If you could only keep 2 soft synths ...

[kyodeejay]

Spire and Sylenth1

[Cimbasso]

Omnisphere & Zebra.

[robertszalapski]

Reaktor and Absynth. If Reaktor doesn't count, FM8. I own lots of synths I like (Bazille, MPowerSynth, Zeta+2, Chromophone, etc) but NI really nailed those IMO.

[JPQ]

I cannot count Reaktor single synth because for example Prism and Monark ensembles are totally different. And this is only two and as we know there is many more and some are effects. then i choice "fixed" synths: Rob Papen Blue 2,Tone2 Saurus.if i can third then i choice Reaktor very likely. if someone wants know what i do i think something which is related Tangerne Dream,Vangelis,Jean-Michel Jarre,Cinematic music and ambient even maybe rock someday and maybe someday at least now feels this old 8bit homecomputer style music. and if can add samples maybe then NI kontakt with galaxy 2 pianos,and ezdrummer with vintage rock at least,vsl special editions. and maybe few hardware synths like Akai Miniak,Novation KSR ja something else.
ps. i mainly listed tools what i allready have. something else is currently hard know. But very liekly real analogs.

[5Lives]

This is a great thread, because it has forced me to try to answer this question - and it turns out I have a lot of synths I rarely, if ever, use. Possibly due to the style of music I make or maybe their UI or whatever. In fact, I sold Zebra 2 and Diva because although they are critically acclaimed, I rarely if ever use them.

I would say Omnisphere is a constant in my work - and beyond that, not sure. Perhaps Trillian or Sylenth1, though the lack of 64 bit support renders it rarely used these days. I'm thinking of Serum because I love the UI of it. I have a Virus Polar TI2 which is amazing when I decide to plug it in. Massive, Absynth, Synth Squad, FabFilter Twin2 are all present, but rarely utilized. I just bought Monark - mainly attracted to the simple nature of it compared to something like Zebra. We'll see how much I use it.

[theviirus]

not including reaktor...

arturia arp2600v
glitchmachines quandrant/scope

honourable mentions...
zebra
synth1
tal-elektro

[Aubrey Lamont]

Diva
Alchemy

[yessongs]

Synthmaster and Alchemy

[billcarroll]

Synthmaster and Alchemy

SynthMaster (KV331, Bülent) definitely have great customer service. Terrific synth, and great company. Combine that with a serious set of features, and SynthMaster is definitely a great choice if you can only keep 2.

[Mivo]

[quote="billcarroll"SynthMaster (KV331, Bülent) definitely have great customer service. Terrific synth, and great company.[/quote]

I definitely second that. Bülent was very helpful when I was about to miss a sale (got paid the day after the sale ended) and the one time I had a technical inquiry, I received an answer within hours. The synth is so versatile and actually pretty CPU efficient for how much it does and how great it sounds. I only wish I could double-size the UI.

[BBFG#]

KV331 has been the most improved service of the year.

[EnGee]

KV331 has been the most improved service of the year.

It was OK for me. I needed to hunt him here and there to be able to get an answer for selling my license. I got finally the answer and paid the fees, but I shouldn't need to do that in a thread he is promoting his software! He should have answer my emails.

Anyway, I give 3/5 for the service. I'm glad that I sold SynthMaster really because I didn't like the synth (both the sound and design which are subjective of course).

[BBFG#]

KV331 has been the most improved service of the year.

It was OK for me. I needed to hunt him here and there to be able to get an answer for selling my license. I got finally the answer and paid the fees, but I shouldn't need to do that in a thread he is promoting his software! He should have answer my emails.

Anyway, I give 3/5 for the service. I'm glad that I sold SynthMaster really because I didn't like the synth (both the sound and design which are subjective of course).

Let me get a little more specific...
The vast improvements I've seen have been in the last two months.
Acknowledging and answering both on the forum and support emails.
Email announcements are finally fixed.
Adding another person for more presence on the forum.
Comments that they're looking into other server options.
Much more presence not directly to pushing any sale.

I was ready to sell it too, although program bloat close to 'everything' seems to kill that idea on the MP. (It was the everything bundle but they added more and they've yet to give regular consideration to those that bought that bundle like Camel does - hint hint). These few small changes have been big in my book and really keeps me from being regularly frustrated with it like I was before. Definitely seems to be headed in the right direction.
(A couple of companies I have dumped in the last few months really ought to take notice here. They could learn a lot by the recent changes KV331 has made).

[EnGee]

Definitely seems to be headed in the right direction.

Glad to hear that I might give future versions a try if he also improve the synth itself.
The competition is so high in Music Production in general. My head is spinning around when I want to buy a new synth!

Well, back to the topic. There is no change for me in the first synth! Retrologue is sure one of the two synths that I keep. The past few days I have been amazed about how much sounds I can get from it. The last preset I did is a monster like sound. It is not a useful sound of course, but I was trying to discover what the Noise modulation as source can do!

The second synth would be really Largo! The demo made me think how to get it but ... [sigh]. I can't afford it. I like the sound more than Massive. It has more depth and I love the filters and most everything really of Largo. Anyway, till I buy it, NI Massive still the second one

[Teezdalien]

hmmm. tough call.

Specific synths for me would be Alchemy and Bazille. But if I were restricted to one piece of software for making music it would be Reaktor.