cannot decide! Hive, Spire, Serum.... i like...

[wagtunes]

I am not a Spire owner so I don't have a dog in this race but here is my evaluation based on sound alone and my 35 plus years of synth programming.

Spire appears to be a perfectly capable synth for doing standard EDM. It has a very clean, clear and cutting sound. I personally find the bass a little hollow but it works in the context of the synth itself.

From what I hear, it's also easy to use so anybody who is just starting out and looking to do traditional EDM style tracks should have no trouble producing something that will sound good provided they actually have some talent as a composer, arranger and engineer.

Personally, for me, it's not worth $189 as I already have more than enough synths that can produce these types of sounds. But if you're looking for your first synth and want to do EDM, Spire is, IMO, as good a choice as any other synth.

[liquidsound]

... Serums fast changeable soundstructure! i demo it atm and even as someone who has not much of a plan about sound design it can make some really WICKED filtered and modulated sounds you can use in many genres (i dont like this typical crap dubstep sound or what you call it? EDM? whoch sounds like all nexus xps....) but i like lush electro house, psytrance etc. in the techno/trance genre or industrial ebm.
but i find that Serum needs a bit long time to change presets and it doesnt seem to be cheap!

Spire seems to be also very nice but the GUI is small and dont like the layout somehow, especially the modulation clicking, but as i said the sound is really nice but i think compared with Serum? Serum is the winner? more options afaik.

Hive, what shall i say, i like Zebra2, i LOVE DIVA! i have sylenth1 and Hive will get more features im sure of it and more waveforms so you will have more sound variations than sylenth1, even urs showed some wavepics i dunno what sylenth1 does but i hear a difference? it still sounds more gritty to me what i like, i dunno if hive is a good addition for the above mentioned genres i do when you got zebra2 and sylenth1, but hmmm i got a $25 voucher and it's u-he

help me!

im not one of the EDM kiddies which seem to be a trend in the scene? what is exactly EDM music? can you post 1-2 examples?

You are going to end up with Hive.

[stikygum]

I agree with Vort3x, if you don't learn one of these well, you'll overlook a lot of potential. I personally didn't care for Hive too much. I'm liking Serum more and more. Can actually do quite a bit more than wavetable stuff. I like Spire a lot too. The UI could definitely be bigger like Serum. Serum has drag and drop modulations which I wish Spire had.

[pdxindy]

Have I tried them out? Hell yes. I tried Spire's demo multiple times, because its success continues to mystify me. What I hear is a weak, tinny synth engine that somehow gobbles up all your CPU without having anything to show for it. In Serum, you can hear why it's such a resource hog - it is incredibly pristine at the top end and unbelievably fat and punchy in the low end - even with some serious wavetable mangling and warping going on. Spire pales by comparison.

Spires sounds ok to me... I find it overstated. But that is probable more the presets. Turn the effects off and I find the raw synth sound a bit disappointing... not bad, but (imo) not worth the very high cpu cost.

[liquidsound]

I agree with Vort3x, if you don't learn one of these well, you'll overlook a lot of potential. I personally didn't care for Hive too much. I'm liking Serum more and more. Can actually do quite a bit more than wavetable stuff. I like Spire a lot too. The UI could definitely be bigger like Serum. Serum has drag and drop modulations which I wish Spire had.

Of course Serum has a lot of potential. The key word, and I agree with you, is "Learn one of these well".
If that is the intention, then, asking opinions (with available unlimited DEMO) is futile. It come to "Personal" Taste of sound and "Personal" Workflow preference.
This is more than a entertainment game in "Others" vs "What I Like" than a real interest.