not original, they probably help a lot of people that are not that familiar with what is available.

egbert101 · Post by **egbert101** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:58 am

I think Tone 2 Saurus 2 might be worth a mention considering what it can do.

EDIT: Added a load of others. Also Waves Codex/Element 2 are currently on sale at $59 each.

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:35 am

egbert101 wrote:Interested in how people perceive value.

Good question! I always use Time as my currency so: the Time I spend earning its purchase price / the Time I spend using it = Value. By that calculation my best value is MuLab's MUX modular synth environment.

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:39 am

With all the hundreds or perhaps even thousands of commercial synths currently available, it should be no problem to narrow it down to the single one which represents the best value.

egbert101 · Post by **egbert101** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:57 am

Michael L wrote:
egbert101 wrote:Interested in how people perceive value.
Good question! I always use Time as my currency so: the Time I spend earning its purchase price / the Time I spend using it = Value. By that calculation my best value is MuLab's MUX modular synth environment.

I do think modular "environments" such as Reaktor offer good value in their own ways, but they have to be in their own category, because it's difficult to compare against a synthesizer with fixed architecture. However, time is a very important contribution to value. That's why some may disagree and find modular systems too time consuming, or they have a longer workflow. That might not be the case for someone who has mastered such an enviroment though. But yeah, basically price is not necessarily the only variable in value.

egbert101 · Post by **egbert101** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:59 am

deastman wrote:With all the hundreds or perhaps even thousands of commercial synths currently available, it should be no problem to narrow it down to the single one which represents the best value.

If soft synth consumers were rational.

liquid234 · Post by **liquid234** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 4:09 am

Well, VCV Rack is mostly free, with AFAIK only two specialty modules for money. Hard to beat that, including many Mutable Instruments modules. Love MI's business model: make great instruments, make some money, share the love (open source).

Recently bought VPS Avenger. It was $176 on sale, not especially cheap compared to some. But it seems like the "bang for the buck" factor is very high with all its features, imho. Maybe Synthmaster rivals it in terms of BFTB, especially with the new wavetable update.

Wolfgang Palm's Wavemapper for $99 is a great value. U-he Zebra 2 for $149 if you send them a photo of your retired analog synth. Zeelicious!

It may not technically be a VST, but Reaper deserves special mention as a great and affordable DAW. Respect!

ATS · Post by **ATS** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 4:12 am

Omnisphere easily. I got so much use and quality from this. I rather have this one great synth than a bunch of cheap stuff.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 4:18 am

For me it's simple. The synths I use the most are the ones that give me the best value. If I spend $25 on a synth but hardly ever use it then it has little value. But if I spend $500 on a synth and use it almost all the time then it has great value.

My most valuable VSTi

Omnisphere 2
Dune 2
The Legend
Pianoteq
Synthmaster 2
Zebra 2

I've gotten more use out of these 6 then anything else I have with the exception of Kontakt because of a few libraries that I use all the time from Vir2 and Play VST because of all my EWQL stuff.

Everything else I have, I use sparsely. Maybe a few times a year. But that's what happens when you have so much stuff. You can't possibly use everything.

Current Best Value Commercial Software Synth