If you could have only one synth, what would you choose?

[ralfrobert]

Zebra 2 for me.

[pdxindy]

Zebra 2 for me.

I said Bazille... but Zebra 3 may give it a challenge!!

[ralfrobert]

Zebra 2 for me.

I said Bazille... but Zebra 3 may give it a challenge!!

Bazille can drive you crazy... be careful

[machinesworking]

Just to say it again, I would choose Falcon. IMO unless you're using Live, ReNoise or Bitwig a your DAW, having a solid sampler with synth capabilities is going to give you a lot more possibilities than a really great subtractive synth etc. Despite the great songs people come up with in the One synth challenge, sonically its not going to compare to Falcon or Kontakt with a few libraries and your own samples etc.

I've been thinking along similar lines but Kontakt feels a bit like cheating, in that's it's more of an environment than an instrument in itself. OTOH, a good ROMpler like Triton or Triton Extreme doesn't feel like cheating at all, so that's probably where I'd end up if I needed a good all-rounder. But I don't feel like I would need a good all-rounder, I feel like I'd rather just have a competent V/A. Something like Vacuum Pro would be enough to keep me going for years.

I started off wanting to be in a band with synths, and the first "serious" band I was in, in the 80's included a Mac Plus for sequencing, Ensoniq Mirage, TX81Z, and Memorymoog. Plus guitar and live drums. We supposedly have more power today and sometimes I don't buy that at all, we have refinements, some improvements in granular synthesis etc. but we covered it all pretty decently with a subtractive and FM synth, and a sampler. What we have is it all in the computer, the hardware paved the way.

Thinking about my pattern when writing these days it's really not that different, I might have hundreds of plug ins, but the rotation is really only about the "icing", i.e. I'll use a a sampler or two like Kontact and Falcon, something from U-He like Diva or Hive, and/or OB-Xtreme etc. What goes on top might rotate, but the basics are mostly subtractive and sample based.

[mdstudio]

MSoundFactory or Falcon

[pdxindy]

Zebra 2 for me.

I said Bazille... but Zebra 3 may give it a challenge!!

Bazille can drive you crazy... be careful

It's a satisfying kind of crazy

[ghettosynth]

Have all the synths been named yet?

[martiu]

we need thread for - if only one reverb

[vurt]

we need thread for - if only one reverb

you mad? you can take the synths but my fx stay all of them!!!

[pdxindy]

we need thread for - if only one reverb

Fog Convolver 2

[EnGee]

I probably would choose PhasePlant as it can be as simple as one VA oscillator or a complex combination between wavetable and FM. It sounds great as well.
I don't use many tracks, so 8 tracks of it plus a drums track, is more than enough to make all the music I dream to make

[BONES]

Thinking about my pattern when writing these days it's really not that different, I might have hundreds of plug ins, but the rotation is really only about the "icing", i.e. I'll use a a sampler or two like Kontact and Falcon, something from U-He like Diva or Hive, and/or OB-Xtreme etc. What goes on top might rotate, but the basics are mostly subtractive and sample based.

I'm pretty much the same. I'll be playing around with whichever synth has caught my eye lately (usually the most recent purchase) and something good will happen. So I get that into the sequencer and then start to build around it in the same way every time. Drums are always sampled, whether it's a Ujam instrument or a Battery kit or something from Studio One's Impact XT. Basslines are always classic subtractive, as are pads, leads and arpeggiated parts.

Later on I might add some ornamentation with something atmospheric or droney, to fill out the arrangement. That stuff is usually sample-based, granular or something similar, but I could as easily do it all with V/As.

If we add guitar or electric bass, that's always samples now (Ujam) but, in the past, it was just V/As with distortion effects, so I could go back to that easily enough.

Gun to my head, I reckon I could very happily make music for the rest of my days with just a few VSTi. I'd definitely want bx_oberhausen, Union and Thorn as my V/As, then probably Hexeract and Concept as my sample based synths, as well as VG Iron 2 for guitars. I'd use Impact XT for drums and I'd have no problem using Studio One's effects, no VSTs required.

I've realised, though, that if it could only be one, it would have to be Phase Plant for me, too. I can build a V/A and a sampler from it, keeping it as simple as it needs to be and only dealing with more complex set-ups as required. There was a time when its filter would have been too limiting but since they added the new filter type a couple of years ago, I think it would do well enough now.

[audiojunkie]

Just to say it again, I would choose Falcon. IMO unless you're using Live, ReNoise or Bitwig a your DAW, having a solid sampler with synth capabilities is going to give you a lot more possibilities than a really great subtractive synth etc. Despite the great songs people come up with in the One synth challenge, sonically its not going to compare to Falcon or Kontakt with a few libraries and your own samples etc.

I've been thinking along similar lines but Kontakt feels a bit like cheating, in that's it's more of an environment than an instrument in itself. OTOH, a good ROMpler like Triton or Triton Extreme doesn't feel like cheating at all, so that's probably where I'd end up if I needed a good all-rounder. But I don't feel like I would need a good all-rounder, I feel like I'd rather just have a competent V/A. Something like Vacuum Pro would be enough to keep me going for years.

I started off wanting to be in a band with synths, and the first "serious" band I was in, in the 80's included a Mac Plus for sequencing, Ensoniq Mirage, TX81Z, and Memorymoog. Plus guitar and live drums. We supposedly have more power today and sometimes I don't buy that at all, we have refinements, some improvements in granular synthesis etc. but we covered it all pretty decently with a subtractive and FM synth, and a sampler. What we have is it all in the computer, the hardware paved the way.

Thinking about my pattern when writing these days it's really not that different, I might have hundreds of plug ins, but the rotation is really only about the "icing", i.e. I'll use a a sampler or two like Kontact and Falcon, something from U-He like Diva or Hive, and/or OB-Xtreme etc. What goes on top might rotate, but the basics are mostly subtractive and sample based.

Exactly the same. I use Just a few synths and lots of effects. I’m always assessing new products, but it’s not really to add to my collection—it’s more to replace good plugins with better plugins. With a flexible synth, sampler, and drum machine, along with a quality suite of effects, I’m completely satisfied.

[CrystalWizard]

Have all the synths been named yet?

Nah, only 30 pages

Since no one has ever asked this question before i'll cheat and say Reaktor.
As much as like the variety of having 30 or so i could get by easily with any of my top ten fav virtual synths and probably with quite a few that i don't have especially the big "workstation" type synths like Dune, Falcon, etc.

[BONES]

you mad? you can take the synths but my fx stay all of them!!!

I must be completely bonkers because I'd manage just fine without VST effects. Honestly, the only VST effects I have that I'd really have trouble without are mastering things - Puncher on my drums and FireCobra and STA Enhancer on my master. Everything else can be handled by on-board effects or the stuff that comes built into Studio One, even for my vox.

I use Just a few synths and lots of effects.

I use f**k-all effects these days, not even EQ. If I can't get it right in the instrument, then I'll find another instrument that can get it right. It's done wonders for the quality of my mixes. Everything is so much punchier, with a clarity I could never get before.

I’m always assessing new products, but it’s not really to add to my collection—it’s more to replace good plugins with better plugins.

Here I am definitely the same. I am always looking for something that will do a better job than the stuff I'm using now. That means that over the years a lot of things have fallen by the wayside - Massive, Pigments, Hive, HY-Poly and even DUNE. Lately I've been thinking that I should revisit DUNE. The addition of good preset management has gone a long way towards making it a lot more usable but I never think to give it a go.