Dave you already own one of the most beautiful synths ever made and that is the Kurzweil of course. Have you thought about getting a SCSI CD ROM drive as this will open up a new world of possibilities.  (easily found on ebay) The internal ROM is only 8 Meg but when you get a CD ROM on there it is whole different ball game. Like I have over 50 Gig now of Kurzweil CD ROMS.

You do need to max out the internal sample memory to 64 Meg and fit the largest internal hard drive and also get the latest OS which was 3.87. This allows you to read normal PC discs with wave files on it and the Kurzweil loads them up beautifully.

Also don't forget the Kurzweil also reads Akai and Roland sample libraries so that increases the possibilities a further three fold. I have got massive Akai and Roland libraries now.

I don't agree about samplers doing analog sounds. Some of the best analog patches I have got are in the Kurzweil. It is killer in that department.

bitflipper

...the original webpage proudly boasted "no supersaws!" as one of its features.

Well, that's a good sign. And the "Venus" demo on his web page is encouraging. I know Diva regularly gets a lot of props on KVR, but I take everything I read there with a grain of salt.

cryophonik, the stuff on your SoundCloud page features a nice mix of organic- and synthetic-sounding synths and acoustic instruments. Any comments on which synths were used?

Thanks!  Actually, the synth I use the most is one that is widely used in EDM - my Virus TI2 (hardware VA synth).  It's a far more versatile than many people realize and, even though it is widely used for trance, I use it mostly for non-trancey sounds.  You'll also hear a lot of my Kurzweil PC3X in those sounds, but mostly for more organic/real sounds, particularly pianos, strings, and pads.  Some of the other soft synths that I use a lot include U-he Zebra, Omnisphere (and Atmosphere on a lot of my older tracks), Rob Papen Blue (FM/VA hybrid), and Tone2 Gladiator 2.  Gladiator is one that has features and a ton of presets that are squarely aimed at EDM, so it's not one that I'd really recommend for someone with your needs.  However, I picked up their newest synth Saurus a while ago and it might be worth checking out.  Like DIVA, it's very much trying to capture the old-school analog sound, but with some modern features that would appeal to EDM producers, like a trance-gate.


As for DIVA, it definitely gets its props on KVR, both for being a great synth and for the developer, who is really active there and very likable.  You might also want to check out his other main synth Zebra, if you haven't already.  It's also a great synth that isn't designed with EDM producers as the main focus.  It has a semi-modular architecture that some people find very intuitive, but others don't.  Either way, it's incredibly versatile and, between the factory banks and the user-contributed banks on the U-he website, there are about a gazillion non-EDM presets available for it to get you started.  Also, if you own a hardware synth, you just send a photo of it to U-he and you'll quality for his "dinosaur upgrade" discount that saves you about $50 as I recall.

I don't really understand the distinction between EDM and other synths.  I get the reFX nexus stuff is really dance oriented by Sylenth and Omnisphere and Zebra and.... are all excellent for Dance music.  I love my synths but I love all the ones that sound good.  Massive is a killer dubstep synth and it was in your list.  What exactly is the distinction you are making here?

Great thread!

I think in a lot of cases its the Presets rather than the synths that are EDM orientated, dig deeper and many "EDM" a lot of synths have a lot of versatility.

I do more chilled and ambient than EDM. I must be really good at it because after putting a few bars together I am too relaxed to have any motivation to write any more. In other guises, I have done things that sound like Radiohead, some garage rock/power pop, and some soul infused pop. I am a little surprised you said you got on well with Z3ta+ but not Rapture. I find Rapture to be a very versatile sound tool. I've used it to make everything from cyberpunk soundtracks to new age pads to some passable Richard Wright leads. It's also relatively easy to get unique sounds quickly. I have Komplete. I like Absynth a lot for the sounds from beyond this world. I also like some of the Reaktor ensembles (Steampipe, Prism) for making things that sound sort of like acoustic instruments but not. I don't use Massive that much though. While there are some presets that sound reasonably organic, I just haven't been able to take it in that direction from scratch. It really is targeted towards the more agressive branches of EDM. If you want a taste of Diva, check out the free Tyrell synth. It's a simple VA that was developed while urs was working on Diva. Similarly, he put out a magazine add for the free Zebralette (with the fine print that once you tried that you would be sure to buy Zebra). I wonder if you have checked out the MLM series from Hollow Sun. They are sample based, but they are definitely organic sounding

  Sorry, I really do know how to use paragraphs, even if FF does not.

Presets are a big part of it, but I also think that it has to do with some of the features and the oscillators/waveforms.  A lot of synths that excel at EDM are loaded up with features and effects that take the sound into more aggressive territories and have rhythmic effects like trance-gates and step sequencers built into them, spatial effects like big reverbs and delays that are implemented for heavy layering, and oscillator sections that primarily emphasize heavily detuned supersaws and harsher or "fizzy" sounding digital waveforms.  Many EDM styles rely so heavily on supersaw plucks and sidechained pulsing sawtooth (or saw-square) pads, so those types of sound sources are featured prominently on synths targeted at EDM producers.  Of course, you can usually just ignore those features if you want a more traditional sounding synth, but I think that what bitflipper is getting at is that he wants a synth that doesn't have all those add-ons and instead focuses its sound and features on a more vintage and warmer sound and, possibly, a more traditional interface and workflow.  And, of course, those types of synths also are useful for EDM, even though that may not be its target market.

Xenos Soundworks "Vintage 70s and 80s" patch set for Z3ta+ and Z3ta 2 is worth a look. IIRC I picked it up in a fire sale for about $5 but it opened my eyes to possibilities in Z3ta.

And what about Pentagon?

Bajan Blue


Bit
I use various Arturia synths a lot these days. I used to use a couple of Gforce synths, but since I went 64 bit / X1 these do not seem to play well at all - Imposcar 2 does and is a fantastic product which I have and use. 

I have never had any issues with G-Force in 64 bit 8.5 using bitbridge.
 
According to posts on the X1/X2 forum 64 bit versions of M-Tron Pro and MiniMonsta are beta testing now. MiniMonsta probably accounts for 75% of the synth sounds I use so I am looking forward to that, it will leave the Korg Mono/Poly as my last frequently used 32 bit VSTi.
 
I may even buy Oddity at some stage if a 64 bit version is available, however now Arturia have dropped their prices their ARP 2600 is also in the frame.