Best FM synth of 2022?

[zerocrossing]

Exactly. I actually spent some time matching a basic 2 op patch between Fem and Opsix. Sounds the same. But quickly diverges due to differences in envelopes and other differences in the architecture.

Glad, I am not the only one thinking that F'em just sounds awful.

Phase modulation is phase modulation ,period .
Given that F’em uses calculated sines and no lookuptables , it might sounds a bit to crystal clear for some,but in the end it’s doing just that: phase modulation!
Post a simple 2 operator F’em patch and tell us why it sounds awfull .

Yeah, calling F’em “awful” sounding is a bit of a head scratcher. Sounds like they listened to a demo track they didn’t like and came to that conclusion because it didn’t sound like some other synth they like. I wasn’t a huge fan of the interface, but once I went through a tutorial on it, I became pretty adept at getting good sounds from it.

[perpetual3]

Pretty much same experience here. The UI initially turned me off but it’s really not THAT bad once you find your way around it. It’s a fantastic FM synth and for $30 it is absolutely recommended if you like FM synth programming. But it won’t have the character that any of the lookup table / low bit resolution Yamaha type FM synths have. What is interesting is to compare to OPSIX as it seems superficially like they very much overlap but in practice that similarity quickly disappears the moment one diverges from the most rudimentary of 2 op patches.

I also think Massive X is overlooked as an FM synth (or as synth in general while I’m thinking about it but especially for FM).

Exactly. I actually spent some time matching a basic 2 op patch between Fem and Opsix. Sounds the same. But quickly diverges due to differences in envelopes and other differences in the architecture.

Glad, I am not the only one thinking that F'em just sounds awful.

Phase modulation is phase modulation ,period .
Given that F’em uses calculated sines and no lookuptables , it might sounds a bit to crystal clear for some,but in the end it’s doing just that: phase modulation!
Post a simple 2 operator F’em patch and tell us why it sounds awfull .

Yeah, calling F’em “awful” sounding is a bit of a head scratcher. Sounds like they listened to a demo track they didn’t like and came to that conclusion because it didn’t sound like some other synth they like. I wasn’t a huge fan of the interface, but once I went through a tutorial on it, I became pretty adept at getting good sounds from it.

[gentleclockdivider]

Here's an audio file , 4 different synths all using phase modulation .
2 operators ratio 1:1 , where the modulator is self fed back into itself.
SYnths used : Zebra , Tranzistow , A self made reaktor ensemble and Plogue ops 7
There are differences because for example Zebra's feedback operator doesn't give you a nice sharp DX7 like saw wave before breaking down into noise (I think the zebra fm operaotr is not using oversampling ) , so feedback for all synths is set to 6 ( yamaha style numbering )
I'de be surprised if anyone can guess the correct synths .
https://app.box.com/s/u348o43csy1n3ktojfvhmusu48s7waq9

[El°HYM]

I think the presets and demo videos coming with F-em might not be the best. But why should it sound worse than older FM synths? I bet it can sound much better.

This might sound a bit better:

Sounds horrible to be honest.

[perpetual3]

Compared to what? I doubt you even use FM synths.

I think the presets and demo videos coming with F-em might not be the best. But why should it sound worse than older FM synths? I bet it can sound much better.

This might sound a bit better:

Sounds horrible to be honest.

[El°HYM]

I doubt you even use FM synths.

[zzz00m]

FM Bundle for Voltage Modular

[zzz00m]

Voltage Modular | FM Station and EG Station Overview

[briefcasemanx]

pretty awful as an actual, normal FM synth.

PLease enlighten us with your in depth knowledge as to why F'EM is bad as an FM Synth

It sounds bad. The sound engine sounds cheap.

[perpetual3]

Tell us you don’t know how to program an FM synth without telling us you don’t know how to program an FM synth.

[gaggle of hermits]

it's funny the people moaning about the sound of f'em. i've found it most closely resembles ableton's operator and that's not one people tend to moan about. its behaviour is different to fm8 and things like ops7, but those were more inspired by the dx7 than, say, operator.

also, there are a ton of things you have to set before you can reliably match sounds across them because the default for waveform phase is random and zeroing out the extra layers doesn't turn them off, so you can wind up getting a lot of extra low-end sinewave when you think you're programming a single-layer sound. but there are so many options in f'em, it seems frickin' bizarre to complain about "cheap" sound. this thing can go places most of the other fm synths can't. just having a built-in eq on each layer is well-worth it.

[rockmachine]

I love most of Rob's synths, effects and amazing drum machine, but he just released a major update of the Blue II, now Blue III and it's a super potent instrument with a very user friendly and sophisticated FM engine tied to an almost infinite amount of other potent sound sculpting modules with scads of other features. See it introduced here on KVR- [url]https://www.kvraudio.com/product/blue-i ... -papen[url]

[martiu]

Blumen und Pflanzen

[El°HYM]

Man, I love Blumen & Pflanzen so much. Everyone should love it, imo.

[Artie Fichelle]

I have pretty much every FM Synth plugin. you name one I do not have.
verdict for 2023:
Best for brass: algoritm by reason
Best overall: DX7V by arturia (microtuning)
Best sound: ops7
Good ones:Dexter, FM8, Aurora,
Good to have for some bucks, but not matured yet: F.em (missing microtuning and import sysex files)
About bazille. show me some good brass sounds, then i will believe.