What synths have the most usable presets?

[BONES]

Hmmm... I think Equator holds that title for me and there are a lot of good patches in Union, too. Something I've bought more recently might be better but, TBH, I've pretty much stopped going through preset libraries these days. It's such a massive waste of time that is better spent making your own patches. e.g. I've got three starting point patches in JP6K and from those I can make pretty much any kind of patch I need in just a few minutes. It's a similar story with Olga and, in a narrower sense, MonoFury.

[Dirtgrain]

I really dig the presets in Tone2 synths, especially those by Markus.

Oh yeah. Rayblaster has a lot that are great--e.g., the leads inspire me straight off to start jamming.

[Chrisk-K]

Judging from presets used in hit songs, I'd say it is apparent that Roland, Yamaha and Korg synths have most useful presets.

[BBFG#]

Judging from movies and tv soundtracks, I'd say it's Zebra, Hive and Omnisphere.

[briefcasemanx]

If you're talking about built-in presets that come stock with the synth, Tone2 usually have a ton of presets on their synths that are of high quality. Can't comment on the quality of external preset packs for Tone2 since I rarely buy preset packs (for any synth).

If I were mainly just looking for a lot of good presets I'd start with them.

[Cinebient]

Alchemy.

[stimresp]

OPX ProII.

[SamDi]

Sylenth 1
Dune 3
Icarus
Spire

But I cannot really judge from practice, because I make presets myself, so just a judgement from hearing, not using.

[SparkySpark]

Tone2 usually have a ton of presets on their synths that are of high quality.

Was a while ago I looked at them. And (ho) ho, they have a new synth, low-cost, good-looking, packed with presets, and it has a relatively limited UI! From the web page:

True high-end sound-quality for a low price
Contains 2140 factory-sounds created by professionals
Limited feature-set, but huge sonic range
Very easy to use

Listening to the demos on the web page, I first thought it was only for dubstep, EDM and the like, but when I listened to demos from Icarus 2, I got the same feeling despite its "gigantic sonic range". And so, I guess there is more to it than their demo composers show.

https://www.tone2.com/warlock.html

[briefcasemanx]

Tone2 usually have a ton of presets on their synths that are of high quality.

Was a while ago I looked at them. And (ho) ho, they have a new synth, low-cost, good-looking, packed with presets, and it has a relatively limited UI! From the web page:

True high-end sound-quality for a low price
Contains 2140 factory-sounds created by professionals
Limited feature-set, but huge sonic range
Very easy to use

Listening to the demos on the web page, I first thought it was only for dubstep, EDM and the like, but when I listened to demos from Icarus 2, I got the same feeling despite its "gigantic sonic range". And so, I guess there is more to it than their demo composers show.

https://www.tone2.com/warlock.html

I think Tone2 just have very particular tastes when it comes to demos. Warlock is more versatile than the
limited interface would make you immediately think.

[Dirtgrain]

I forgot about Hyperion--sold by Tracktion--which I just got in their sale around Black Friday. It has the best sounding stock presets of any synth I own (Diva, Zebra, Hive, Serum, Falcon, Pigments, Phase Plant, Ana2, and more, yikes). It is one of those modular synths with virtual cables, so it is not fast for me to learn and patch, but damn are those presets top quality.

[tony10000]

Speaking of Zebra, the Zebra variants (Zebra 2, Zebra HZ, Zebralette, and the new Zebra CM) all have very usable and musical presets.

[mholloway]

The factory soundbanks for both FM8 and Absynth are absolutely stellar. Old patches that still sound as good as (or better) than stuff from synths that are 10+ years newer.