KVR Readers' Choice Awards 2021: Top 5 nominations for 'Favorite Soft Synth'

By KVR Audio on September 13th, 2021

The nominations for the 2021 KVR Readers' Choice Awards are in, as voted for by the KVR community. Voting is now open so make yourself heard here.

We present to you the top 5 nominations for 'Favorite Soft Synth'.

During this phase KVR members can choose their preference from the shortlist in each category (or stick with their previous selection, or choose another if they prefer, who are we to judge?) Spread the word, tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell your mum, #kvrrcas. All categories are optional. Please note that Freeware and Donationware products should not be voted for in any categories except Favorite Free Virtual Instrument and Favorite Free Virtual Effect Processor. Everyone can change their nominations / votes at any time until the voting closes.

NOTE: If the product you wish to vote for isn't in the KVR Product Database yet please contact the developer and ask them to add it.
Who won last time? Find out at kvraudio.com/2020-kvr-rca-winners

Diva's oscillators, filters and envelopes (which can be mixed and matched) closely model components also found in some of the great monophonic and polyphonic synthesizers of yesteryear. "But, " says Urs, "what truly sets DIVA apart is the sheer authenticity of the circuit emulations – at the cost of a relatively high CPU-hit, DIVA is the first native software synth that applies methods from industrial circuit emulators (search for "PSpice") in realtime. Especially the authentic behaviour of DIVA's zero-delay-feedback filters, when pushed to the limits, demonstrates the advantages of this groundbreaking approach."

u-he describes the available filters as "famous transistor ladder", "screaming Sallen-Key", "classic OTA ladder" and "OTA state-variable" (and similar for the oscillators), and owners of classic analogue synths will already know how best to apply these models – they are easily differentiated in the gorgeous user interface.

Since Version 1.3 Diva also features a Digital Oscillator, an "Uhbie" filter and a vintage-style Arpeggiator.

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Serum is a wavetable synthesizer with a high-quality sound, visual and creative workflow-oriented interface, with an integrated wavetable editor for creating your own unique wavetable sets.

Vital is a spectral warping wavetable synthesizer. Discover how warping the harmonic makeup of a wavetable can completely create a new set of sounds. Stretch, shift, smear and skew harmonics up, down and around the spectrum to explore new timbres and create sounds you didn't think possible with wavetables. See how everything works while you play in this visual synth. Vital has animated graphical displays when you need them. Everything moves in real-time so you can see what's going on behind the scenes. Quickly design sounds with an optimized drag-and-drop modulation workflow. The modulation preview gives you an idea of what things will sound like before you drop the connection. With this, you can try modulating different destinations by dragging around the screen. Discover new design techniques using Vital's unique features like stereo-modulation. Stereo split an LFO to have the left channel's modulation delayed from the right or give slight stereo time differences to an envelope to create wider stereo effects.

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SynthMaster is an 'all-round' semi-modular software synthesizer and effect plug-in that features many different synthesis methods including VA, Additive, Wavetable, Phase Modulation, Phase Distortion, Frequency Modulation, Pulse Width Modulation, Ring Modulation, Amplitude Modulation, Physical Modeling and SFZ Sample Playback synthesis.

With its multi-synthesis oscillators, analog modelled/digital filters, flexible effects routing with 11 types of high quality effects and a massive modulation architecture with 95 separate modulation sources and 650+ modulation targets, SynthMaster is a powerful instrument for all synthesizer enthusiasts.

YouTube.com/watch?v=hpZYU6zBBlw

Pigments combines hugely powerful, cutting-edge wavetable synthesis alongside Arturia's award-winning virtual analog technology. Pigments offers exceptional sound thanks to its hugely powerful architecture and lightning-fast workflow that makes complex modulations easy, fast, and fun. It is truly a 21st century instrument that will become the go-to choice for all producers, sound designers, and synth-fans alike thanks to its extraordinary features and tempting price.

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