KVR Audio

vad.martyn · Post by **vad.martyn** » Sun May 22, 2022 7:25 pm

of course it’s impossible to have a good synth with very low cpu usage.
But I’m sure there are great synths with moderately low cpu usage.

The only one I thought I know that sounds great and is very low on cpu is Spectrasonics Atmosphere, but it’s more of a sample based and no longer supported, so it doesn’t fit this category anyways.

I currently have stock Cubase and Logic X synths, Omnisphere, Serum but Omnisphere and Serum are very heavy on cpu

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Sun May 22, 2022 7:29 pm

Sylenth1
Charlatan
Spire (relatively low)

parnarules · Post by **parnarules** » Sun May 22, 2022 7:37 pm

Waldorf Largo, Dexed, Virtual CZ, Korg Wavestation...They are very CPU-friendly and sound amazing. A lot of times, the DAW is the problem, some use CPU resources very efficiently (Reaper, Loomer Architect...) while others not so (Ableton Live, Five12Numerology). I use the same synths on different DAWs and the difference in CPU usage is sometimes quite significant.

dune_rave · Post by **dune_rave** » Sun May 22, 2022 7:52 pm

fm8
m1
wavestation
ops7

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Sun May 22, 2022 7:54 pm

parnarules wrote: ↑Sun May 22, 2022 7:37 pm Waldorf Largo, Dexed, Virtual CZ, Korg Wavestation...They are very CPU-friendly and sound amazing.

Didn't want to mention Largo, because, even though it's relatively moderate by today's standards, it can be quite a hog, depending on the patches. Ok, still have to give it a good ride on my new CPU, but, it could be quite heavy, when you use the wavetables and a bit of unison on my old computer. Not as much as heavier plugins, but, was still enough.

BBFG# · Post by **BBFG#** » Sun May 22, 2022 7:59 pm

I think it's dependant on which CPU you're using...
Nothing seems really too high on my Xeons until I start layering three of them together on the same track.

Korg Supporter · Post by **Korg Supporter** » Sun May 22, 2022 8:07 pm

Parnarules made some great suggestions, but I would also love to add Messiah, the early Korg synths, Roland D50, ZynnAddSubFX, Surge (for legacy patches), FM8, Harmor, Helix, Cobalt, Invader 2, ArcSyn, HY-Poly, and even ImpOSCar 2!

bill45 · Post by **bill45** » Sun May 22, 2022 10:15 pm

When I Demoed the Memory Moon ME 80: It was very low on my CPU

martiu · Post by **martiu** » Mon May 23, 2022 12:11 am

Dune 3

Dencheg · Post by **Dencheg** » Mon May 23, 2022 12:18 am

One of the best synths with one of the lowest CPU consumptions: Dune 2/3. It's on par with Sylenth1, while being more modern and feature-packed.
I really think it has the "close the thread" feature

(While it's not closed, Icarus is another contender)

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Mon May 23, 2022 12:49 am

Yeah, I think for what it does and how good it sounds, nothing comes close to DUNE. Of course, it may also depend on your idea of a good synth because, for mine, I can't go past Olga but you might find Olga's sound a bit confronting. FBM's MonoFory is anther but it achieves that by being true to the original, it's monophonic.

If CPU is a limitation, you might get good results by building up an arsenal of less feature-packed synths that each do one or two things really well. For example, I use JP6k a lot for strings and basslines. It does those two things really well and uses almos tno CPU at all. Then I have MonoFury for other things, and Olga for my big, nasty leads and fat pads. Even TRK-01 Bass, which is a Reaktor based synth, uses very little CPU because it's also monophonic but it has unison and supersaws so it's not as restrictive as a lot of monsynths.

zachy9 · Post by **zachy9** » Mon May 23, 2022 12:52 am

Zebra
Massive
Synclavier V

vanerio · Post by **vanerio** » Mon May 23, 2022 3:40 am

MSoundFactory for me. I can keep adding oscillators and modulators and it does not seem to increase CPU. Even turning on unison x32 does not seem to affect CPU.
(Note: you can increase oversampling up to x1024 and this will probably set your house on fire)

ChristopherWD · Post by **ChristopherWD** » Mon May 23, 2022 8:44 am

I did a simple test some time back with my synths on their CPU use. Yeah, call me crazy, but I'm too picky about this stuff after years of project recall issues and CPU/memory compatibility!

The synths were tested using 4 instances playing different patches at once. Not a scientific stress test but more of a personal general use. I'll list some of my favourites;

Very low CPU (~1%)

u-he Podolski & TripleCheese
Waldorf PPG Wave
Dexed
NI FM8
KORG Gadget Collection
Full Bucket FB-7999
SQ8L (32-bit only)
Synth1

Low CPU (~2%)

u-he Zebra (2/CM/lette)
NI Massive & Absynth
Surge XT
KORG Legacy (Mono/Poly, Wavestation, M1, etc)
SynthMaster One / 2
DUNE
Rob Papen Go2
AIR Hybrid 3

Borderline Low CPU (3-5% and it depends on the patch/poly...)

KORG miniKORG 700S
NI Super 8 & Massive X

After that I'd say synths then start to get consistently heavier. Things like ARP Odyssey, Chromaphone 3, Brainworx Oberhausen, Vital...

Personally, I think DUNE, FM8, SynthMaster and the old Korg synths hit a really nice sweetspot between CPU use and sound.

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Mon May 23, 2022 9:15 am

I'll shamelessly plug Hive 2.1 here, which after our recent performance orientated update had very pleasant benchmarks CPU-wise.

Good Synths with Low Cpu Usage