KVR Audio

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Fri Oct 13, 2023 12:45 am

BBFG# wrote: Thu Oct 12, 2023 11:57 pm It's a new millennium.
You need grains, spectrums, fractals and harmonics!
And shimmer!

That’s how it starts. First you need a good analog style VA, then you need something with wavetables, while you’re there you might as well add supersaw type oscillator unison. But what about FM? Better add some good FM. A vintage style one and a modern mega synth, to cover all the bases. Additive, physical modeling, granular… it just keeps going… and going. When you have it all covered, then you have to get multiples of each because… flavor.

i need Help · Post by **i need Help** » Fri Oct 13, 2023 5:14 am

zerocrossing wrote: Fri Oct 13, 2023 12:45 am
BBFG# wrote: Thu Oct 12, 2023 11:57 pm It's a new millennium.
You need grains, spectrums, fractals and harmonics!
And shimmer!
That’s how it starts. First you need a good analog style VA, then you need something with wavetables, while you’re there you might as well add supersaw type oscillator unison. But what about FM? Better add some good FM. A vintage style one and a modern mega synth, to cover all the bases. Additive, physical modeling, granular… it just keeps going… and going. When you have it all covered, then you have to get multiples of each because… flavor.

To sum up, the correct answer to how many synths one needs:

n+1

vitocorleone123 · Post by **vitocorleone123** » Sat Oct 14, 2023 6:03 am

Start with only one or two synths - Vital may be one of them. In fact, just get Vital. Then use that until Black Friday while doing demos.

Repro is always a great choice for classic subtractive analog as it’s 2 synths in one. Another may be either TAL J8 or the new OB-X just released. Try many and see which one sounds best to you.

stoopicus · Post by **stoopicus** » Sat Oct 14, 2023 7:52 am

Great advice here! I would agree with a lot of the folks and say just start with some of the excellent free general purpose synths like Vital and Surge. In fact just grab those two to start with and you've covered a lot of bases. Or even just Vital, it's plenty capable even in its limited free version.

Dexed is another good free choice if you want an '80s vibe for those DX7 sounds.

Beyond the free stuff, before you spend any money one thing to understand is that with plugins (VSTi or otherwise), the sale price is the real price. Plugins go on sale *all the time* and generally you should never buy them when they are not steeply discounted. Black Friday is the canonical time to satisfy your GAS cravings for plugins.

One thing I wish had existed when I was learning (way back on a hardware ESQ-1 back in the '80s) is something like Syntorial. I have friends that tried it and rave about it as a way to learn basic sound design and subtractive synthesis. Might be worth a Black Friday splurge.

Negoba · Post by **Negoba** » Sat Oct 14, 2023 11:54 am

Thanks for the advice, I didn't know about the Black Friday discount.

Surge looks awesome but the UI is a little hard to navigate.

I just a inherited a new PC desktop and so I'm going to be reloading everything - fun. I'm going to try to stick with Tyrell, Vital, and Decent Sampler as my main tools for awhile along with the stock Reaper plugins. (I'll probably get the kilohearts bundle though).

I really appreciate everyone's input.

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Sat Oct 14, 2023 12:22 pm

I probably only need 3 or four synths. But I WANT way more.

PatchAdamz · Post by **PatchAdamz** » Sat Oct 14, 2023 2:04 pm

Need or want?

Need - 3
Want - 300

stoopicus · Post by **stoopicus** » Sat Oct 14, 2023 10:57 pm

Negoba wrote: Sat Oct 14, 2023 11:54 am Thanks for the advice, I didn't know about the Black Friday discount.

Surge looks awesome but the UI is a little hard to navigate.

I just a inherited a new PC desktop and so I'm going to be reloading everything - fun. I'm going to try to stick with Tyrell, Vital, and Decent Sampler as my main tools for awhile along with the stock Reaper plugins. (I'll probably get the kilohearts bundle though).

I really appreciate everyone's input.

Great plan

And yeah the Kilohearts Essentials bundle is a no-brainer, definitely grab the free stuff. Excellent effects for free. And a gateway drug for Phase Plant

Also recommend you grab Melda's free bundle, I still use some stuff from it regularly and have bought upgrades from it for some stuff. It's all very good.

Negoba · Post by **Negoba** » Sat Oct 14, 2023 11:44 pm

Thanks for the advice on the Melda free bundle, downloading now.

Ah_Dziz · Post by **Ah_Dziz** » Sun Oct 15, 2023 5:19 am

It all depends on what you want to make. I'd Say you should be set with any full DAW's included synths. Anything past that is just for fun and flexibility.

comfybread · Post by **comfybread** » Mon Oct 16, 2023 11:19 pm

Must. Collect. Them. ALL! (especially SynthPlant 2)

BBFG# · Post by **BBFG#** » Mon Oct 16, 2023 11:47 pm

Truly, I only need one. I just never know which one that is. And so much goes into investing into them besides for sound and function...

osiris · Post by **osiris** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 1:15 pm

As many as it takes. I'd say essentially DUNE, Massive, Vital, SurgeXT and you want a good sampler. I'd say Kontakt but it's turned into restrictive bloatware.

roman.i · Post by **roman.i** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 5:30 pm

3-4 different synths to have a variety of colors.

stoopicus · Post by **stoopicus** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 8:27 pm

roman.i wrote: Tue Oct 17, 2023 5:30 pm 3-4 different synths to have a variety of colors.

Or just Pigments to get all the colors (some you didn't even know existed) in one UI.

How many synths do you need?