Ableton Forum

Hey peeps! I'm lookin for a new soft synth, and was wondering if you guys had some suggestions.
ive been using operator (and forced myself not to use anything else) for like 6 months now and have worked really hard at making it second nature, but now i'm running into needing more lfos, and lfo destinations, and of course more oscs, among the rest. I'm not looking for anything fancy looking or too crazy, but something super versatile and classic (lots of options that i can set up myself). I even thought about max...? yes? no? is it worth learning just so i can make my own? anyway, just wanted to have you guys help me out, in case i ended up missing one in my search.

thanx a bunch

spuds

ps forgot to mention, i'm looking for something thats completely automatable and easily so. I love me my automations.

Check out Omnisphere by Spectrasonics. It's super versatile, got loads of modulation options and good sound sources. There's not much you can't do with it.

-> http://www.spectrasonics.net/products/omnisphere.php

my absolute recommendations for going deeper into synthesis...

NI Absynth
U he ACE
AAS TassMan

the next logical step after that would be Reaktor or Max/MSP

Tone2 Gladiator can also do some incredible stuff

absynth and massive is the shit.
reactor if you are more experienced

to add some more of my favourites:

camel audio alchemy
synapse dune
fxpansion synth squad

and +1 for ace

There are lots of great soft synths out there. People are going to mention ones they own, which is natural because they can recommend based on actual experience. I've got a ton of 'em, gear lust from when I first started. If I could only have one, it would certainly be Omnisphere. I think many would agree that it's one of, if not the most powerful. That said, it depends what sound you're going for, you might not need to spend that much money. The key is how something fits your needs & how well you know the synth, inside out. It sounds like you've put in the work w/ Operator so your ahead of the game there.

Also, I'd strongly recommend looking at an analog hardware synth if you ever come across enough cash. You're not going to go wrong with any of these soft synth recommendations though. Folks wouldn't mention them if they weren't quality. Keep in mind CPU usage also, depending on your computer.

Massive was my next stop after operator.

Also, don't underestimate the power of multiple instances of operator in a single rack or splitting the frequency and adding specific effects to each frequency band. Live can be very powerful in and of itself if you do this.

Zebra2

Definitely worth giving Urs' free Tyrell N6 a try out: http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=156013

For what you describe, Zebra2 would be the perfect step up because it is very versatile and lets you add and configure whatever modules you want and set the routing.
Omnisphere is probably my favorite synth though, I just love the library and sounds. Zebra is the more flexible in terms of straight synthesis though.

Massive is another one of my favs but I wouldn't buy it individually unless used. It's way more worth it to just buy Komplete.

I find massive to be a weak sounding synth with a good gui. Zebra2 is pretty amazing, try the demo, it's pretty reasonable on CPU as well. I see a few people talking as if you need more experience to use reaktor? However you don't have to build synths in reactor to use the countless synths already in the user library. Stephan V makes some kiler synths for reactor.

After reading this thread, I'm definitely checking into on is here

JuanSOLO wrote:I find massive to be a weak sounding synth with a good gui.

I find Massive is exactly what the name implies. Massive sounding. There's a reason it's the most popular dubstep synth. And as much as I like Zebra, Massive does much better at sounding HUGE and dirty. I like Zebra for thinner sounds, mostly digital keys, light pads, soft leads, physical modelling type stringy sounds etc.

^^ Massive is huge, not in the least bit weak, great for filthy sounding stuff as g-b just said.

If I had to choose just one synth it...would....be......erm....Alchemy? Maybe.

Zebra