Only one main synth- realistic goal or stupid idea?

[.jon]

Sup KVR, long time no see

I got time and inspiration for music again, but unfortunately need to rebuild my setup from the ground up. I've been checking out all the numerous free synths new to me, but haven't found that one perfect tool among them (yet). So next step is to start demoing commercial offerings, but before I go there I wanted to ask if it's even realistic to try and find one synth to rule them all? Do you have a setup based around one workhorse that can do most of the things? For how many years have you used your main synth? (your new current favourite of the week doesn't count )

I'd like a synth that excels at substractive synthesis (more "vintage analog" than modern virtual sound), has extensive modulation, big, useable and inviting interface, and ideally would offer other types of synthesis when needed. A modular or semi-modular would probably work. Style of music is melodic ambient with strong Berlin school and contemporary classical influences.

I dislike the idea of having to learn and adjust to numerous different UIs, it appears every synth wants to be a special snowflake in terms of UI design. Another option would be to have a small family of synths with different sound engines/synthesis types, but with common UI.

[ksandvik]

It's a noble goal but most likely you will own a set of SW synths in future... And it has nothing to do with extensibility or functionality -- rather how we humans grasp for the next cool toy.

[ThePresent]

I think you can spend the rest of your life using Synthmaster for almost everything but if you had to choose a small family for everything u-he should cover it all, especially regarding your preference for Berlin school

[bibz1st]

Agree with 2 previous posts and would also suggest you look at Mux modular by Mutools

[recursive one]

I would go for the combination of Diva (vintage VA sound) and Dune2 (more modern, neutral sounding VA engine + wavetable and FM sections, it is shipped with the presets which should be very useable for ambient and "space music" and tends to have big and mellow sound).

Yes, that's more than one synth

[Blue Wind Project]

U-he Zebra2 is my go to synth. I would say my music is 95% Zebra2
with an occasional Albino3 and Rapture...but yeah, mostly Zebra2,

I think that synth will cover just about everything, and anything
you set out to create. You can't miss with Zebra2.

[Lotuzia]

Sup KVR, long time no see ......
.

Not a stupid idea, more like a wish shared by a lot of people.
Unfortunately, not realistic as well.
At least, ime.

[pigfront]

Limits often boost creativity. Not know about commercial synths, but do you check free Tal Noisemaker ( for basic sounds) and Sonigen modular (for modulated stuff)? They suit for your type of music.

[.jon]

Quick update, I checked out U-he as recommended and discovered Zebralette which I seem to have totally missed- see you in a few months

(Bazille seems to be really close to what I could be looking, and his other synths are equally impressive)

Back when I spent more time on computer music we had stuff like Crystal and Triangle II, Waldorf Attack etc, and nothing even remotely close to this Zebralette thing. OMG.

[V0RT3X]

no its ok to be a synthwhore like the rest of us.

[fmr]

Of course it is. Who wants to stick with just one synth when you can have hundreds?

[Ingonator]

This is indeed a wish i had multiple times during the last 10-11 years.
I only was close to the idea of using a single synth once in beginning of 2005 when i moved back from Cologne to Hannover (in Germany), before i really started using plugins. That synth was my Yamaha Motif ES 7 that is still my main masterkeyboard today (and still sounds great too IMO).

Until 2004 i used a Kawai K11 for around 11 years but mostly due to financial reasons and high quality plugins just having started at that time. Anyway the K11 was a great subtractive synth for learning and had a few tricks like filter link (like a dual serial filter) and Ring modulation of both oscillators (each Osc could also have their own filter). FWIW i am close to own my Motif ES 7 for 11 years too (around February 2016), same about my Korg Wavestation EX.

While in the last years i tried to reduce the overall amount of synths i use they are still quite many (both software and hardware).

If i had to choose a single software synth as my main synth those would be some of my options:

- UVI Falcon (modular approach with tons of options)
- KV331 Audio Synthmaster 2.7 (v3.0 and/or additional features seems to be work in progress)
- Tone2 Electra 2.1
- Waldorf Largo (great wavetable and VA synth but no sample loading and custom wavetables support ; includes Osc Sync, FM, Filter FM and Ringmodulator)
- Synapse Audio DUNE 2 (great wavetable/VA/FM synth with import for custom wavetables done with e.g. teh free "Audio Term" tool)
- U-He Diva (awesome analog synth emulation with semi-modular approach like choosing different modules for oscillators, filter and envelopes)
- Xils Lab Syn'X 2 (awesome analog emulation based on on an Elka synthex but with aditional features)
- Xils Lab Oxium (comparable to Syn'x 2 but with some additional/different features)
- U-He Zebra 2 (very versatile and also nice sounding but i had sold this as i had problems with the workflow when doing my own patches)

[wagtunes]

There are a number of currently available synths to choose from that I believe will fit your criteria.

In alphabetical order

Blue II
Discovery Pro
Dune 2
Electra 2
Falcon
KarmaFX Modular
Mpowersynth
MUX Modular
Omnisphere 2
Sonigen Modular
Spectral
Synthmaster
Zebra 2

I would do an in depth review of each but then I'd be here for about a week. Some of these synths have a more distinct character while some are more vanilla and generic sounding, like Synthmaster. If I had to narrow this list down to my top 5, it would be the following in order of preference.

Falcon
Zebra 2
Omnisphere 2
MUX Modular
KarmaFX Modular

For specialty synths that simply do things that no other synths can do, at least not with great difficulty, my short list would be the following.

Bazille
The Mangle (Warning! Developer is MIA)
Wavemapper 2

And that's it. While I own tons more synths, these would be my go to synths if I had no choice but to clean house.

Hope this helps.

[NAD]

It's absolutely no doubt one-hundred percent realistic!

Now get of this forum and back to making music before you end up like the rest of us--endlessly discussing synthesizers rather than actually using them.

[ENV1]

One single synth is probably pushing it, (although there are a few good allrounders), but with a well-picked selection of say 2 decent monosynths and 2 decent polysynths there is nothing standing in the way of making good music. (If you can.)

I guess one good example of how having very little in terms of instruments can still lead to great success would be Newcleus. Their Jam-On Revenge album is widely acknowledged to be one of the most influential albums in the Electro genre (and we all know how much sprang from that), yet when you see what they actually had to work with you will probably agree that it is really not a lot compared with what some people (including myself) have at their disposal today. Heres a list of everything they had to make Jam On It (single) and the Jam-On Revenge album, directly from CozmoD:

Let's see...pre Jam-On Revenge album ("Jam On Revenge" and "Jam On It"):
Sequential Circuits Pro One
Roland RS09
Roland TB-303
Roland TR-808
Electro Harmonix Vocoder

Jam-On Revenge album:
Sequential Circuits Pro One
Roland RS09
Roland TB-303
Roland TR-808
Roland SH-101
Roland Juno 60
Oberhiem DMX
Electro Harmonix Vocoder

Very moderate by todays standards, wouldnt you say. Still it was enough to make a great album. Of course Jonathan Fearing might have added something here and there, (he wasnt exactly squeamish when it came to making changes to their material), and whatever gear Webb & Fair used when they produced the album is of course unclear too. But regardless, the point is that it goes to show that a lot can be done with surprisingly little as long as your musical ideas are sound. In fact other bands have made great successful stuff with even less.