I tried putting some different ones in the effects area and it seems like the only one I kinda know how to use is the TTS-1.

Then with some of the others, I can't even hardly get some of them to play anything and not familar with them.

The TTS offers a nice variety of sounds, but some of them really aren't very realistic and you have to get creative to try and find or make a good sound out of it. Trying different and comparing different presets, adding some reverb or chorus or other effects-after it has been converted to an audio file even, etc..

So it gets kinda limited with what you can do in terms of quality sound. Some of the presets/virtual instruments sound downright bad and very fakey.

So I was wondering is what is the most realistic sounding softsynth to use in Sonar x1? There was one I didn't try out-said I had to register the thing first. And then, how in the world do you use it? :)

My bro has a keyboard upstairs that could make midi pieces(lacking the midi cables), but I'm not trying to create midi pieces so much as taking existing ones I get online and sculpting them into something nice and realistic sounding and not clinky. 

So I pretty much just use the mouse, keyboard and software and try to sculpt it by choosing whatever instruments that sound half-decent.

What do you recommend? I'm not really that good or familiar with using softsynths and also all the capabilities in X1.

The softsynths cake sell aren't bad at all. The thing is you really need to do your own research on VST soft synths and the type of sounds you want. It is easy for people to recommend a particular organ emulation for instance, that's a more specific thing, but asking people for good sounds is subjective.

So do you want a hammond organ or the sound of a real screaming goat? YouTube is invaluable here. So are demos.


If you are talking about what has been bundled with x1 BTW then really that's you call, that's half the fun finding out :-) 

Ta

This is a very broad question, at lot depends on what types of music you like to work with. For orchestral music, I use Garrison Personal Orchestra. There are other orchestral libraries out there that specialize more and cost more as well, but this one is fairly complete, very easy to use, and goes for $149.

I tried putting some different ones in the effects area

This statement is a bit of a worry.

I know some synths can and will play properly by inserting them into the Fx bin, but the usual way of getting a synth to play properly is to either insert it into the synth rack or do an insert > soft synth from Track View

Not only broad but also subjective. For an old freebie GM synth I think TTS-1 is pretty good but of course there are better options available. How much £/$ do you want to spend?

I think if what you want is TTS-1 but better, Native Instruments Kontakt is hard to beat!

Realistic sounds + Kick ass samples + great all kind of sounds--->   KONTAKT 5 and libraries.
http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/kontakt-5/




BEST Software synth. ----> Omnisphere
http://www.spectrasonics.net/products/omnisphere.php

I also wondered what you meant by putting them "in the effects area".
Anyway, for "realistic" sounds, Dimension Pro is my "go to" Cakewalk synth. The other virtual instrument I use alot, is RealGuitar from MusicLab - awesomely realistic acoustic guitar sounds.

If by "realistic" you mean sounds like real instruments, you need a sample player for that and Dimension Pro is the best soft synth included in Cakewalk for that purpose. If you need more realism, then Native Instruments Kontakt is probably the best bang for the buck.

After that come sample libraries that provide specific instrument simulations and those can get expensive depending on what you want.

Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview

SvenArne


I think if what you want is TTS-1 but better, Native Instruments Kontakt is hard to beat!

Native Instruments used to offer something called Kontakt Player, which was free, and came with some sounds.  Look for it on the www.native-instruments.com site.  You can also see all sorts of info on their product line.


My go-to synth collection comes from Native Instruments, and is their Komplete 8 Ultimate.

The TTS-1 is meant as a better sounding general MIDI synth.  It is multi-=timbral ,which means it can play more than one sound at the same time, and does this by allowing up to 16 different midi channels to be used at the same time - putting a different sound on each channel.  By default, drums in general MIDI use channel 10.  

There are some good free synths out there, as well.  Two of my favorites are the MinimoogVA and the ARP2600va.  

Bob Bone