Underrated/overlooked synths

[swilow11]

As per title, what synths are you surprised to not see a lot of community love for?

For me, it's Tal Mod. Fantastic analogue sound, plenty of modulation, does hard sync, FM, ringmod, nice unison. MSEG, basic sequencer/arp, simple GUI which is easy to navigate, not too CPU heavy. It's my go to for basic analogue stuff, can do sharp cutting leads, squelchy acid, eerie pads, even pretty nice drums. Downsides are the useless filter saturation which drops volume significantly, ladder filter style bass stealing resonance, and the fx are average (but usable). It's not expensive too. Presets aren't great but it's so easy to program that this hardly matters. I use multiple instances every track. Honestly sounds better than stuff like Diva to me.

Please share your hidden treasures.

[twal]

Retrologue 2 and ANA 2

[buffalo roam]

MSoundfactory. Meldaproductions keeps on adding great new instruments for easy use. The recent addition of PowerWoodwinds is a good example. The solo sounds are excellent 'way up and down the scales, and the effects on it enable the user to even set up a kind of organ that sounds very good. People gripe about MSoundfactory's GUI, but it's really intuitive and powerful once you invest some time with it. It goes as deep as it gets.

[buffalo roam]

Duplicated. Sorry.

[swilow11]

Retrologue 2 and ANA 2

Nice. Never got much from Retrologue when I was using Cubase, ANA2 is definitely on my radar. Seems like great value given what it's capable of doing.

[IvyBirds]

Arturia Synclavier V, it's an emulation of the vintage 1980s powerhouse, but what gets over looked is that you can run it at 24bits (the original was 8 bits)

It also has vastly expanded sampling, additive, resynthesis, and FM engines

The FM is a different take on FM than the Yamaha DX7 paradigm used on so many FM Synths, you can have up to 24 FM operators in 12 layers, 12 additive layers, and 12 samples

And mix and match for complex layered patches

[Korg Supporter]

• Imaginando DRC - It's a really cool virtual analog synth that sounds vintage without sounding like anything vintage. The 4-Pole filter is like glowing milk, and the built-in FX are really good.

• E-Phonic Invader 2 - It's like DRC but sounds cleaner. Also CPU-friendly.

• Memorymoon Messiah (Windows Only) - Does more than just emulate a Prophet Rev 2. It can go into Synclavier and CZ territory with added ringmod, FM, and phase distortion capabilities! It also has a couple of extra modulators.

• Everything by Plogue - Wait until Black Friday to get their stuff for 50% off. I love OPS7, and C64 can be fully polyphonic (albeit with heavy CPU).

• NI Razor - Great for spectral stuff. Too bad it's abandoned.

• HY-Poly - The free version is worth it too (and now polyphonic). It can do subtractive, 2OP FM, vector, phase distortion, and the beta version has Karplus.

• Newfangled Audio Generate - The only distorted West Coast synth you need. The built-in FX sound so good and can be modulated. Unfortunately, it requires iLok. But getting it on sale with a student discount for $24 is a steal!

• OP-X Pro II/III - Don't be fooled by the name and GUI. It can mimic a wide range of synths! There are different adjustments for the filter, oscillators, and modulation.

• Audjoo Helix - It hasn't been updated for Windows since 2020, but it runs well. It is one of the best-sounding synths you can have for little CPU! Its waveshaping capabilities and filters still hold up today.

• Albino 3 Legend - Another oldie but goodie synth that sounds great with little CPU. It has great bells and pads!

• Renoise Redux - Really a sampler, but it has very flexible modulation and lets you add as many fx and filters as you like.

A couple of synths that I don't own but sound awesome are Loomer Aspect and DiscoDSP Corona.

[Daru925]

The stock synths in our DAWs.

[ralfrobert]

Everything Madrona Labs.

[concealed identity]

Retrologue 2 and ANA 2

Every once in a while I'll fire up Retrologue for a change of pace, and I always end up with something really good and surprisingly complex. It's sold as a Diva-like analogue emulation, but I always end up with really cool modern EDM-sounding noises. I just wish the interface was clearer and easier to read.

[Igro]

Serum.

[CrystalWizard]

Madrona Labs.
Outersect Modeler

[EnGee]

Serum.

Are you sure?!
I think it is so overrated! It is a good synth however. Although it has mostly the cold sounds/results that reflects the cold heart of its developer maybe!

The most underrated synths IMO are:
1. Halion 7 in general and the synths it has are really excellent.
2. Reaktor Blocks and Reaktor ensembles in general.
3. Rayblaster from Tone2.

Somehow underrated:
1. Massive X (the best sounding wavetable IMO)
2. DS Diversion (Great sound)
3. Rack Extensions in Reason, like Objekt, Complex~1, Europa from RS and some 3rd party like from Blamsoft Inc and others.

[martiu]

Phonec 2, Bleass Omega

[Nug Wrangler]

Super 8