Questions for the synth people out there

craigb,
There really are quite a few, and to me, each one really has it's own flavor... so beauty is in the ear of the beholder... ya know?
I have Zeta2, a free version of Alchemy, the ones that come with Sonar, and of course the ones that are in Komplete (Massive, Reaktor, etc.... Massive is hugely popular in dubstep)....and no 2 sound alike.
Based on some songs I've heard recently, the Virus sounds good and I'd like to add it to my collection at some point.

Tone 2, u-he, and FabFilter make some that are worth listening to as well.

I'm sure I left out a few.

For a modern type synth Z3ta 2+ is very good, the presets may lead you to the conclusion is a EDM synth but once you start programming its very versatile.

I have Komplete and I have only scratched the surface. There are some very good, complex synths in there.

I tend to prefer the "vintage" sound so GForce's Minimonsta, is the one I use the most, its still 32 bit but they are in the process of releasing 64 bit versions. There is a simple serial number registration. Its a reasonably straight forward Mini Moog emulation with added features such as patch morphing and the ability to go polyphonic.

I have and really like Korg's software MonoPoly but I have been dogged with it loosing its licence and needing frequent re-authorization. I am hoping it will behave better on my new DAW.

For analogue sounds U-He's Diva really impressed me and is on my wish list. If I did not have so many software synths already I would buy it now.

For several decades now, most free standing keyboard synths and sound modules have been digital. The fact that the digital programming is in firmware instead of loading from a hard drive is pretty much irrelevant to the sound, or the ability to control parameters. Those knobs and buttons on most keyboards are just outputting digital data, not affecting analog circuits like the old pots and resistors. About the only analogue control is on the analogue output stage where volume is usually the only thing controlled. Most likely the majority of keyboard synths you have used are softsynths in a box with keys. The big keyboard DAW's are not just a single synth, obviously, but a computer with multiple synths and romplers, recording and editing features, and effects. To replace one of those you need something like Sonar running on a PC.

Most sane users of outboard gear would not have used more external synths simultaneously than the number of softsynths that contemporary DAW's will run. So if the issue is can the features in freestanding synth modules be duplicated in PC software, the answer is yes. Pretty much anything that was being done in a digital keyboard synth can be done in a PC. Not everything is being done in a PC, but that has more to do with copyright issues and the access to the code used in the keyboards, and the contemporary fashion in sound than it has to do with the nature of the box they are in. 

For analogue sounds U-He's Diva really impressed me and is on my wish list.

 
This one, an analogue sounding monster with lots of modern refinements and original ideas.
 
If you only get one then go for this one.
 
For bargain basement coolness then any of the Korg legacy ones at $49 a pop are no-brainers.  I'm not so sold on the analogue ones of those but man you can get a proper M1 or Wavestation for that price and of course with the digital stuff they are indeed complete bit for bit replicas.

As Rain mentioned, Steinberg Retrologue is good for the money (as is Padshop Pro), but ..........it's Steinberg. No dongle or anything required for these, but don't expect any kind of customer service or for it to be supported for long.  Nothing to lose by trying the demos - from what I recall they say min Win 7, but worked in XP just fine for me.
 
Tone 2 stuff is good too, but quite expensive really.
 
Z3ta+2 is quite good when it works properly, but the arp function is very temperamental despite a patch fix which claims to have addressed this (it hasn't). Pointed this out to CW several months ago - not interested it seems.
 
For me Omnisphere is the daddy of all synths - the possibiities are just mind blowing . No demo version because it's huuuuuuuge, but check out http://www.spectrasonics.net/products/omnisphere-videos.php  If you like what you see, you won't be disappointed if you buy it.
 
 
 
 

Xilabs, Arturia, Korg, I use all the time. One of my tunes has 4 moog modulars a CS80 M1 and a wave station 

I used to own a very large hardware synth setup. At one point had 53 keyboards and more rack mounted stuff. I have owned all the big name stuff too. But the soft synth world is amazing to say the least. I am very happy with how they sound.

For those who think soft synths are nowhere as good as the real deal you are simply wrong and you simply have not heard the right VST's yet.

Arturia stuff will give you the analog sound well and truly, end of story. (Mini Moog and Little Phatty yes all of them ) I use a range of soft synths myself. Camel Audio Alchemy has got be one of the best out there. I highly recommend you check it out. The sound libraries are amazing and it just sounds killer. Native make some killer instruments too. Prism, FM8, Absynth etc..it goes on Uhe make some amazing stuff.
 
There are some very good free VST's too. Synth1 and Superwave P8 are really excellent.

Omnispehere is not where it is at. It is overpriced and the patches are so complex you cannot use them! The designer has lost the plot there. You are much better off using a far less complicated sounding VST and layering things up yourself to create the rich texture you are after. Alchemy can do all the atmospheric stuff easily as well as Ominsphere but it offers much more.

Korg make some fantastic VST's too. They have modelled their own analog stuff very very very well. Their M1 and Wavestation plugins are simply breathtaking. One reviewer put the Wavestation VST as better than the original. I had both for a while and I agreed with him. The plugin sounds ridiculous! 

And remember it is still the music itself that is the most important, If the music is really great then the listener is not going to sit back and think Hmmm he has done all that with soft synths! If the music is great and touches the listener emotionally it has achieved what it has intended to do. That fact that music may have been made with hardware of software is actually of no consequence. 

I don't have hard, I've gone all soft....  

I think my fav for at the moment is Dune, good bang for the dollar, the filters are top-notch and it's real easy to get just about any sound to sit nicely in the mix. The synth-strings are awesome. Love it. 

If I was going to get hardware synths I'll probably get, Arturia Origin 61 Note Keyboard and the Arturia Mini Brute and a Moog Little Phatty Stage 2 and a Roland GAIA SH-01 and a Yamaha MOX8 and a Korg MS-20 Mini and a Novation UltraNova and a Dave Smith Prophet 12 and a maybe a Tom Oberheim and a Waldolf. After that loan I'll probably skip the country and move to Belize under an assumed name. 


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