Alternatives to Absynth?

[aMUSEd]

I think architecturally the closest plugin to Absynth is probably Omnisphere, which is based on the freeware, Crystal in many respects (although it lacks the ability to import your own sounds). Of course it costs maybe 3 times as much so isn't really an alternative but it does have a lot of things in common.

[Kalamata Kid]

Has anything changed in the last four years? Are there now any good alternatives to Absynth 5? My guess is that if Absynth 6 is not part of Komplete 11 it will sadly never be released.

Looking for the best Ambient music creation plugin. My current favorite is ABsynth. I am considering Reaktor 6 or other that may be suggested. So do I spend time learning ABsynth or Reaktor or ...?

[JerGoertz]

Reaktor has some cool ambient drone generators in the factory library. It also has multi-breakpoint env's like Absynth, which are valuable for gradually altering soundscapes.

I'd recommend Reaktor for ambient (tho not necessarily over Absynth).

[Echoes in the Attic]

Has anything changed in the last four years? Are there now any good alternatives to Absynth 5? My guess is that if Absynth 6 is not part of Komplete 11 it will sadly never be released.

Looking for the best Ambient music creation plugin. My current favorite is ABsynth. I am considering Reaktor 6 or other that may be suggested. So do I spend time learning ABsynth or Reaktor or ...?

At the time of the OP, I don't think Omnisphere was all that close but after v2 released it is much closer, what with the wavetables and sample import etc. I'd also say that Halion 6 can cover some similar territory and a fair bit more actually.

[Elektronisch]

Zebra 2 feels like what absynth 6 should be

[Dasheesh]

Not keeping up with absynth was boarderline criminal on the part of NI. there is a huge following for that piece going wayyyyy back. Half the reason people got into it was for the granular so a replacement would have to have granular. I believe that discounts zebra, other wise zebra would fit the bill. Alchemy2 is probably closest. The sad thing is all they have to do is update the GUI and give it better filters.

[Dasheesh]

Another thought is once synth master 3 hits with granular it might make a good replacement.

[Ingonator]

While the latest update of Absynth 5 is still working nicely here the only plugin of those i currently own that i see somehow close is UVI Falcon which has nice granular options besides lots of other stuff.

Anyway if i alraedy got Absnth 5 as part of Komplete 10 (and AFAIK in the past also as a single product too...) and it still works why should i use an alternative?

The fact that there were no major updates with new features since a while does not render Absynth 5 unusable.

[exmatproton]

Zebra 2 feels like what absynth 6 should be

I agree about Zebra2. Was the first synth that popped into my head. Hell, i haven't used Absynth 5 anymore, since i bought Zebra2 (and the HZ expansion).

[Kalamata Kid]

Sampleconstruct; Jan 30 2015 14:09
A quote from Simon Stockhausen

I've found my alternatives for now and will try to push certain developers in a direction that suit my needs/dreams/ideas, and maybe one day I'll develop my own hybrid instrument/platform

Now we will have to bug you to do so on an hourly basis. I am sure it will be a instrument to die for. But then again what is the point of dying and not being able to play with it.

Could we maybe agree on a monthly nag? Hourly seems a bit steep. I won't tackle this endeavor this year, I have too many other things planned including 3rd party work, but the future seems bright.

"future seems bright." Two and a half years later, I wonder if Simon is working on this Absynth/Alchemy/Machfive/Iris/Serum/Padshop VSTi. I hope he is!

[experimental.crow]

you can have my absynth when you pry it from my cold , dead fingers ...

[Sampleconstruct]

Sampleconstruct; Jan 30 2015 14:09
A quote from Simon Stockhausen

I've found my alternatives for now and will try to push certain developers in a direction that suit my needs/dreams/ideas, and maybe one day I'll develop my own hybrid instrument/platform

Now we will have to bug you to do so on an hourly basis. I am sure it will be a instrument to die for. But then again what is the point of dying and not being able to play with it.

Could we maybe agree on a monthly nag? Hourly seems a bit steep. I won't tackle this endeavor this year, I have too many other things planned including 3rd party work, but the future seems bright.

"future seems bright." Two and a half years later, I wonder if Simon is working on this Absynth/Alchemy/Machfive/Iris/Serum/Padshop VSTi. I hope he is!

Naa, the financial risk is much to high, developing, marketing and maintaining a complex hybrid instrument costs two fortunes and some, after investigating all of this I put the idea aside. Actually I'm quite happy with what there is, Falcon/Alchemy 2/HALion 6/Kaleidoscope/Iris/Serum/Zebra and whatnot give me all the things I would expect from any synth - if I wanted to develop and release something better than those, I would have to be reincarnated as a coder first, hiring people and having to totally rely on them can often turn out to be a never ending nightmare.

Haven't touched Absynth in years...

[aMUSEd]

Has anything changed in the last four years? Are there now any good alternatives to Absynth 5? My guess is that if Absynth 6 is not part of Komplete 11 it will sadly never be released.

Looking for the best Ambient music creation plugin. My current favorite is ABsynth. I am considering Reaktor 6 or other that may be suggested. So do I spend time learning ABsynth or Reaktor or ...?

At the time of the OP, I don't think Omnisphere was all that close but after v2 released it is much closer, what with the wavetables and sample import etc. I'd also say that Halion 6 can cover some similar territory and a fair bit more actually.

Absynth doesn't have wavetables though, although Omnisphere V1 did lack sample import as it just had a vast sample pool that came with it. Crystal has always been seen as the 'poor man's Absynth' - mainly due to the similar approach to complex multi stage envelopes (which when Absynth came out was one of its innovations) and granular synthesis, and Omnisphere did start with that and has enhanced both those features if anything, so I'd still say overall Omnisphere and Crystal are closest imho (although Omnisphere is hardly the 'poor man's' alternative ).

So I'd say Crystal if you want something free

Omnisphere if you want something currently still in development and can afford it

Alchemy 2 (which also has granular and multistage envelopes plus lots more) if you have Logic.

[Kalamata Kid]

aMUSEd,
thanks for the suggestion
Crystal is new to me
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/crystal-by-green-oak
Too bad not wav import. Free is a great price!

Does Omnisphere allow to import user wav samples? If I recall it does so in a limited way.

I really like the sound of Absynth and it allows user WAV import. I have become aware of some its shortcomings and that is why I would like to see an ABsynth 6 or a great alternative. Too bad Simon delivered the bad news that he will not develop the ABsynth/Alchemy/Machfive/Iris/Serum/Padshop VSTi.

[Echoes in the Attic]

aMUSEd,
thanks for the suggestion
Crystal is new to me
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/crystal-by-green-oak
Too bad not wav import. Free is a great price!

Does Omnisphere allow to import user wav samples? If I recall it does so in a limited way.

I really like the sound of Absynth and it allows user WAV import. I have become aware of some its shortcomings and that is why I would like to see an ABsynth 6 or a great alternative. Too bad Simon delivered the bad news that he will not develop the ABsynth/Alchemy/Machfive/Iris/Serum/Padshop VSTi.

Omni does allow import of a single audio file per part. Without owning logic I'd say Halion is your best alternative. But Omnisphere 2 is another option.