Looking for a good 80's sounds synth plugin

[Examigan]

The D-50 plugin is now $150 without the monthly cloud subscription.

[SamDi]

Hm 80ies was already relatively divers. From multivoice-analog to FM to sample-based, all was there. Do you have some specific stuff in mind?

Here just some proposals:

• You can have a look at the UVI soundware.
  https://www.uvi.net/de/vintage-synth
  They have a big portfolio of vintage synth soundpacks and they can be played with the free UVI workstatiion or the brilliant UVI Falcon. But they are no "real" synths, just samplepacks. I don't have these vintage stuff from UVI, but other soundbanks and normally UVI quality is very high. Unfortunately they can't be demoed.
• Other option is the Arturia V collection. Many excellent emulations are there, which you can hardly find anywhere else (CMI Fairlight, Synclavier, DX7). Also the analog emulations are not bad. Some say, they don't sound real, but the collection is a big bang for the buck. The GUIs are very lovely and nice and I am strongly convinced, that after mixing, mastering and distribution, way less than 1‰ of your fans will claim, that your synths sound like plastic and somehow untrue. This you can demo. It's currently on sale for 299€.
• Roland cloud. Get all these iconic stuff from the Roland universe as VSTs. I don't have it, but some say, it's one of the best Roland emulations in the market (what should not be surprising). Can be also buyed, but it seems that Roland is preferring the cloud solution, thus the price to buy the single instruments is not really attractive. For me it is too expensive for just having it. But if you are a Roland fan or need to rely on THIS sound, I guess it's fair.
• Vintage synth emulations. Uhe (Diva + Repro) and Synapse Audio (OB emulation is in the queue) are there highly traded
• Some free stuff. I am not deep into this, but at least Dexed for FM, I can call here. Also with Tyrell N6 and TAL Noisemaker you can get somehow some 80ies sound.

So if money doesn't play a role, get Roland+Arturia+Uhe stuff. If it does play a role, just get Arturia. If you don't have much, look for the free stuff.

[cyrb]

A cheapskate's toolkit:

First you need classic virtual analogs: Synth1, Charlatan, NoiseMaker, OB-Xd, Arminator 2, FB-3300, TyrellN6, Joono 2020.

Sprinkle in some DCO poly synths: PG8X, Fury-800, FB-7999.

Then you need FM/PD, so Dexed, Exakt Lite and Digits.

Then you need rompler/wavetable stuff: SQ8L, K1v, Seib's PPG Wave emulator.

Then you need a general sampler: TX16Wx or your DAW's sampler, then use any bitcrusher to get that 12-bit or 8-bit sound. Grab classic 80s Akai or E-mu samples. SPre is a good effect for this.

As for effects, Chorus is a must, so get TAL's LX Chorus. While you're at it, get their Reverb 4 (Supermassive also useful). Then you'll need stereo widener effects, perhaps Dimension Expander and kiloheart's free Stereo Snapin.