KVR Audio

mireiner · Post by **mireiner** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 12:03 pm

Hi there,

what are the best VSTi soft synths for creating sfx sounds today?

1. This can be softsynths that are made especially for this purpose.

2. Or general purpose soft synths that are known to be good for creating sfx sounds (and come with many ready to use sfx presets or there are some third party fx soundsets for it available).

For an actual project I search for comic effect noises. Like 'doing, boing, splash, swosh, buff, ding dong, ring' - all sounds and noises that are usefull for cartoon and comic game and comic film production.

Just one hit noises! Mostly clear sounds no distortion or bitcrush etc..
Long evolving soundscapes are not what I'm looking for.

The VST soft synths I already know:
Arturia Synthi V (EMS emulation)
Sugar Bytes Cyclop

enCiphered · Post by **enCiphered** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 12:06 pm

What kind of sound effects do you mean?

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 12:07 pm

what do you specifically mean by 'sfx sounds?'

BlackWinny · Post by **BlackWinny** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 12:16 pm

I wouldn't have any hesitation : Xils-3 (payware version with iLok or eLicenser) or at least Xils-3 LE (simple serial number and which doesn't cost an arm).

Both are excellent emulations of the famous EMS VCS 3 which was very known for its "sfx" sounds (blip, pew, pwet, woom, paoh, pshhh, etc.). Very used by many musicians in the 70s. Even Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream used it for many periodical effects in their tracks. Without forgetting Brian Eno, Pink Floyd, Gong, and many other great musicians.

perfumer · Post by **perfumer** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 12:28 pm

Arcsyn

Dirtgrain · Post by **Dirtgrain** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 1:06 pm

Considering all the effects included, MSoundFactory can take you all over the place. When the forthcoming sampler/granulator is added, all the better. Check out all the effects it has (over 120, although some are reiterations with some added functionality (like multi-band)).

Biotek has some cool features and versatility for effects, although I use it mainly for pads so far.

mireiner · Post by **mireiner** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 1:45 pm

whyterabbyt wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2019 12:07 pm what do you specifically mean by 'sfx sounds?'

Sorry I should have be more specific. So I edited my initial post for that. See above.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 1:50 pm

mireiner wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2019 1:45 pm
whyterabbyt wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2019 12:07 pm what do you specifically mean by 'sfx sounds?'
For an actual project I search for comic effect noises. Like 'doing, boing, splash, buff, ding dong, ring' - all sounds and noises that are usefull for cartoon and comic game and comic film production.

Just one hit noises! Long evolving soundscapes are not needed.

Traditionally, these will have been recorded sounds, not synthesised. The classic Warner Brothers stuff, for example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqaeds-wO4A

mireiner · Post by **mireiner** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:00 pm

whyterabbyt wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2019 1:50 pm Traditionally, these will have been recorded sounds, not synthesised. The classic Warner Brothers stuff, for example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqaeds-wO4A

I'm aware of that. Wav files with these sounds are not hard to find. But I like to reproduce these sounds with synthesizers as far as it is possible.

sinemotor · Post by **sinemotor** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:10 pm

Sound effects are most of the time made of many layers of :

- foley samples with a long chain of effects with modulations
- synths : it's usually better to use one which allows a lot of modulations with many envelopes, LFOs, etc because SFX requires a lot of movement and details. So you can look at Serum, Massive, Absynth 5, Zebra 2, Hive 2, Omnisphere 2 etc.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:12 pm

mireiner wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:00 pm
whyterabbyt wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2019 1:50 pm Traditionally, these will have been recorded sounds, not synthesised. The classic Warner Brothers stuff, for example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqaeds-wO4A
I'm aware of that. Wav files with these sounds are not hard to find. But I like to reproduce these sounds with synthesizers as far as it is possible.

No problem. Given that you may just be wanting to record single sounds, but that you might want a lot of flexibility, and modulations etc that aren't necessarily typical of 'musical' needs, I'd suggest the free VCV Rack modular synth.

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:22 pm

“Ultra FX is a must-have complement of highly customizable sound ideas, room tones, and sound effects perfect for sound designers doing films, animations, or video games. It's also a whole lot of fun!”
https://www.applied-acoustics.com/ultra-fx/
It wins the Funniest Demo prize;
Ultra Analog is also a well-designed synth that’s easy to learn.

perfumer · Post by **perfumer** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:42 pm

mireiner wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2019 12:03 pm For an actual project I search for comic effect noises. Like 'doing, boing, splash, swosh, buff, ding dong, ring' - all sounds and noises that are usefull for cartoon and comic game and comic film production.

Just one hit noises! Mostly clear sounds no distortion or bitcrush etc..

Seeing that you're asking what synths to use, this means that you're a noob at synthesis, and this means that you're going to have a hard time creating such types of sounds, especially if they're to have a 'comic' side to them.

If the project is not specifically centered on recreating what's already out there just to see how close you can get, I'd suggest stick to samples.

perfumer · Post by **perfumer** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:45 pm

And as suggested above, most of those sounds are foley recordings, not synthesized.

mireiner · Post by **mireiner** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 3:47 pm

Michael L wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:22 pm “Ultra FX is a must-have complement of highly customizable sound ideas, room tones, and sound effects perfect for sound designers doing films, animations, or video games. It's also a whole lot of fun!”
https://www.applied-acoustics.com/ultra-fx/

I forgot about this AAS Ultra Analog soundset. 130 FX sounds that fit my needs really help. I wish Ultra Analogs GUI would be resizeabel. Quite a pain to work with on a 4k monitor. But a least it's an option. Thank you for the suggestion!

Maybe I should have ask for SFX soundbanks in the first place. Can anyone else can recommend good SFX soundbanks that come near the sounds I'm searching for?

Best VST synth for sfx sounds