List of Unique VST Synths

[Lotuzia]

Name those synths that have require an untraditional way of thinking and/or have an untraditional way of control/interface.

Ufo by Audeon
Glass Viper by Quik Quak
Synplant by Sonic Charge
Gladiator by Tone2
Absynth by Native Instruments
Alchemy by Camel Audio
Oh what the hell, Maelstrom by Propellerheads.

What VSTs do you think deserve to be on this list? WELL YOU'RE WRONG!

...kidding.

While I can see your point, Im' still not interested on some of the instruments listed. But yes I can perfectly see in what they are unique

More generally speaking almost all instruments are unique : Some in a very happy way, some in a less happy way -average-, and some in a desperatly not happy way for me, but wich could prove as very happy for you as well.

Your list made me think that it was merely based on an innovative POV from the devs on architecture or synthesis method. But they are a lot of other criterias that will -imho- determine and be part of the uniqueness of a given musical instrument. Not all filters are the same, not all oscillators are the same, not all signal paths are handled in the same way.

Like the devil, uniqueness might sometimes as well lie in details

So no list for me sorry (it would be too long

Only my 0.0002

LtZ

[antto]

IDEA: to the devs:
wanna make a VST with really unique sound?
take a pseudo-random-number-generator, possibly the most odd algorithm you can think of, replace the constants with your own numbers (be creative!) and this will probably make some kind of noise (white maybe) of a unique order ;P~

[TotcProductions]

I was just about to mention Krishna, but Frank has beat me to it. However, Sakura is not unique at all ( String Studio VS1, hint, hint).

Sakura sure looks prettier, but it's merely the emperor wearing a pink-chiffon gown.

I don't know, I think Sakura's unique in the amount of control it gives to the user.

But it really isn't unique in that respect. Honestly. Its various modules are more limited than String Studio. Look at the Exciter module in Sakura and String Studio, as one example. A huge difference, with String Studio being more complex. And something like String Studio's Termination module does not exist in Sakura at all.

Note: Obviously the number of parameters should never be the judging factor in how the instruments sounds. But that's another story.

That's only at first glance though. String studio does offer more features, but not as much control over those features as Sakura offers. You mentioned the exciter module...from what I remember, String studio lets you pick various preset modes. In Sakura, you can design them from scratch using the various controls in the exciter stage.

You're right though, I suppose Sakura isn't the most unique concept.

Also, to the OP: no offense to KarmaFX Modular at all, but I don't know if I'd say it does modular better than ACE.

[Nokenoku]

sorry, boring thread. Everyone will post his favorite synth and we all know what they are.

+1
Also we had stuff like "Olga" (which is as generic as you can get) in the first post already.

In fact most synths, which were mentioned, are rather generic.

[ariston]

sorry, boring thread. Everyone will post his favorite synth and we all know what they are.

+1
Also we had stuff like "Olga" (which is as generic as you can get) in the first post already.

how so? It's the only virtual synth that features a rubber duck, an ashtray, and a lollipop. I'd call that frighteningly unique.

[Nokenoku]

Yeah, the GUI is great.

IDEA: to the devs:
wanna make a VST with really unique sound?
take a pseudo-random-number-generator, possibly the most odd algorithm you can think of, replace the constants with your own numbers (be creative!) and this will probably make some kind of noise (white maybe) of a unique order ;P~

No, rather start using samples the proper way.

[trimph1]

sorry, boring thread. Everyone will post his favorite synth and we all know what they are.

+1
Also we had stuff like "Olga" (which is as generic as you can get) in the first post already.

how so? It's the only virtual synth that features a rubber duck, an ashtray, and a lollipop. I'd call that frighteningly unique.

The search for the ONE TRULY UNIQUE---never to have been heard before synth--goes ever on!!

Forward,gentlemen!!

[CS80]

Chimera... using filtered noise. I have a soft spot for that one.

[trimph1]

Since we supposedly are looking for "unique" here---may I suggest this as one?

http://www.kvraudio.com/get/3838.html

[insertpizhere]

Harsh Digital Nose, maybe a little too unique

[trimph1]

Harsh Digital Nose, maybe a little too unique

I'd say it fits----

[Neon Breath]

I must agree that most synths, although lot of them are amazing, are generic and far away from unique. A synth I once used and that I'm prety sure its quite impossible to reproduce on other synths is Metasynth 5. That beast is really something.

For me though the 'best' and unique way to get new sounds is to go out and do field recording, then use the collected sounds into a sample based synth like Alchemy or Absynth and tweak & transform them to death with additive and granular synthesis.

[Architeuthis]

The point of this thread? It's actually an Analog vs Digital thread, believe it or not.

I don't own any of the synths I listed, and I'm realizing that I haven't done enough exploring in synthesizer tools. That's point 1. I also wanted to learn of other unique synths based on everyone else's input.

Point 2 is that I'm getting tired of workhorse synths that are supposed to be able to recreate all the common patches.

I used to own Surge but sold it because I could tell how digital it sounded. I replaced it with Helix because of its supersaw ability, but I'm growing tired of it as well. It's just another synth trying to sound good at everything, if you know what I mean. It has its own digital artifacts that remind me it's not anything like analog.

Why would you want to own a digital synth that works exactly like analog one but doesn't sound anything like it? Leave that to the analog world and let your digital synths be completely alien in comparison.

Take Synplant for example. You generate patches through Mutation. You don't need to do much thinking if you don't want to, just pull on stuff and see what you get. That's instant complex patches that are unlike anything you'd find in a patch list. No need for tedious programming to create something unique.

Gladiator, I actually owned this one for 5 seconds and then sold it, but I'm thinking I might check it out again some time. It seems to have a unique sound because it has unique way of generating it. Closer to a workhorse synth, but it doesn't try to be analog.

The farther away a digital synth gets from tradition, the less it reminds you it's a digital synth trying (and failing) to sound like something you've heard before.

My goal is to eventually not own any digital workhorse synths. Instead, I'd rather own a fully-featured analog synth and have digital synths that are unlike anything else.

Yes, maybe my list includes synth with features you can find elsewhere, but my list is based on fully-featured, commercial, well thought-out plugins
; not free plugins where more time was spent on creating something different rather than creating something that sounds good.

[Echoes in the Attic]

I have to say that the most unique sounds I've come up with have often been the results of synths with mutate or randomize functions. If you like synplant for that reason, you might also like absynth's mutate function and gladiator's randomize. Both are pretty useful. I pretty much just like gladiator as an ambient synth. It does the odd cool arp synth sound but generally I only like it for digital/additive type noises and ambiences, and the randomize can be a good starting point for that. I've found lately that Absynth's mutate function is absolutely endless fun! It makes all kinds of stuff you'd never expect and it also mutates just towards the types of sounds you've selected from attributes. Very useful!

[himalaya]

That's only at first glance though. String studio does offer more features, but not as much control over those features as Sakura offers. You mentioned the exciter module...from what I remember, String studio lets you pick various preset modes. In Sakura, you can design them from scratch using the various controls in the exciter stage.

Yes, Sakura's continuous exciter design is nice, but StringStudio does not suffer as much as "preset modes" would lead one to believe, as each offers a lot of scope for tweaking. I also don't think that String Studio's bouncing hammer exciter is available in Sakura?

I have to say that it is not true that Sakura offers more control over features. It has a limited mod matrix, but SS has well chosen control assignments right in each module, plus it has that Midi Map feature which is like having an unlimited Mod Matrix ( since you can add as much as you can and control anything by anything). Much more flexible than the *limited* mod matrix in Sakura.

My only wish is that who ever designed Sakura's gorgeous GUI, would do the same for String Studio, as its u-boat theme is less than inspiring.