Yes! These threads, like the "which plugin sounds analog" threads devolve into a list of everyone's favorite. I own and like Diva and think that it makes great pads, but, I recommended PadShop because it trumps Diva in uniqueness, with respect to the specific purpose that it's designed for.fluffy_little_something wrote:That giant list on the previous page has basically rendered this thread pointless, seems everyone can get nice pads out of any synth they have and know how to program.
Any synth can create pads, it really depends on what you mean when you ask "what's good for pads", do you mean just any old pad, because you can get that from a freebie SFZ font player. Or, do you mean "great pads", and if so, what does great mean to you? Do you mean "subtle depth owing to the details of the filter and subtle movement in the oscillators", if so, then something like Diva is a good choice, and there's not much better because there the question comes down to the technology behind the components. Or, do you mean "great movement and uniqueness without having to be a synthesis expert", and there, I would say padshop is your top choice, because it is designed to leverage samples in an interesting way. Finally, perhaps you mean "cold pads with harshness, bite, and depth", then, I would think something like FM7 is a good bet. You can get things from FM synthesis that aren't really easy or possible to get from a standard subtractive model. You could come up with other attributes of the pads and this would lead you to different choices, but, if the synth that you're recommending doesn't stand out in some way, and in particular, you can't articulate how it stands out, then your recommendation is akin to "just use any old synth."