Top 5 Most Beautiful Virtual Synth Interfaces

[codec_spurt]

yep, got harmor. Whenever I load FL studio I get lost in the Grand Piano 4...or is it 2? sounds exquisite.

Haven't seen too many dedicated controllers. The dudes who built this aren't making them any more from the looks of it.

A guy in Germany makes a bunch, but they're for his own use I think.
Given a choice, most people would go for a full on hardsynth over the controller, same price and it makes its own noises

Ah such sweet things in life to behold.

If I only had the cash.

That's real money, so I don't mind being poor.

I like to think that one day I would be rich enough to coax him out of retirement.

One day. I'll have two.



Gotta love the Germans. My g/f's boyfriend makes sniper rifles. They are works of art. Maybe I could convince him to start making controllers. He certainly has a great workshop and all the tools, and boy, does he know how to use them..

[werp]

http://www.synth-project.de/index.html

pity he doesn't supply a parts list for the projects

Choose your favourite synth

[rockstar_not]

Krakli/Tim Conrardy Cygnus will always be my favorite:


Tweakbench and XOXOS have simplicity nailed in different ways:




I like dBlue Glitch (can't find the version 1 screenshot)


and I think Triangle II did old-school knobs best/first:

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

How many 'What are your top five VSTs ?' threads are we allowed to have again?

five

[djscorb]

It seems most people are just listing their favourite synth plugins.

I think Zebra's interface is fantastic and it's a great synth, but beautiful? No way!

Bombadier, now that's an elegant one. The designer went the extra mile there.

The UAD Neve 88R, that's beautiful (to me anyway!)

U-HE Ace for me looks great and trounces all the other GUIs from that company.

Doesn't make any of them sound better though of course!

Cheers

Scorb

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

It seems most people are just listing their favourite synth plugins

if only...4 of the 5 i listed i do not own

[faun2500]

It seems most people are just listing their favourite synth plugins.

That always happens in these things.

[rockstar_not]

It seems most people are just listing their favourite synth plugins.

I disagree - compare most of the items in this thread and a whole bunch don't show up in the favorite synth list (by ratings) that KVR maintains.

The stuff I posted was purely an opinion from an aesthetics standpoint; not from a sound standpoint.

It is hard to separate oneself from the endorphin rush that happens when a certain sound emanates from a piece of software. All of a sudden, the visual appeal rises simply from the pairing of audio joy with the visual image.

It's perhaps why I listed the Tweakbench offering above. It's the easiest way to get a mellotron sound; with no pretense of 'let me wow you first with a GUI'. The interface is almost Zen as a result. XOXOS' synths are like that also.

[Vectorman]

NI Massive
DCAM
DIVA
Zebra HZ
Virus Control (no longer have a TI but liked the dark/evil VC look when I had one more than the current "neutral colors in a condo" aesthetic)

[PatchAdamz]

Synplant is a beauty!

[hakey]

Synplant is a beauty!

Too many controls.

Your basic 40 degree cottons with a separate spin cycle is enough for most loads.

[djscorb]

It seems most people are just listing their favourite synth plugins.

I disagree - compare most of the items in this thread and a whole bunch don't show up in the favorite synth list (by ratings) that KVR maintains.

The stuff I posted was purely an opinion from an aesthetics standpoint; not from a sound standpoint.

It is hard to separate oneself from the endorphin rush that happens when a certain sound emanates from a piece of software. All of a sudden, the visual appeal rises simply from the pairing of audio joy with the visual image.

It's perhaps why I listed the Tweakbench offering above. It's the easiest way to get a mellotron sound; with no pretense of 'let me wow you first with a GUI'. The interface is almost Zen as a result. XOXOS' synths are like that also.

Yeah I hear you. When your ears are gettting the beauty, any interface gets that beauty by association

Sonics aside, these are toys or tools so let's not confuse elegance in terms of workflow with beauty. It's all obviously highly subjective though of course.

I am a graphic designer by training but for the past 10 years a full time musician so I have pretty strong ideas about plugin interfaces and design in general.

On the one hand I most definitely prefer working with interfaces such as U-he, Valhalla, DMG, Audio Damage etc. far more than plugins with the flashy 3d renders and unnecessary rack ears and screws etc.

However, in terms of eye candy alone it seems a little strange that people consider massive's interface as beautiful. Different strokes I suppose....

I guess if the OP meant beautiful interfaces to work with rather than judging GUIs from screenshots, then the synths who's interfaces are a joy to use no matter how ugly, are valid ones to list.

So, I stand by the Bombadier, UAD 88r and U-he ACE as nice to look at, whilst for elegance in the way the interface allows you to reach the tool's full potential, then yeah, U-HE, DMG EQs, valhalla plugins get my vote!

I guess that Makes U-He ACE my favourite interface

Cheers

Scorb

[Vectorman]

On the one hand I most definitely prefer working with interfaces such as U-he, Valhalla, DMG, Audio Damage etc. far more than plugins with the flashy 3d renders and unnecessary rack ears and screws etc.

However, in terms of eye candy alone it seems a little strange that people consider massive's interface as beautiful. Different strokes I suppose....

I think with Massive, for me, it's both the elegance of form following function with the clever modulation setup and the overall "controls in a jet or spaceship cockpit" look to it. It looks modern and retro at the same time - it's almost like the way people envisioned futuristic technology in movies from the '70s and '80s like Star Wars and Aliens, with a boatload of knobs and lights and numeric readouts set into grey metal panels, before the concept of touch screens started to take over in films and shows like Star Trek TNG.

Also, when I first saw the GUI, it made me remember the Remco Sound FX Machine toy I had as a little kid, which was basically a simple synthesizer with a knobby interface and color-coded sections. I don't know why, really, since apart from the color coding, they don't really look all that similar.

[HcDoom]

The most beautiful synth GUI's (imo):

1. Largo
2. Dune
3. Monark

The most beautiful fx GUI's (imo):

1. The Glue
2. The Drop
3. Lexicon PCM

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

When your ears are gettting the beauty, any interface gets that beauty by association

love omnisphere really don't like the g.u.i