Best FM synth of 2022?

[SebAV]

I'm surprised OPS7 is not getting more love, it sounds incredible to me.

I think Bidule’s problem is that they came out with what is probably the best DX7 emulation after the market was saturated. Is OPS7 better than Arturia’s? Probably, but so many already have DX-7 V and to me it seems great. People also have Dexed, which is free, so it’s hard to compete with something a lot of people have for free or got in a bundle.

I think the UI is poor and doesn’t convey willingness to touch it. And the browser seems to be a problem.
And the duration of the demo version is just a joke. A deal breaker for me.

[briefcasemanx]

Opsix is very very easy to program, has REALLY NICE oscilloscopes on the different operators, which makes it the perfect interface for making FM sounds to me.

And unlike F'em it sounds good and not like cheap trash. F'em sounds like if you took a cheap Casio FM toy synth from the 80s and then took away any character. It can sound good with the built-in distortion, but the raw sound is very, very bad on F'em.

OPS7 sounds incredible but nothing beats the interface on opsix.

Tranzistow is like MSoundfactory, fun to mess around with because of all the options, but hard to make actual good, usable sounds with (unless you're making a bottom-tier 90s PC game, then it's the perfect synth for you).

[kvotchin]

Yeah, having just picked up V Collection recently (at a vastly reduced price I could not ignore), I’m now more than happy using DX7 V for everything “FM”. Nice interface, and sounds good to me.

[gentleclockdivider]

And unlike F'em it sounds good and not like cheap trash. F'em sounds like if you took a cheap Casio FM toy synth from the 80s and then took away any character..


Tranzistow is like MSoundfactory, fun to mess around with because of all the options, but hard to make actual good, usable sounds with (unless you're making a bottom-tier 90s PC game, then it's the perfect synth for you).

I think you’re the one having a hearing problem - or most likely trolling.
F-em is coded is by a veteran who earned his stripes in the hardware world (waldorf)
And tranzistow is one if the best sounding pieces of oftware ever released .
If john bowen asks him to code some algo’s for the solaris , then he must have been doing something right , no ?
You just proved you didn’t actually spend 5 min with it ,the filters are gorgeous , so is the 8*4!moog inspired filterbank , and let’s not even begin about it’s fm engine , formant osc’s , skirt parameters + features not found anywhere else , every shape or wave possible for the 8 stage envelopes, yes you’ve read that correctly , waveforms can be envelope stages .
best of all is that everything can be be modulated at audio rate … let that sink in for a moment .
Tranzistow audio signal path is pristine quality.
People can criticize the gui all they want , but the sound has been universally praised .
You’re clueless , thats’s all.. so dive in and be amazed or just su.
I agree about ops 7 , it’s a gem

[SLiC]

Tranzistow doesn't really have a GUI, its more like a spreadsheet...it sounds OK but I cant look at it for any significant time. I like F'em, sounds good and I don t have a problem with the GUI, I haven't programmed it much but the presets are usable

My personal favourite is Suger Bytes Aparillo as its the only FM based VST I have actually made sounds I like and have used. Waves Flow Motion also very good and 'fun' - I paid about 30 bucks each for Flow Motion and F'Em..they go cheap.

[pdxindy]

I'm surprised OPS7 is not getting more love, it sounds incredible to me.

It is the best DX7 emulation.

[pdxindy]

Tranzistow doesn't really have a GUI, its more like a spreadsheet...

And even among spreadsheets its hard to discern. It's a visually confusing monstrosity!

[digitalboytn]

And unlike F'em it sounds good and not like cheap trash. F'em sounds like if you took a cheap Casio FM toy synth from the 80s and then took away any character..


Tranzistow is like MSoundfactory, fun to mess around with because of all the options, but hard to make actual good, usable sounds with (unless you're making a bottom-tier 90s PC game, then it's the perfect synth for you).

I think you’re the one having a hearing problem - or most likely trolling.
F-em is coded is by a veteran who earned his stripes in the hardware world (waldorf)
And tranzistow is one if the best sounding pieces of oftware ever released .
If john bowen asks him to code some algo’s for the solaris , then he must have been doing something right , no ?
You just proved you didn’t actually spend 5 min with it ,the filters are gorgeous , so is the 8*4!moog inspired filterbank , and let’s not even begin about it’s fm engine , formant osc’s , skirt parameters + features not found anywhere else , every shape or wave possible for the 8 stage envelopes, yes you’ve read that correctly , waveforms can be envelope stages .
best of all is that everything can be be modulated at audio rate … let that sink in for a moment .
Tranzistow audio signal path is pristine quality.
People can criticize the gui all they want , but the sound has been universally praised .
You’re clueless , thats’s all.. so dive in and be amazed or just su.
I agree about ops 7 , it’s a gem

I was going to write a similar response to briefcasemanx because even though everyone is welcome to their opinion, I thought that he either had a hearing problem or that he hadn't spent any time with F-em....

But you took the words right out of my mouth

Like most serious synths,you have to spend a bit of time with F-em and get to understand it's idiosyncrasies and it's got more than a few of them...

It's a deeply programmable synth and it is definitely not instant Karma...

If Mr Golden Ears aka briefcasemanx really wants to hear something,he should turn off the effects on those Korg synths and listen to what is really there...

It just might be a humbling experience for him...

I prefer it when the beauty is a little more than skin deep

[gentleclockdivider]

I think some of you are just plain ridiculous and childish
The gui is just a set of sliders which colours you can adjust to taste , it's far from a monstrosity .
These are what I call monstrosities , going overboard with the design just for the sake of it .



HOw else would one use thousands of parameters , sliders are the best option period .
I also use supercollider which has no gui at all ( too lazy to make one ) yet the stuff that comes out of it is still top notch .
Would you guys really take an inferior sounding good looking vst over an ugly duck that sounds the business ?

[Muziksculp]

F'em

[SLiC]

Would you guys really take an inferior sounding good looking vst over an ugly duck that sounds the business ?

The point is that isn't a choice you have to make, there are excellent sounding FM synths that are also easy to use and attractive to look at.

[zzz00m]

F.'em
https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/tracktion-fem

Patch demo

[mholloway]

The UI of cherry audio's Sines is so bad I thought it was a joke at first -- the 'wavy' osc section is nothing short of nauseating, I can't look at it without feeling confused and slightly sick. What a horrible, horrible choice. I already found it hard to take Cherry seriously....this didn't help, at all. Ugh.

[dune_rave]

The UI of cherry audio's Sines is so bad I thought it was a joke at first -- the 'wavy' osc section is nothing short of nauseating, I can't look at it without feeling confused and slightly sick. What a horrible, horrible choice. I already found it hard to take Cherry seriously....this didn't help, at all. Ugh.

yeah, it looks terrible : )

[Halonmusic]

agreed