What's your favorite synth for sound design?

[KBSoundSmith]

I will eagerly read this FM thread. I can comfortably use FM to make gritty psytrance stuff, simple bells, and the notorious donk bass but beyond that, I'm also flying at night.

Just quoting you to ensure you get a notification -- the previous post is what I'd call to your attention.

[audiojunkie]

Awesome news!! Thank you for thinking about us!!!

[swilow11]

I will eagerly read this FM thread. I can comfortably use FM to make gritty psytrance stuff, simple bells, and the notorious donk bass but beyond that, I'm also flying at night.

Just quoting you to ensure you get a notification -- the previous post is what I'd call to your attention.

Thankyou my friend. Very thoughtful. Will check this out.

[morphex]

KORG Modwave VST, Minimal Audio’s Current 2, NI Reaktor 6, Tone2’s Icarus 3, and Dawesome’s Kult, along with Myth and their free Zyklops synth plug-in are some great choices.

Another interesting synth for designing patches is u-he’s Zebralette 3. It’s still in beta and is free, but the sound engine onboard is really powerful and it’s like a peak at the coming Zebra 3.

There’s no doubt that Zebra 3’s release will be welcomed with open arms by all of us who have been waiting patiently for it. But if you want something really unique, I would highly suggest Myth for its re-synthesis technology, followed by a modern multi-effect like Infiltrator 2 or SoundToys Effect Rack.

[Alexander_D]

KORG Modwave VST, Minimal Audio’s Current 2, NI Reaktor 6, Tone2’s Icarus 3, and Dawesome’s Kult, along with Myth and their free Zyklops synth plug-in are some great choices.

Another interesting synth for designing patches is u-he’s Zebralette 3. It’s still in beta and is free, but the sound engine onboard is really powerful and it’s like a peak at the coming Zebra 3.

There’s no doubt that Zebra 3’s release will be welcomed with open arms by all of us who have been waiting patiently for it. But if you want something really unique, I would highly suggest Myth for its re-synthesis technology, followed by a modern multi-effect like Infiltrator 2 or SoundToys Effect Rack.

Zebra is amazing and very very deep synth! Simple love it! And Soundtoys are amazing as well! All their plugins are stunning!

[CrystalWizard]

While i agree with Bert (whatever synth you have) i do have preferences: Reaktor A#1!. Zebra 2, Omnisphere, Alchemy v1, (my second all time favorite is Tassman) and some newer: Plasmonic, Dawesomes, Pigments, Sumu. Really depends, though, i can use something like AAS Ultra Analog for some sound designing.

[Alexander_D]

Zebra is amazing and power synth! Waiting Zebra 3. Omnisphere is a great tool as well. I also like Halion 7

[Petzo]

I'm currently into Razor by Native Instruments.
Haven't done much with additive synthesis in the past, but I love the full sound it brings.

[BONES]

JP6K, it's very easy to work with and always sounds great. Or maybe GForce's SEM, for the same reasons.

[HOTF]

My biggest problem is that I don’t understand FM synthesis. It all seems like guesswork. I don’t understand how those controls shape the wave. I’d like to understand it, but I’m struggling with how it works.

this is by far the best guide for understanding FM synthesis. Worth a watch.

[HOTF]

By far I use the Live's stock devices the most for sound design but as far as plugins go I like Pigments

[audiojunkie]

My biggest problem is that I don’t understand FM synthesis. It all seems like guesswork. I don’t understand how those controls shape the wave. I’d like to understand it, but I’m struggling with how it works.

this is by far the best guide for understanding FM synthesis. Worth a watch.

Thanks! I'll check it out!

[Benedict]

FM is wonderful but you have the issue that most explanations start by saying there won't be any maths then all they do is talk about maths. yes, FM is actually a lot of maths but all things can be explained with maths if you are that way. This is Algoritm - which happens to be one of my fave synths for its versatility and making FM pretty easy.



What I will say is that: Easy Does It when working in FM. We are used to reefing analog knobs around but very tiny moves in FM can have huge outcomes. Meaning that when we overdo the change in FM it feels like: boring Sine wave or Satan Hissing, with no in-between.

To answer the OP, my fave of all synths is Europa. It can be lovely digital or fat analog or both at once once you know how to do the work. There is virtually nothing I cannot make (that matters to me at least) in Europa which means that I spend more time and know it ever-better.

[martiu]

my favorite synth for sound design right now is Sonic Academy Ana 2, it sounds great and there is a lot of options but the most important thing for me is the workflow, i just love messing around with this synth, the UI is great and logical, it has MSEGs and that is a lot of fun, overall great synth

[Benedict]

ANA 2 is indeed a fine synth. I liked it plenty when I reviewed for Higher Hz on YT.
It isn't entirely a one synth to rule them all but it does sound nice and overall is fairly easy to use (very easy for a VST).
It seems odd that it is not really in the chatter much.