Best synth software to use with ableton(apart from operator)

[giblespaul89]

Howdy

I'm looking to get some synth software to use when creating tracks in ableton or while playing live but i have no idea where to start...i'm kind of looking for some slightly dark basses sounds but really to more options the better. As per usual i don't really have a lot of money so something along the budget side of things would be better for me.

Any advice on where to start or what might be a good buy??

I've spent a while googling and on things like soundonsound and musictech but i want something that works well with ableton but not really knowing what is good and bad it's tough to make a decent decision.

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks

[Android Bishop]

I think Sylenth is a great place to start. It has high quality sound, low CPU use, and is relatively simple so it is easy to learn. Once you have mastered Sylenth you can graduate to more complex synths like Zebra and Alchemy

[Homebelly]

why not operator?

[contakt321]

why not operator?

Exactly.

I like FreeAlpha - it's good at what it does and it's free.

[lapieuvre]

Cakewalk's synths are huge! RApture, Zeta, Dimension.

People say good things about Massive from NI

Also check out the new monster: Spectrasonics Omnisphere. Not sure what this thing is, but the sound is killer

[robotsound]

alchemy

[Tarekith]

Zebra2 or Omnisphere

[beats me]

Omnisphere on a budget? Is there any single softsyth that is more expensive than Omnisphere?

But if you got it you'd probably be happy for many years to come.

[Gab]

Omnisphere on a budget? Is there any single softsyth that is more expensive than Omnisphere?

But if you got it you'd probably be happy for many years to come.

Yeah. Not cheap, but from what I've seen of it you can get pretty much ANYTHING you want out of it. And the upcoming possibility of using your own samples as soundsources will not tone down its interest.

[mike_o]

I'd start here, http://www.discodsp.com/discovery/, it's a nord lead replacement softsynth for $100 and its legit, I had a nordrack 2x but sold it after I compared the 2 side by side, discovery dsp is awesome, comes with over 40 banks of 128 sounds, can add unlimited new banks, actually imports and reads nord lead sysex patch data, has a pattern gate built in, good fm ability which sylenth does not.

I have both sylenth and this, they are both great, but this has more diverity in its sound abiity's. sylenth has a better FX section and better modulation features, sound quality is equal.

[Android Bishop]

Omnisphere on a budget? Is there any single softsyth that is more expensive than Omnisphere?

But if you got it you'd probably be happy for many years to come.

Yeah. Not cheap, but from what I've seen of it you can get pretty much ANYTHING you want out of it. And the upcoming possibility of using your own samples as soundsources will not tone down its interest.

Upcoming possibility? In that case I'd go with alchemy which already lets you do that.

[Gab]

Yeah, but does Alchemy give you all the other possibilities that Omni provides?

Anyway there is no best softsynth, some users will be completely satisfied with one that will not attract other. In the end that's just a matter of personal taste. And as Omnisphere is not exactly along the budget side of things some aformentioned synth may certainly be better choices for giblespaul.

[Grappadura]

have you checked out some free synths at kvraudio.com? there are tons listed.

[JAMM]

SYLENTH1
Great powerful synth...sounds like a hardware synth, great CPU usage, good (dance)presets.
I run 8 sylenths with no problems.
Also very tight midi timing.
170 euro,s so the price is okay.

try the demo.

[glitchrock-buddha]

Are you looking for something pretty straight forward? Mainly VA or other synthesis types. Sylenth1 is a good option for straight forward VA and is also quite low on cpu. It's one of the best sounding VA's but limited in sound design. Another that's pretty awesome and not complicated is impOscar (absurdly low cpu as well and sounds fantastic). This one is more versatile as far as the sound goes, less modulation than sylenth1 though. As mentioned, Zebra's a good all around choice. May be daunting at first, but it's straight forward if you use just a few modules. Actually most of the factory patches are use only a couple modules.

Also, I'd hang around at the marketplace forum on KVR to pick up some good deals on used soft synths. You can often find stuff like Native Instruments synths (Absynth, Massive etc.) for really good deals and they're quite good.

Oh and if you haven't already, go download the Togu AudioLine free synths: TAL_Bassline, TAL-Uno-62 and TAL_Electro. There are lots more cool ones for free too like crystal. And if you pick up an issue of computer magazine, you'll get the free ZebraCM, which is quite powerful. If you like that, you can go and buy Zebra 2.