What are the best VST instruments that sound "really" analog?

[excuse me please]

Le Synth1

[legendCNCD]

Le Synth1

[crickey13]

Delay Lama

This, pure analog goodness.

[D-Fusion]

This is what i think of when i hear talk about Analog synths.
A Synth that fight to stay in tune with itself every time it is played

[ThePresent]

Synthmaster 2.9 lets you dial in detuning, non-linearities (whatever that means) and all sorts of “imperfectnesses” (is that a word?) as much as you want. And if you want “polished” clean sound, you don’t dial them in at all

[briefcasemanx]

Repro is the best IMO but it's still only like 90% there.

[chk071]

Repro is the best IMO but it's still only like 90% there.

When I listen to sound demos like this, I have to admit that you're probably right:



Such a nice distortion on that thing. Have yet to hear something like it in software.

Yes, I know, it's Youtube compressed, and therefor sounds 3,7469% degraded, but, still...

[briefcasemanx]

Repro is the best IMO but it's still only like 90% there.

When I listen to sound demos like this, I have to admit that you're probably right:



Such a nice distortion on that thing. Have yet to hear something like it in software.

Yes, I know, it's Youtube compressed, and therefor sounds 3,7469% degraded, but, still...

Yep good example. There's still a presence and dimension that software doesn't get on some sounds. There are some sounds where software is near indistinguishable though for sure. Usually not the most interesting sounds though. As a sound gets more unique or adds more distortion the difference between software and analog becomes bigger.

I'm 100% software due to space. I have some analog gear in storage but almost never break it out. Just because I'm all software doesn't mean I can't admit that analog still sounds better.And it's not a "2 units never sound exactly the same" difference, as people try to argue. Both of those 2 analog units still sound analog, even if they are slightly different.

[Agreed]

I feel Knifonium and Oberhausen (at high sample rates especially) have a lot of what I associate with analog gear but I'd still flip out over a real Knifonium (just, you know, monophonically flip out, and have tuning stability after an hour of it being on, relatively speaking, still drifting drifting drifting as the demon that is summoned when its tubes are powered changes its whims).

That said I feel like so much of the sound and context of a synth tone is up to other sound design aspects, too, and much of what is being short-hand discussed as "analog sound" comes down to things that are doable in the digital domain. I don't sweat the "analogness" of a sound so much as its fit, context, inspiration when I am working with it - if I need to add warmth and harmonics and subtle drift beyond what the oscillators and filtering are providing I can usually do that with the tools I have.

[chk071]

I feel Knifonium and Oberhausen (at high sample rates especially) have a lot of what I associate with analog gear but I'd still flip out over a real Knifonium

Only 16.000 €, and it's yours.

[XpanderDude]

That behringer model D demo sounds great. I use the legend for my minimoog needs and it suits me fine. My use case is pretty isn't pushing any boundaries though; it's mostly clean, almost never saturated patches that are fairly simple.

[e-crooner]

That behringer model D demo sounds great. I use the legend for my minimoog needs and it suits me fine. My use case is pretty isn't pushing any boundaries though; it's mostly clean, almost never saturated patches that are fairly simple.

Same here

[thecontrolcentre]

Xils 3LE is another good sounding VA ... https://www.xils-lab.com/products/xils-3-p-126.html

[pdxindy]

Repro is the best IMO but it's still only like 90% there.

That is my assessment too... on both counts.

[pdxindy]

Yes, I know, it's Youtube compressed, and therefor sounds 3,7469% degraded, but, still...

After some years of listening to youtube demos and playing a variety of the same synths in person, I would say that youtube works just fine to hear the essential character of a synth.