Diva Alternatives

[Uncle E]

That is what I meant before. The differences between the sound quality of any modern subtractive synth plugins are so small that production can easily compensate. It doesn't really matter whether you use U-he, Tal, Spire, Sylenth1, Invader, etc. Nobody can tell what was used just by listening to a finished song.

That's a different discussion. I would have agreed with you from the start if this is what was being discussed.

With that said, if you're only doing this to satisfy the layperson, I've got bad news for you:

[El°HYM]

Is this the point of the Discussion where any synth is basically just 1's & 0's and all DAWs actually sound exact the same, again?

[Super Piano Hater 64]

Is this the point of the Discussion where (...) all DAWs actually sound exact the same, again?

Sure, why not. And while we're at it let's call forth the dark lord and turn the seas to blood. I'm off to gather sticks and marshmallows before the fires break out.

[frag]

We've found Diva playing very, very nicely with Omnisphere together

This is my impression too... With Diva & Omnisphere you get what you want very quickly.
And I would definitely add Spire to the mix.
I like doing everything "in the box". I mean, there are many interesting hardware synths, but there's literally nothing you can't accomplish with software anymore.
So instead of Roland JP-8000, Novation Summit, Acess Virus TI2, Korg KingKorg for example, I would rather get an Intel i9 or AMD Ryzen 9. That + big, excellent MIDI keyboard + big screen.
Very simple! Great workflow!
We have come a long way from Pro-51 & Model E, with 30ms+ latencies

[El°HYM]

Is this the point of the Discussion where (...) all DAWs actually sound exact the same, again?

Sure, why not. And while we're at it let's call forth the dark lord and turn the seas to blood. I'm off to gather sticks and marshmallows before the fires break out.

*reported*

[cryophonik]

Im thinking of purchasing Diva, are there any other plugins I should consider first?

Maybe a Captain Obvious response, but you could also consider buying an actual analog synth. There are quite a few affordable polyphonic analog synths available these days, so spending a little more and having something that isn't an emulation is possibly worth considering. Buy used at the typical market price (or lower) and, if you don't end up liking it, sell it for what you paid for it. Just another option to consider and, granted, it really comes down to why you're considering Diva. If it's primarily to have something that sounds analog, then going with the real thing might be a better option. But, if it's to have all the depth and features of Diva, then ehhhhhhh.... that's where Diva wins and you probably won't find anything equivalent in hardware for under $2K.

[BONES]

A little more? Try 10 times more for something that is almost certainly going to be far more trouble than its worth and far less useful into the bargain. You'd have to have rocks in your f**king head.

Sound selection has a huge impact in this and I agree.

I'll check them anyway with EQ8 in Live using the analyzer to quickly view the sequence, and we usually just drop some lows or highs away, then quickly check for some resonance/harsh areas if these actions are needed at all - depending.

Why do you need to check, don't you trust your ears?

Is this the point of the Discussion where any synth is basically just 1's & 0's and all DAWs actually sound exact the same, again?

Not that, so much as any differences don't matter in the end so worrying about them is stupid and pointless. Seriously, if you can listen to any song and know which DAW it was made in, then it's a difference that matters. But you can't do that, nobody can, so it is utterly immaterial. Ditto for individual instruments - if you can listen to a song and identify each instrument used in each part, then which instrument you use matters. But if you can't and, again, nobody can, then it doesn't matter at all which instrument you use most of the time. Of course, there will be a few exceptions here and there, that one hero part you need to sound just so, but most of the time it really doesn't matter.

[El°HYM]

Ok, dear BONES now please make us seem deep, floating Ambient music.

[legendCNCD]

Sound selection has a huge impact in this and I agree.

I'll check them anyway with EQ8 in Live using the analyzer to quickly view the sequence, and we usually just drop some lows or highs away, then quickly check for some resonance/harsh areas if these actions are needed at all - depending.

Why do you need to check, don't you trust your ears?

Depends where I am. I am not always with the best equipment when first creating tracks. Also not all the rumble is hearable in these situations. As I said, depends. Those are usually just quick eq's which are to be revised later if needed.