Hey all, my question is a simple one... Most of my work is songwriting, but I like to incorporate some production along the way for inspiration. I don't always have time to sit and mess with sounds from an oscillator based synth (massive and the like,) so I find myself using digidesign's xpand often because of the categorized presets and amount of sounds within it. could any one recommend a soft synth that does something similar but of higher quality / better sounds?

Thanks!

 

Omnisphere and Alchemy are my two favorites

 

Hypersonik 2 (old but still very good)

 

or try independence, has a huge library

 

If you are "only" a songwriter I think Sylenth is the best choice for you. It has the most advanced library on earth. It doesn´t have the best filters but still great sounds. Though Sylenth is not expensive.

Always remember: always pay for the software you are using!

 

Omnisphere for that big cinematic sound, Nexus for popular EDM sounds, Kontakt for sample libraries.

 

WOW 2, Nexus, Kontakt, Cyclop synth, Tilogy, Purity are just some of my favorite tools

 

Sylenth 1 would be my number 1 suggestion for you, and trust me I've tried pretty every soft synth out there. It's simple, straight forward to use and has a huge following and alot of sound designers, so the number of presets available for it is insane and cover every sound you can imagine. Then maybe you can add to that some real instrument emulations like a piano synth, sax, guitar etc...maybe kontakt or something like that.

 

My first suggestion is Sylenth. You can't go wrong with Sylenth. The good point is Sylenth has many-many preset out there. From EDM to Hip Hop, event lounge, down tempo and little bit cinematic.

The second is Nexus. This is standar for producing EDM. Good arpeggio, good sound library, good preset.

But if you want to create different sound & atmosphere, U-He Diva & U-He Zebra (in my opinion) is the best deal. Just check their demo products. I'm using it and it sound amazing.