SONICALLY Best VST Synth

[PieBerger]

Whatever I'm GASing hard for at the time, so I can justify buying it of course

[audiot]

I think there is no "sonically best" synth.

I totally agree. This is a typical "silly season" thread

... silly season Never heard that before

[audiot]

I think there is no "sonically best" synth.

Of course there is. The one which sounds best to me.

Yes but no. If you would ask Stephan Bodzin for his favorite synth, what should he answer? He just has a Sub37. But the thread title sounds more like "generally" best and not "personally" best. There are to many sonic territories and flavors to be covered by one synth. Even good alrounders like Zebra have their limits.

[foosnark]

What is the best shade of blue? Putting aside any sort of context -- like the background or surrounding colors, the lighting, or what the object even is (could be the sky, a laser, a human face, a piece of bread, a stop sign, etc.)

Just which blue is subjectively best?

[Zipede]

Hey,

i know there are many Synth vs. Synth and whos better type of threads. However if you ONLY hear for the pur capability/sound of a Synths Oscillator/Sound Quality without looking at features what would the top ten look like?

"MSoundFactory,..... the best sounding oscillators on the market...."

[ariston]

Sonically... going off on a little tangent here. There are quite a few tricks that are designed to make you sit up and go wow. Some of these are really annoying in synths. For example, louder is better, right? That's why a lot of factory presets are way too loud and clip when you play them out of the box. Second, nothing makes a sound better than a bit of chorus and delay/reverb. So go ahead and drench that saw. Third, there are certain frequencies that grab our attention quickly, mainly because we're so attuned to the human voice. If you have a sound that emphasizes those frequencies (and avoid brightness to get that elusive "warmth"), you'll probably like it more. Fourth, unison. Ah, unison! That lovely width and pleasant phasing, that power, makes you feel like you've just let loose a dragon shout in Skyrim!

So, when people talk about how "good" a synth sounds, I often wonder how they've arrived at that conclusion. Were they lured in by those awful tricks mentioned above? The very first preset in ANA2, which is a fine synth, is just like that. Godawful, unusable, but hugely impressive (at least it doesn't clip). Same thing, but actually the other way around, for Zebra. Can you just imagine a budding producer flicking his way through Howard's expertly programmed but usually dry and focused patches, thinking "how am I gonna produce my bitchin #1 hit song with this, man? This synth sucks!"

tl;dr whenever people give their appraisal of a synth, it'd be nice to hear the how and why, because just naming synths doesn't really tell you a whole lot.

[Gamma-UT]

Just which blue is subjectively best?

Pantone 19-4052.

It's the blue of 2020.

[ariston]

What is the best shade of blue? Putting aside any sort of context -- like the background or surrounding colors, the lighting, or what the object even is (could be the sky, a laser, a human face, a piece of bread, a stop sign, etc.)

Just which blue is subjectively best?

That's easy... a medium royal blue, of course!

[chk071]

There are to many sonic territories and flavors to be covered by one synth.

That's true. I probably would feel limited using one synth only. Even though such limits also have their appeal.

[fmr]

I think there is no "sonically best" synth.

I totally agree. This is a typical "silly season" thread

... silly season Never heard that before

I think this is an international expression (though actually born in UK):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silly_season

[audiot]

I think there is no "sonically best" synth.

I totally agree. This is a typical "silly season" thread

... silly season Never heard that before

I think this is an international expression (though actually born in UK):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silly_season

Yes I read that wiki earlier. These tommys ... they have to be sarcastic about everything. We just call it summer. But seriously: i like the tommys ... to many good musicians to hate them

[BONES]

If you would ask Stephan Bodzin for his favorite synth, what should he answer? He just has a Sub37.

Before I could do that, I'd have to find out who Stephan Bodzin is. But the thing of it is, just because you own a certain piece of kit, doesn't mean you think it's the best. Maybe the best you could afford, or the best one to fit into your set-up, but the only time in my 36 years of synth ownership when I thought any of the synths I owed were anything close to the best was for a couple of years in the late 1990s after I had spent around $6000 on a fully-loaded Korg Trinity. The rest were just what I could afford.

The very first preset in ANA2, which is a fine synth, is just like that. Godawful, unusable, but hugely impressive (at least it doesn't clip).

I have used that preset in at least half-a-dozen songs I've been working on lately. I've tried to fit it into every song, just for shits and giggles, but a few have missed out. Yes, I've had to reduce the effects in about half the instances but the other half are pretty much untouched. So what's unusable to one person can be perfectly usable to another.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, I have lately come to realise why it is that I find Union so incredibly useful - it's because the patches I mostly work from have subtle or no effects on them, so when I put them into an arrangement, they work with minimal effort. I actually had to add delay and reverb to one instance I was working on the other night.

There are to many sonic territories and flavors to be covered by one synth.

That's true. I probably would feel limited using one synth only. Even though such limits also have their appeal.

That's particularly true for me, as I prefer simpler synths. I use this analogy quite often but I'd rather have a $10 generic set of combination spanners than a single $50 high quality adjustable wrench. So I tend to use specific synths for specific situations. e.g. I only ever use Orion's Wasp for basslines and if I want a good lead sound, I'll always try Korg's ARP Odyssey first. Things like Thorn or DUEN only come out as a last resort, unless I know that one of them will do what I need with minimal fuss.

[ariston]

The very first preset in ANA2, which is a fine synth, is just like that. Godawful, unusable, but hugely impressive (at least it doesn't clip).

I have used that preset in at least half-a-dozen songs I've been working on lately. I've tried to fit it into every song, just for shits and giggles, but a few have missed out. Yes, I've had to reduce the effects in about half the instances but the other half are pretty much untouched. So what's unusable to one person can be perfectly usable to another.

That's perfectly fine, and a matter of taste - and quite beside the point I was making. It's not about taste, but about HOW people arrive at their value judgment. If they say "ANA 2 is amazing, just listen to that first patch", then I'll know their reasoning and can myself decide if I want to lend credence to their opinion or not.
Mainly, it's an attempt to add some depth to these endless "what synth" discussions. Lord knows, I've been guilty of just tossing out synth names without explaining my opinion in-depth. It's easy, but lazy.

[audiot]

Before I could do that, I'd have to find out who Stephan Bodzin is.

That was a stupid example. I apologize I was listening to Bodzin while posting this. But he's well known in the techno scene. I talked to some dnb heads a while ago and even they knew him. He's one of the few guys who actually play a synth (very nuanced modulations as essential part of the arrangment). You should check his work. There are some tracks that everyone loves, no matter which style of music you're in ("wir" for example ... awesome track)

[bermudagold]

Before I could do that, I'd have to find out who Stephan Bodzin is.

That was a stupid example. I apologize I was listening to Bodzin while posting this. But he's well known in the techno scene. I talked to some dnb heads a while ago and even they knew him. He's one of the few guys who actually play a synth (very nuanced modulations as essential part of the arrangment). You should check his work. There are some tracks that everyone loves, no matter which style of music you're in ("wir" for example ... awesome track)

so I googled stephan bodzin wir......genuinely curious why that song resonates with you...is it something you can articulate?...3 million views, 800 comments...top comment says "how is this track even possible"...lots of people saying the track brings tears to their eyes?