Synths that sound good in a mix

[dblock]

It's less about the synth and more about the mixer.

[Niowiad]

...and the arrangement

[AnX]

I would say you need a synth that not sounds good in a mix, but synth's Presets that are designed very well that they sit well in the mix

how does that even work?

how the hell does a preset maker know what kinda music i am making, or what other sounds i am using?

its marketing BS

if you want a synth to sit well in a mix, you sculpt the sound yourself to fit

lazy ppl....

[imrae]

I like synths that either have no FX section or allow you to quickly disable it. Bonus points if it stays turned off while flipping through presets.

Warning flag when people say "ZOMG THESE SOUNDS WILL CUT THROUGH ANY MIX!!!1!11!"

[digitalboytn]

if you want a synth to sit well in a mix, you sculpt the sound yourself to fit

[AdvancedFollower]

You EQ all the other elements in the mix so nothing wrong with having to "massage" the synths a bit before they'll fit IMO
I find "older" plug-ins tend to be easier to mix, as they sound "thinner", less boomy in the lows and less "sparkly" in the highs, but then again, it's easy enough to slap an EQ on them.

Also, find a few reverbs and delays that you like, put them on their own fx/send channels, then make it a habit to turn off those effects in your synths. You can then tweak those to fit in your mix (pre-delay, dampening etc.), and add stuff like EQ's, (side-chained) compression etc. to the delays and reverb tails without having to go through 10-15 different synths with different effects section layouts and features...

[izonin]

Hi,
I've been recently shopping for a new vocal mic for the studio, and became increasingly aware of the fact that some of them have lots of that sparkle and hyped high end, which makes them sound pleasing when heard in isolation. While others have a more neutral sound that blends easily with the rest of the instruments in a mix.
What are the softsynths that you find need the least EQing to sit nicely in a mix? And which are the most stubborn ones, and require the most work and processing?

I realize that you're asking about synths, but have you decided on a mic yet? I recently was trying to decide on one as well, and went with the Roswell Delphos. Really great mic!

Recorded my wife singing over one of her current favorite songs as a test. https://www.dropbox.com/s/1z5tq379ulw9a ... t.mp3?dl=0

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll take a closer look at the Roswells. They do seem like solid pieces of studio equipment.

[izonin]

I think this is where Zebra shines.
Which ironically I think took me awhile to 'get what the big deal was about it'.

rsp

Zebra is one of those synths that doesn't wow you initially, but, yes, I too find it to be one of the most "mix ready" softsynths. There's something about how the band limiting is implemented... I believe that Urs went for the Ensoniq approach.

[vurt]

It's less about the synth and more about the mixer.

when you say "mixer"
im assuming you mean, the mix engineer rather than the mixing console

[AnX]

It's less about the synth and more about the mixer.

when you say "mixer"
im assuming you mean, the mix engineer rather than the mixing console

maybe its the indian tonic water....

[fluffy_little_something]

It might be a problem resulting from synth-only instrumentation. With more conventional bands they had like 2 or 3 synths along bass guitar, guitars, drums, percussion, electric piano etc. Since synths sound rather different from those electric instruments, they didn't get in each other's way.