The Most Overrated and Underrated VST/AU (Effects And Instruments)

[BONES]

I really enjoy using hardware, it's a very organic way to make music (who is arguing? )

I will. I enjoy certain aspects of using hardware but I'd never want to produce an album with it, ever again. My hardware synths are my toys, nothing more than playthings. My softsynths are my tools of trade, the things I turn to when I need to get stuff done.

I think most of us really understand that hardware is unbeatable and deliver instant good sounding results but there are many laptop-warriors on the road now ))

No, I don't understand that at all, and I have owned a lot of hardware. Mostly it's the exact opposite of that - it takes a lot of time and effort to get a good sound going and the limitations of hardware make it a lot more work than it needs to be. e.g. I can save patches for most of my softsynths with an effect chain that suits the sound all built-in and ready to go. To get the same from some of my hardware synths, I require more outboard gear and have to save patches for it separately. Hardware is a huge hassle most of the time and the best hardware synths are those with a VSTi editor/librarian, so I can integrate it fully with my PC. That's why I still have an Ultranova after 8 years and got rid of a Waldorf Pulse 2 after only 18 months - they both sound great but one is easy to work with and the other was too hard.

I know we're all bored by the lock down but at what point do we stop giving a sh*t about what other people think ?

I find these threads can be handy for pointing me towards things I was unaware of or maybe had overlooked for one reason or another. Sure, 90% of it is pure dross but now and again you find a hidden gem.

[AnX]

Sylenth1

too bland and cheesy

[FapFilter]

i even said that digital can be perfectly fine. but in some extreme settings, analog still sounds “better“ / more usable (to me)
The filter FM on the Moog ensemble inside Reaktor actually wasn't that far off from what i'd expect from general analog behavior in these regards. Never owned a Moog to compare though
Of course it's always about using the unit's sweet spots, you don't always crank the shit out of analog either just because you can often times push it farther than most digitals while still sounding “better“
And i actually own only one distortion pedal and a dedicated filter box. Synths wise i only kept a few “toys“ like my monotribe which are so tiny that they don't bother me.
And i don't want to discredit anyones favorite distortion (or synth, or DAW, whatever) but i wouldn't mind if VST(i)s also broke the final frontier (the final few % that they are behind analog behavior when it comes to more extreme distortion) as in my use case at least i actually see no point in using hardware synths / effects anymore.
In the meanwhile though, there are of course good /great sounding VST(i) distortions, not even necessarily modeled after analog behavior.
I use them too and prefer them in 99% to analog devices aswell.
But i hesitate to do filter FM on my soft synths, because it simply doesn't sound as good as i expect. Not that this would be the most important aspect to me though.
I'm otherwise blown away by soft synths, despite some “niche features“ in which analogs still remain the slight upper hand. At least at this point.

[jamcat]

It's only the know-nothing rank amateurs who think they have to have the same set-up as their favourite artist if they want to make the same kind of music.

This is very true. You don't like an artist because of their gear. You like them because of what they do with it. A good song makes a good artist. A good melody and harmony makes a good song. Everything else is just the delivery system.

You think your favorite artist uses the same gear from album to album? Not likely. And yet you still like their first album when they had crappy gear and worse production values. Chances are you might even say it's their best album. But you like it in spite of their gear, not because of it.

Gear really doesn't make the genre. Gear an artist uses usually has more to do with the era than the genre. Case in point: It really doesn't matter if you're Skinny Puppy or Hall & Oats. If it was 1985, you were using a Prophet.

[FapFilter]

I of course find it interesting what other people use, but ultimately never cared to replicate such setups, even from my favorite artists. It's not the tools. They simply used it, because they either liked working with it, or simply didn't have other choices.
Still, i don't see anything wrong in still improving the sonic capabilities of VST(i)s.
If it weren't for this, there were also some excellent sounding synths from the early 2000s like z3ta+. Why did we even bother and tried to improve upon it?

[clipnotic]

it's often not only the equipment of the "big stars", but also the samples, too! And the Mastering Studio and Ghost Producers ...

[FapFilter]

I like your signature!

[Ploki]

underrated FX:
- u-he presswerk (it's an amazing compressor, and doesn't nearly get the love it deserves)
- Voxengo Warmifier (i challenge you to find an exciter that works remotely similar to this one)
- Voxengo Powershaper (it's a 5-knob powerhouse insanity of a distortion. also, absolutely unique. Due to variation knob and how it works, it's basically 200 4-knob distortions in one plugin)

Overrated FX:
- soundtoys
don't get me wrong. They sound musical and great. But in 2020, they alias like a little bitch and have non-retina interface. To me, that's basic plugin hygiene and i can't go past that.
- Plugin Alliance
They have some very good plugins. but mostly by developers who already left (Dratwa, Kirchner, Nembrini). Now they love to repackage some old code and call it a day. A lot of their plugins alias like crazy and they seem to be more bent up on quantity over quality. Also, it's 2020. M/S is not revolutionary.

Underrated Synths:
- u-he bazille (its the least popular of all u-he synths, but it's ironically one of the more inspiring ones. just hard to wrap around.
- fabfilter twin2 (the filters sound great imo, and although it can be a little bland at times, it's SO EASY to sound design with. I don't think i've ever tried a synth that's so easy to design sounds with as FF Twin2 is. I'm buying it next time its on sale.)

Overrated synths:
Nexus 3 (i wont even go there)
Omnisphere (I rarely hear an inspiring sound coming from it. My quips with it are similar as with alchemy)

[GRUMP]

This is very true. You don't like an artist because of their gear. You like them because of what they do with it. A good song makes a good artist. A good melody and harmony makes a good song. Everything else is just the delivery system.

Untrue many Songs today have no Melody anymore and "Harmony" is completely subjective now (as soo much).

But Gear is probably less important than before, as well as Skills and Abilities.

The Rhino is completely underrated btw.

[Ploki]

Untrue many Songs today have no Melody anymore and "Harmony" is completely subjective now (as soo much).

But Gear is probably less important than before, as well as Skills and Abilities.

The Rhino is completely underrated btw.

if we're being pedantic, something without melody is not so much of a song as it is a "composition" for all intents and purpose.
A song by definition needs lyrics and melody.

skills and abilities are less important? How is that so?

[jamcat]

This is very true. You don't like an artist because of their gear. You like them because of what they do with it. A good song makes a good artist. A good melody and harmony makes a good song. Everything else is just the delivery system.

Untrue many Songs today have no Melody anymore and "Harmony" is completely subjective now (as soo much).

But Gear is probably less important than before, as well as Skills and Abilities.

Who says those songs are good?
Do you honestly think history will remember those artists?

[Ploki]

Who says those songs are good?
Do you honestly think history will remember those artists?

yes, absolutely.
do you think only melodic diatonic shit will stand the test of time?

[vurt]

Who says those songs are good?
Do you honestly think history will remember those artists?

yes, absolutely.
do you think only melodic diatonic shit will stand the test of time?

it dont mean a thing, if it aint got that swing.

thats the rule.

[Ploki]

it dont mean a thing, if it aint got that swing.

thats the rule.

you can swing without a melody in the traditional sense tho.

[vurt]

it dont mean a thing, if it aint got that swing.

thats the rule.

you can swing without a melody in the traditional sense tho.

indeed.
im just stating the universal rule that will determine what is passed on to universe.2