KVR Audio

Sindikhate · Post by **Sindikhate** » Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:07 am

BONES wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 5:55 am On the over-rated side of things, I've finally given up on Pigments. I've had it for a couple of years now and the only uses I've found for it are filler parts that I could just as easily use any freebie for. It has so much going for it but, ultimately, I can't make it sound big enough to use it more prominently. So screw it, I got stuff to do, I don't have time to waste.

I bumped on your Pigments review the other day. Totally agree with it.
The sound is just not there. I see people focusing on GUI, "Features" blabalbal... but if the sound is not there then what is the point?
In the name of "features" and the "MUST HAVE" cleaner oscillators even many great past synths have been ruined.

I just had another demo of Pigments and ... nah thanks. Not for me. It has an ok sound for pad-ish, bladerunnerish "synthwave" but even that can be done better with other synths.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:25 am

That's the thing, synths like Pigments and Hive are all about the features, not the sound. I don't need one synth to do every possible thing, I just need it to sound really good at what it does.

Echoes in the Attic · Post by **Echoes in the Attic** » Thu Oct 21, 2021 2:55 am

Sindikhate wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:07 am
BONES wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 5:55 am On the over-rated side of things, I've finally given up on Pigments. I've had it for a couple of years now and the only uses I've found for it are filler parts that I could just as easily use any freebie for. It has so much going for it but, ultimately, I can't make it sound big enough to use it more prominently. So screw it, I got stuff to do, I don't have time to waste.
I bumped on your Pigments review the other day. Totally agree with it.
The sound is just not there. I see people focusing on GUI, "Features" blabalbal... but if the sound is not there then what is the point?
In the name of "features" and the "MUST HAVE" cleaner oscillators even many great past synths have been ruined.

I just had another demo of Pigments and ... nah thanks. Not for me. It has an ok sound for pad-ish, bladerunnerish "synthwave" but even that can be done better with other synths.

I agree the sound is not special. With one exception. The granular is rally good, adn I'm happy to have it just as a granular synth. Nice to have even some basic waveforms in a granular synth though so the other oscs don't hurt.

Sinisterbr · Post by **Sinisterbr** » Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:25 am

I gotta agree with the recent posts. I don't like Pigments/ Arturia (too plasticky) and HIve/ U-he synhts in general (too clean and pristine), but it's all a very personnal thing, for sure.

hoxclab · Post by **hoxclab** » Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:36 am

You know I felt the same way about Pigments but I bought it anyways. I created over a hundred tracks. Went back to start weeding down what I would put on the album and oddly enough Pigments were in a lot more tracks than I thought it would be in. I paid $75 for Pigments and at that price it's a steal but not at $200 IMO.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:41 am

Echoes in the Attic wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 2:55 amI agree the sound is not special. With one exception. The granular is rally good, adn I'm happy to have it just as a granular synth. Nice to have even some basic waveforms in a granular synth though so the other oscs don't hurt.

Yeah, it was definitely the most usable granular thing I had when I got it but now that I have Concept 2, even the granular engine doesn't cut it for me. Concept 2 probably makes the grade for under-appreciated, it's one of my current faves.

Catharsis Cat · Post by **Catharsis Cat** » Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:05 pm

As far as underrated goes:

ACE - A lot of people already said it, but the cable interface makes it fun to use with lots of interesting hidden tricks. Hive 1 was also underrated, I thought it was fine before the wavetables were added.

Phosphour - really simple implementation of additive synthesis and easy to use. It doesn't do many things, but sometimes simple focused synth is good.

Older VA VSTs in general. Low CPU use and I like the "less perfect" character of them. A lot of good music I grew up on was made with old VA synths and it gives me that nostalgia.

MitchK1989 · Post by **MitchK1989** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:46 pm

ACE is definitely underrated and is a go-to for me. Using its LFOs for 2-op FM is great too, especially when you use the "spectralize" tap map function so your modulator is a grungy additive synth of sorts

Halonmusic · Post by **Halonmusic** » Fri Oct 22, 2021 11:01 pm

ACE almost never gets mentioned. I dont own ACE though but i always liked it. Powerful and great sounding synth. Also, i have to say, the freeware Podolski NEVER gets mentioned. Sad since its such a great synth.

crickey13 · Post by **crickey13** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 12:50 pm

Halonmusic wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 11:01 pm Also, i have to say, the freeware Podolski NEVER gets mentioned. Sad since its such a great synth.

I wish it would get a GUI revamp like Zebralette and Triple Cheese. The latter looks awesome now.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 12:52 pm

crickey13 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 23, 2021 12:50 pm
Halonmusic wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 11:01 pm Also, i have to say, the freeware Podolski NEVER gets mentioned. Sad since its such a great synth.
I wish it would get a GUI revamp like Zebralette and Triple Cheese. The latter looks awesome now.

It did get a revamp not that long ago

crickey13 · Post by **crickey13** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 12:54 pm

aMUSEd wrote: ↑Sat Oct 23, 2021 12:52 pm It did get a revamp not that long ago

It looks like an older style u-he GUI, looks similar to the older Zebralette GUI.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 12:58 pm

crickey13 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 23, 2021 12:54 pm
aMUSEd wrote: ↑Sat Oct 23, 2021 12:52 pm It did get a revamp not that long ago
It looks like an older style u-he GUI, looks similar to the older Zebralette GUI.

In some respects because it was done before the last 2, which seem to have a new designer, but it did get hires graphics and improvements to the look and browser (including NKS support).

JerGoertz · Post by **JerGoertz** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 2:18 pm

Megahertz by Exonic is one of the best-sounding synths to come out in recent years, but gets almost no mention. Maybe because it uses the SynthEdit framework (with custom coded modules, AFAIK), maybe because the GUI is uninspiring, maybe because the price was/is on the higher side. In any case, it sounds absolutely superb.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Sat Oct 23, 2021 2:33 pm

They are not available for sale at the moment, but the PPG synths were underrated. Hopefully they come back at some point.

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