Go Back   Cockos Incorporated Forums > REAPER Forums > REAPER Q&A, Tips, Tricks and Howto

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-05-2010, 05:04 PM   #1
Peevy
Human being with feelings
 
Peevy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 552
Default Inexpensive Soft Synth All-rounder ? / General Synths Discussion

I usually make Rock / Metal style music but am also partial to a bit of Dnb / Electronic Music. I also Like to throw some synths into Rock Stuff too.

Ive Demoed Massive & Fm8, & really liked them. I'd love to get the Komplete 6 Pack but just dont have that kind of money. Just buying Massive & Fm8 is still gonna cost about £350.

So Im looking for an all-rounder, Something that performs well with Bass, Leads, Pads, Arp etc. My max budget would be around £180. The two I have my eye on so far are u-he's Zebra 2.5 & Vember Audio's Surge.

I'd really appreciate opinions on this from fellow Reaperites
__________________
System: Mobo-Asus Prime Z370P II, CPU-i7 8700K, RAM-64gb DDR4 3000mhz, GPU Nvidia 3060 OS: Manjaro Linux / Windows 11 / macos Soundcard: Motu 828ES Monitors: Adam A5X

Last edited by Peevy; 06-12-2010 at 07:25 PM. Reason: Changed name of title
Peevy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2010, 05:53 PM   #2
Fergo
Human being with feelings
 
Fergo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Curitiba - Brazil
Posts: 371
Default

I think you are looking for some kind of workstation VSTi. A few weeks ago I needed a plugin with some nice ready to use presets (as I'm not a synth programmer) for sounds like bass, strings, orchestra, synth leads, and got great suggestions at KVR forums. Here's the topic:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3975735

I've tested Hypersonic 2, Wuzikstation and Sonik Synth. I really liked Hypersonic. Beautiful sounds with tons of really "musical" patches instead of freaky and weird patches that wouldn't fit anywhere.

Omnisphere seems to be the best you can get, but it's very expansive in money and hard drive aswell (45GB).

Fergo
__________________
My new application: Fergo JoystickMIDI - Send commands using your joystick/gamepad
Portfolio: www.fbirck.com
Homepage: www.fergonez.net - Programming stuff
Fergo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2010, 06:19 PM   #3
flatfinger
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 155
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peevy View Post
I usually make Rock / Metal style music but am also partial to a bit of Dnb / Electronic Music. I also Like to throw some synths into Rock Stuff too.

Ive Demoed Massive & Fm8, & really liked them. I'd love to get the Komplete 6 Pack but just dont have that kind of money. Just buying Massive & Fm8 is still gonna cost about £350.

So Im looking for an all-rounder, Something that performs well with Bass, Leads, Pads, Arp etc. My max budget would be around £180. The two I have my eye on so far are u-he's Zebra 2.5 & Vember Audio's Surge.

I'd really appreciate opinions on this from fellow Reaperites



The real question could be; Do you do you design/program ????
If not , then you need to consider the popularity and thus , the availability of quality patches.
Surge is a fine instrument , but hasn't had the stratospheric popularity of something like ZEBRA ( which isn't an easy thing to program...modular) so as much as I like surge ; I couldn't reccoment if you don't design patches.


Really , a good sampler can set you up with ridiculas amounts of sounds , and most of them can do great synth sounds too . Something like Kontak or dimension would mean that you could always expand the pallet by getting a sampled/expansion sound set ... You do need big drives if you go that path though .
flatfinger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2010, 06:20 PM   #4
flatfinger
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 155
Default

You know , something that has insane capabilities and lots of sounds is Camel Audio ALCHEMY... Great company.... Give it a demo for sure !!
flatfinger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2010, 07:36 PM   #5
Peevy
Human being with feelings
 
Peevy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 552
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fergo View Post
I think you are looking for some kind of workstation VSTi. A few weeks ago I needed a plugin with some nice ready to use presets (as I'm not a synth programmer) for sounds like bass, strings, orchestra, synth leads, and got great suggestions at KVR forums. Here's the topic:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3975735
Not really a workstation Synth per-say I have the free Kontakt player
& shortcircuit for samples & such. I'm looking for a synth that satisfies the more electronic side of my musical tastes. Something that would give me similar bass sounds to massive & yet be flexible enough to give me descent lead, pad, arp etc.

When it comes to vst fx I'm all set with Reapers own fx plugins & a few go to freebies like the Kjaerhus Audio set.
But when it comes to free synths though, I'm just not completely satisfied with what's out there. Instead of hunting through four or five softsynths until I get the sound I'm looking for, I'd prefer just one or two versatile one. Good patches would be nice but I don't mind having to sculpt my own sounds.

I'm just trying to build up a nice but no too expensive set of plugins:

Guitar AmpSim - Acmebargig Shred = check
Bass Ampsim - Studio devils VBA = Check
Drum Sampler - SSD-EX = Check

Coming Soon
Strings/Orchestration - GPO
All-Round Synth - ???

Im getting there.

Quote:
Originally Posted by flatfinger View Post
You know , something that has insane capabilities and lots of sounds is Camel Audio ALCHEMY... Great company.... Give it a demo for sure !!
I'll definitely check the demo out flatfinger.
More Suggestion Welcome
__________________
System: Mobo-Asus Prime Z370P II, CPU-i7 8700K, RAM-64gb DDR4 3000mhz, GPU Nvidia 3060 OS: Manjaro Linux / Windows 11 / macos Soundcard: Motu 828ES Monitors: Adam A5X
Peevy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2010, 10:18 PM   #6
flatfinger
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 155
Default

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr0...dioalchemy.htm
flatfinger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2010, 11:12 PM   #7
saldiamond
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 322
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peevy View Post

So Im looking for an all-rounder, Something that performs well with Bass, Leads, Pads, Arp etc. My max budget would be around £180. The two I have my eye on so far are u-he's Zebra 2.5 & Vember Audio's Surge.

I'd really appreciate opinions on this from fellow Reaperites



both of these are excellent choices.

can't go wrong with either.
saldiamond is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 01:24 AM   #8
Peevy
Human being with feelings
 
Peevy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 552
Default

Thanks for that sadiamond.
Ive tried Zebra Surge & Alchemy. And I have to say out of the three I'm really loving Alchemy. I love the way you can import your own samples, you can asign modulation / Lfo's to any nob. Out of the three I also found the UI much easier to find my way round & quicker to get a decent sound.

So unless someone else has any other suggestion, it looks like it gonna be Alchemy for me.......now where did I put that Hammer so I can crack open the piggy bank, come to think of it where's the piggy bank. Ohh! shit I don't have one....at least not since I was about five.

Too much coffee too little sleep.

All Donations gladly accepted
__________________
System: Mobo-Asus Prime Z370P II, CPU-i7 8700K, RAM-64gb DDR4 3000mhz, GPU Nvidia 3060 OS: Manjaro Linux / Windows 11 / macos Soundcard: Motu 828ES Monitors: Adam A5X
Peevy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 02:40 AM   #9
technogremlin
Human being with feelings
 
technogremlin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 2,629
Default

Before throwing around some cash I suggest you take a look at Oatmeal and Synth1. The first has some very impressive progrock sounds among it's available patches (think 'Jordan Rudess') and the other tmo is still one of the best 'bread and butter' synths around.

Both free to be had and both with hundreds or even thousands of patches available on the net

PS. for Oatmeal really get the LimeFlavour skin (he's a Reaperite as well), the default Oatmeal skin is seriously ugly and might have you think it is less then useful. Looks can be deceitful you know

Check here for the download links: http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=52382
technogremlin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 06:13 AM   #10
bladerunner
Human being with feelings
 
bladerunner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Kent, UK
Posts: 4,846
Default

spend a decent amount of time with the demo of each synth because there are a few factors that you need to consider. firstly, do you like the sound of the synth? if you buy a synth for any less reason than the sound of it you will never be happy with it and end up selling it. trust me! ie. on paper zebra 2.5 looks like the most capable, all you will ever need synth ever, but the sound of it does nothing for me so it would be useless to me personally. secondly, how easy/intuitive is it to program? if you don't get on with the interface you will just end up frustrated and, again, probably end up selling it. also, how easy is it to dial in the kind of sounds you like? i LOVE the sound of old analogue synths so i bought myself a copy of vaz plus 2 which easily has one of the most convincing analogue esque sounds - but i just can't get a sound i am happy with from the thing! schwa's olga on the other hand, i can get a great sound out of every time without even trying hard. strange.

you just have to demo, demo, demo...
__________________
Mastering from £30 per track \\\
Facebook \\\ #masteredbyloz

Last edited by bladerunner; 03-06-2010 at 06:19 AM.
bladerunner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 07:37 AM   #11
henge
Human being with feelings
 
henge's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,153
Default

Omnisphere....Awesome.
__________________
Registered Reaper user.
http://www.villageworkscanada.com/landingpad.cfm
henge is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 08:09 AM   #12
Peevy
Human being with feelings
 
Peevy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 552
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bladerunner View Post
spend a decent amount of time with the demo of each synth because there are a few factors that you need to consider. firstly, do you like the sound of the synth? if you buy a synth for any less reason than the sound of it you will never be happy with it and end up selling it. trust me! ie. on paper zebra 2.5 looks like the most capable, all you will ever need synth ever, but the sound of it does nothing for me so it would be useless to me personally. secondly, how easy/intuitive is it to program? if you don't get on with the interface you will just end up frustrated and, again, probably end up selling it. also, how easy is it to dial in the kind of sounds you like? i LOVE the sound of old analogue synths so i bought myself a copy of vaz plus 2 which easily has one of the most convincing analogue esque sounds - but i just can't get a sound i am happy with from the thing! schwa's olga on the other hand, i can get a great sound out of every time without even trying hard. strange.

you just have to demo, demo, demo...
I hear ya bladerunner. I'm still in make my mind up mode. I liked Zebra initially but found it a bit frustrating getting the sound I was looking for. Surge was pretty good but I found the interface a bit awkward & to my ears the actual sound quality wasnt as good as the others. I did like the fact that Surge came with a 64bit version. Alchemy was a different story altogether. I found the interface a delight to work with & the sounds I was getting with just the first couple of presets I loaded was very tweak-able & pleasing to the ear. I'm still gonna play about with the others for a while before I make my mind up.

Quote:
Originally Posted by technogremlin View Post
Before throwing around some cash I suggest you take a look at Oatmeal and Synth1. The first has some very impressive progrock sounds among it's available patches (think 'Jordan Rudess') and the other tmo is still one of the best 'bread and butter' synths around.

Both free to be had and both with hundreds or even thousands of patches available on the net

PS. for Oatmeal really get the LimeFlavour skin (he's a Reaperite as well), the default Oatmeal skin is seriously ugly and might have you think it is less then useful. Looks can be deceitful you know

Check here for the download links: http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=52382
I have Synth1 but I haven't tried Oatmeal yet. I think I tried Oatmeal out a few years ago in Cubase but could never get it working. I'll spend a bit more time playing with these too. Believe me I'd be a very happy camper If I can get what I'm looking for free.

Quote:
Originally Posted by henge View Post
Omnisphere....Awesome.
Sorry henge. £340 is way above my measly budget.

Thanks for all the suggetions so far guys. Gotta love this forum
__________________
System: Mobo-Asus Prime Z370P II, CPU-i7 8700K, RAM-64gb DDR4 3000mhz, GPU Nvidia 3060 OS: Manjaro Linux / Windows 11 / macos Soundcard: Motu 828ES Monitors: Adam A5X
Peevy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 08:23 AM   #13
t00nz
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Uk
Posts: 42
Default

Zebra is great, but you probably need to get or create sounds for it.. the presets are fairly limited imo. If you are ok doing that, then maybe look at Albino 3 too as it also has massive potential if you look past the presets.

Also consider buying second hand.. you could fairly easily get both FM8 and Massive for less than £180 total that way.
t00nz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 08:27 AM   #14
technogremlin
Human being with feelings
 
technogremlin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 2,629
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peevy View Post
I think I tried Oatmeal out a few years ago in Cubase but could never get it working. I'll spend a bit more time playing with these too. Believe me I'd be a very happy camper If I can get what I'm looking for free.
Oatmeal works in Reaper

Be sure to follow that link I posted for Oatmeal, goes to a topic on KVRaudio where they have a complete package with the latest version of Oatmeal, all the compatible skins (including Lime's) and all the presetbanks available so far. There are some presets in there called 'Not Rudess' that completely blew my mind. The sonic palette of Oatmeal seems very prog-oriented to me, actually made me go back to composing and starting the quest for less plugins I'm documenting in that other topic.
technogremlin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 08:33 AM   #15
obijohn
Human being with feelings
 
obijohn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 104
Default

My two favorite synths are Lennar Digital Sylenth 1 and NI Absynth 5. They are both great and will keep you busy for years.
__________________
Me and my music.
obijohn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 09:10 AM   #16
KaoTeK
Human being with feelings
 
KaoTeK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Dark Side Of The Bass
Posts: 301
Default

For programming simplicity and fantastic sound I would go for:

http://www.robpapen.com/synths/predator/

Albino and Blue are also good but for me Predator is absolutely awesome, especially for the kind of nasty dirty bass stabs you use a lot in DnB
__________________
The useful production resources on the net thread:

http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=14941

Please contribute!!
KaoTeK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 10:17 AM   #17
Peevy
Human being with feelings
 
Peevy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 552
Default

Wow!!

I just spent a couple of hours with Oatmeal & Sylenth 1.
Oatmeal is a pretty amazing free synth. Still lacks that bit of extra sparkle
the likes of Zebra & Alchemy have. I really liked Sylenth, it did have that extra sheen that only the pay for plugs seem to have so far.

Alchemy is still ahead of the bunch when it comes to the UI

Next up Predator!
__________________
System: Mobo-Asus Prime Z370P II, CPU-i7 8700K, RAM-64gb DDR4 3000mhz, GPU Nvidia 3060 OS: Manjaro Linux / Windows 11 / macos Soundcard: Motu 828ES Monitors: Adam A5X
Peevy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 11:02 AM   #18
Peevy
Human being with feelings
 
Peevy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 552
Default

The Installation of Predator alone put me of it. Do you need some kind of e-key for it? I put in the activation code & all but its not showing up in Reaper.

Maybe its just as well, I've allot to play with already.
__________________
System: Mobo-Asus Prime Z370P II, CPU-i7 8700K, RAM-64gb DDR4 3000mhz, GPU Nvidia 3060 OS: Manjaro Linux / Windows 11 / macos Soundcard: Motu 828ES Monitors: Adam A5X
Peevy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 12:36 PM   #19
technogremlin
Human being with feelings
 
technogremlin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 2,629
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peevy View Post
Oatmeal is a pretty amazing free synth. Still lacks that bit of extra sparkle the likes of Zebra & Alchemy have.
Wait one moment there.... did you get to the xx_Ann_xx presets, they are by far among the most impressive patches I've heard in any softsynth

I listened to the Sylenth demotracks, didn't hear anything that wets my appetite, although it does sound nice. But that might just be me, I just shelved Pro53, PPG-wave, FM7, Albino, Virsyn Tera, z3ta and even VAZ2010, all of which I have official licences for.


EDIT: especially listen to bank Oatmealv37-3_Ann_Bank01 (many sounds are layered so hold a chord here and there ).
technogremlin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 02:23 PM   #20
zoid9
Human being with feelings
 
zoid9's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Location Location
Posts: 983
Default I love oatmeal

Quote:
Originally Posted by technogremlin View Post
Before throwing around some cash I suggest you take a look at Oatmeal and Synth1. The first has some very impressive progrock sounds among it's available patches (think 'Jordan Rudess') and the other tmo is still one of the best 'bread and butter' synths around.

Both free to be had and both with hundreds or even thousands of patches available on the net

PS. for Oatmeal really get the LimeFlavour skin (he's a Reaperite as well), the default Oatmeal skin is seriously ugly and might have you think it is less then useful. Looks can be deceitful you know

Check here for the download links: http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=52382
I wish someone could tell me how to change the skin. I have the LIMEFLAVOUR ONE BUT i'VE TRIED JUST ABOUT EVRYTHING. i TRIED CLOSING rEAPER AND TAKING THE DEFAULT SKINS OUT AND LEAVING JUST THE lIMEFLAVOUR SKIN IN BUT rEAPER SAID IT WOULDN'T LOAD AND JUST GAVE ME THE ui. OOPS. MUSTA HIT CAPS LOCK.
zoid9 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 02:41 PM   #21
Limeflavour
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: sweden
Posts: 465
Default

On the default Oatmeal gui click the button named 'skin', browse to and load the lf_lumina.oms file.
That's it, just need to close and open the gui for the skin to be in use.

I might aswell suggest that you download the newest version of the skin from my blog: Flavours of Lime
Because I do not know which version is included in the Oatmeal all-in-one package.
__________________
Flavours of Lime
Limeflavour is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 02:47 PM   #22
technogremlin
Human being with feelings
 
technogremlin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 2,629
Default

Zoid9, here's how it works:

Get the package from KVR and extract it in your plugin directory or where you want to use it. Make sure that where the Oatmeal DLL is located you also have the 'oatmeal skins' directory there. If you use the download on the KVR forum I linked to then there are a whole bunch of skins in that directory, including Lime's.

If you have Oatmeal installed this way, load it up in Reaper. Somewhere top-right on the Oatmeal screen is a 'skin' button. When you click on it it let you browse for the skin you want to use. Choose the lf_lumina.oms file and then delete Oatmeal from the track and reload it.

That should do it

Check out the other skins as well, the stuff from Grymjack (gr) and Yeager is top notch as well. Although for me Lime Flavour's lumina skin is the one.


Edit: Aaah.. Lime beat me to it.
technogremlin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 02:55 PM   #23
zoid9
Human being with feelings
 
zoid9's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Location Location
Posts: 983
Default pOORsTUPIDmE

I'll still be kicking myself in the ass over that one in the coffin.
zoid9 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 03:07 PM   #24
mtthw
Human being with feelings
 
mtthw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,162
Default

Maybe demo Reaktor for awhile. It was on sale for awhile for 99 dollars and maybe it will go on sale again. Its difficult to learn how to use, though, but you could just go through all of the different patches in the different ensembles and at least see all of the different sounds and effects it is able to do. Hopefully the demo comes with a getting started manual.

Besides Reaktor, a good buy is Komplete on sale, I think, thats what I'm looking at getting eventually.

Never know what synths might go on sale as a "no brainer" at Audio Midi.com.

As far as free synths go, might as well check out triangle and square from RGC, they are both excellent, IMO. Triangle has a manual, FYI, and the controls are not easy to find, but its really a top notch monophonic soft synth. Has Midi learn and everything.

I like Voyager 1.1 a lot, too, as well as SQ8L.

Truth be told, those four freewares together with nice effects can accompish a lot.
mtthw is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 03:16 PM   #25
technogremlin
Human being with feelings
 
technogremlin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 2,629
Default

I tried Voyager myself as well. But I hate the interface and LimeFlavour's alternate skin has a strange hiccup in Reaper so I ditched Voyager.

... and of course there is Crystal
technogremlin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 08:18 PM   #26
wakkaman
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 44
Default

I'm quite surprised no one mentioned Fabfilters Twin 2.. maybe i missed it?
Its quite a capable synth, has tons of great and versatile factory presets, a really nice modulation system and the filers sounds nice (to me)

check it out ^^
wakkaman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2010, 08:22 PM   #27
maximilians
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 108
Default

cobalt is a great allrounder with simple interface http://www.lesliesanford.com/Cobalt.shtml
maximilians is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 08:49 AM   #28
Peevy
Human being with feelings
 
Peevy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 552
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by technogremlin View Post
Wait one moment there.... did you get to the xx_Ann_xx presets, they are by far among the most impressive patches I've heard in any softsynth

).
Your right, some really good patched there. I did have a lot of fun with Oatmeal. Its definitely staying in my Synth folder.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mtthw View Post
Maybe demo Reaktor for awhile. It was on sale for awhile for 99 dollars and maybe it will go on sale again. Its difficult to learn how to use, though, but you could just go through all of the different patches in the different ensembles and at least see all of the different sounds and effects it is able to do. Hopefully the demo comes with a getting started manual.

Besides Reaktor, a good buy is Komplete on sale, I think, thats what I'm looking at getting eventually.

Never know what synths might go on sale as a "no brainer" at Audio Midi.com.

As far as free synths go, might as well check out triangle and square from RGC, they are both excellent, IMO. Triangle has a manual, FYI, and the controls are not easy to find, but its really a top notch monophonic soft synth. Has Midi learn and everything.

I like Voyager 1.1 a lot, too, as well as SQ8L.

Truth be told, those four freewares together with nice effects can accompish a lot.
Reaktor is on my to do list. I do have most of the free synths you & others have suggested. But I'm looking for the "one Synth to rule them all" or even a synth that comes close.


Quote:
Originally Posted by wakkaman View Post
I'm quite surprised no one mentioned Fabfilters Twin 2.. maybe i missed it?
Its quite a capable synth, has tons of great and versatile factory presets, a really nice modulation system and the filers sounds nice (to me)

check it out ^^
While I was impressed with the shear amount of features & tweak-ability Of Twin 2. It just didn't have the versatility of sound that some of the others I've tried lately had.

Haven't tried Cobalt yet, I'll get to it soon. So here's my list in order of preference so far, this is for sound quality, tweak-ability & UI.

EDIT: Revised List

1) Alchemy
2) Oatmeal (its free!! & stands up well to synths over £100)
3) Zebra 2.5
4) Surge
5) Rhino
6) Sylenth
7) Synth1

All this toying around with synths.....I'm gonna have to start making some music soon.
__________________
System: Mobo-Asus Prime Z370P II, CPU-i7 8700K, RAM-64gb DDR4 3000mhz, GPU Nvidia 3060 OS: Manjaro Linux / Windows 11 / macos Soundcard: Motu 828ES Monitors: Adam A5X

Last edited by Peevy; 03-09-2010 at 07:11 AM.
Peevy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 09:21 AM   #29
Sheppola
Human being with feelings
 
Sheppola's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 3,293
Default

Have a look at the free ProteusVX

http://www.emu.com/promo/proteusvx/welcome.asp

Just subscribe to the email to download for free.You don't get any spam if you tick the correct boxes when asked.


HTH
__________________
"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
http://www.reverbnation.com/pauldouglas
https://www.youtube.com/user/TalosIO
Sheppola is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 11:06 AM   #30
Peevy
Human being with feelings
 
Peevy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 552
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheppola View Post
Have a look at the free ProteusVX

http://www.emu.com/promo/proteusvx/welcome.asp

Just subscribe to the email to download for free.You don't get any spam if you tick the correct boxes when asked.


HTH
Thanks for the link.

Eh...how do you install it Sheppola?
I hope it doesn't come with some sort of licensing program like NI's Service Centre, I really don't like those.
__________________
System: Mobo-Asus Prime Z370P II, CPU-i7 8700K, RAM-64gb DDR4 3000mhz, GPU Nvidia 3060 OS: Manjaro Linux / Windows 11 / macos Soundcard: Motu 828ES Monitors: Adam A5X
Peevy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 11:09 AM   #31
Sheppola
Human being with feelings
 
Sheppola's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 3,293
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peevy View Post
Thanks for the link.

Eh...how do you install it Sheppola?
I hope it doesn't come with some sort of licensing program like NI's Service Centre, I really don't like those.
You run the program and point the VST when prompted to where you keep your other VST dlls in Reaper and -rescan the VSTs once you have.Then you just load it like any other VST on a track and point your keyboard to it/midi.

This may help and just use the search function with proteus in the search field as there's plenty of info on the forum


http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.p...hlight=proteus
__________________
"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
http://www.reverbnation.com/pauldouglas
https://www.youtube.com/user/TalosIO
Sheppola is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 11:31 AM   #32
Peevy
Human being with feelings
 
Peevy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 552
Default

Thanks for that Sheppola, it was really hard to see the setup.exe. By the way I really enjoyed the little ditty you had a link to in that thread, made with mostly free vsts.

http://www.box.net/shared/f75hzu62t0
__________________
System: Mobo-Asus Prime Z370P II, CPU-i7 8700K, RAM-64gb DDR4 3000mhz, GPU Nvidia 3060 OS: Manjaro Linux / Windows 11 / macos Soundcard: Motu 828ES Monitors: Adam A5X
Peevy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 11:42 AM   #33
Sheppola
Human being with feelings
 
Sheppola's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 3,293
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peevy View Post
Thanks for that Sheppola, it was really hard to see the setup.exe. By the way I really enjoyed the little ditty you had a link to in that thread, made with mostly free vsts.

http://www.box.net/shared/f75hzu62t0
I'd forgotten all about that little ditty I love messing around with free stuff
__________________
"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
http://www.reverbnation.com/pauldouglas
https://www.youtube.com/user/TalosIO
Sheppola is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 11:48 AM   #34
Peevy
Human being with feelings
 
Peevy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 552
Default

Ok Thanks Sheppola. I have it setup but no sounds/presets its all a bit confusing. Any ideas?
__________________
System: Mobo-Asus Prime Z370P II, CPU-i7 8700K, RAM-64gb DDR4 3000mhz, GPU Nvidia 3060 OS: Manjaro Linux / Windows 11 / macos Soundcard: Motu 828ES Monitors: Adam A5X
Peevy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 12:19 PM   #35
technogremlin
Human being with feelings
 
technogremlin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 2,629
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peevy View Post
All this toying around with synths.....I'm gonna have to start making some music soon.
Oh, I feel your pain, believe you me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peevy View Post
Ok Thanks Sheppola. I have it setup but no sounds/presets its all a bit confusing. Any ideas?
I recognise that as well: click the little folder icon at the top and browse for the 'proteus X composer xxx.exb' file. On my comp it's in

program files/creative professional/EMU sound central/proteus X composer....

(if you get this far you'll see it

I can't seem to have it loaded up by default yet though. There is an option to load last bank on startup but it is greyed out
technogremlin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 12:24 PM   #36
Peevy
Human being with feelings
 
Peevy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 552
Default

Shepploa
I've read the manual & found where the bank file is but it wont load. I'm getting ths message:

[IMG]http://img696.**************/img696/7530/proteusnotvalid.png[/IMG]

Any Ideas?
__________________
System: Mobo-Asus Prime Z370P II, CPU-i7 8700K, RAM-64gb DDR4 3000mhz, GPU Nvidia 3060 OS: Manjaro Linux / Windows 11 / macos Soundcard: Motu 828ES Monitors: Adam A5X
Peevy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 12:37 PM   #37
Peevy
Human being with feelings
 
Peevy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 552
Default

UPDATE.
Got it working. I had to go into properties/Compatibility & change it to XP mode.
all working now
__________________
System: Mobo-Asus Prime Z370P II, CPU-i7 8700K, RAM-64gb DDR4 3000mhz, GPU Nvidia 3060 OS: Manjaro Linux / Windows 11 / macos Soundcard: Motu 828ES Monitors: Adam A5X
Peevy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 12:50 PM   #38
No Left Turn
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 17
Default

1) Massive
2) Sylenth1
3) V-Station

Those are pretty much the only soft synths I use these days. I've used a number of them over the years and have pretty much just settled on these as my primary synths. I have Minimonsta and FM-8/Pro-53 for more particular sounds.

An alternative to Massive would be Albino 3.
No Left Turn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 01:29 PM   #39
manning1
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,957
Default

Peevy
dont know if this will interest you but...
each month computer music mag from uk includes a ton of free plug ins
n synths etc etc n samples.
one freebie synth i liked was called dominator.
http://plugins.tribe.net/thread/95bd...4-6f7ef9ac6a0c
www.computermusic.co.uk
ton of stuff on each monthly issue.
manning1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2010, 02:07 PM   #40
mplay
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Curaçao
Posts: 410
Default My fav synths

U-he ACE is my fav atm, a bargain at 69 euro's. With acuracy at high and 8 layers stacked it brings softsynths to a new level imo. You do need a fast cpu if you realy want to push it. It is modular so not easy to program, but the possibilities are almost endless compared to non modular

I also use Olga from stillwell audio. Nice sounding filters. Very easy to program, very versatile in use. From mellow to scary. As a non comercial reaper user you get 50% discount and only pay 40 dollars.
mplay is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 09:14 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.