SONICALLY Best VST Synth

[Chipi]

….Omnisphere can sound the way you want it to sound, the downside is the slow loading of the presets and the amount of clicks you have to do for all its sub-menus, you will spend more time trying to program a sound, than you would use composing a good song, not good.

I feel like when I read posts like this that the author has never watched the Omnisphere tutorial videos, read the amazing manual, or realized that you’re always a right-click away from assigning modulation to almost anything.

Your' re wrong.

I bought Omnisphere in 2009 when it came out and it was terribly slow and consumed the entire capacity of the computer, impossible not to crash.

Remember it had just been 4 years since youtube and facebook existed to put it in time perspective, if you don't remember.

Just Omnisphere plays version 2, the improvement of the synthesizer has been tremendously slow. I still maintain that it is 'complicated' and 'complex' to program a good sound with it.

However the result could be excellent or terribly disastrous. On the other hand programming sounds in Icarus 2 is simply out of this world! It's just my personal experience, you don't have to agree with anything I say here, peace.

I get what you’re saying, but it doesn’t make sense because you’re comparing two very different types of instruments. Icarus is great. I own it as well. Of course it’s a fast and easy to program synth, because it just doesn’t do all that much. Complaining that Omnisphere is “complex” to program compared to a simple synth is like saying a plane is more complex to pilot than a car. Of course it is. I’m just saying that if you’re looking for a complex synthesizer that’s easy to play, relative to it’s complexity, I think Omnisphere is one of the best, and I really never experienced the performance issues that you mention, but maybe because I had better spec’d PCs than you. Run that thing with lots of RAM on a fast processor with a good SSD, and it feels almost like a hardware synth.

Partially agree with you, but in 2009 what computers did you have? a Dual Core? no more than that because there was no other...the year it was released I mean, now with the M1 I can run 50 instances of Omnisphere and the CPU does not move 20%....

[BONES]

So you are looking for a synth that does 'everything' ? is there even such a synth?

Yeah, I've got dozens of 'em. I can use Olga for almost anything - basslines, leads, rhythms, SFX and even pads - but sometimes it's just easier to use something else because whilst Olga might be capable, every synth has its strengths and weaknesses. I mostly keep a collection because life would be pretty boring if I only had one synth to work with but you only have to look at some of the incredible music that comes out of the One Synth Challenge to realise that you don't really need more than one synth.

There is a reason why i have several synths e.g 'analogue', 'wavetable' or 'all-in-one-synths'.

I think that's a stupid way to look at. The overlap in any "kind" of synth is massive. e.g. If you load an analogue wavetable into a wavetable synth, then it becomes an analogue synth. The reality is that for 99% of the timbres we actually use in our music, any kind of synth will work, so it mostly comes down to personal preference or, as I said, the need to stave off boredom.

To get back to the original question, I realised over the weekend that I think ANA-2 sounds every bit as good as DUNE, which I had previously thought sounded better than anything else in my arsenal or that I had played with. So I'd put those two synths up as sounding "sonically best" but I'd put ANA-2 ahead overall because I find it easier to work with, although DUNE has closed that gap since Rich and Marcin finally got around to putting a patch browser in it.

[Korg Supporter]

For the hidden gems out there: ArcSyn, Karma FX Synth Modular 2, Aurora FM, Loom II, Helix, Sugar Bytes Factory.

[Sinisterbr]

For the hidden gems out there: ArcSyn, Karma FX Synth Modular 2, Aurora FM, Loom II, Helix, Sugar Bytes Factory.

Sugarbytes Factory as a hidden gem, yes, absolutely.
Also, TAL-Mod and Oxium.

[Chipi]

..." I realised over the weekend that I think ANA-2 sounds every bit as good as DUNE, which I had previously thought sounded better than anything else in my arsenal or that I had played with."...

You have definitely lost your ears if you think ANA II sounds like DUNE 3, you have all the VSTs in the world, but your ears say goodbye....

[crickey13]

For the hidden gems out there: ArcSyn, Aurora FM, Helix

[Lbdunequest]

Ive just played around with Sylenth1, i cant believe its such old synth,because it sounds so good, probably best synth i ever heard. I swear to god, but my mate said it sounds almost exactly like Access Virus.

[BONES]

I don't think it sounds all that good. Never has. I tried the demo several times but I just couldn't get into it at all. To me it sounds very ordinary and I don't like using it, either.

You have definitely lost your ears if you think ANA II sounds like DUNE 3, you have all the VSTs in the world, but your ears say goodbye....

I didn't say it sounds like DUNE, I said it has similarly high sound quality. That said, I don't think either has a "sound", mostly down to the vast array of oscillator and filter types each offers. But they do share a very similar architecture and I reckon you could use either interchangeably for 99% of sounds.

[Korg Supporter]

For the hidden gems out there: ArcSyn, Karma FX Synth Modular 2, Aurora FM, Loom II, Helix, Sugar Bytes Factory.

Sugarbytes Factory as a hidden gem, yes, absolutely.
Also, TAL-Mod and Oxium.

And Oxium is now discontinued . What replaced Oxium?

[PatchAdamz]

This is a good question but it begs another question, is the SONICALLY Best VST Synth also the aesthetically best VST synth?

[zerocrossing]

I get what you’re saying, but it doesn’t make sense because you’re comparing two very different types of instruments. Icarus is great. I own it as well. Of course it’s a fast and easy to program synth, because it just doesn’t do all that much. Complaining that Omnisphere is “complex” to program compared to a simple synth is like saying a plane is more complex to pilot than a car. Of course it is. I’m just saying that if you’re looking for a complex synthesizer that’s easy to play, relative to it’s complexity, I think Omnisphere is one of the best

icarus doesn't do all that much? Icarus does loads, especially with the resynthesis and morphing options

In comparison to Omnisphere. Context is important.

[j wazza]

I get what you’re saying, but it doesn’t make sense because you’re comparing two very different types of instruments. Icarus is great. I own it as well. Of course it’s a fast and easy to program synth, because it just doesn’t do all that much. Complaining that Omnisphere is “complex” to program compared to a simple synth is like saying a plane is more complex to pilot than a car. Of course it is. I’m just saying that if you’re looking for a complex synthesizer that’s easy to play, relative to it’s complexity, I think Omnisphere is one of the best

icarus doesn't do all that much? Icarus does loads, especially with the resynthesis and morphing options

In comparison to Omnisphere. Context is important.

still wouldnt say thats true, omnisphere can sample without resynthesis and has granular, dont think it has much else that icarus doesnt, but it doesnt have the resynthesis, many phase distortion/morphing modes, wavetable editing, additive synthesis etc that icarus has

[zerocrossing]

If you load an analogue wavetable into a wavetable synth, then it becomes an analogue synth.

What? Maybe, on a very superficial level, but there is so much about emulating an analog synth that doesn’t happen in many wavetable synths (or in analog emulations, for that matter) that it really makes that statement look ridiculous. Of course, analog character is just an aspect of synthesis and it isn’t necessary, but if you like it, you like it. Judging from your statement, I’d assume that you don’t like it or care about it. That’s fine, of course, but many do.

The reality is that for 99% of the timbres we actually use in my music, any kind of synth will work, so it mostly comes down to personal preference or, as I said, the need to stave off boredom.

Fixed that for ya!

To get back to the original question, I realised over the weekend that I think ANA-2 sounds every bit as good as DUNE, which I had previously thought sounded better than anything else in my arsenal or that I had played with. So I'd put those two synths up as sounding "sonically best" but I'd put ANA-2 ahead overall because I find it easier to work with, although DUNE has closed that gap since Rich and Marcin finally got around to putting a patch browser in it.

I’m sure if you made a very simple patch and put ANA 2 next to Dune 3, most would have a hard time telling the difference, but again, you are really over simplifying things. How’s ANA’s audio rate modulation sound? Can you use an oscillator as mod source? How’s it’s wavetable editor?

Anyway, maybe ANA is fine for the very basic synth sound that you use in your music, but I found it to be inadequate for me. I even got it free with the purchase of something else, and other than a once-over, I’ve never really used it. It just didn’t seem that interesting in any way and I’m fine with Dune’s work flow and UI. I find it very easy to work with, so I’d have to have some sort of reason to look to ANA, and I’m not aware of one. It’s fine. I’m sure many get great use out of it, but I’m looking for something on another level.

[zerocrossing]

I get what you’re saying, but it doesn’t make sense because you’re comparing two very different types of instruments. Icarus is great. I own it as well. Of course it’s a fast and easy to program synth, because it just doesn’t do all that much. Complaining that Omnisphere is “complex” to program compared to a simple synth is like saying a plane is more complex to pilot than a car. Of course it is. I’m just saying that if you’re looking for a complex synthesizer that’s easy to play, relative to it’s complexity, I think Omnisphere is one of the best

icarus doesn't do all that much? Icarus does loads, especially with the resynthesis and morphing options

In comparison to Omnisphere. Context is important.

still wouldnt say thats true, omnisphere can sample without resynthesis and has granular, dont think it has much else that icarus doesnt, but it doesnt have the resynthesis, many phase distortion/morphing modes, wavetable editing, additive synthesis etc that icarus has

You’re looking at a very specific group of features where Icarus excels and ignoring the rest. Sound like you’ve never used Omnisphere that much.

[j wazza]

You’re looking at a very specific group of features where Icarus excels and ignoring the rest. Sound like you’ve never used Omnisphere that much.

which other things does omnisphere have that icarus doesn't? other than the sampling, granular and fx?

im not saying either of them doesnt do much, you said icarus doesnt do much which i disagree with because it does all those things, you didnt say it doesnt do much compared to icarus at first so it wasnt out of context but i disagree with that too because icarus does a lot of what omni does plus all that stuff, theyre both quite complex but easy to use synths, omni sounds much better at what they both do though