Looking for a good 80's sounds synth plugin

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Cobalt Dexed M1 OB-Xd - Virtual Analog Synthesizer pg-8x SQ8L / SQ8X TAL-U-No-LX

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Fairlight is overrated IMO, it isnt anything special , it just had samples that were sometimes recognizable but by today standards its just ancient sampler, you can find its samples ripped to wav.
Id say vsti wise most 80's sounding has to be Roland's D-50, emulation is perfectly perfect, its reverb algo is really something, it was all over TV shows in late 80's.Everywhere.
For typical synths sounds from 80's just any analog with decent unison or detune algo, maybe get SQ8L, Synth1.Thats from free ones.

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bwwd wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2020 2:52 am Fairlight is overrated IMO, it isnt anything special , it just had samples that were sometimes recognizable but by today standards its just ancient sampler, you can find its samples ripped to wav.
Kind of missed the point, it was it’s sequencer and sound reproduction that made it what it was not the built in library.

Arturia are as far as I know the only ones to emulate the whole thing...sound, sequencer everything. But yes any sampler and some 8-16bit trickery, hi end roll off and light compression should get you fairly close. :tu:

In all fairness though as someone said above, any synth and sampler can do the job as long as you get the aesthetic right and chords etc.

Cheers.

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SQ8L and Dexed are two freebies that will cover every 80's base you will ever need

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:lol:

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KingofBeers wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:47 am
bwwd wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2020 2:52 am Fairlight is overrated IMO, it isnt anything special , it just had samples that were sometimes recognizable but by today standards its just ancient sampler, you can find its samples ripped to wav.
Arturia are as far as I know the only ones to emulate the whole thing...sound, sequencer everything. But yes any sampler and some 8-16bit trickery, hi end roll off and light compression should get you fairly close. :tu:
Not sure how well it compares to Arturia's, but UVI's Darklight is another:
https://www.uvi.net/darklight-iix.html

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http://www.superwavesynths.com/wavelight-vmi
:hihi:
But really , just load CMI samples into your timestretching sampler and youre years beyond original CMI.

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Just remembered another option: Syntronik by IK Multimedia, a sampled collection of synths from the 70s (?) and 80s. The full version is hefty, but there is also Syntronik Free, which gives you a taste of the seventeen synths used in the full version. When you have installed Syntronik Free you can, if you want to and feel some synth is of more interest than the others, purchase that individual synth's samples. https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/syntronik/ (scroll down for the free version)
Thu Oct 01, 2020 1:15 pm Passing Bye wrote:
"look at SparkySpark's post 4 posts up, let that sink in for a moment"
Go MuLab!

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SparkySpark wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2020 10:30 pm Just remembered another option: Syntronik by IK Multimedia, a sampled collection of synths from the 70s (?) and 80s. The full version is hefty, but there is also Syntronik Free, which gives you a taste of the seventeen synths used in the full version. When you have installed Syntronik Free you can, if you want to and feel some synth is of more interest than the others, purchase that individual synth's samples. https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/syntronik/ (scroll down for the free version)
I bought IKmulti samplemoog, sampletron and soniksynth years ago, i've only recently gone back to music and sadly they don't work in my DAW anymore.

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Not a fan of IK anymore. However it sounds as if the previous comment may be running version 2?
If that's the case, then try downloading the latest free version and then loading your sample presets under its folders. I know I had some limited success under version three (but only in the last updates of it). Being so iffy of which version worked and which one didn't was one of the reasons I finally gave up on them.

I'll repeat here that the OP should just get a secondhand license of AnalogLab and see where that takes them.

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zammo wrote: Fri Apr 10, 2020 7:37 pm
SparkySpark wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2020 10:30 pm Just remembered another option: Syntronik by IK Multimedia, a sampled collection of synths from the 70s (?) and 80s. The full version is hefty, but there is also Syntronik Free, which gives you a taste of the seventeen synths used in the full version. When you have installed Syntronik Free you can, if you want to and feel some synth is of more interest than the others, purchase that individual synth's samples. https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/syntronik/ (scroll down for the free version)
I bought IKmulti samplemoog, sampletron and soniksynth years ago, i've only recently gone back to music and sadly they don't work in my DAW anymore.
I have the older Sampletank2 and SonikSynth2 imported into ST3 and it works OK in Cakewalk by Bandlab (formerly Sonar).

The free version is compatible with all previous “Powered by SampleTank” sound modules and sounds (can import all previous sounds and Combis)
https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/sampletankcs/

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zammo wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:08 am 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 :tu:
an 80's synth sound is not particular to any certain plugin but more how you program and process it. almost any VA plugin can be a good 80's synth.
HW SYNTHS [KORG T2EX - AKAI AX80 - YAMAHA SY77 - ENSONIQ VFX]
HW MODULES [OBi M1000 - ROLAND MKS-50 - ROLAND JV880 - KURZ 1000PX]
SW [CHARLATAN - OBXD - OXE - ELEKTRO - MICROTERA - M1 - SURGE - RMiV]
DAW [ENERGY XT2/1U RACK WINXP / MAUDIO 1010LT PCI]

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Why limit it to VA? The eighties saw a massive release of digital gear. Analog was soon considered old and crusty. Digital was where it was at.
Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

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Early/Mid/Late 80's have a long list of synths if not cover all synths in existence! Even in one era, there were so many different styles and sounds. Maybe if the OP specify one band, that would be easier.

If I want to narrow it a lot, then maybe those (early to mid 80's):
u-he - Diva, RePro, Bazille
Synapse Audio - The Legend (Dune 3 can also be useful)
Arturia - DX7 V, CZ V, Synclavier, CMI (my favourites more than the others)

Anyway, for I use the synths mostly from u-he and SA, but I might buy those 4 synths from Arturia as they have special character (smooth digital, not harsh).

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If You like this type of sounds its just basically Roland D-50 clone :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKIQZDtIy24

So what is d-50 ? ITs 4 sample players , just open your DAW, layer 4 samples, one for attack, one for bass and 2 for long strings/choir , one octave from each other.
Also D-50 patches split to bass and higher notes sound so lower octaves have bass sample more prominent and higher octaves dont have bass.
There You go - D-50.
By the way , does anyone knows of free vsti that has 4 separate slots for wavs ? Or romplers/sample players ?
Kinda like those ambient free synths.Preferably with ability to load my own waves.

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