Which NI synth?

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
guydean
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Which NI synth?

Post by guydean » Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:56 am

anyone recommend an NI synth?

i have zebra2 but fancy adding another synth.

absynth looks like it is the most versatile at the moment....

cheers

gennargiu
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Post by gennargiu » Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:04 am

Absynth 4 or Fm 8 for me great synths with excellent possibility creative and manipolator sounds
8)

hi

gennaro
Live Ableton 8.4 (32/64 bit) + Operator - Live Ableton 10 intro - Launchpad S - Windows 10

esky
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Post by esky » Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:11 am

I'd recommend Reaktor, because it's much more than just a synth. This platform can be anything you want it to be. There are fantastic synth in the library, but also lots of effects and other nice toys...

Szuumm
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Post by Szuumm » Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:19 am

+1 for Reaktor

Machinesworking
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Post by Machinesworking » Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:38 am

Definitely Absynth or Reactor.

Absynth is a more concise experience once you learn how to program it, and Reactor is the crazy toolkit.

IMO Zebra and Absynth are a perfect fit, the strong points of one is the mediocre part of the other, and they just sound good together.

kizzah
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Post by kizzah » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:16 am

I vote Reaktor as well. I luff him.

Rosko
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Post by Rosko » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:16 am

reaktor>absynth>FM8>Massive

Deffo reaktor althought absynth & fm8 are cool also.

rozling
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Post by rozling » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:18 am

Rosko wrote:reaktor>absynth>FM8>Massive

Deffo reaktor althought absynth & fm8 are cool also.
I concur.

creature
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Post by creature » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:48 am

I really like FM8 it is a really flexible and nice sounding synth. I also second the comments on reaktor. I tend to use more pre built stuff in reaktor than build stuff. Although I really want to learn it properly.

Russell Krauch
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Post by Russell Krauch » Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:45 am

I have Zebra and Absynth. Between both of these I have most of the bases covered.

UKRuss
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Post by UKRuss » Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:53 am

I'm on this tip at the moment:

Take a preset from whatever synth you do have, play a note or phrase, record to audio clip. Drag clip into Sampler, get crazy with the modulation and Osc options and create a new sound.

loads of fun.

This is mainly becasue I haven't got the time to learn how to programme Massive properly but I'm getting pretty good with my sound design in sampler. (Thanks to Nick the Zombies excellent vids)

re.mark
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Post by re.mark » Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:14 pm

I LOVE Massive... couldnt get into absynth when i tried a demo, but massive literally is massive...


edit: typo

Tweaking Knobs
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Re: Which NI synth?

Post by Tweaking Knobs » Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:37 pm

guydean wrote:anyone recommend an NI synth?

i have zebra2 but fancy adding another synth.

absynth looks like it is the most versatile at the moment....

cheers
Absynth sucks, its not a playable synth, its for making more soundesign for movies.

i wouldnt recomend it to make music, i would say reaktor.

glitchrock-buddha
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Post by glitchrock-buddha » Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:41 pm

Absynth definitely does not suck. It's a beautiful instrument. Both weird sounds and solid basses, leads and all the normal stuff. One reason why absynth is a really good complement to Zebra is because it can use samples and do granular sampling which zebra doesn't. So you get a much wider range. The only thing I don't like about it is that all the controls are mouse onlym but at least there are lots of performance controls.

Otherwise, Reaktor is pretty much the best bang for your buck. Absolutely endless and great sounding. And of course it has lots of sampling abilities too so it would be agreat addition to zebra as well.
Professional Shark Jumper.

rozling
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Post by rozling » Tue Nov 18, 2008 2:06 pm

UKRuss wrote:I'm on this tip at the moment:

Take a preset from whatever synth you do have, play a note or phrase, record to audio clip. Drag clip into Sampler, get crazy with the modulation and Osc options and create a new sound.

loads of fun.

This is mainly becasue I haven't got the time to learn how to programme Massive properly but I'm getting pretty good with my sound design in sampler. (Thanks to Nick the Zombies excellent vids)
That's a nice way of doing things - you got a link to those vids?

Reaktor is the gift that keeps on giving, because of:
  • a) the user library (this is infinitely cool - people have stuff up here for free that could easily be justifiable as payware) and

    b) the education factor. By this I mean, you can be a fairly novice user and build usable synths - there's a collection of macros (building blocks) called something like 'Analog Collection' that are as simple as can be to get up and running with. Once you know the basics of analogue synthesis you can start building using this collection, and it's an immensely satisfying thing.

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