Best Synth RELEASED In 2018

[wagtunes]

Was Dune 3 not just an update?

It's considered a new synth as it's a different dll from Dune 2. I know it's kind of splitting hairs but there was enough added to it that, IMO, it marginally qualifies as a new synth. But I can certainly understand people not considering it to be new.

[fluffy_little_something]

Same with Memorymoon's Messiah, it is basically a ported and overhauled version of the older original.

[exmatproton]

Rapid 1.6 update for me. Feels like a new synth, and a great one. Defo my go-to since then AND it was released in 2018.

Pigments is my '2018-synth' if we are talking *strictly* new synths

[wagtunes]

Rapid 1.6 update for me. Feels like a new synth, and a great one. Defo my go-to since then AND it was released in 2018.

Pigments is my '2018-synth' if we are talking *strictly* new synths

Was this a free or paid update?

[Examigan]

Rapid 1.6 update for me. Feels like a new synth, and a great one. Defo my go-to since then AND it was released in 2018.

Pigments is my '2018-synth' if we are talking *strictly* new synths

Was this a free or paid update?

Rapid 1.6 was a free update, and they've added lot to it since it was first released... which I think was late 2016.

[Niowiad]

Cypher2 feels like the best of the 2018 batch, to me at least.

[dandezebra]

Biotek 2 because of how deep it is... A little scary actually.

Aparillo because it is kind of a nutty thing but is so fun to play with and seems to have some large sweet spots.

Dune 3 reminds me of Repro 5 and Bazille. Not synthesis wise or workflow, but the sounds seem to have balls. Not sure how else to describe it.

I haven't played with Flow Motion enough. Omnisphere 2.5 doesn't really count... Or Rapid 1.6...or Hive with wavetables... Ha! Or do they?

[wagtunes]

Biotek 2 because of how deep it is... A little scary actually.

Aparillo because it is kind of a nutty thing but is so fun to play with and seems to have some large sweet spots.

Dune 3 reminds me of Repro 5 and Bazille. Not synthesis wise or workflow, but the sounds seem to have balls. Not sure how else to describe it.

I haven't played with Flow Motion enough. Omnisphere 2.5 doesn't really count... Or Rapid 1.6...or Hive with wavetables... Ha! Or do they?

Actually, Aparillo was 2017 as well.

[JonSolo]

Maybe a list on the first post of the synthesizers that actually qualify as in the running would help.

[dandezebra]

Well, take that off of my list then. Damn! 18 days too early!

I'll stick with Biotek 2 and Dune 3 then!

Looking back, most of my purchases were effects and Kontakt libraries this year.

[wagtunes]

Maybe a list on the first post of the synthesizers that actually qualify as in the running would help.

Part of the problem is that I don't know what came out this year because I only bought 2 synths. So I didn't keep track of all the releases. All I know is that there weren't a lot of them.

[yellowmix]

Cypher 2 for me. The completely vector UI, MPE, modulation system, modulation generators, Maths, etc.., it's a sound designer's dream.

I really like Biotek 2 but I don't feel the new features really make a difference towards being best synth, as it was already deep in Biotek. Biotek 2 added Spinal Saw, Granular Oscillator, 2 filters, certainly welcome but would be an update for some other developers. If Biotek 2 is a new synth for 2018 then so was VPS Avenger, since it added way more. Similarly, I like String Studio VS-3 and the new features are fantastic, but I don't feel they make it all that new for contention's sake.

Pigments is nice visually and workflow-wise, but its wavetable implementation is rather poor. Lots of artifacts with certain wavetables. And it's primarily a wavetable synth. Really disappointing.

Kudos to Propellerheads for Europa. It's interesting though its wavetable implementation is worse than Pigments'. But it has other sound generation and modification modes that make up for it. And they have that web version which is pretty amazing.

[Butwug]

Well, take that off of my list then. Damn! 18 days too early!

Note to developers! Release in January! If you release late in year, you dont make the “best synth of 20xx” list since people wont have time to try out the synth for months! Doomed to fail

[BONES]

TRK-01. No, actually it's the free TRK-01 Play Bass synth you can get at the moment. That thing is absolutely amazing for something that seems so tiny and inconsequential. It is heaps of fun to play with, has a huge sound and is reasonably light on CPU. Anyone who can't get some great sounds out of it in a few minutes should give the game away.

Or maybe IK's Uno hardware analogue. Also heaps of fun.

[yellowmix]

Part of the problem is that I don't know what came out this year because I only bought 2 synths. So I didn't keep track of all the releases. All I know is that there weren't a lot of them.

January 2018 - Adam Szabo Viper, Seaweed Audio Fathom 2.0
March 2018 - Samplesphere Inspire
April 2018 - MOK Waverazor 2, Rob Papen Go2,
May 2018 - AudioDamage Quanta, Native Instruments TRK-01, Oceanswift Aeolian Meditation, Propellerhead Europa, PureMagnetik Solveig, Plogue chipsynth PortaFM
June 2018 - Tractkion Biotek 2
July 2018 - Roland (Cloud) SRX Keyboards, TAL TAL-Mod, Yamaha Vocaloid 5
August 2018 - FXpansion Cypher 2, Soniclab Cosmosƒ Saturn6
September 2018 - Audaire Zone, Dead Duck Deducktion, Digital Systemic Emulations Syncla-X, Full Bucket MPS, Samplesphere InspireCC, Strainwave StrainwaveSCA2018
October 2018 - Cherry Voltage Modular, Generalmusic Elka Panther, Native Instruments Kontakt 6, PureMagnetik Foomph, Roland (Cloud) JX-3P, Tone2 Gladiator 3
November 2018 - Inertia Granulizer 2, Waves Flow Motion
December 2018 - Arturia Pigments, AAS String Studio VS-3, Nektar Bolt, OceanSwift Polyphenom, Synapse Dune 3

Edit: Adding from subsequent comments: Native Instruments TRK-01 (May), Audaire Zone (September), TAL TAL-Mod (July, beta in April)
Edit 2: More additions. Alphabetized by developer for each month.