Looking for a softsynth that has great presets and sits in the mix well

[Vectorman]

Zebra 2 and howard's science bank.

Definitely second that. Howard's not a "glitter and flash" kind of sound designer - he tends to do patches that are a little more refined and understated that feel good to play and slide nicely into a mix without overpowering everything. Very eager to hear what he's coming up with for new patches using the 2.5 mode.

[DevonB]

Yes the ability of 'sitting right in a mix' is mainly related to instrument design.

I agree. When I was writing with a Yamaha AN1x, Roland JV-2080, Korg NS5r and Wavestation and a EMu E64 sampler back in the late 90's, 'sitting right' was merely choosing the right presets and selecting the right octave(s) to be playing in. While my mixer at the time had an EQ on every channel, I never needed to touch it except on EXTREMELY rare circumstances. I didn't really start feeling the 'need' to work with EQ's until I started working more with soft synths. I really don't think this is a 'hard vs soft' arguement, as all the synths I listed were digital hardware, it was just the sounds I picked, and the way the instrument worked.

Devon

[aquar]

I agree. When I was writing with a Yamaha AN1x, Roland JV-2080, Korg NS5r and Wavestation and a EMu E64 sampler back in the late 90's, 'sitting right' was merely choosing the right presets and selecting the right octave(s) to be playing in. While my mixer at the time had an EQ on every channel, I never needed to touch it except on EXTREMELY rare circumstances. I didn't really start feeling the 'need' to work with EQ's until I started working more with soft synths. I really don't think this is a 'hard vs soft' arguement, as all the synths I listed were digital hardware, it was just the sounds I picked, and the way the instrument worked.

Devon

Yeah fair enough.
The only disadvantage with that approach is you have to flick through presets finding the right sound to sit in the mix.
Say for example you come across a really sweet preset but its frequency clashes in some way the tendency is to hunt for another preset and so on when more often than not a parametric eq could be employed to sculpt the preset to fit.
I am aware there are many other considerations for example the sound may be saturated with reverb or there's too much delay etc but most users know how to dial out such things but the use of parametric equalisers seem to scare a lot of users which is a shame because they can make or break a track in so many ways.

Still each to their own I guess.

[DevonB]

Yeah fair enough.
The only disadvantage with that approach is you have to flick through presets finding the right sound to sit in the mix.

Honestly, I think it's having an ear towards what mixes together well, and to stop the tendency of piling too much into a track. I would often strip out notes of chords to make it clash less because it was overlapping dominant frequncies too much. I'd 'freqeuncy' fill by ear the mix with other 'bits' and pads to flesh out the piece too. It's getting the 'balance' of the mix with the right instruments playing the right notes. If done right, I really don't think EQ is needed all that much either for electronic music (acoustic instruments, entirely different story.) Roll off some low end rumble? Absolutely. A little here and there does go a long ways, but I think people get too heavy handed at times too.

Devon

[EnGee]

Say for example you come across a really sweet preset but its frequency clashes in some way the tendency is to hunt for another preset and so on when more often than not a parametric eq could be employed to sculpt the preset to fit.
I am aware there are many other considerations for example the sound may be saturated with reverb or there's too much delay etc but most users know how to dial out such things but the use of parametric equalisers seem to scare a lot of users which is a shame because they can make or break a track in so many ways.

Still each to their own I guess.

I think the OP will realize this later when he finds out no such synth exists

[yellowfever]

If done right, I really don't think EQ is needed all that much either for electronic music (acoustic instruments, entirely different story.) Roll off some low end rumble? Absolutely. A little here and there does go a long ways, but I think people get too heavy handed at times too.

100% in agreement. I sometimes used to think, right I must make sure I eq every channel; in reality, you don't need to (but I always low cut synths except bass; it doesn't take 2 seconds). Hell, I sometimes post works in progress with just midi channels (no audio render) and am amazed when I get the comment "nicely mixed" !!

[cyphersuit]

i would say nexus but what do i know.

+1. everything you do with nexus sounds great even without tweaking.

[eduardo_b]

Unfortunately I do not have much time to tweak instruments or play with trying to make a mix work by adding external effects, so I am looking for a softsynth that comes with great presets "out of the box" and the tracks sit in the mix well with each other. If the presets already have effects added to them which helps them sit well in the mix , that's OK; I just don't have the time to spend tweaking things.

The problem is that most presets are meant to showcase the synth and not play nicely with others or other instruments. You're going to have to tame these presets before they'll be mix friendly.

[a1audio.de]

hmm ... maybe ... Sylenth1 , Massive

[danbroad]

Albino 3?

Again, genre specific to electronic stuff. If you create trad-jazz, then I have different recommendations.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

alchemy and twin 2

[Lotuzia]

The problem is that most presets are meant to showcase the synth and not play nicely with others or other instruments. You're going to have to tame these presets before they'll be mix friendly.

Not Ours

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All our Soundbanks Audio Demos are made WITHOUT any further processing whether EQ or Comps on all outputs or external Delays, filters, filter banks. In a word they're different from Vengeance ones

In N-a-k-e-d T-r-u-t-h we believe !

LtZ

[eduardo_b]

The problem is that most presets are meant to showcase the synth and not play nicely with others or other instruments. You're going to have to tame these presets before they'll be mix friendly.

Not Ours

.......
.....
..
.


All our Soundbanks Audio Demos are made WITHOUT any further processing whether EQ or Comps on all outputs or external Delays, filters, filter banks. In a word they're different from Vengeance ones

In N-a-k-e-d T-r-u-t-h we believe !

LtZ

I was referring to those presets shipped with synths, not from aftermarket suppliers. Good to know your presets are different in regard to processing.

[Bastiaan from Tone2.com]

I agree that it would be easier to point you in the right direction, if we know what music style or type of presets you're looking for.

You could take a look at Gladiator, we've got more info, mp3s and demos on our website: http://www.tone2.com

Plenty of good products around though, so all the best with your search for the right one

[ghettosynth]

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