Powerful synths that are CPU friendly?

[exmatproton]

idk if GPU accelerated UI is discussed here ..
if yes then what is the problem with GUI running at 120 or 240 fps
if the GPU is doing the work and the cpu is doing the DSP stuff ??
at least any spectrum analyser wont eat my whole CPU to display a 4k screen

i know melda is using gpu for its UI and i think some more devs use opengl as optional UI renderer for their UI.

its just a welcomed additional feature if it supports high refresh rate without sacrificing CPU for UI instead of its DSP

Melda is a good example of how it should be done (imho). Free to change the FPS settings completely and indeed using the GPU for the rendering/refreshing the UI. Lovely stuff (talking about CPU friendly plugins )

[Lotuzia]

I think Cpu should always be related to the kind of synthesis used, and the quality of the output sonic material. FM8 is super easy, and Massive is rather light (depends on settings), just like Largo etc.

Then, playing a sample, or a wavetable/sine operator with a lot of aliasing, doesn't require much cpu. And certainly less cpu than properly modelled analog oscillators for example. So VA are a special case here. Same for filters. So for example what could/should be compared is ' quality VA' and their Cpu print, and less 'FM complex synth with aliasing seen as a bonus -fm8-, vs state of the art analog emulations -input name/brand here'.

I won't give examples of synths who have -imo- an authentic analog sound, while taking 5/10 times less cpu than others, though their cpu print might not be seen as neglectable either.Also, I won't say that VA cpu hogs are not useful, or should be rejected. They are here for a reason, It all depends on the final sound, and if you can make it 'your sound', or less. (and how your computer cpu will judge your desires as well).

[ENV1]

Audjoo Helix certainly falls in that category. Even the free beta from 2008 is immensely versatile and the CPU usage can only be described as 'unbelievably low'. Since it ticks all the right boxes featurewise as well it can be used to make entire songs because it does drums/percussion just as well as 'regular' synth sounds. IMO it cant be recommended enough in this context because it has huuuge sonic potential at extremely modest CPU requirements.

Another would be Sonigen Modular. This is no doubt one of the most CPU efficent softsynths ever written. (Dev describes it as hand-tuned assembly, dynamically assembled and optimized at runtime.) Unfortunately it never went beyond the beta stage so there are a few 'donts' you have to be aware of. (Like for instance not going beyond 50% filter resonance as a rule of thumb, i.e. unless you are sure that it wont have a detrimental effect.) But once you are familiar with everything Sonigen is a fantastic synth to have because it too is extremely versatile even with the comparatively limited amount of available individual modules. (Authentic analog stuff, extraordinarily good at low basses, VERY nice FM sounds with unlimited operators, polyphonic unison up to 12x5 with detune and stereo spread, FFT based wavetables, LFOs can be (ab-)used as 'non-smoothed' audio sources either keytracked or static, some of the best audio-rate modulations ive heard in software, this list goes on and on.) As ive said, its still a beta (albeit a very advanced one) so there are some things that arent 100% perfect yet, but as long as you mind the dos and donts Sonigen is a solid modular synthesizer capable of a vast range of sounds which needs extremely little CPU because of the efficient coding. Definitely a top recommendation in this context.

[Apratim]

idk if GPU accelerated UI is discussed here ..
if yes then what is the problem with GUI running at 120 or 240 fps
if the GPU is doing the work and the cpu is doing the DSP stuff ??
at least any spectrum analyser wont eat my whole CPU to display a 4k screen

i know melda is using gpu for its UI and i think some more devs use opengl as optional UI renderer for their UI.

its just a welcomed additional feature if it supports high refresh rate without sacrificing CPU for UI instead of its DSP

Melda is a good example of how it should be done (imho). Free to change the FPS settings completely and indeed using the GPU for the rendering/refreshing the UI. Lovely stuff (talking about CPU friendly plugins )

oh yeah melda reminds me of his new MSF syth ... forgot that the main topic is powerful cpu efficient synths

my views-
still in its early stage(few bugs in its sampler module) but its damm cpu efficient
modular structure with per-voice fx
lifetime free updates

[Distorted Horizon]

What are some other amazing synths that wont kill your cpu?

Hardware

[vurt]

What are some other amazing synths that wont kill your cpu?

Hardware

[MuzikFreq]

What are some other amazing synths that wont kill your cpu?

Hardware

Kills the wallet

[Distorted Horizon]

What are some other amazing synths that wont kill your cpu?

Hardware

Kills the wallet

Not necessarily.. With the price of omnisphere, you can get blofeld and some cheap analog monosynth = enough to make great music. Or 3-4 volcas = enough to make great music.

[BONES]

Vecto is a synth by Rob Papen.

First of all, why quote an entire post just to answer one tiny part of it? It takes two seconds to delete the bits that aren't relevant to your reply and it makes threads shorter and easier to follow.

Anyway, Vecto looks like where Go2 came from. I have Go2 and I can't say there is anything at all special about the way its GUI "feels", which makes me wonder why you use it as an example. I look at the Vecto GUI and immediately think those little knobs and sliders would be annoying to work with. It's also strange that RP would not have given a listing to KVR to put it in their database. Maybe he's ashamed of it or something?

[Benedict]

Vecto is Rack Extension only and I'm not sure if REs were really of any interest at that time as KVR is VST focused and Reason was closed to em.

[BONES]

Apparently there is a VST version of Vecto now.

Not necessarily.. With the price of omnisphere, you can get blofeld and some cheap analog monosynth = enough to make great music. Or 3-4 volcas = enough to make great music.

Which would make sense if Omnisphere was the only softsynth on the planet but the reality is that there isn't a hardware synth available that could come close to covering even half what Omnipshere is capable of. The other relevant reality is that anyone can make great music using only freeware softsynths, certainly way better than you'd ever get out of "3-4 Volcas". I'd also point out that my laptop cost less than four Volcas would so there is simply no rational way to show that hardware isn't a giant wallet-killer compared to software.

I could, for example, buy DUNE for roughly the price of one Volca and, with just that instrument, perform an entire set live using 5, 10 or even 20 instances of it to play every part, using 200+ oscillators per instance if I wanted to. How many oscillators in total can "3-4 Volcas" output at once? How many parts would they give me on stage?

Remember that I own a lot of hardware and I love it but to suggest it is anything but an expensive indulgence is just ridiculous. e.g. I just had to spend around US$200 on a bigger mixer because I've run out of channels. That doesn't happen in Cubase, it just keeps adding them. Moreover, when you work in hardware, you need a mixer that's big enough to accommodate all of your hardware synths, even those you might only use on a few songs in your live set, because you can't be going around plugging and unplugging them on stage while the audience sits around, twiddling their thumbs. OTOH, in software you only have the instruments you are using in each individual song loaded for that song, the rest are just sitting in a folder somewhere, out of the way. It's a lot tidier.

[Benedict]

Apparently there is a VST version of Vecto now.

Well does change things a bit then.

[Distorted Horizon]

Which

It was about price, not features or how u use it.
Grab a free daw and steal the synth = no costs.

[exmatproton]

Vecto is a synth by Rob Papen.

Anyway, Vecto looks like where Go2 came from. I have Go2 and I can't say there is anything at all special about the way its GUI "feels", which makes me wonder why you use it as an example. I look at the Vecto GUI and immediately think those little knobs and sliders would be annoying to work with. It's also strange that RP would not have given a listing to KVR to put it in their database. Maybe he's ashamed of it or something?

Vecto (and other RP synths) is a good example of a synth that is driving me crazy in terms of slow ui update rates. Just venting my own experience..
Synthmaster One is another one that is "unusable" for me. Even more so, because when the ui is open, input is lagging and delayed even...Ofcourse, this could be related to the DAW i use as well. However, with synths that refresh @ high speeds, i have no such issues at all

[BONES]

Go2 has known GUI problems but slow update rates isn't one of them. As fast as I flick a knob around, the GUI updates and the vector-scope display is very smooth, even when the waveform is changing rapidly. As I said, it is far more likely to be the fact they use a comparatively small number of frames in their knob animations. Try this - hold down SHIFT and turn a knob in Vecto. In Orion, Go 2 gives me fine control this way, hopefully Vecto will be the same in your host. I have to move the knob about one-third of the screen height just to see the knob tick over from one frame to the next. It will show you how far apart the frames are, which will give you an idea of how many frames there might be.