Unloved synths

[Distorted Horizon]

Wiggle. A real gem but rarely see any comments. And when I do, it's mostly whining and complaining.

Complete CPU hog wasn't it ?

I've heard people mentioning it, but I've never had any issues.

[4damind]

I would also add Strobe 2 to this list.

[tony10000]

I also will add Carbon Electra to the list. Very capable and very distinctive sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qruko7OG3TU

The fact he says "it's now good for all kinds of genres" makes me think he has no idea what he's talking about. I tried the demo once and was not impressed by it at all. It came across as just another synth with nothing special to make it worth owning.

We all know that you have very unique ideas about what you like in a synth. ("Grrrrrr....") LOL.

Carbon Electra is a great VA synth that really cuts through a mix with 4 oscillators, 3 LFOs, FM, step sequencer, etc. Great for Synthwave and other analog stuff.

[e-crooner]

No phase controls for the oscillators? No reverb? A third envelope would not hurt, either, while I think 4 oscillators is one too many.
Other than that it looks like a nice synth, even the user interface.
I like that the individual sections are clearly separated and the knobs are not the same color as the background.

[Forgotten]

Pretty far behind but i agree.
People actually complained about logic pro x dark scheme.
I personally preferred the little darker version pre 10.3 refresh, and would absolutely love a FCPX color scheme LPX.

I think the mistake some people make is thinking that dark mode will work out of the box. Sometimes you have to tweak it to get the best viewing experience out of it.

[BONES]

Then contact the dev. He is very responsive and open to suggestions. I have had email conversations with David Cook (the dev) and he is open to improving the GUI:

As have I. When I get time I will design something and he has offered to implement it for me. As you say, he is very responsive to his customers.

Carbon Electra is a great VA synth that really cuts through a mix with 4 oscillators, 3 LFOs, FM, step sequencer, etc. Great for Synthwave and other analog stuff.

You're just counting features. Phase Plant can be all those things with just a single oscillator (2 for FM), single envelope and no LFO.

[Halonmusic]

I also will add Carbon Electra to the list. Very capable and very distinctive sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qruko7OG3TU

The fact he says "it's now good for all kinds of genres" makes me think he has no idea what he's talking about. I tried the demo once and was not impressed by it at all. It came across as just another synth with nothing special to make it worth owning.

We all know that you have very unique ideas about what you like in a synth. ("Grrrrrr....") LOL.

Carbon Electra is a great VA synth that really cuts through a mix with 4 oscillators, 3 LFOs, FM, step sequencer, etc. Great for Synthwave and other analog stuff.

It is indeed. Bought it last year. Money well spent

[e-crooner]

Neither do I but I definitely understand that hype always beats reality these days, so it pays to find out exactly why something is so loved or unloved before you make your own decision about it.

I disagree. I've already looked at half-a-dozen synths mentioned in this thread that I've never looked at before and I'm only half-way through. It's really easy to miss a thread around here. e.g. This one's been going for almost a week before I noticed it. If a thread is done and dusted in a few days, it's likely most people will never see it.

Oops, sorry for the late reply (then again, unlike certain people at least I do reply ), I had lost track of all those notifications

A lot of popular synths are not hyped at all. But when something is good, the word spreads. Hype suggests a product is not as good as many people agree it is. I don't think many people would pay 150 euros if the plugin were not really good.
Nor is there negative hype so to speak.

Well, this is a general thread, one can't expect people to read through pages and pages of it.
But virtually every synth also gets its dedicated thread. The instrument thread overview page makes it easy to stay up-to-date with what is out there.

[BONES]

The problem is "good" for you is not necessarily "good" for me and, honestly, if something is hyped around here, I am more likely to think it's probably not all that good. Often it is the synths that fall through the cracks here that I find the most useful. e.g. There is not much love for either TRK-01 or Equator around here, yet they are two of my favourite and most used VSTi.

[lastmessiah]

The problem is "good" for you is not necessarily "good" for me and, honestly, if something is hyped around here, I am more likely to think it's probably not all that good. Often it is the synths that fall through the cracks here that I find the most useful. e.g. There is not much love for either TRK-01 or Equator around here, yet they are two of my favourite and most used VSTi.

Yeah same here. A lot of the synths that are hyped here don't really even do anything you can't accomplish with the internal instruments in your DAW. I think they are mostly attractive to preset surfers, which I have no interest in at all.

[BONES]

I also find that people put way too much emphasis on modulation, as though it was something you use in massive amounts. That's why I like Phase Plant - all the patches I've been making use really simple set-ups - 1 or 2 x osc, 1 x filter, maybe 1 x envelope (the VCA envelope is there by default) and an LFO if I need one. Most of my modulation comes from velocity and after-touch (programmed, not played in), I don't need synths with 8 envelopes and 12 LFO.

[Dirtgrain]

The problem is "good" for you is not necessarily "good" for me and, honestly, if something is hyped around here, I am more likely to think it's probably not all that good.

When I first started, I got a lot of useful information and opinions on synths and effects, and for the most part, I was able to sift through some BS here and there and get feedback that helped me find what suited me.

Many here led me to Zebra 2, and it is by far the best purchase I have made. It alone has been a huge hobby for me--all sorts of sound design I've done and learned with it, and I love the sound.

There might be some truth to what you say. I got Biotek 2 early on, after researching it a lot--here especially. And I have discovered that I just don't enjoy using it. Great things can be done with it (I think it has strong presets showing that), but I have just not grooved with it. Still, IIRC, some of the posts about Biotek 2 that I read did warn about this.

Overall, I'd say the opinions on this site are quite valuable in navigating to quality plug-ins and gear. You just have to be thorough and discerning as you read.

[JoeCat]

I also find that people put way too much emphasis on modulation, as though it was something you use in massive amounts. That's why I like Phase Plant - all the patches I've been making use really simple set-ups - 1 or 2 x osc, 1 x filter, maybe 1 x envelope (the VCA envelope is there by default) and an LFO if I need one. Most of my modulation comes from velocity and after-touch (programmed, not played in), I don't need synths with 8 envelopes and 12 LFO.

I'd imagine it's easier to toss in 12 LFO's than be creative with design, though ironically we're also talking a lot about ArcSyn, which is kind of a mod monster. Still, scroll through many of the patches and they mostly use a rather standard amount - not a lot of standard instrumental patches outside of generative / drones, etc., use that many.

I do appreciates a synth that has more than the standard mods - too many synths with 12 filter types but the same envelopes. If I'm making a patch with Diva, for example, I'll almost always swap out the envelopes to see what a difference it might make, and having some control over slopes (like Operator) is also appreciated.

(Unrelated @BONES, but my Ultranova had its first hiccup recently - a broken key. I was able to diagnose it and order a new part - wish me luck).

[BONES]

The good thing with ArcSyn is that all the LFO and Envelope GUIs are stacked, so if you only use one of each, you can pretend the others don't exist, although from memory I think the VGA is hardwired to Env 4 and I know the first filter is hardwired to Env 1. Most of the time I am happy with just one envelope to share both filter and VCA duties if I can make that happen. After all, they sort of do the same thing - when the filter is open, the volume is high and when the filter is closed, the volume is low.

Many here led me to Zebra 2, and it is by far the best purchase I have made. It alone has been a huge hobby for me--all sorts of sound design I've done and learned with it, and I love the sound.

The difference is obvious - I don't do sound design, I write, produce and perform songs. Patching the sounds I use is not something I see as a separate process worthy of its own title, it's just what I have to do to achieve my objective of finishing a song. It's an important part of the process, it has to be done properly, but it's not a skillset I rate that highly. Unfortunately, people who do see it as an end in itself tend to spend a lot more money on this stuff than people like me, so that's the market the developers tend to cater to.

Overall, I'd say the opinions on this site are quite valuable in navigating to quality plug-ins and gear. You just have to be thorough and discerning as you read.

And hope vurt doesn't jump in and add 8 pages of pointless stupidity. I like the man but if I was ever going to put someone on my ignore list, he'd be first.

[V0RT3X]

I like Arcsyn, I think it could use a GUI upgrade though.

It is capable of some great sounds, and I personally think the dev is a super nice guy who needs more support. His stuff is stellar and he's always offered good support.