Softsynths & FX Thread

#107

Just going to throw my 2c in here as I tend to splash a lot less cash on VST instruments than on effects I have been only slowly building my collection. the one synth that I use all the freaking time however is the first one I bought: Synthmaster2. It is just great. thousands of presets, lots of options, and each version gets a little better with the UI. I also bought SynthmasterOne and just yesterday got Sektor for 14 bucks on AudioPluginDeals.com. Both are wavetable synths but have different sounds. SMOne has all kinds of sick modulation available like AM, PM, FM and in parallel wavefolding of all kinds for each of it’s two oscillators. It is a tad frumpy looking with the default skin, but the sounds it can produce are nice. Sektor is a bit more eye candy and has f.e. MSEGs and a few more modulation options plus a sequencer that SMOne does not have. for 14 bucks it was a no brainer. The sale is still on btw.

Also a big +1 for Bazille. What a freaking beast that thing is. Same with Iris2. It is a bit of a CPU hog tho.

Other than that, I use Hybrid3, Minibit, VaccuumPro and for drums Geist2 and Tremor. All these are good workhorse synths imho.

#108

Gosh…what was that plugin? Early days of vsts there was something that had a hidden feature if you tapped all 4 screws the cover fell off and there were a couple options to change transistors. Didn’t survive my 2009 purge whatever it was.

#109

That sounds so familiar. Hypersonic maybe?

#110

Anybody tried some new synths such as PhasePlant and MSoundFactory?

#111

Does massive work like other synths ov its kind?

#112

If you mean “does it work like a normal wavetable synth?”, then the answer is yes. You sweep waveshapes to modulate the texture of the sound. TBH, serum is better in every conceivable way BUT, massive is massive. You want 2007-2012 dubstep wubs? Use massive. It’s like the minimoog of wavetable synths, there were other synths that could do everything it could do, and more, but massive was the right instrument at the right time to change the mainstream’s expectations of a genre of music.

#113

I’ve had massive and used it for a few years now. It’s really good. Perhaps not worth the price, but if you are on the fence, it’s fairly easy to use. The UI is a bit strange, but friendly to learn.

It has some really fantastic digital tones and pads, I’ve made more than a few tracks with it exclusively :slight_smile:

#114

If I knew how to use Massive would I know how to use Serum?

#115

More or less. There are a few things Serum can do that Massive can’t (like importing and making your own wavetables, variable FX routing, etc) but you can still get good sounds out of it if you treat it like Massive and ignore what you don’t know until it clicks with you.

#116

Serum > Massive in my opinion, Massive’s filters dont do a lot for me.

again, this is just my opinion.

#117

Live’s Wavetable in 10.1 > Serum > Massive > Ur mum

#118

I’m digging Wavetable as well, based a prog house tune around it not too long ago. Need to spend some more time with it tho to really get into what I’ll be using it for primarily.

#119

I don’t have Serum however Ableton lives wavetable synth gets me some of that action.

I do love Reese baselines and Massive is my go to for that duty.

#120

Guys, speaking of wavetable synthesis… Pigments has received another update…AND is priced to move at $69.00 USD until zee fourth of July. I’ll admit, Looking at Pigments without understanding it really didn’t do it for me initially, But looks are very deceptive when it comes to the sorcery of Arturia.

#121

Anyone else found Wavetable to be a massive CPU hog?

#122

Massive X released.
What are you waiting for?

WELL?

#123

Massive X seems like an interesting synth, and I especially like the LFOs that look a bit like inspired by Sugarbytes. I don’t feel GAS over it for some reason, probably since I’m not that big a fan of NI to begin with.

A few days ago I was thinking about getting Phase Plant, I really like the oscillator and generator architecture and possibilities, but when dmeoing I did’nt really fall in love with it and then noticed that I like the old patches I did for Serum much better than most of the Phase Plant factory presets when looking for bass sounds…

So I started playing around with Bitwigs Grid (currently still in Beta), and I think that will be it for my snyth needs in the foreseeable future… Already made some nice heavily modulated FM-type sounds with it and gonna dive deeper into The Grid for sure…

#124

I use Massive a lot, I’ve just watched Nick batt do a half hour video with Massive X, the synth has a ton of options and sounds great however I didn’t hear one sound that actually raised a eyebrow, hearing a sound you’ve never heard before is becoming an extremely rare thing.

and on the other hand I’m currently demoing the Kush AR-1 compressor, that’s a nice compressor, especially on the master.

#125

Yeah, I really like all the new stuff Kush is releasing since the Omega Transformers… I watched the demo vid and it really sounds nice… damnit… GAS be gone!

#126

Anyone have experience with Phaseplant? Seems on the tin like it’s got a lot of great sound design features, but wondering how it does in practice. Specifically in relation to Serum/Massive/X, as it looks to be in the same ballpark.