Hi everyone!

What's your favorite software synth at the present time,in contrast with the past ?

I'm getting into Massive X (had a legit copy on my Ni account & downloaded it a couple of days ago)
I like the update & some of the Massive X expansions especially Kino.
In the recent past I was really into Arturia Pigments & Spire.









* I would like to hear your thoughts about this,what synth you use most,your workflow,thoughts about the GUI,sounds & expansions of your favorite synth,ease of use,gerne you use it for.
if you do a lot of sound design these days or rely more on presets & more interested in finishing your tracks & so on,you get the idea,lets discuss!

Take care Spyfx

* Please no hardware synth discussion & no Ai links,thank you in advance


* edit : Sorry for the typos guys,vote #8 should be Spectrasonics Omnisphere & Trilogy and the title of the poll :
What's your favorite software synth nowdays ? but there is no way for me to edit them

^ @omiac @ArticStorm @SAiNT if you could make the edit/changes,if it is possible,I would appreciate it!

 

Last edited: Aug 11, 2025 at 6:57 PM

Me likey Serum2 and Dune3 ..they are just good enough for my music production.

 

Pigments for me, with Omnisphere a close second. Both have a million presets to get you close to what you want and both have more knobs than I'll ever know how to tweak.

Never got into Massive X. It was way overhyped and had some bad reviews when it first launched, mostly due to being buggy and unfinished, and my experiences of it have been a bit underwhelming. Its predecessor was (and still is) decent and I think X struggles to recapture that vibe.

 

Omnisphere: I don't think there is any better 'preset' jack of all trades softsynth. Good for when 'good enough' will get me tossing a riff down without losing myself to knob twiddling. Plus it has hardware profiles for 5 or 6 synths I have. Though they can get a little wonky. If a message gets delayed in the buffer Omni will lose its bearings and you have to click into Omni... kinda defeating the purpose. Thinking on it though, that really only happens on the Pro2 and the last firmware did some wonky things... so.. that might be a Dave problem.

Close second: Synapse Audio Obsession: Only softsynth to my ears that keeps it close to 'authentic' OBX lowpass filter across the frequencies.

I'm mostly a hardware fella though... so my wants are "good enough" preset and go to just start slapping down riffs. All the sound designy stuff I do hardware side.

 

Nexus 5.now that you can properly mangle patches

 

SQ8L by Siegfried Kullmann

 

Phase Plant, the whole kilohearts modular ecosystem is just too good.

 

Camel Audio - Alchemy is a great synthesizer, unfortunately the company no longer exists.

 

I am really liking the Korg Multi Poly Native.
I am still learning it but it seems to do the mimicking of analogue better then most complicated synths. So the idea that I can do most of my sounds there with one tool really appeals to me as I don't need to remember multiple synths and layouts. But honestly I do music that is not EDM focused so super complex patches are not really for me. But just that it has the filter types and amp drives and envelope curves are enough to give me plenty of different things and then I can dip my toes into other things if I feel the need.
I tried to make it match U-he Diva and while not 100% there it could come close enough for my needs, but just with the extra tons of flexibility.

 

Cescato Musiktechnologie - Trans Computer Maschine VSTi (32 Bit) http://cescato.altervista.org/T-C-M.htm

Ummet Ozcan - Genesis Computer Music VSTi (32 Bit) https://plugins4free.com/plugin/2762/

 

Last edited: Aug 11, 2025 at 2:29 PM

Falcon, Serum, Acustica Thing, Analog Lab, Pigments, Phase Plant, Current, etc etc...

 

nexus 5 + xfer serum .. already good
also kontakt 8

 

I have several synths I use in my productions.
My top five in terms of usage:

1. Serum 2
2. VPS Avenger
3. Dune 3
4. Spire
5. Nexus 5

 

VPS Avenger 2
Dune 3
Pigments
Diva
Alchemy
Pneuma Pro (Ronan Fed)

 

Model 84 Polyphonic Synthesizer

 

Probably favourite of all time is Zebra 2. But can't be a single favourite really.

Currently I've been doing a lot with Massive X thanks to the update, adding morph scenes to my sounds and it's great. After that at the moment it's Cardinal, but that's cheating.

 

Last gem : KORG modwave
Impressive NEW sounds from this beast

I hate most KORG synths.
But this one ...

 

Vital for sound design and making crazy sequences using the lfos.

There are others that sound nicer for analog style for my taste, but I could never enjoy their workflow - it was never enjoyable to make my own sounds with them. Vital is way ahead in this department from anything else I have tried.

Also use Oddity 1, Korg M1 and Miniverse - this last one for simple and basic moog sounds out of the box, as it comes with no fx that make it sound like something else but a moog.

There are others I like the sound but never use: Spire, Softube prophet, modular (most terrific sound and most terrible workflow) and 72, some of the rolands.

 

I have a problem with some synths, like Vital, Massive (X) ... i don't like the engine sound.
So whatever i hear from them is a no go for me.
It is not the features, possibilities ... it is sound engine DNA.

Worst to me :
Diversion (Thorn Sches), Tantra
This treble content is unbearable, even more than Vital.

On the opposite side, ANA synth came from average version 1 sound engine to amazing in V2 sound engine.

About "analog" workflow, yes it is pain to mimic dated workflow, just to be "accurate".
I don't care about rotary buttons : i just want the SOUND

 

@ItsFine I really wish Vital sounded better, more analog: yes, it can sound fine and versatile, but as you said and I agree, there is smth in its engine dna and filters that does not appeal to me. But as I am in music just for the fun fact nowadays, it is unbeatable in this department. Vital with softube sound would be a dream come true.

Some people bringing some free old 32 bit gems here: Trans computer maschine and SQL8 - both great, really. Loved them!

Today I could satisfy 90 percent of my synth needs with just freeware (Bazille CM and Zebra CM are totally free downloads now at U-he site - with these two, Vital, Tyrell, Dexed, Cardinal and The Usual suspects' synths, no need to have anything else).