analog isn't really doing it for me..

[littlepig]

You can have my copy of Fab Filter Twin V1 for the price of the licence transfer. I bought it before Ableton included analogue and now I don't use it. Oh, I also bought a Tetra...

[rikhyray]

I really should have mentioned this in my first post, but what i'm really looking for is a VSTi that is great for making huge synth bass sounds...artists like pretty lights, big gigantic etc. are kinda what i'm thinking. i've been able to make some good sounds with analog but my bass sounds are definitely lacking and i need a more inspiring instrument!

Before giving up check the tutorials http://www.applied-acoustics.com/ultraanalog/extras/ and other sites suggested in earlier posts.
There are some great and not expensive real analog synths,like Mopho, little Moog (sorry hate its ridiculous name).VSTs for sketching, experimenting , hardware live and at the end of production process, is the way I work.

[casiblake]

I really should have mentioned this in my first post, but what i'm really looking for is a VSTi that is great for making huge synth bass sounds...artists like pretty lights, big gigantic etc. are kinda what i'm thinking. i've been able to make some good sounds with analog but my bass sounds are definitely lacking and i need a more inspiring instrument!

Try duplicating Analog, even have three at once playing the same patch with minor tweaks to tuning, panning and filter position. I find that Analog is excellent at what it's supposed to do: model a 2-osc analog synth. But like such synths, they often need a touch of pitch/filter modulation, chorus and delay to begin taking a sound to a higher level.

Though some might argue Operator is the way to go for huge bass sounds...

[Machinesworking]

I really should have mentioned this in my first post, but what i'm really looking for is a VSTi that is great for making huge synth bass sounds...artists like pretty lights, big gigantic etc. are kinda what i'm thinking. i've been able to make some good sounds with analog but my bass sounds are definitely lacking and i need a more inspiring instrument!

Try duplicating Analog, even have three at once playing the same patch with minor tweaks to tuning, panning and filter position. I find that Analog is excellent at what it's supposed to do: model a 2-osc analog synth. But like such synths, they often need a touch of pitch/filter modulation, chorus and delay to begin taking a sound to a higher level.

Though some might argue Operator is the way to go for huge bass sounds...

Bingo! Analog should be pretty good at big bass sounds, but IMO like most soft synths, it requires tweaking. Again, take at least one of the oscillators and run an LFO to it with sample and hold, sine or triangle selected, with hardly any amount Do this with the filter as well, neither should be synced to tempo or each other. Big bass after that is all filter settings and ADSR settings IMO. You get something good to begin with and ad slight amounts of FX and it can do what you want.

[dum]

I'm looking for something that is powerful and easily integrated with Ableton.

i guess i'm just not satisfied with the sounds i'm getting from it

...just looking for something a little phatter and phunkier hah.

would I be able to map massive or sylenth1's paramaters to my apc40?

does recording automation function the same way as it would with ableton's instruments?

I really should have mentioned this in my first post, but what i'm really looking for is a VSTi that is great for making huge synth bass sounds...

i've been able to make some good sounds with analog but my bass sounds are definitely lacking and i need a more inspiring instrument!

Although everyone has given you good tips for getting more out of Ableton's Analog(ue) this is the synth you want: http://www.acesynth.com/


and btw, when you're using 3rd party VSTS you can get better automation control. What I mean by that is, in session view when you're controlling an ableton instrument you can't record those live-tweaks without some inconvenient workarounds. With a 3rd party VST, you can set the VST to 'midi learn' or manually assign the midi values of your controller to match those of the VST (or vice versa)... and in session view live will record the midi your controller outputs when tweaking the VST live. That's a bonus over using native ableton instruments, imo.
Something to remember about midi control: in your preferences, go to the midi section. you'll see for each midi port it has three midi options (TRACK SYNC REMOTE)... if you want to record your midi tweaks in session view you need to make sure the controller is activated for TRACK... REMOTE is used for controlling Ableton natively, and those tweaks aren't recorded in session view.

I don't own an APC40, but I'd be very surprised if you couldn't map it's knobs/faders to your 3rd party VSTs. You might want to check out your manual, or start another thread about your APC40 setup.



Regarding ACE, it is really hungry for CPU depending on the patch you use or create, but it sounds amazing and has, imo, a great interface. I would say it satisfies all your criteria but for sure check the demo out. If you're liking ACE, you may be interested to know that it is the little brother to a much more ambitious modular synth the developer is working on. When that is released, the money you spent on ACE will be deducted from the cost of the new synth if you decide to buy it.

[luddy]

Although everyone has given you good tips for getting more out of Ableton's Analog(ue) this is the synth you want: http://www.acesynth.com/

+1. It bests almost everything out for bass sounds. It's quite a bit of effort to program it well I think, but it can deliver really beautiful high-quality sounds.

-Luddy

[jsn]

Here you will find a fair-priced comprehensive video tutorial series covering Ableton's Analog instrument. It helps to shed some light on the instrument's unique interface, while offering excellent advice pertaining to general subtractive synthesis sound design.

http://nickstutorials.com/products/soun ... ive-analog

[Emissary]

I love analogue, its my most used synth, sticking 3 or 4 in a group and layering different morphing sounds is ace. I agree the osc sync could be better though

[Digital_Damage]

I roll with massive http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/ ... r/massive/

[nylarch]

Operator++

[polyslax]

If huge synth bass and software are the criteria, I'd recommend Trilian.

As a bonus it does awesome bass guitar and makes a kickass lead synth as well.

[Usedtobe]

operator +++ for realz, and massive. I used to be so not down with vsts (other than operator ) until I discovered massive. It's fun, totally aggressive nasty bass stuff, especially when you up the voices (they call it "unisono")

also, i don't love my mopho every single day, but i do today! It's so badass

operator takes love to get something magical, but it will definitely deliver if you ask nicely

[leedsquietman]

U-he Ace as mentioned above is a really great little synth for the money. Recommended. *some patches can be a bit load intensive, but so can massive and other synths and it still pales in comparison to Arturia's JP8V for burning load* - certainly, racking up 2 or 3 analogs and adding some FX will also be load intensive too.

[Lazos]

Maybe because I already have had Zebra for quite awhile, I demoed U-he ACE and didn't really dig it all that much. But that's probably just 'cause I'd gotten used to Zebra's workflow and the oscillators sound fairly much the same to me between the two synths. I know ACE has different routing options, but Zebra's so versatile, it works for me. In fact, it's the only 3rd party synth I own, haven't felt the need for much of anything else besides Ableton Suite.

Although, the best ever mono Moog sound I ever got ever was from Lil' ol' Ableton Analog. I was sitting down and doing my take on the Alesis Micron's "Stix Moog": a Dennis DeYoung sound. I was able to get a very nice tone with creamy and biting all at the same time. Damn me if I didn't lose that patch somewhere

[ze2be]

If its about bass (or any sound really), it all depends on the synth. Collision is great for liquid type techno bass, Operator is great for clean warm synth bass, Surge is my favorite for wobbly bass, crazy pads, and any kind of "creative" sounds. Tension is ok with acoustic bass. Sometimes I use Analog for choir type pads, but thats about it. Operator and Surge are very low on cpu.

Massive is great, but it eats cpu like a monster. Can do mostly the same thing with Surge, and the sound is to my taste a bit "warmer".

If you want a great "jack of all trades" bass rompler, go with Trillian. Prepare to use some gigs of your HD though.