Synth of the year - 2014 (your thought)

[EnGee]

But Hive made me forget all about Serum.

So first you wanted a Ferrari and then you bought a wheelchair, interesting!

Some see it a wheelchair and some see it Porsche

Not quite sure I see how Serum and Hive can be compared ?

I didn't compare them. Even if I do, what's the problem? The elements of any genre can be done with both (melody, chords, effects ...etc). And for the cars example, actually I see it the opposite, with Hive I can do my sounds easily without reading the manual (that's read fast) while with Serum or Bazille, I need to learn many things. You can compare two synths together even if one is VA and the other is Additive. It depends what you are comparing. If the original poster meant he found Hive more useful than Serum for him/her, I can understand that because personally I prefer to deal with easy to use synths.
However, my point is everyone has different needs and different values. Even the same person might change his opinion and begins to see differently.
For me personally, I don't need Serum. Give me a choice between Serum, Bazille, and Hive I would take Hive. I already considered Hybrid 3 my choice of the synth of the year but I understand if someone choose and like to work with complex synths.
Is that explanation enough for you?

[foosnark]

But Hive made me forget all about Serum.

So first you wanted a Ferrari and then you bought a wheelchair, interesting!

Funny you should say that... http://jalopnik.com/owning-a-ferrari-fo ... 1668355120

I know the two synths aren't that similar, but frankly, I thought Serum sounded good but held off on buying it. I tried Hive, then tried them side by side, found Hive a lot more inspiring, bought Hive, uninstalled the Serum demo.

[Sampleconstruct]

But Hive made me forget all about Serum.

So first you wanted a Ferrari and then you bought a wheelchair, interesting!

Funny you should say that... http://jalopnik.com/owning-a-ferrari-fo ... 1668355120

I know the two synths aren't that similar, but frankly, I thought Serum sounded good but held off on buying it. I tried Hive, then tried them side by side, found Hive a lot more inspiring, bought Hive, uninstalled the Serum demo.

Just relax, my comment was just addressed at the fact, that I did not understand the comparison between an advanced wavetable synth which also supports sample playback and has a plethora of filter types with a very basic Volkswagen type of synth. Also I found the quality-criteria "I don't have to read the manual" rather exotic, but I understand you point nevertheless, as for some less convoluted/complex is a plus, for others not so much.

[Tricky-Loops]

You don't always need a Ferrari, it costs much tax & insurance and there are speed limits everywhere, anyway! Sometimes a Volkswagen is the better alternative! (Despite that I would rather buy an Audi or BMW.)

That said, I really like the "back to simplicity" approach from Urs. I don't think we always need to modulate the modulators and draw tons of envelopes to get nice sounds. Sometimes simplicity rules. Nevertheless, I still hope he adds some more features to Hive...

EDIT: Guess why I'm preferring TkDelay, Sandman and DubStation over the sophisticated Rob Papen Delay?*


* Simplicity!

[Sampleconstruct]

It depends what one perceives as "nice sounds" though, but any discussion on that is obsolete as taste can not be discussed, especially not on KVR.

[Tricky-Loops]

It depends what one perceives as "nice sounds" though, but any discussion on that is obsolete as taste can not be discussed, especially not on KVR.

Well, but that changes over time. Sometimes I'm listening to some (good) EDM music and another time to sophisticated ambient or lounge music, and at the moment - the longest night of the year - I'm listening to dark ambient music which is also rather sophisticated with drones, sound effects and harmonies...

In fact I listen to nearly every kind of music except Schlager (well, I have some sympathy for "Jean Frankfurter"), Volksmusik, Diskofox, Trash Metal and German gangsta aggro rap (Kollegah is funny but without Haftbefehl)...

[moho]

It depends what one perceives as "nice sounds" though, but any discussion on that is obsolete as taste can not be discussed, especially not on KVR.

From the painful cries of mothers
To the terrifying scream

Nice sounds if you wanted to kill someone from a distance.

[KBSoundSmith]

Serum, easily. The sonic territory it covers is very impressive, and it's ease of use is stellar. A couple of other cool synths this year, but Serum was the only one that lured me into spending money.

Was Spectral 2014 or the end of 2013? If 2014, it would be the runner up for me. If not, then Bazille.