Have you ever come across a synth you've previously written off or ticked as mediocre, only to give it another go at a later date and completely reverse your position?
If yes, tell us all about it here.


Some idiot know-it-all on kvr was trashing NI Massive, a synth I've thought about so much I had forgotten it was on my hd.
Loaded it up to find it's got a great sound of unmistakable quality, thus confirming the already known moron status of our kvr dweller.
Do get The unfinished soundbanks as they show off this plugin really well.

 

I'm gonna get bashed for this.
When I first started, as all the noobs, I was using a lot Nexus. Then I realized it wasn't really good because... because "presets bad! nexus bad!"
But later on I understood, hey, wait, weren't people in the 90s using also romplers, just more creatively? Nexus is just an instrument, in the right hands it can be really good, especially if you layer/subtract what you need. Also, it's like negative on the CPU, and that's very well appreciated on my coffe-making PC

 

Massive can cut through a mix very well. It's also great to modulate the signal over time so it doesn't sound static. I eventually get tired of hearing the same sounds over and over so this is an important feature to me. I guess people knock it because they aren't looking for these types of features for their tracks.

Nexus also has some great sounds. But it had become overused for a time and that often makes people start to hate it.

I'm still a big fan of Vanguard. I've heard people say it sounds like crap, but I don't hear it. You can get some really nice patterns out of it and there are probably thousands of presets for it. It was the Sylenth before Sylenth, if you get what I mean.

 

ha.,.. i am a fan of vanguard. hardly any cpu and you can get some wicked sounds out of it.
it's a really straight forward interface and you can have loads of instances.
recently i have also had another look at Tyrell N6, just about the most amazing (free!) synth there is. and FM8 suddenly started to produce some really interesting stuff for me. i think there are lost of instruments that would pay a revisit. the biggest one of all for me though, Reaktor and instruments library. amazing.
unfortunately i am a software whore so i am always trawling about for the next new thing. tsk...

 

Yes - Native Instruments Monark.

 

Me: Another analog synth? Freeware? Hyped? No way. Well, it's free so let's download it.
A year later
Me: What's that? Ah, that freeware. Let's try it... ... ... ... OMG! Wonderful, easy GUI, interesting modulation routing, best chorus effect I've heard for decades! Damn, I lost a year without this bomb!

U-HE Tyrell N6

 

Well, Skrillex uses it as well so I'm not so sure with "people say it sounds like crap".

For me a underrated gem would be Reaktor. People talk about it from time to time, but nowadays it's like introduction to Blocks and that's it. But there's like 200 "plugins" in the library it comes with, they're not pretty but they do sound great. Check out some of them:

... and this is like 5% of the stock library, if you still want more there's thousands to pick from on NI forums and some more to be bought, like the stuff from Twisted Tools

 

I own massive and was the first vst i purshased after a short trial period/Programmed a bit of dnb /bit of electro/hardhouse on it..
However although its still very capable, Any edm/electro/olskool dubstep trk i ever hear is mostly massive" I mean that its been used to death,maybe im being harsh....
At the time great/But arent you guys sick of the releases with msv used for wobbles/growls/some leads just all sound the same pretty much'''''Im not slamminj massive but i just dont find myself using it much... as ive better sounding alternatives with ext fx processing as opposed to the onboard fx provided coz i think it was intended as a one stop shop hence it all sounding the same
Gemini is a simple very capable for simple dnb bass tones btw" not suggestinig its a better alternative,that would be madness.....But an example i ll say with massive is all dubstep/dnb/electro style preset packs "not that i use them ,for this very reason" just sound the same ,exactly why i program my own presets for all my vsts. and i just cant see any new preset packs giving those users anything new to work with..................not trying to offend/just my honest opinion bud

 

Last edited: Sep 13, 2016

OUhh Yes....
http://www.humanoidsoundsystems.com/enzyme-vst-plugin-au-plugin-synth/

 

LuSH-101. I wrote that thing off. No clue as to why I tried it, but it's rich and strong.

 

Epic synth just epic,but a cpu killer for me anyways.....But does some great roland emulations" closer at most times than arturias offering... and the sh101 filter switch is gr8.....Kiler synth for someone with a shit hot pc ,me im just a humble i5

 

Personally I don't usually do soundbanks, especially so for those genres, so no, no I don't get sick of wobble/growl patches.
As for Gemini, it's up to you if you prefer an old generic synthmaker synth to a used to death industry standard.
There is no right or wrong in music.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Sep 12, 2016

Not a VST. But I initially 'wrote off' the packs of Goldbaby drum samples a friend sent me as 'just more samples of the same old drum machines' a few years back. I was wrong, after listening to, and more importantly, using them, they are definitely the next best thing to owning the actual machines in my opinion. Especially the packs that have been processed through recording onto tape and various bits of kit, they just sound so good in a mix. In fact, I'd even go as far as saying if your programming skills are up to scratch and you can get your patterns to swing and hit like they are coming from an actual machine, then they are sonically pretty much the real thing's equal.

 

actually there are certain sounds in nexus that i totally love, they're sampled from the waldorf microwaveXT, a synth that is ,imo , a lot better than that damn virus

 

Yep. Check out these BOSCOMAC freebies too :

**edit - these are Reaktor instruments & fx

http://boscomac.free.fr/?p=rack

 

Last edited: Sep 14, 2016

+1 @tulamide

Since I cannot seem to run Waldorf.. I went ahead and installed Komplexer ..what great sounds...!!
and what a pity it is no longer being maintained...

 

what a great thread, thanks Aliens
I was just in my closet playing a couple freebees, might as well come out about my Tal chorus habit, and Tal Dubs

 

Who the hell was trashing Massive? It's hands-down my favorite NI synth and it sports a very layered, complex, evolving sound. I use it on everything.

 

Exactly. Not a track I don't end up using massive!