Not sure if it is exact sounding from the hardware, but it is said to be the same software ported over to powercore and presets from the hardware version can be swapped from them.
If you keep an eye on ebay you could probably pick up a used poco that comes with it for the same price or lower. Here is a video that talks about it's capabilities, I'm sure you will understand better than me what he's talking about.  Virus
 

Zo


Bit , you should really consider Diva , it's excellent , easy to tweak and dammm it has a sound !!
 

I have to agree with Zo about Diva.  She is gorgeous, absolutely delightful and delicious, but very demanding.  I have been playing with the demo; can't stop, she is addictive.  Definitely not EDM.  I will be purchasing this one for sure.  She is the perfect complement to M-Tron Pro (sorry G-Force, Minimonsta comes in second when Diva takes the stage).

Rain


The copy protection for Retrologue and Padshop Pro is Steinberg's soft eLicenser, IOW, a virtual dongle.

I had originally downloaded both, and tried both but focused mostly on Retrologue - not that Padshop Pro isn't nice but I instantly ended up digging Retrologue so much that I bought it almost on the spot - and just couldn't put it down since. 

 I've also got a copy of Cubase on the way, so I'll have the option to further try the included Padhop and upgrade it to the Pro version in the near future if it works for me.

So - you also got the cheap offers from Steinberg? ;-)

I upgraded first from LE to Artist for half the price, and a few months later to Cubase full for -again- half the price.. So, I got the full version of Cubase for less than € 300,-. Still - I like Sonar X1 (and soon X2) more than I like Cubase, altough Cubase has better notation possibility's. 

Anyway - The upgrade from Padshop (the version present in Artist and Cubase full) to Padshop pro is only about 10 euro's (don't know how much in dollars), and for that price you get an extra 3-band parametric EQ, an Algorithmic reverb, 50 new presets and -most important to me- the possibility to import your own samples to use as base for the granular synthesis. I have been playing around with pro, and it is extremely funny to take ordinary sounds and turn them in spooky atmospheric gems. I love it...

    Another nice synth is Amber from the FXpansion DCAM trio (Strobe, Amber, Cypher and the combiner - Fusor), that is circuit-modelled from old synths. This gives a nice analog sound. The other two synths are more trance/dance orientated, but also have some nice rich sounds. All synths are very programmable, but because there are a lot of possibilities it can be a bit intimidating. Combining the synth's in Fusor gives very rich old-school sounds, but will be beating your processor because you need a lot of power to run it smoothly. However - it works without an hickup on my (slightly older) test system with an Intel Core i3 540. 

JClosed

Rain


The copy protection for Retrologue and Padshop Pro is Steinberg's soft eLicenser, IOW, a virtual dongle.

I had originally downloaded both, and tried both but focused mostly on Retrologue - not that Padshop Pro isn't nice but I instantly ended up digging Retrologue so much that I bought it almost on the spot - and just couldn't put it down since. 

I've also got a copy of Cubase on the way, so I'll have the option to further try the included Padhop and upgrade it to the Pro version in the near future if it works for me.

So - you also got the cheap offers from Steinberg? ;-)

I upgraded first from LE to Artist for half the price, and a few months later to Cubase full for -again- half the price.. So, I got the full version of Cubase for less than € 300,-. Still - I like Sonar X1 (and soon X2) more than I like Cubase, altough Cubase has better notation possibility's. 

Anyway - The upgrade from Padshop (the version present in Artist and Cubase full) to Padshop pro is only about 10 euro's (don't know how much in dollars), and for that price you get an extra 3-band parametric EQ, an Algorithmic reverb, 50 new presets and -most important to me- the possibility to import your own samples to use as base for the granular synthesis. I have been playing around with pro, and it is extremely funny to take ordinary sounds and turn them in spooky atmospheric gems. I love it...

  Another nice synth is Amber from the FXpansion DCAM trio (Strobe, Amber, Cypher and the combiner - Fusor), that is circuit-modelled from old synths. This gives a nice analog sound. The other two synths are more trance/dance orientated, but also have some nice rich sounds. All synths are very programmable, but because there are a lot of possibilities it can be a bit intimidating. Combining the synth's in Fusor gives very rich old-school sounds, but will be beating your processor because you need a lot of power to run it smoothly. However - it works without an hickup on my (slightly older) test system with an Intel Core i3 540. 

I've never been much of a Steinberg fan mainly due to their attitude towards their customers - but some of their products I like. Even though I can't say that they've earned my trust, they've been good to me lately, and I feel like maybe they're adapting and figuring out that they have to listen to their customers, like other companies (Waves for example). Still, I can only go as far as mentioning checking out a product - and even then, I feel like giving the "buyer beware" every time. 

That being said, I'll have no issue justifying the upgrade to Padshop Pro at such a price. I can't wait to really give it a try.

What is EDM please?

electronic dance music


which like "electronica" is a term I hate with regard to DnB or it's older versions (which sampled off old records analog style, so not the same IMHO) . just the copyright hunters made it near damn impossible to sample 1 or 2 seconds of a record without being chased down and "served" for doing so.. although it's more funny when major artists do it adversely and think they can get away with it (no names, but some are well known for getting caught out)

p.s. thank goodness for the amen break :)

Amen Break : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac

pretty neat little video about 

I'm with Dave regarding sampled analogue sounds I'm afraid and I would never use such a sample.

I've been into "synthesisers" since I could afford my first ever which was a weird plasticy affair called a Wasp.

Since then I've owned a Multi Moog (which blew up else I'd still have it now), a Roland Juno 6, a Roland SH101, Bassline and Drumatix. They were from the true analogue days.

My current arsenal of VA synths are a JP-8000, an OB-12 and a Novation Nova.

The reason I'm telling you the above is because I'd like to express how much I know, and indeed love synthesisers, especially of the analogue type.

I never got into the likes of the FM synths and I just hates the DX7.


Anyway, onto soft synths.

For quite a while now I've been into Absynth and I got into that at version 3 and currently use 5. I hardly have any projects that do not have at least one instance of Absynth.

I used to enjoy Pentagon but I've given up on it now because I got fed up of remembering to run Sonar as administrator.

Very recently I discovered A|A|S and their suite of VST instruments. I eventually bought one of their bundles and my favourites are Chromaphone, UltraAnalog and both of the Strum modules. I have Tassman too, of course, but unless I can find a preset I can tweak I don't really use it that much. I'd rather spend more time composing that sound design. I think that's where UltraAnalog comes in, because you still get some of the great Tassman sounds but with a traditional analogue synth interface.

Chromaphone is one of my favourite percussive synths. And by percussive, I mean anything that can be struck or plucked. I would normally turn to Absynth for that duty, but Chromaphone fits the bill perfectly for me.


And one big thing I've learned over the years is that there is no such thing as one killer synth. For me it is very much a matter of choosing the right horse for the right course.


Oh, I don't do EDM by the way. At least not on purpose. I prefer old fashioned synth music as was created by early Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. If I wanted popular then I'd listen to a bit of JMJ. So that is the kind of stuff that I like creating myself.

Thanks for posting the original thread, I enjoyed reading through all the posts :-)

Hi all: Upon reading this thread, the synth that comes to mind as the best candidate amongst the ones I own is Harmless from Image Line. Admittedly I have not done too much with it, however, usually reaching for my guitar, hardware synths, or a microphone. --Regards, Dave Clark.

I demo'd Diva, and while it sounded wonderful and the controls were nicely laid out, it was just too CPU-hungry for my modest rig. Sadly, Diva fails to qualify as a contender until my next system upgrade.