What soft synth to start with?

[Stalkr]

I will probably get some flame for creating this thread, but I feel really lost here.
So a friend and I want to get into EDM production with focus on (liquid, chill) dubstep and electro house. Not that we want to limit ourselves, but just for a better idea of style.
We have decided to use Ableton Live and are in need of a great synth. It's been debated whether operator is worth anything on other forums. Some said it was geared toward the live mixing aspect of Live.
So we are looking for a soft synth, but the market is overwhelming. So many choices and not sure what synth is geared toward which genre.
Both new to producing and have only been playing with Ableton for a few weeks. Know nothing about synths and how they work, not afraid to RTFM but would like some help choosing.

We also know there isn't "the best synth" for anything, but rather want to hear which you would recommend.
We want to do it right from start and make the best of our time, so we figured we might as well learn a great synth from start.

I found this list

Camel Audio Alchemy
Spectrasonics Omnisphere
Tone2 Gladiator
NI Absynth
NI Massive
Cakewalk Rapture
u-he Zebra
Vember Audio Surge
Cakewalk z3ta+
Rob Papen Albino 3
Rob Papen Blue

Any one of these worth getting for two newbies?

I hope this thread haven't been done hundreds of time, I have been searching like crazy on Google but never got a satisfied result.
Thanks for reading and maybe helping out

[futures_untold]

Start simple ---> Tal Noismaker Easy interface, complex enough to make a surprising amount of sounds

If you're feeling fruity, jump straight into Camel Audio Alchemy, probably the most powerful synth on the planet + the GUI has a faster workflow than Omnisphere, it's main competitor in the swiss-army synth category.

One the speed programming side, Vember Audio Surge, FAW Circle and NI Massive all have a similar modulator assignment system meaning that you'll get more dynamic sounds quicker, without the bullshit of a Albino 3/ Zeta+ style modulations matrix.

Stay simple and use Tal-Noisemaker!

[futures_untold]

As an after thought, if you're not bothered about 'being gully' and programming all your own sounds, Camel Audio Alchemy and NI Massive have *loads* of free and commercial 3rd party soundpacks available which could be really useful to get your tunes off to a start quickly.

[Stalkr]

Thanks for the quick reply, I was worried if I was going to wait hours for an answer
Always great with free synths that is actually worth getting, I will fiddle around with that.

As of right now, I don't really care about making my own sounds. It's something I want to learn and have to,
but I am currently more interested in learning about arrangement, mixing, how to build a song, trying to fit things together etc.
Don't mind using presets at all if this can help me, so if TAL isn't for me I will try that.
Do you know if presets work for the demos or does that require the fully working synth?

[smalltock]

Another powerful synth is ZynAddSubFX, which is free and wonderful. The interface takes some getting-used-to, though.

[Gravehill]

Massive is the best starter synth IMO software or otherwise. Its easy to use and intuitive but packed with features at the same time, and the way the UI is designed it really makes you understand how synthesis works

[Crimsonghost]

Massive is also great because everyone uses it. Meaning its very easy to find tutorials on how to use it. Just youtube massive or NI massive and you'll have enough to keep you busy for a long time. Even though a lot of those tuts can be kinds shitty, after a while you'll start to notice why people are doing things and how certain sounds are created using the synth.

[rusto]

I think Massive has got to be one of the best to get started with. Its powerfull whilst being intuitive, lots of people use it and theres tonnes of tutorials on youtube.

[SunkLo]

Start simple ---> Tal Noismaker Easy interface, complex enough to make a surprising amount of sounds

If you're feeling fruity, jump straight into Camel Audio Alchemy, probably the most powerful synth on the planet + the GUI has a faster workflow than Omnisphere, it's main competitor in the swiss-army synth category.

One the speed programming side, Vember Audio Surge, FAW Circle and NI Massive all have a similar modulator assignment system meaning that you'll get more dynamic sounds quicker, without the bullshit of a Albino 3/ Zeta+ style modulations matrix.

Stay simple and use Tal-Noisemaker!

Yeah alchemy is beast and has pretty intuitive modulation imo. If you learned it completely, you'd never need another synth. Shit's god tier.

Massive is alright but kinda limited in my opinion and confusing at first.

FAW Circle is great learning synthesis because of its visual modulation. Even if you don't settle on this as your main synth, play around with the demo when you're learning envelopes and modulation. It'll really help speed up the process.

[claudedefaren]

Massive for your purposes will be perfect. Nothing easier to get mainstream dubstep sounds out of for a beginner in my opinion. You'll also want to check out Sylenth and/or Twin2. Amazing virtual analog synthesizers. Massive markets itself as a VA but doesn't really compare to those two (though the feedback knob in Massive will help get you a warmer sound out of it).

[rusto]

Anyone here have much experience with Razor? I would like to try something new and exciting Massive is the only synth i've really been able to get my head around(and not just slightly through or from the side).

[SunkLo]

Massive markets itself as a VA but doesn't really compare to those two

Silly since it's a subtractive wavetable synth. I guess some of it's routing has the analogue ethos. Everyone's afraid to leave the words "analogue" and "warmth" out of their marketing copy.

Most of my favorite synths and sound design techniques are full on digital. Can't get granular, FM, physical modelling, etc with an analogue unit.


One of these days I'm gonna make a plugin with a fancy UI with glowing tubes, tape and chicken head knobs, the whole 9 yards.
And the actual dsp code will be:

Code: Select all

output[0][i] = input [0][i];    //left
output[1][i] = input [1][i];    //right

It'll have knobs like "Mojo", "Character", "Vibe" and "Feel".
The button marked "128x oversampling" will just take a picture with their webcam and email it to me.
The Warmth knob will turn their monitor brightness up.

Other features include: 13 1/2 band dithering and noise shaping, mid/side DC offset removal, DAC to ADC re-amp simulation (with super clean converters), anechoic chamber modelling, spectral de-compressor into spectral de-expander chain, XLR cable simulation, mahogany and velvet desktop wallpapers to look at, Faster Fourier Transform, and much more.

Charge 2 grand for it and watch the rave reviews roll in.