Looking for a good 80's sounds synth plugin

[mholloway]

No one mentioned Korg M1?

Do you realize the M1 was released in 1988?

The 'classic 80s' sound is Roland Juno and Yamaha DX7 and Oberheims....etc.

The M1 came near the end of 80s and marked the transition into the 90s Workstation era.

[gentleclockdivider]

The only freeware synths worth having on your hd
-dexed
-pg8x
-disco dsp (2-dat ) OBxd

[Music Bird]

Freeware
Synth1
Dexed
OB-XD
PG8X
SQ8L
TyrellN6
Charlatan
Paid
Korg Legacy Collection (try Mono/Poly, Polysix, and for late 80's, M1)
Massive
Kontakt with Retro Machines Library
Roland Cloud (D-50, Juno-106, Jupiter-8, and JX-3P).

I just put up a Synth1 library that might be right up your alley.

[SparkySpark]

A fantastic, relatively cheap approach would be:

Analog VST - TAL U-No-Lx (cheap)
Digital - Dexed (free)

You'll have 80s analog and 80s digital/FM covered.
Then use something like Valhalla Vintage Verb on both, done!

I think something PPG-y is perhaps not found in this thread. Is there such a thing as a free or cheap almost-PPG (=say Depeche Mode-sounding)?

[Kumi_27]

Is there such a thing as a free or cheap almost-PPG (=say Depeche Mode-sounding)?

Waldorf Edition 2 LE for 19,90 € has a little limited version of PPG Wave 2.V

[frackermak]

VPS Avenger + Synthwave expansion packs (wait till they're on offer)

[Music Bird]

TAL-Noisemaker and TAL-Elek7ro have some sounds that would be perfect for synth music in an 80's style.

[Pacific05]

Looking for a good 80's sounds synth (audio unit) plugin, I like the sounds of 'AudioKit’s Digital D1 synth' but it seems you have to have an ipad to buy it and I believe then you do get an audio unit with it.
Any other idea's welcome

So, it seems you're looking for the late 80's digital sounds.
Tons of emulations around, as other members have already suggested, but I have a question:
What kind of music do you make (or do you want to) exactly?
We tend to talk about the 80s as a long infinite time with its distinctive own sound, but, actually, it isn't: new wave/synthpop/disco tunes of 1981 sound nothing like the same genre's tracks from 1987- just saying.

[Echoes in the Attic]

The only freeware synths worth having on your hd
-dexed
-pg8x
-disco dsp (2-dat ) OBxd

Not true at all. Charlatan, Tyrell and Oxe FM are just as worth having as those, if not more. Synth1 is still good as well.

[deastman]

No one mentioned Korg M1?

Do you realize the M1 was released in 1988?

The 'classic 80s' sound is Roland Juno and Yamaha DX7 and Oberheims....etc.

The M1 came near the end of 80s and marked the transition into the 90s Workstation era.

The “classic” 80’s sound could also mean PPG, or those overused samples from the Fairlight or Emulator II. It could also mean D-50 or M1, depending on one’s perspective. Bottom line, the OP didn’t provide enough information to get more specific.

[Examigan]

Looking for a good 80's sounds synth (audio unit) plugin, I like the sounds of 'AudioKit’s Digital D1 synth' but it seems you have to have an ipad to buy it and I believe then you do get an audio unit with it.
Any other idea's welcome

OP-X Pro II

[billpayer]

Paid: U-HE DIVA?

[AnX]

any VA synth
any FM synth
any sampler

job done

[Krakatau]

..see below

[Krakatau]

any sampler

let me gently disagree...

As far as i know, 16 bit samplers (and all the reactualised laws related to copyrighted samples ) came to the market during early neinties, 8 bit (and later in this decade 12 bits modules like Akai S900 ) samplers like Ensoniq Mirage or Roland S10 might have contribute te the sound of the eighties from the beginning 1985, right after FM synthesis introduced mainly with the DX7 a few years ago