Wow Me! (Synth Suggestions...Dune 2 Winner Prize Ready...Update 5/5)

[chaosWyrM]

What's important to me?

1) Sound above all else. The more unique the better.
2) Programming. Must be extremely flexible with lots of modulations.
3) No more than $200.

considering the list of what you already have:

http://soniccharge.com/synplant

it will be nothing at all like anything you already have (its nothing at all like anything else anyway).

i would suggest when checking it out...try to watch a lot of different videos for it. some people will just make normal sounds with it (i dont know why, but they do)...but it really shines when making off the wall sounds. the sounds on the sonic charge website are particularly uninspired, they really screwed the pooch when deciding how to market this synth.

it has a unique sound, a unique gui, and a unique way of programming it. and the sound quality is excellent.

[spaceman]

+1 for Synplant

[jeffb01]

sugar bytes cyclop... I just picked it up today for a good price and it's really cool and unique. It seems a lot of people around here bag on it so demo it first.

[Halma]

Have you considered VAPORIZER?

Pretty nice sounding synth. Awesome Unison. Could become a CPU hog for some older rigs but the sound is quite pleasing. Up to 24 Voices per Osc and there are 4 of them. Nice Filters with some badass routing and evn a very flexible EQ. And the developer is pretty active in pimpin´it after listening to the community. Modmatrix does not have that many slots right now but still enough and comes with lots modsources & destinations to have fun with. And the dev is adding stuf within here as well if the community asks. Dirt cheap too (< 25 €)and only needs a keyfile.

If you like it somehow really pure without any fx at all give Curve 2.5 a try or buy the whole Cableguys package which will give you Filtershaper, Midishaper and Volumeshaper as well. Dude I love their envelopes. They are so tight. And with the 2.5 Update they added the Sallen Key Filter which really rocks. Very compact synth. But it´s a joy to program it.

Last but not least you could try out Enzyme. This is for the brave one. I think there is nothing like it on the market. Wavetable meets Physical Modeling. Can alias like mad but heck it´s so unique. BP Filters are youre friend here if you wanna have more classic sound. Sounds very 3D with some of the Node modes. Modulation is one of the most flexible ones I know. Unlimited LFOs, ENVs and Note/Key mod sources. Assigning them to the mod matrix is a matter of seconds. Only drawback is the modmatrix as well but this one sounds really great once you learned to tame it.

Other than that I really like XILS stuff and the MPowersynth for modulation heaven but you already own them. Maybe save some more bucks and buy Reason and use that via Rewire.

Good luck.
Sebastian

Edit: If you don´t have any problems with 32bit and SE you should give Float a try. This one is pretty unique too. Very special sound. Simpyl awesome. And try out BONG as well. I don´t think there is anything better in that pricerange for some classic analog drums with that many velocity modulation options. Heck buy his all VST package and have some fun with all the wiered stuff. You won´t find anything similar somewhere else.

And for free you should definitely check out HYDi 1.3. I beta tested it and made some patches for it. Became a part of the team that way. It is still a MONO synth tbut he sound of it is utterly awesome and can sound very huge if paired up with the right FX from within the built in fx section. Lots of soul. Modulation heaven btw.

[spaceman]

Last but not least you could try out Enzyme. This is for the brave one. I think there is nothing like it on the market.

Great tip.

[wagtunes]

What's important to me?

1) Sound above all else. The more unique the better.
2) Programming. Must be extremely flexible with lots of modulations.
3) No more than $200.

considering the list of what you already have:

http://soniccharge.com/synplant

it will be nothing at all like anything you already have (its nothing at all like anything else anyway).

i would suggest when checking it out...try to watch a lot of different videos for it. some people will just make normal sounds with it (i dont know why, but they do)...but it really shines when making off the wall sounds. the sounds on the sonic charge website are particularly uninspired, they really screwed the pooch when deciding how to market this synth.

it has a unique sound, a unique gui, and a unique way of programming it. and the sound quality is excellent.

O...M...G

That is one seriously quirk ridden synth. No, nothing like I've ever seen.

I do have a question though because the interface, from what I can tell from the YouTube video, looks very simple.

Is there ANY modulation capability at all in this thing through even just a mod wheel? It doesn't appear to be so and thus all sounds are relatively static even if they have a naturally "morph" to them via the branches themselves.

I'm not saying this is a deal breaker because just from what I've heard it will be tough passing this up just to have something to experiment with. It appears you can get very deep with this thing.

[Touch The Universe]

synplant has an awesome modulation page. check it out with the demo, its an awesome unique synth

[wagtunes]

Have you considered VAPORIZER?

Pretty nice sounding synth. Awesome Unison. Could become a CPU hog for some older rigs but the sound is quite pleasing. Up to 24 Voices per Osc and there are 4 of them. Nice Filters with some badass routing and evn a very flexible EQ. And the developer is pretty active in pimpin´it after listening to the community. Modmatrix does not have that many slots right now but still enough and comes with lots modsources & destinations to have fun with. And the dev is adding stuf within here as well if the community asks. Dirt cheap too (< 25 €)and only needs a keyfile.

If you like it somehow really pure without any fx at all give Curve 2.5 a try or buy the whole Cableguys package which will give you Filtershaper, Midishaper and Volumeshaper as well. Dude I love their envelopes. They are so tight. And with the 2.5 Update they added the Sallen Key Filter which really rocks. Very compact synth. But it´s a joy to program it.

Last but not least you could try out Enzyme. This is for the brave one. I think there is nothing like it on the market. Wavetable meets Physical Modeling. Can alias like mad but heck it´s so unique. BP Filters are youre friend here if you wanna have more classic sound. Sounds very 3D with some of the Node modes. Modulation is one of the most flexible ones I know. Unlimited LFOs, ENVs and Note/Key mod sources. Assigning them to the mod matrix is a matter of seconds. Only drawback is the modmatrix as well but this one sounds really great once you learned to tame it.

Other than that I really like XILS stuff and the MPowersynth for modulation heaven but you already own them. Maybe save some more bucks and buy Reason and use that via Rewire.

Good luck.
Sebastian

Edit: If you don´t have any problems with 32bit and SE you should give Float a try. This one is pretty unique too. Very special sound. Simpyl awesome. And try out BONG as well. I don´t think there is anything better in that pricerange for some classic analog drums with that many velocity modulation options. Heck buy his all VST package and have some fun with all the wiered stuff. You won´t find anything similar somewhere else.

And for free you should definitely check out HYDi 1.3. I beta tested it and made some patches for it. Became a part of the team that way. It is still a MONO synth tbut he sound of it is utterly awesome and can sound very huge if paired up with the right FX from within the built in fx section. Lots of soul. Modulation heaven btw.

I actually have Vaporizer but I got the beta version so didn't have to pay for it. Thanks.

As for Enzyme, I've heard of it and think I actually checked it out a while ago but don't remember. I'll look into it again.

[chaosWyrM]

What's important to me?

1) Sound above all else. The more unique the better.
2) Programming. Must be extremely flexible with lots of modulations.
3) No more than $200.

considering the list of what you already have:

http://soniccharge.com/synplant

it will be nothing at all like anything you already have (its nothing at all like anything else anyway).

i would suggest when checking it out...try to watch a lot of different videos for it. some people will just make normal sounds with it (i dont know why, but they do)...but it really shines when making off the wall sounds. the sounds on the sonic charge website are particularly uninspired, they really screwed the pooch when deciding how to market this synth.

it has a unique sound, a unique gui, and a unique way of programming it. and the sound quality is excellent.

O...M...G

That is one seriously quirk ridden synth. No, nothing like I've ever seen.

I do have a question though because the interface, from what I can tell from the YouTube video, looks very simple.

Is there ANY modulation capability at all in this thing through even just a mod wheel? It doesn't appear to be so and thus all sounds are relatively static even if they have a naturally "morph" to them via the branches themselves.

I'm not saying this is a deal breaker because just from what I've heard it will be tough passing this up just to have something to experiment with. It appears you can get very deep with this thing.

yes theres plenty of modulation: this article touches on the inner workings a bit:

http://en.audiofanzine.com/virtual-gran ... lants.html

[chaosWyrM]

Last but not least you could try out Enzyme. This is for the brave one. I think there is nothing like it on the market. Wavetable meets Physical Modeling. Can alias like mad but heck it´s so unique. BP Filters are youre friend here if you wanna have more classic sound. Sounds very 3D with some of the Node modes. Modulation is one of the most flexible ones I know. Unlimited LFOs, ENVs and Note/Key mod sources. Assigning them to the mod matrix is a matter of seconds. Only drawback is the modmatrix as well but this one sounds really great once you learned to tame it.

well there is scanned synth pro...which is exactly like it.

i bought enzyme and i really wish i hadnt. it sounds awesome on paper...unfortunately it doesnt sound too great in reality. you would think it would...but really, everything it does sounds the same. i mean you can just sit there and hit the random button for an hour and not hear anything surprising or even really that interesting.

i suggested synplant before...and ill use it now as a comparison to enzyme. try using random seeds and just listen to all the crazy and completely different results you get...and thats before moving the branches up and down...when each note becomes an entirely different and unique patch all on its own.

[PatchAdamz]

LinPlug MorphoX

One of the greats for pads and seriously over looked.

[Lejurai]

...unfortunately it doesnt sound too great in reality. you would think it would...but really, everything it does sounds the same. i mean you can just sit there and hit the random button for an hour and not hear anything surprising or even really that interesting.

You're doing it wrong mr chaoswyrm

Sounds may need a bit filtering and fx and tweaking but it pays off.. Especially when trying to make some real instruments emulations. (plucking) Strings and piano type sounds are freaking awesome and off this world. Actually anything where you want some easy evolving (like pads) are super. But again fx and filters in this synths are quite.. Well you'll do better with DAWs own fx.

[Lejurai]

One great synth coming to my mind is toxic biohazard IIII. Hybrid subractive/6 OP FM synth. The list of synths you already have is quite big.. I'd almost say that sell them off (except maybe serum) and get some analog gear One FM synth, one analong and one VA like waldorf blofeld or virus TI. Personally I'd just get some Elektron and make music with just that.

[wagtunes]

One great synth coming to my mind is toxic biohazard IIII. Hybrid subractive/6 OP FM synth. The list of synths you already have is quite big.. I'd almost say that sell them off (except maybe serum) and get some analog gear One FM synth, one analong and one VA like waldorf blofeld or virus TI. Personally I'd just get some Elektron and make music with just that.

Thanks but I'm not into hardware at all anymore. Lived with that stuff for 34 years and I'm done with it. I won't get into the reasons here as I don't want to derail the thread. From now on it's only soft synths for me.

Anyway, here is the list of synths I've listened to so far and these are my preliminary ratings on a scale of 1-5 (5 being best) for each one based just on sound demos.

Symtohm - 4.5
Diva - 4
Diversion - 3.5
AIR Loom - 5
Rhino - 4.5
Syn'X - 4
Oxium - 5
Synplant - 5
Enzyme - 5

I need to explain Diva's 4.

Beautiful sounding synth. Maybe the most beautiful sounding of them all, but it's a one trick pony. It's made to be an analog emulation of a few old synths (don't remember which ones) and that's what you get. Unfortunately, it's not what I want. I'm looking for something with a little more variety. I have enough emulations. And while maybe they don't sound as good as Diva, they're good enough.

Then there's the CPU issue and the fact that I'm only running a core 3. I honestly don't even know if Diva will run well on my machine.

So between those two things, it's just not in the running anymore. The U-he synths that I have (Zebra, ACE, Bazille, Tyrell N6) are all I need.

[Dasheesh]

I just read about the troubles folks are having with the cakewalk stuff.

Is retrologue on the list of yours? That's a good'n too.