Synthwave / Dark wave tests with ANA2, Serum, Spire and Sylenth1

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Hi,

I've just done a test just for fun with a very short track just to compare how do sound some of the synths I own compared to each other.

It is an audio file containing four tracks: an arp, a bass in polysix style, a pad and a pluck. Each file was recorded with different presets of just one single VST synth, meaning all four tracks are different presets of one only synth for each audio file, so there is a version where you can only hear ANA2 presets on all four tracks, another version with only Serum presets, another with Spire presets and a last one with Sylenth1 presets only.

Every audio file has an additional drum track which is always the same and it's made with Samples From Mars drum samples.

I have to say that the comparison isn't completely fair as I haven't had the time yet to recreate each of the synth tracks with the same settings but just taking more or less similar type of sounds, so the idea is not to compare which synth makes the better job by trying to emulate the same sound but how each of these synths works on its own if you start writing a song just using only one of them.

Again, this is not a serious comparison and just made for fun but I thought it might be interesting for anyone who's thinking about purchasing any of these synths. I wished I could have uploaded a fifth audio with Dune3 but I still don't own that one yet, I hope I can do that in a near future.

Test 1 only with ANA2:
https://soundcloud.com/oonabe/synthwave ... 00111-ana2

Test 1 only with Serum:
https://soundcloud.com/oonabe/synthwave ... 0111-serum

Test 1 only with Spire:
https://soundcloud.com/oonabe/synthwave ... 0111-spire

Test 1 only with Sylenth1:
https://soundcloud.com/oonabe/synthwave ... 1-sylenth1

I hope you have some fun listening... cheers

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ANA sounds best to my ears in these examples. Although I do like Spire, especially for Trance, and its pretty good for retro stuff too.
If you had Avenger you'd get some nice Synthwave presets.

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Yeah I think ANA2 is one of the easiest to get a good sound from without having to tweak the preset too much, I'm really liking it. I'd say Spire is the next one to achieve good sounding results fast in this style of music.

I like all of them and Avenger is also on my list of future purchases, then what I really like the most is combining different synths depending on what the song requires. I just did a test mixing all four synths together: Spire at start with the arp, Serum for bass, ANA2 for pads and Sylenth1 with the pluck sound. I think the best sound comes most times by finding what each synth can do at best and mixing them together, of course depending on the track too, sometimes only one synth can do a great job as well...

https://soundcloud.com/oonabe/synthwave ... enth1pluck

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Ana here is the best for Synthwave of course, but i think that it's possiblte to design more synthwave fited sounds on the rest of test's synths
VST & Hardware presets, FL Studio templates, samples and MIDI from NatLife & friends -www.natlifesounds.com

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Totally agree with this, I used only default presets or presets from synthwave expansions I have bought for some of these synths, but tweaking the synths a little bit should make any of them very capable of getting great sounds for synthwave

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Hi, the best for me is Anna 2 and Spire even if they are very different, the sounds are richer and more interesting in this case

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renoizer wrote: Sun Jan 12, 2020 11:20 am Hi, the best for me is Anna 2 and Spire even if they are very different, the sounds are richer and more interesting in this case
Yes, so far I agree with this. I'd like to learn more on how to use the other two as well and see how much I can get out of them but for fast results using just presets and if I could only choose one of them I would go for ANA 2 or Spire.

Anyways, the thing I like the most is mixing several of them depending on which one approaches the best the sound I am searching for a concrete track of the mix rather than just using only one of them for every track as I did in these demos.

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Superb* I think ana has the biggest smooth and warmth synths
Propellerhead Reason 12 and FL Studio 20

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsW3Wr ... gA05XklBng

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Nice little track too btw.

ANA sounds the best to me in this. Not that I would say ANA is the best synth between the four overall.
I will take the Lord's name in vain, whenever I want. Hail Satan! And his little goblins too. :lol:

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mimpulsez wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2020 3:01 pm Superb* I think ana has the biggest smooth and warmth synths
Thanks, I am really enjoying working with ANA 2 and of course its sound too :)
Robmobius wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2020 3:10 pm Nice little track too btw.

ANA sounds the best to me in this. Not that I would say ANA is the best synth between the four overall.
Thanks a lot, I hope I can develop the song idea a little bit further and include it in one of my songs in the future...

Yeah, I do like all four of these synths, I don't really have a preference for any of them. ANA 2 seems to work pretty well if you want to get rich and full synthwave sounds very quickly, but I'm sure any of these synths can produce great sounds for synthwave and many other music styles.

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Diva with any of these soundsets would won easily

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCKrrF-hnz4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L3Y22lvT0Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQPJEKN2JCk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atSvO1BjhIU

If I were to use only presets, would get Diva above anything else there is on the market, quality of 3rd party presets for all U He synths is second to none, quality of actual synths too.
Last edited by Passing Bye on Tue Jan 14, 2020 6:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Thanks, but not for me, I prefer any of the synths I own and Dune 3 above Diva as well, I already compared them all including Diva and Hive too before purchasing and ended up buying the list I have now because I didn't really like Diva that much, I mean, I might get it at a later point but I don't find its sound any better than Serum's, Spire or ANA 2....

Anyways thanks for the links, I still didn't know these and it's good to have some more references on Diva for synthwave and retro wave sounds

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Different strokes for different folks, personal tastes, preferences and all that, but if the game is presets for synhtwave, quality of Diva ones for the genre is just top notch above anything I heard, if the game is most authentic sounding to all those classics like Juno, Moog, Jupiter and etc, than again Diva won's easily, but again, personal preferences, I would end up with totally different synths too for my own music, needs and taste.

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Passing Bye wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2020 6:37 pm Different strokes for different folks, personal tastes, preferences and all that, but if the game is presets for synhtwave, quality of Diva ones for the genre is just top notch above anything I heard, if the game is most authentic sounding to all those classics like Juno, Moog, Jupiter and etc, than again Diva won's easily, but again, personal preferences, I would end up with totally different synths too for my own music, needs and taste.
Exactly, it's a matter of tastes and for me it's ANA 2 and Spire the ones that win easily against Diva because I am not searching for just an authentic emulation of well known synths but for a rich modern sound with personality and some retro flair to it.

There is no general winner or loser because it's a subjective preference and it depends on what each musician wants who the winner is. It is not that I dislike Diva but it's just not on top of my personal list, but if I were to buy one of U-he synths it would surely be Diva. It could be a nice addition to my current selection

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I think Diva has some good bass sounds, but I'd take Spire over Diva. And I'd take Avenger over Spire. ANA2 is not a synth I've thought about, but it sounds like its worth considering.

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