KVR Audio

Xenos · Post by **Xenos** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:21 pm

I'm just curious to hear the wide variety of opinions on this board. My personal favorite is FM7. Kind of an interesting story as to why. My first-ever exposure to synthesizing sounds was a Yamaha PSR-41 I got as a gift from my parents back in 1988. I was 10 years old at the time. The keyboard had a little "Digital Synthesizer" section on it which I used and abused with reckless abandon. Sure, it didn't do very much as it was limited to parameters like "spectrum", "brilliance", attack, vibrato and release, but to a ten year old kid, the ability to do that to all 32 built-in presets was heaven. The keyboard had a very quirky FM character (Yamaha being the ones who made the first FM synth, it kinda figures). Up until I graduated from high school, my entire gear setup was that keyboard and a home cassette recorder. As time wore on, I began to miss the sound of that old keyboard as it had an edge and character my pro gear lacked. At this time, I had heard of FM synths but I really didn't know much about it. It wasn't until I picked up a used TX-81Z off ebay that I realized THIS was the kind of sound I was looking for all along.
Seeing as my first exposure to synthesis was FM synths, there is a lot of sentimentality on my part with that particular sonic character, resulting in my being a bit of an FM purist. FM7 to these picky ears absolutely nailed that classic yamaha sound. I was more than happy to shell out $300 bucks for that sucker (wish NI had that $99 special when I bought it. Some lucky bastards out there just saved themselves some serious money). As an added bonus, FM7 is quite versitile and it's features extend well beyond the original DX synths. I am currently working on an ambient/atmospheric bank for this which will take full advantage of those multi-point, loopable envelopes.

Vonbrucken · Post by **Vonbrucken** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:32 pm

sytrus is from far superior to fm7 , NI always overprice their product
http://www.sytrus.com/
http://www.kvraudio.com/get/1568.html

Sound Mechanics · Post by **Sound Mechanics** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:45 pm

Korg Legacy Collection at £150 three great sounding synths, which are great emulations and more - fantastic!

But I must also mention the EXCELLENT MinimogueVA which I use all the time and is easy to use, large one page interface and has a warm sound. I actually prefere it to the umm...'other commercial emulations of the same synth'....that's saying something for the VoltKitchen group!

cptgone · Post by **cptgone** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:04 pm

PJ Harvey.

I know she's not a VST instrument, strictly speaking, but that's kinda irrelevant when you look into her eyes.

ew · Post by ew » Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:14 pm

Reaktor... do I really have to explain why?

ew

Ildon · Post by **Ildon** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:17 pm

I'm having a lot of fun with Fruity's LSD and my FF8 DLS. It's like having an SC88 in my computer that only takes up 5% CPU with each instance.

djwglpuppy · Post by **djwglpuppy** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:31 pm

I would have to say that Trilogy is one of my Favorites... It is a little on the pricy side but the sound of those Basses cannot be beat.... I can get a full sounding bass from them in Minutes what used to sometimes feel like hours before. As for Drums... I love me my BFD!!!!

telephone · Post by **telephone** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:42 pm

Kubik it is so amazingly versatile. I can spent hours together with my horny Kubik.

Meloday · Post by **Meloday** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:03 pm

Vaz Modular:

Versatility
Ease of Use
and, of course, the sound

xuanvu · Post by **xuanvu** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:04 pm

Hypersonic 2 for an all-around-purpose synth, and Albino 3!!!

bambooman · Post by **bambooman** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:16 pm

Zynaddsubfx.. cause it's just heavenly

M'Snah · Post by **M'Snah** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:24 pm

My favorite VST instruments let me play and improvise for hours, even though I don't use them much in compositions... NUSofting Peti, Scarbee VKC and HG Fortune's VST's come to mind. My favorite non-VST instruments are my piano and acoustic guitar, for the same reasons.

ultramike · Post by **ultramike** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:27 pm

Microtonic. Its so smiple to use and sounds so amazing. I love it! My second would be Fabfilter Twin. Again, its simple to understand and just sounds brilliant.

Polite Company · Post by **Polite Company** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:28 pm

Mine probably changes everytime I sit down to work on a tune but right now I'm really digging Auger and Oatmealis always good.[/url]

Modeler · Post by **Modeler** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:33 pm

Mine has to be Oddity, because it's a near-perfect reproduction of a fabulous synth that I will never have the chance to own.

Taking into account that it runs on a cheap laptop and never breaks, needs servicing or goes out of tune, that makes it better then perfect.

What is your favorite VST instrument and why?