Do you have anything like that? Something everybody seem to like but you just can't.

I tried another synth by GForce Software right now and I have to say I don't like any of them. I tried all of them at different points and they all sound harsh, dated and shallow. Even the "professional" presets sound like this, I can do a slightly better job with basic sounds but it's still nowhere near what I would expect from an esteemed analog-modelling company, especially compared to Synapse Audio and u-He.

Another one is Soundtheory. Gullfoss have very limited use, it messes up transients and it's very easy to overdo even its intended effect. Kraftur I just can't make sound good no matter what, it's always worse than StandardCLIP.

What are your disliked popular software? And why? Arguments welcome as long as they're civil and to the point.

P.S. Unpopular opinions only. Arturia, Slate and the likes don't count, as they have a substantial amount of detractors.

P.P.S. No warez links please, and I have to stress it that this is not a request thread.

 

Last edited: Oct 29, 2025 at 2:07 PM

i despise fab filter pro q and fl studio

 

Gotta give us more than that. Why do you despise Pro-Q?

 

because its over used in the industry.. i hate how it sounds, plastic.. ugly inteface. there is much better eq out there.. i dont want to be like everybody. and fl studio is too simple

 

Pro-Q doesn't have its own sound. It's 100% transparent, and with no more digital artefacts than any other digital tool (barring DMG EQuilibrium with its unreasonable super-pure options that will usurp your CPU).
What makes it worse than other digital EQs, or do you simply dislike a clean digital EQ as a concept?

 

Last edited: Oct 29, 2025 at 2:19 PM

Omnisphere 2 always gives me errors. So I just replaced it with MOK Waverazor & Sausage Fattener. Sounds exactly the same to my ears.

 

I never got along with Serum.

There's nothing wrong with it, I respect what it can do and what people can make it sound like, it's a great synth that I've even recommended to people. But it just doesn't work for me.

When I put on my sound mangling hat on it just doesn't bend to my will so at that point might as well use something else that I can operate.

 

i used it before.. but i dont like it anymore

 

If you can elaborate, what in its workflow clashes with you? What synths do you use instead?

 

@justwannadownload, your comparison between GForce and U-he is a bit flawed. GForce recreates old hardware synthesizers, and they do a very good job, even improving the software with more polyphony, for example. U-he is also an exceptional company that meets the highest quality standards.

You either like GForce instruments or you don't. They're not the kind of GForce fan who likes the impOScar or the OB-X, but rather someone who probably prefers U-he's newer digital virtual software synthesizers, which sound less like the 60s, 70s, and early 90s. Manufacturers initially released hardware clones that sold very well because every company needs a lot of cash to keep it afloat, and later they release instruments that don't sell as well.

I don't like some Arturia plugins, so I don't play them, I don't save presets, and sometimes I just delete them. For years I was annoyed by FL Studio's olive green and was glad when Studio One came out, which I then bought. FL Studio's incompetence, cost-cutting, and ignorance were truly exemplary—the olive green curse. A few years ago, they finally got a new, dark GUI.

Then Kontakt was always the same brown color... eventually, I bought UVI Falcon and completely deleted Kontakt. As you can see, the GUI color plays a big role for me. I had a 4K monitor and then had to see that manufacturers were also offering VST3 and zoomable GUIs. Often, like Rob Papen, the only way to play plugins at the beginning was in Cakewalk Sonar because the graphics were too small and unreadable on 4K monitors. Meanwhile, Rob Papen has improved some of his plugins!

 

What do you mean by popular music? Because almost all the music we listen to is considered popular music. Even electronic music, rock, AI-generated etc. are categorized as popular, whether underground or mainstream.

 

Please tell me which EQ you like

 

Not a fan of Sylenth. I listened to hundreds of presets and every single one sounded cheesy, dated and cheap. I couldn't imagine using it in any project so I deleted it and all its patches. I love the sound of Dune, Spire, Zebra and Diva.

 

Last edited: Oct 29, 2025 at 3:58 PM

For simple basses and such, Korg Warszawa is great. For random experimental sounds and wavetables, Ableton's Wavetable. For extensive performancey modulatey goodness then either Massive or Massive X.

With Serum I never seem to get the mod amounts right. I don't think the UI is bad, just slightly cramped, but still, picking an envelope and adjusting it to WT position to get a slightly clangy transient to a sound... with the other mentioned ones it's just: pick a modulator, adjust env length, add mod depth. With Serum somewhere between getting the envelope decay and the WT position amount correct I just get lost.

It's a me problem definitely, but nothing about it feels "natural" if you see what I mean?

 

Serum

 

Ableton. Used it for 15 years about. It was the little things that started to add up that eventually drove me crazy/going to reaper. High cpu usage, crashing sets, 7 folders iirc for plugins, I saw they are JUST NOW allowing users to bounce down group tracks. Only thing I miss is the sampler, specifically a preset for chopping they removed after version 8. Ce la vie!

 

Serum, but...

... to tell you the truth, I find most synths uninspiring to sound design because of their guis and workflow, and I prefer Pink Floyd or Kraftwerk style sounds to more modern ones (so I have to make most of my own sounds in most synths as I rarely enjoy their presets).

About GForce, I loved the original Oddity, but not so much the newer versions (2 and 3). Go figure.

 

Last edited: Oct 29, 2025 at 5:17 PM

Acustica Audio, UAD, Live, UJAM, and Cherry Audio, just to name a few off the top of my head... I mostly dislike products from these brands cuz of their design/UX and DRM.

 

i dont like ableton. too strange to work in