What were your go-to synths for 2018?

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My Casio HT-3000 and Yamaha PSS 470 ;)

I have no softsynths installed..
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The most I used in 2018 and are still my to go synths:
- The Legend
- Massive
- FM8
- Razor

The above is covering my needs mostly. I might use also Tone2 synths (RayBlaster and Nemesis), Korg legacy synths and others like Dune 2, Absynth, LuSH 101 and Sylenth1 but not as my main synths. However, Reaktor 6 might be the most used in 2019!

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Synths I bought this year and used:
Hive, Repro, Diva, fm8, massive, Trk-01 (Reaktor Ensemble)

Full story: until a few months ago I thought working with plugins is clunky and preferred to work with my hardware. I also thought hardware sounds better.
Trying all the U-He stuff changed my mind and I instantly also bought a faster computer (my old MacBook couldn’t really handle enough instances of plugins)
I produce mainly techno. I start to feel much more inspired to work with all the plugins. It might be the bigger preset library’s (I always go trough different presets to get a starting idea) or the possibility to have several synths at the same time (compared to my only 2 hardware synths) or because I can process them all separately on the computer (compared to my only 1 send hardware pedal effect).

Anyway I’m happy.

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DUNE 1 CM
Inspire CC
the scroo
DaHornet
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do_androids_dream wrote: Sat Dec 08, 2018 6:59 am My Casio HT-3000 and Yamaha PSS 470 ;)

I have no softsynths installed..
How does that sound compared to the CZ series?
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Synapse Legend
U-he Repro
Intel Core2 Quad CPU + 4 GIG RAM

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Diva, Serum and Dune 2. And I've using Ableton synths a bit more such as Operator and Wavetable. They can sound pretty good with processing and layering.

I've sold Komplete 10, UVI Falcon, and Repro 1/5. I've been moving towards a 'less is more' approach by cutting back on 3rd party Synths, using Ableton's stock instruments and effects, and learning all of them well.

I also own Synthmaster 2 and Legend, but they just never did it for me. Synthmaster always sounds weak and thin, almost like soft synths from 10-15 years ago. Maybe the factory presets are just not good. Legend sounds amazing when played by itself, but I could never get it to sit well in a mix.

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This year I started making music again after an 8 years long break. My setup used to be Virus C + Korg Electribe (the blue one) + image Line Sytrus.

This year I sold all my hardware, including a Maschine MK1 I never managed to fit into my workflow and went software only.

For someone who has been out of the game for so long, the evolution of software synths looks mind blowing to me.

Sytrus does not exist as VST on Mac, so I lost this one. My go-to synths this year have been Synthmaster (both them) and Sonic Academy ANA 2, plus some Wave Alchemy stuff for drum sounds. I also bought Legend and Korg Legacy, but they are not key to my setup.

Regarding ANA 2, this is one of the most streamlined and responsive interfaces I ever used. It's the fastest way from my brain to the speakers. I know some people don't think it's sound is not good enough, but I can get what I want from it so fast that it's my first choice to build a sound from scratch.

Just like seismicfm, I'm having problems with Synthmaster and Legend.

I'm unsure about the future of Synthmaster in my setup. The more I use both versions, the less I can stand its interface, and somehow something doesn't add up when I use any of them. I don't know why, I am 99% happy with it's sound... But not 100%. Besides the interface flaws, there is something about its sound that makes me miss something, but I don't know what it is.

I also bought The Legend, but although it is a great synth, somehow I can't fit it into my music.

Finally, I got Korg Legacy collection. Great plugins, ridiculous interface in a tiny window. Fantastic presets, impossible to use in a retina display. I don't know what to do with this pack.
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I only started making music seriously in May this year. Although I've occasionally fooled around with DAWs and plug-ins before, I never finished any songs.

I'd say the ones I use on almost every track are Sylenth1, Arturia V-Collection (especially SEM, Jupiter-8 and DX7), Diva, ANA 2, U-NO-LX, Hive, PG-8X, Icarus... But I haven't really found a "go to" synth yet, it all depends on what sound I'm after.

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Avenger
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seismicfm wrote: Sun Dec 09, 2018 3:12 pmSynthmaster always sounds weak and thin, almost like soft synths from 10-15 years ago. Maybe the factory presets are just not good.
Uncanny. I was thinking exactly the same thing yesterday. Something "brittle" about the sound, and although there are some factory presets I like, many of them leave me cold.
A well-behaved signature.

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for me : Alchemy 1.5, Operator, UltraAnalog2, DimensionPro are the ones that saw the most work
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nachenko wrote: Sun Dec 09, 2018 4:22 pm

Just like seismicfm, I'm having problems with Synthmaster and Legend.

I'm unsure about the future of Synthmaster in my setup. The more I use both versions, the less I can stand its interface, and somehow something doesn't add up when I use any of them. I don't know why, I am 99% happy with it's sound... But not 100%. Besides the interface flaws, there is something about its sound that makes me miss something, but I don't know what it is.

I also bought The Legend, but although it is a great synth, somehow I can't fit it into my music.

Finally, I got Korg Legacy collection. Great plugins, ridiculous interface in a tiny window. Fantastic presets, impossible to use in a retina display. I don't know what to do with this pack.
Oh wow, I thought I was the only one. I really wish I could use Legend in a mix, but it overwhelms it, unlike Diva. Maybe some EQ and compression could help it sit better in the mix.

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JerGoertz wrote: Sun Dec 09, 2018 5:31 pm
seismicfm wrote: Sun Dec 09, 2018 3:12 pmSynthmaster always sounds weak and thin, almost like soft synths from 10-15 years ago. Maybe the factory presets are just not good.
Uncanny. I was thinking exactly the same thing yesterday. Something "brittle" about the sound, and although there are some factory presets I like, many of them leave me cold.
Once every couple of months I reinstall it hoping maybe this time it would sound great, but I end up removing it after a few hours. It seems like a powerful and versatile synthesizer, but it might take some patience and talent to get great sounds out of it. I don't have either :)

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Wow, I'm glad I asked! I really enjoyed reading all of those lists. (I know: I have a problem.) Most of them were really excellent, tight lists: coherent yet capable.

I wish I could say the same about my list... I spent most of 2018 "evaluating" (experimenting, really) with all of the synths in my collection, and thus as I browse through the tracks I worked on this year (and there were a great many of them), there were no *real* trend-setters. Alas.

I guess that's why I asked. My palate is too wide; I've lost focus. (HA! As if I ever had it...)

I suppose if I arbitrarily cut off the list of most-used synths somewhere, it would look something like
  1. Omnisphere
  2. Zebra / HZ
  3. Icarus
  4. Bazille
  5. Spire
  6. Avenger
  7. Diva
  8. RePro-1/5
...and Maschine, if that counts. I *have* the hardware, but tend to not bother with it, and just use the VST plugin.

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