Do you know some excellent lesser known paid soft synths?

[awol9000]

tldr: ABL Pro is now 64 bit - what!!??

This one has been on the list. now 64 bit hell ya!

[gwill]

Audjoo Helix

that. i can't emphazise enougg, how underrated this synth still is...

I demoed it and found that it sounds extraordinarily good.

But the development seems to be stopped forever and there never will be a 64 bit version afaik. Given that, the asking price seems to be not justified

It is true development is very slow lately... but I have a working 64bit vst-version and some other improvements still being tested by some select users. And I do still help every user who have issues... Just so you know

With Jonas's permission, I can share, with great admiration for his work, that Jonas promptly and courteously fixed some minor Helix bugs I found since around the beginning of this year, as well as graciously modifying the way Helix imports single-cycle user-supplied waveforms to compensate for a bug in TeamDNR's Wave Designer. He provided me with both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions of the updated Helix. And I am in seventh heaven! No other VST synth I've tried approaches Helix's sound quality AND low CPU use on my ancient Athlon 64 Win XP machine.

I've never received better service from another developer. And I didn't even buy Helix directly from Audjoo, but rather purchased a license on the KVR marketplace from a previous owner! Hooray for Jonas and Helix!!

Greg Williams

[Examigan]

This one is a little gem
http://www.xhun-audio.com/site/xhun.php?page=littleone

I was thinking of getting that synth at one point, nice demos on their page, great price too.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

]indeed. when do people learn. it's a _very_ capable synth and a _lot_ of work went into it. based on these facts it's priced absolutely reasonably. period. if you can't afford a porsche, you can't own one, that easy. you don't go to the dealer and tell him "i'd take it for half price", and even if you'd dare to (which imo is an affront par exellence), he'd tell you the same as i did. see, if you really want to get it, you could also save up until you actually _can_ afford it. or look for alternatives, there are enough. vote with your wallet. why is it that these days everyone wants everything dumping priced? there's developers that have to live from their work, don't think they earn a golden nose by overpricing stuff, for sure linplug isn't a company of those. you also want to be paid reasonaby for your work and you're for sure complaining, if this isn't the case. and germans, by the way, aren't even half as rich as you might think - i _am_ german, i really know. it's maybe just that most germans (more than some other countries) still kinda value hard work with reasonable money (not that the trend goes into the opposite direction, sadly admitted). maybe _that_ is why we're so "rich" in the end??

but i don't want to derail the thread, so back to topic.

i don't think there is an synth on the market that isn't a product of a lot of work (nor in which the developers wouldn't seek proper recompense for their efforts)...but that isn't how the market works, nor should work

in this oversaturated market place it is perfectly possible and acceptable for people to compare the value of one instrument to another based on features and capabilities, company rep and then extrapolate those comparisons to expectations of price...

if sonic academy can produce a great little v.a and sell it at 50 quid, then it's impossible not to look at any other v.a synths, that commonly sat at more than double this price point, in a comparative light....are we to believe that sonic academy's a.n.a is not capable, developed without much effort, and from a developer who isn't bothered about recouping development costs and ending up with a nice profit ??

there are a few more progressive companies out there who thumb their noses at the norms and price at a point that is a constant no-brainer.....some, including myself, believe that it is better to sell more units at a lower price, as a large user base is a very important thing....cockos reaper isn't the success it is because it's the best d.a.w out there..not that it's bad at all, but the minimal entry cost ensures that people just buy the thing....they are very progressive in their thinking (take the limitless, forever-enabled, demo period), and i would imagine have reaped ( ) greater benefits due to this (their loyal userbase is testament to this)

were i to release an album, i would much prefer 10,000 people buy it at 3 dollars than 3,500 people buy it at 10 dollars...yep, i'm making less money but that extra fanbase (translate as userbase for software) is worth much more in the long run..many more people spreading the word to others, buying tickets to see me live, buying merchandise , my next album etc etc etc

having said all of that, worth and value are a personal thing..you can't convince someone else of something's value or worth as such things can only be judged against many factors specific to that person and their experience...same for a developer...they will perceive their own value and worth, and that of their products, and price accordingly...it is then up to each individual to judge whether that price point is justified

also the porsche analogy doesn't work...cars (and hardware) exist in physical form and are made up of many parts that are priced with much variance according to the quality of the build etc...software is not like that....sure, dev's can maintain good rep's for tight coding and proper bug-testing etc but the degree of variance is much less between synth developers than between porsche engineering and a cheap a-to-b wagon.....but also porsche along with ferrari et al exist in a section of the market where value is added with the inflated price...build quality aside, part of the experience of owning a car like this is having everyone else know how much more you were prepared to pay for a car than they were...you are right, you wouldn't ask the dealer to cut the price but it's very easy for many people to say based on their own valued judgments that a porsche just aint worth it

if you come to my house offering to clean my windows for 20 quid, then you better do a better job than the guy who did it last month for 15 quid because despite you needing to be paid reasonably for your services i can clearly draw a comparison and decide your work is not worth it...incidentally, i'd go with the 15 quid guy, give him a 5 quid tip, and STILL feel i'd had greater value

[Impulslogik]

Great topic...

ferez21 mentioned rs-met and the synth is Straightliner.



I played a bit with the demo and feature wise it is ok.

Another synth i would add to that list is surge from vember audio. DnB Crew Black Sun Empire used this beast in a tutorial video =>

There is a further underrated synth called kubik from concretefx.



It is a wavetable sequencer synth. With Add, Sub, Mix, Ring, FM, Sync, Waveshaper, S&H, PWM capabilities. Holy sh***...

[Impulslogik]

BTW nice to see helix back again .

[Crackbaby]

- x

[Impulslogik]

Oh, oh, oh...i forgot another beast => psyGEN.



It is an experimental granular synth from m-rgt with 16 layers and a build in sequencer. A mod-matrix, LP-HP-BP-Notch filter, different modulators like lfo, env, random...

And this for $33.50...unbeatable

[cyphersuit]

BTW nice to see helix back again .

Is 64 bit out yet?

[Impulslogik]

Audjoo Helix

that. i can't emphazise enougg, how underrated this synth still is...

I demoed it and found that it sounds extraordinarily good.

But the development seems to be stopped forever and there never will be a 64 bit version afaik. Given that, the asking price seems to be not justified

It is true development is very slow lately... but I have a working 64bit vst-version and some other improvements still being tested by some select users. And I do still help every user who have issues... Just so you know

not yet but hopefully soon...

[besh]

hamburg audio nuklear is also less known.

[jethrobull]

Underrated, from very small company? Quiver!
http://straightarrow.dk/quiver/

The presets are nothing to write home about, and it has an unfinished feel... but that "Paderizer" PADsynth oscillator is truly awesome!

Here are a few patch experiments (I haven't had any time for Quiver since then, unfortunately): https://www.box.com/s/1ystyk520yf5uvh2fov2

The Paderizer osc is great for bells and rich strings (try "Far Strings").

+1 I loved this when I tried it but could never remember ....

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Underrated, from very small company? Quiver!
http://straightarrow.dk/quiver/

The presets are nothing to write home about, and it has an unfinished feel... but that "Paderizer" PADsynth oscillator is truly awesome!

Here are a few patch experiments (I haven't had any time for Quiver since then, unfortunately): https://www.box.com/s/1ystyk520yf5uvh2fov2

The Paderizer osc is great for bells and rich strings (try "Far Strings").

+1 I loved this when I tried it but could never remember ....

it looks pretty interesting...no au though, and i'm not sure about the pricing...it looks to have a reaper-ish thing going where your license covers a couple of updates, but it gives no idea of the update price when that license has fallen behind

[jethrobull]

Underrated, from very small company? Quiver!
http://straightarrow.dk/quiver/

The presets are nothing to write home about, and it has an unfinished feel... but that "Paderizer" PADsynth oscillator is truly awesome!

Here are a few patch experiments (I haven't had any time for Quiver since then, unfortunately): https://www.box.com/s/1ystyk520yf5uvh2fov2

The Paderizer osc is great for bells and rich strings (try "Far Strings").

+1 I loved this when I tried it but could never remember ....

it looks pretty interesting...no au though, and i'm not sure about the pricing...it looks to have a reaper-ish thing going where your license covers a couple of updates, but it gives no idea of the update price when that license has fallen behind

Yeah good point! I would sooner purchase something knowing I was entitled to continued updates, which seems the norm with most developer's these days.Still, $45 is a great price.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Underrated, from very small company? Quiver!
http://straightarrow.dk/quiver/

The presets are nothing to write home about, and it has an unfinished feel... but that "Paderizer" PADsynth oscillator is truly awesome!

Here are a few patch experiments (I haven't had any time for Quiver since then, unfortunately): https://www.box.com/s/1ystyk520yf5uvh2fov2

The Paderizer osc is great for bells and rich strings (try "Far Strings").

+1 I loved this when I tried it but could never remember ....

it looks pretty interesting...no au though, and i'm not sure about the pricing...it looks to have a reaper-ish thing going where your license covers a couple of updates, but it gives no idea of the update price when that license has fallen behind

Yeah good point! I would sooner purchase something knowing I was entitled to continued updates, which seems the norm with most developer's these days.Still, $45 is a great price.

actually, i don't mind that pricing model in principal...most dev's will end up charging for a major 'point' release..but in this case, it all depends on the price of the new license...

reading again on the site, it turns out to be a little disingenuous....

"You are buying Quiver in its current state. As a bonus, the license is valid for one major version. The current Quiver version is 1.1, so the license will work for all Quiver versions until 2.1 (not including 2.1)."


so, you only get the upgrades up until the next major license release...well, that's the same for any other company isn't it ??...with reaper you get 2 major 'point' releases i believe

it is a great starter price, but i wonder what kind of updating happens regularly, and what constitutes a major upgrade (and how often)..this is important in determining whether you would want to have to pay for a whole new license every time