KVR Audio

royosho · Post by **royosho** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 1:53 am

Hi, I've been reading lots of reddit/kvr posts about best all-around modern virtual synths and they're all only EDM related. I'm looking to purchase a good synth to use in multiple genres and was wondering about opinions.

progressive rock - mono bass/lead synth - (i.e. moog)

synthwave - detuned bass/pads, arps - (i.e. prophet)

modern - rap, trailer, edm, chiptune - (i.e. any popular modern synth)

I was looking at arturia/ik moog/prophet emulations, however was wondering whether there's a popular modern synth like sylenth, serum, spire etc that is capable of producing both modern digital and oldschool analog sounds. Or more importantly, gritty mono bass/lead moog style sounds and poly clean detuned prophet style sounds. So instead of purchasing an arturia moog and an arturia prophet, and possibly even a modern digital synth, is there a suggestion of a synth that could cover all 3 (possibly 2) of the bases?

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 2:09 am

If you know what you’re doing, all synths can make sounds for any genre. So, the answer is, “all of them.”

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 2:11 am

Maybe Uhe Repro? You get a virtual Pro-1 and Prophet-5 in one bundle ... not so sure about modern, digital sounds tho'. Bazille perhaps?

Or get a SUB37

royosho · Post by **royosho** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 2:18 am

zerocrossing wrote:If you know what you’re doing, all synths can make sounds for any genre. So, the answer is, “all of them.”

Cool, thanks. I'll just close my eyes and pick a synth at random then.

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 2:23 am

royosho wrote:
zerocrossing wrote:If you know what you’re doing, all synths can make sounds for any genre. So, the answer is, “all of them.”
Cool, thanks. I'll just close my eyes and pick a synth at random then.

You could do worse.

royosho · Post by **royosho** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 2:32 am

thecontrolcentre wrote:Maybe Uhe Repro? You get a virtual Pro-1 and Prophet-5 in one bundle ... not so sure about modern, digital sounds tho'. Bazille perhaps?

Wow thanks, that's a great suggestion since it's a prophet v plus a mono bass/lead synth. I'll have to try the free trial. Much appreciated.

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 3:15 am

It really is true though. Synths are not genre-specific. Or rather, genres will sometimes spring up around specific synths, but in general the synths are not limited to a specific genre. Just about any synth can be used for bass, pads, leads, etc. That doesn’t mean that you should pick one at random, but genre preference is probably the wrong criteria. You should be looking at type of synthesis, feature set, ease of use, CPU efficiency, price, overall sound quality, things like that.

CrystalWizard · Post by **CrystalWizard** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 3:22 am

Synths are genre specific? Wow, what about guitars? Piano?

Maybe some preset packages are genre specific, synths aren’t.

royosho · Post by **royosho** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 3:41 am

Sure, sure. I don't disagree with synths being versatile. They are sure, but a minimoog can't do prophet patches. And those are both synths from the same era... modern synths don't do analogue warmth well etc. They aren't genre specific, but they sort of are. A juno can't do modern, wavetable synths are cold and digital sounding, however cut through more, analog are warmer and fatter however could be muddier etc.
Synths are not all the same. Nor are guitars or pianos. A telecaster excels at a completely different genres than a strat, even though same company. A less paul is totally different, metal guitars like ibanez excell at totally different genres. You wouldn't use an ibanez to play blues, you'd use a strat or les paul, you wouldn't use a strat probably to play metal (unless its a super start with humbuckers usually), you'd use an ibanez etc. You'd use an upright piano for some genres and a grand for others. So are instruments genre specific? Not necessarily, however, yea they basically are. Thats why all blues guys play one of two guitars, all metal guys play similar guitars, most dupstep producers use wavetable synths, retro producers use v.a. synths... different instruments excel at different genres and fall short at others.

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:36 am

royosho wrote:Sure, sure. I don't disagree with synths being versatile. They are sure, but a minimoog can't do prophet patches. And those are both synths from the same era... modern synths don't do analogue warmth well etc. They aren't genre specific, but they sort of are. A juno can't do modern, wavetable synths are cold and digital sounding, however cut through more, analog are warmer and fatter however could be muddier etc.
Synths are not all the same. Nor are guitars or pianos. A telecaster excels at a completely different genres than a strat, even though same company. A less paul is totally different, metal guitars like ibanez excell at totally different genres. You wouldn't use an ibanez to play blues, you'd use a strat or les paul, you wouldn't use a strat probably to play metal (unless its a super start with humbuckers usually), you'd use an ibanez etc. You'd use an upright piano for some genres and a grand for others. So are instruments genre specific? Not necessarily, however, yea they basically are. Thats why all blues guys play one of two guitars, all metal guys play similar guitars, most dupstep producers use wavetable synths, retro producers use v.a. synths... different instruments excel at different genres and fall short at others.

Again, it would help if you would speak in terms of specific features. A Minimoog can't do Prophet patches because one is monophonic, the other polyphonic, and they have different filters and oscillator configurations. Not because one is better at funk and the other at synthpop.

royosho · Post by **royosho** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 5:28 am

deastman wrote: A Minimoog can't do Prophet patches because one is monophonic, the other polyphonic, and they have different filters and oscillator configurations. Not because one is better at funk and the other at synthpop.

...or one is better at funk and the other at synthpop BECAUSE "one is monophonic, the other polyphonic, and they have different filters and oscillator configurations."

They're different, they work better at different genres. I'd use a moog bass/lead for progressive metal, however for synthwave, instead I'd use a prophet, or korg or roland. I probably wouldn't use a wavetable synth for retro, however, it'd excel at hybrid trailer scores or dubstep. Wouldn't really want to use prophets or moogs to make dubstep... however fm synths are quite good for that. Different synths, different genres... they all have strengths and weakness and excel at different genres, while being lackluster at others.

I'm surprised someone could have a different view, but it's whatever, I just wanted to know how capable modern wavetable synths like serum, sylenth, spire are at producing moog or prophet style sounds and whether they are good enough to use for both digital and analog sounds, instead of needing a v.a. synth to cover the moog or prophet style patches.

surreal · Post by **surreal** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 5:29 am

One answer and straight to the point

DIVA!!

Now you can lock this thread and go and make some funky music!!

royosho · Post by **royosho** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 5:49 am

surreal wrote:One answer and straight to the point

DIVA!!

Now you can lock this thread and go and make some funky music!!

Diva's a good example. Imo, it definitely has a good v.a. sound. However could it make dubstep well? I honestly couldn't know for sure, however my guess is probably not. Serum or sylenth could make dubstep easily right? How capable are those at making moog/prophet sounds at the level of Diva? Could a wavetable synth replace a subtractive v.a. synth and take care of two styles of sounds?

[edit] maybe it's too subjective of a question? Is there a modern wavetable synth capable of producing moog and prophet sounds on par with a v.a. synth specifically emulating a moog or prophet. No, right?

izonin · Post by **izonin** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:20 am

Softsynths are highly specialized. The Legend does a Minimoog, Repro does the Prophets, Largo is the Blofeld, and Viper does a Virus. Why are you looking for one synth to cover all the bases? Choose your synths depending on the current project.

royosho · Post by **royosho** » Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:51 am

izonin wrote:Softsynths are highly specialized. The Legend does a Minimoog, Repro does the Prophets, Largo is the Blofeld, and Viper does a Virus. Why are you looking for one synth to cover all the bases? Choose your synths depending on the current project.

Why? Because money lol... I guess I shouldn't expect a one synth solution, I just wasn't sure whether a wavetable synth like serum/sylenth could create, for example, a minimoog patch at a level like legend/arturia. A review said sylenth has a warm v.a. tone, and I though, could this supposed "warm v.a. tone" create a fat moog style bass or detuned prophet pad at the level of an arturia synth?" (Quality, not authenticity). Then I could purchase a wavetable synth to use with two genres of projects, rather than a wavetable synth plus a vintage emu synth. Wishful thinking probably.

Best Multiple Genre Virtual Synth (Not Just EDM)