Synths with Intuitive Fast Workflow for Sound Design -- with Great Sound!

[kv331]

Wait, what ? Did you cut down in features ? I see only 2 LFOs instead of 4 previously. Also keep the graphs for filters and envelopes.

Who said it's "SynthMaster", look at the header, it says "SynthMaster One"

[himalaya]

There are two synths that come to mind when thinking of fast workflows ( and great sound).

1. DCAM Synth Squad

The way modulation can be added just by selecting a source and then being free to go to any parameter on the GUI to 'draw' the modulation amount is second to none. For me, it's the fasted method to create complex modulation. It also helps with the intuitive approach where I can just try out any combination of source-to-modulation in a split second. This is just not possible with the traditional Modulation Matrix.

Massive (and a few other synths) use a similar design to Synth Squad but the reliance on drag&drop does not work for me. It is slower than Synth Squad's implementation as well as it can allievate RSI, with its constant insistence on having to drag the mouse (with a click enabled) all over the GUI. This is not the way to go, for me.

However, Synth Squad's implementation works so well as it is a one page design. With a more complex GUI/UX, it may not work that well and for this reason the second best implementation I like is found in Alchemy.

2. Alchemy.
A very complex synth but its modulation system is the key to the fast workflow that gives great results. The simple right click on any knob to establish a modulation is superb, but the way the actual modulation connection is shown in real time in the modulation panel is ingenious.

Then, I can click on any knob and instantly see all modulation sources assigned to it.
If one wants to see ALL modulation assignments in one view there is the Target view, which to be honest I've only had a need to use a few times.

These two synths are the best designs I've found for quick intuitive sound design sessions.

[AnX]

The mod system in SS is what stopped me using it. Its hideous. A real workflow killer for me.

[Touch The Universe]

Synthmaster
Just joking

You might, but we're on our way to improve things, the below is just a prototype

Prototype 2.png

Any update on this?

[Aryaroman]

Omnisphere for sure. The architecture is pretty simple but you can get crazy with effects and modulation. Very well laid out.

1+

[nordickvr]

Omnisphere for sure. The architecture is pretty simple but you can get crazy with effects and modulation. Very well laid out.

1+

Source content is really impressive, no doubt about it.
I personally never liked programming it, just a mater of taste.
To me, ArcSyn for sure!
Zebra'v been mentioned, for pretty good reason, It's really capable.

[Synthetic Wav]

Mpowersynth , i thought it would be the worst but once used to it i really enjoy using it.
zebra redux i enjoyed the ui too when i had zebra

imo what matter the most is not the ui, as long as it s usable and not too ugly.. but what matter is how easily you get the sound you are after..it s a huge difference ! on a synth it can take 5 minutes..on the other one 20 minutes later you re still tweaking.. even if both synth can sound amost identical on that patch..

[Introspective]

Sorry, resurrecting an old thread, but it came up in a Google search because I've been thinking about this lately.

There are some weird answers here!

Dune, for example: I HATE that it's so page-driven: when I hear an osc is "off", I have to fiddle around for a minute to figure out which one I have to change. ...When I hear the reverb is too thick (WHICH IS ALL THE $@#*ING TIME), I have might have to look in TWO places to find it, and it's not always in the same position on either of those pages. I find designing the OSCs to be really tedious compared to other WT synths: it's just so... tiny. I do not like it, Sam I Am-y. I find it really weird that so many people included it in their "good workflow" answers. Weird! (Juuuuuuuuust to be clear, here: I love the way Dune *sounds*. This is about Workflow.) (Also, small caveat: I own Dune2, not Dune3.)

Zebra is another strange answer. ...I'm guessing the folks who said that were really into modular or something, 'cause the modulation here always feels a little ... hidden to me, given how modular it's designed to be. I suppose when you're starting out and you KNOW you want two OSCs modulated *just so* and you know you're going for such-and-such a effect on this bus and you want the modwheel to do *exactly* this, then ... sure... Zebra's neato-keen: you build the pieces you need, et voila! ...But, damn, when you come back to your patch in two days it's really easy to be like ... "WTF was I drinking?!" Also, I hate editing the oscillator waveforms in Zebra. (I know, I know, SOME people like it... but... c'mon.)

AGAIN... I *adore* Zebra. It's one of my top-five all-time synths. Please don't mistake my intention here: I'm ONLY considering workflow. And Zebra's workflow is ... utilitarian: good for initial creation, weak for modification.

Anyway, to actually answer the question rather than bitch about other people's answers:

VPS Avenger: This is *nearly* ideal for me, the way you can drag-and drop modulations and how the MM is set up. It gets a little hairy with routing the FX, though. Also, the "secondary window" when loading an OSC is probably less elegant than it could be, but ... this is a HUGELY complicated synth and they make it remarkably manageable. Very impressive. ...Bloated... but impressive.
Hive: Everything you need is just right there where it needs to be. Very simple synth, so it's very simple to program. Drag-and-drop MM. I'm not a huge fan of the two-page MM, but ... I'd rather have two pages than not. ...I think. (I rarely reach the second page, but appreciate it when I do.)
Element and Codex: these are kinda the same synth with different oscillators, so I'll lump 'em, but, yeah. Someone else mentioned them before... and they are really a sweet "just get it done" synth for workflow, and I love it. Quite limited here with the MM, though, so... there's that. I'm frequently running out of slots.
Serum: I hate the effects page, and it's obnoxious to have to click on the modulator (env/lfo) page in order to affect its routing (because it's not *immediately* clear which one you need to edit on an existing dest), but this is still one of the cleanest workflows with the most features crammed into the smallest space. Very well done.
Rapid: It's not actually my favoite-sounding synth, but, yeah, this was clearly *designed* to be a nice workflow, and it ... mostly is. There are some niggles, IMO, with setting up voicing and again there's the layers double-edged sword: nice to have, obnoxious when it hides a problem. The MM is scrollable, which is ... a recurring theme on this list: it can hide problems. I wish it were a little easier to set up mod routings, but it's relatively well-laid out.
Omnisphere: Yup, you can very quickly add whatever you want, here. Layers are a PITA, though, and I do sometimes have the same Dune problem (see above) paginating between A/B/C/D, so it loses points there. It's also entirely possible for a problem with a sound to be hidden on a subpage, though the highlighting of what's active helps a bit, here. I wish its UI were faster (esp since 2.5), so it loses significant points there. This is also the silver-medal winner for bloat in a synth (Falcon, I'm looking at you), and it does manage to keep it *relatively* simple despite that. ...Mostly. So I'm really impressed with the workflow of the UI, all things considered.
Icarus: very straightforward, though tweaking the MM gets to be a pain... again: nice to have 2 pages when you need it; a pain when you don't and something funky is going on with the OTHER page and you just don't see it.


...That's about it for me, excluding the really simple synths, which I think is kinda cheating here.

I think workflow is *seriously* underrated. It makes the difference between a synth that you just "play" versus one you really dig into and *use*, and it can make a synth that doesn't really "sound quite right" to you turn in to one that you *make* sound right to you. I also don't think the "best" workflow yet exists, though I think things are getting better.