KVR Audio

hag01 · Post by **hag01** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 2:24 pm

I'm trying to learn some sound design, so far wavetable synths are the most understandable for me.
I have U-He Zebra 2 wich is a complicated wavetable synth, I want something simpler.

What is considered to be easier to program, Serum or Synthmaster One?
Money is also a criteria for me and Synthmaster One is better in that criteria, how ever, if Serum is significantly friendlier and simpler than Synthmaster One, I'll go toward Serum.
I prefer the most simple and friendly wavetable synth, even if it considered to be limited.

If you have an idea for a wavetable synth which is simpler and friendlier than both, please tell me.

Thanks in advance.

garliccorgi · Post by **garliccorgi** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 2:40 pm

Both Surge and Vital are free and a result very popular and a result of that popularity have a lot of resources to learn the synth (videos, free patches, etc). Probably worth looking into both i find them both quite intuitive although I prefer surge.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 2:55 pm

hag01 wrote: Wed Mar 17, 2021 2:24 pm I prefer the most simple and friendly wavetable synth, even if it considered to be limited.

If you have an idea for a wavetable synth which is simpler and friendlier than both, please tell me.

Vital, which can be free... it has a very good workflow
Hive by u-he is my favorite for fast easy workflow

Vortifex · Post by **Vortifex** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 3:03 pm

Edited

tactile_coast · Post by **tactile_coast** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 3:06 pm

+1 for VItal. Its so simple and easy to use and even though the entry level is free it sounds as good or even better than the paid alternatives. There is also a great community of new sound developers and sharing going on over on their forums.

Passing Bye · Post by **Passing Bye** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 3:41 pm

Vital

crickey13 · Post by **crickey13** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 4:32 pm

Vital.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 5:13 pm

tactile_coast wrote: Wed Mar 17, 2021 3:06 pm +1 for VItal. Its so simple and easy to use and even though the entry level is free it sounds as good or even better than the paid alternatives.

I disagree about the sound. It can sound good, but I think the Vital filters are not very good. Of course it is a subjective valuation, but I like the filters in Hive much better. The input drive has more nuance and the resonance is more pleasing. I also like the wavetable interpolation in Hive better. Overall, Vital often sounds a bit fuzzy. Hive sounds crisp, punchy and clean. Bells can sound so clear and beautiful.

To me, Hive sound quality is distinctly better... in the highs, in the bass...

Vital also uses more cpu for less overall sound quality and the GUI takes a long time to load. If I make a project with 30 instances of Vital, it takes 24 seconds to load in Bitwig. If I make a project with 30 instances of Hive, it takes 4 seconds to load.

Xbucket · Post by **Xbucket** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 6:23 pm

One more vote for serum in this regard, even if vital is free. I began with synths roughly before 3-4 years and serum was the easiest in the beginning. Vital is a little similar, but i think serums gui is clearer to understand what to do.
You could go on with vital and maybe then surge, which introduces another synthlayout. I found synthmaster not very easy in the beginning where i didn´t had a clue what to do. Once you are into it it´s not complicated but i think you need a little experience to understand what to do. If you are really interested in sounddesign Falcon, phase plant could be very interesting later... well so many are interesting then.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 6:28 pm

I'm surprised Vital is always mentioned as a free synth. I more think of it as an appetizer for the payware version. Like any other feature/content crippled plugin.

I know, it's one of the better offers in that regard, but, still....

SamDi · Post by **SamDi** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 6:51 pm

I would recommend Serum. As long as new launched synths are still traded as „Serum killers“, you know, what is the reference to reach. It is hard to find any synth, which GUI is more inviting to experiment or try out new things at least for my taste. And as it is was said already: there are tons of tutorials to create any sound you can imagine and to learn from. I would even say, Serum is THE industry standard - for EDM at least. So it‘s the best starting point for beginners IMHO.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 7:08 pm

SamDi wrote: Wed Mar 17, 2021 6:51 pmIt is hard to find any synth, which GUI is more inviting to experiment or try out new things at least for my taste.

I don't particularly like that you cannot see the modulators at once in Serum. In Serum, you can only see 1 Env and 1 LFO at the same time. It means lots of tabbing back and forth between them.

In Hive, you see all 4 envelopes, 2 LFO's, 2 Function Generators and the 4 Shape Sequencers all at once on the main page. No tabbing between them and all visible at once.

e@rs · Post by **e@rs** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 7:14 pm

Serum is the easiest to program imho. But definitely grab demos of all the suggestions and judge for yourself.

Ah_Dziz · Post by **Ah_Dziz** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 7:14 pm

Serum between the two you mentioned. Synthmaster 1 has a few things that are less than obvious when programming it.

Dencheg · Post by **Dencheg** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 7:18 pm

duplicate (what's wrong with post editing?)

Serum vs Synthmaster One for a beginner sound design student