What's the word ladies and gents.

So I wanted to kill two birds with one stone in satisfying my curiosity and running my first poll.

So the question is what is the soft synth that you go to straight away by habit and why? Is it because of flexibility, the best GUI, CPU efficiency, sound engine or does it just have that unexplainable X-factor to it? What made you so comfortable with it?

Being that I am just going through these synths again and I have spent a lot of time trying to learn each one thoroughly, I am seeing that subconsciously there is one that I am starting to gravitate towards now... and that is Native Instrument's Massive.

For some reason I find it the most smooth, versatile and intuitive synth and despite being quite mature with respect to some of these new synths it has the feel of a complete workhorse - good for quickly rustling up any kind of sound quickly. The FX and inserts seem to sound more organic than some of the other synths to my ears and the performer and the stepper are features that I am tending to use with increasing frequency. The more that I learn about Massive, the more that it is starting to pull away and become the synth that I open up first when I start to design a sound.

I know that more or less most synths offer a similar set of features with some variation to them feature-wise. But I am very curious to know what it's like for all you groovy people out there and what you've become accustomed to using most. Or do you use different synths for different sounds eg pads, sweeps, bass and leads are all created on different synths?

It would be interesting to see what the results are. And if I have missed anything out in the list then please inform me and I'll add it on.

EDIT: it would also be cool to learn what kind of style or genre you mainly use your go-to synth for.

Ao1

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX0rXcAi684 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNYcviXK4rg

(da da da)

 

I was just waiting for someone to say get out of here with your digital dials and knobs lol. Ok I'll add another option

 

Massive.

mainly because its the one i've been using the longest.
and i know how to get a good sound quickly from it. it's a bit old now and a lot of people have jumped away from it.

but i still love it.

 

Omnisphere is my way to go especially the Omnisphere v2 ,

But honestly i use more than one synth in my projects

I use Refx Nexus 2.7.1 & Massive & Sylenth1 & omnisphere & kontakt in all my projects

 

Hey mate it's funny you should say that. I'm still relatively new to synthesis so I haven't had the experience of using one for years. But from a fresh pair of eyes I think Massive packs a powerful punch once you get down to its core. I can see why people would move away from it with time with the new synths coming out but it still has a lot to offer and I'm really digging its versatility. Even if it isn't the best to look at from the bunch.

 

Hmm... where did Absynth goes?

 

Hey Mr_Amine that's interesting to know. I think I'll add another option in at the top for people with no specific preference. Out of interest do you use Omnisphere for your more punchy sounds or do you find yourself using it for more atmospheric and ambient sounds when compared to the others?

 

voted spire, but Sylenth, massive and reaktor are in every project as well

 

Bazille

 

Added just for you phloopy

Out of interest do you use Absynth for a specific type of sound in your production or do you think it is good for all types? I have used it the least to be honest but am interested to see what I'm missing out on and what I may have overlooked with some of these synths.

 

i use omnisphere in the intro & Bridge of the song and I use spectrasonics trilian for the chorus & piano of refx nexus
most of the main sounds i use sylenth1 & massive
kontakt i use it for strings libraries when i want to create soul or r&b songs

but mostly when omnisphere 2 has that great option of using my own sounds that is why omnisphere is my way to go

 

Serum for really synthy stuff and omnisphere for less synthy and more Rompler like things

 

I'm using Zebra much these days and then some Serum when I want some in your face.

 

Mr_Amine - thanks for the breakdown thats interesting to know how you use your synths.

Wow we're a few hours in and Sylenth1 is starting to pull away from the pack. This is very interesting to me. Maybe I've been overlooking it somewhat. I like the sound engine but it never seemed as dynamic as Massive. I think I might have to give it a closer re-examination.

I'd be interested to know if the Sylenth voters think it works really well for meeting all of their needs or if rather its really good at one particular thing - say for strong leads and they build the track around that.

Keep your votes coming in people. Let's get to the bottom of this!

 

I voted for zebra but massive is a very close second, between the two of them they can sound just as good as the virus in the mix.
I'm also becoming very fond of hive lately as well, it can sound huge and lead sounds seem to sit well and poke through in the right places with little effort.
I love sylenth and it also gets a lot of use via jbridge but it does have its issues using it this way and like everyone else we are all tired of waiting for the long overdue update

 

I find I'm using Spire a lot lately because of the ability to mix in wavetables to whatever oscillator I'm working on (FM mostly) and it has really great filter algorithms. And I end up with dirtier sounds than the likes of massive and sylenth. And as much as I love Serum it just chews up available CPU and I like to be able to adjust the sound in the synth as part of my mixing so I prefer not to bounce down until the end.

Most of all, my brain seems to like the way it works cos I'm a lot more productive with Spire even though I know I can do the same things and more with other synths.
The layout really agrees with me.

 

Hive

 

1. Spire, Sylenth1, Massive, Diva, Zebra, LuSH-101, Serum, Z3ta+2
2. Roland plug-out stuff, Arturia, TAL, FM8, SynthMaster, LinPlug stuff, Rob Papen's synths
3. ANA, Poly-Ana, some Reaktor stuff, Tone2, KORG, Waldorf

And my VirusC