Most innovative/unique software synths?

[bouncingfish]

So, when trying out some of the Tone2 stuff (super cool features that I've never seen before) it struck me how the vst/au synth market seems to be dominated by analog/hardware emulations. Like so much of what's being made is 0% innovation and 100% emulation. You can of course argue that the old synths were amazing, but the same scenario gets repeated again and again.
"Oh, new synth from -insert company here-! Let's see what it is..."

"Our latest synth is an emulation of the TF-JSPG AO554 C that was very popular in the 1980s. It has a square wave, a saw wave, and two filter types with a very analog sound! Buy now for 500 dollars. Special offer! Get our HSHGA Fatfilter X which is an emulation of the EAT39H39 lowpass filter at the same time and save 200 dollars! It has a very warm sound and we worked hard to get this lowpass filter to sound as close to the fantastic warm original as possible. You will never use another lowpass filter again! Get the bundle for only 700 $!"

But I know there are innovative synths out there.
Have you guys used anything interesting lately? Tone2 stuff was very very cool, I think it was wub who talked about a synth that iZotope made, etc.

Anything fun would be awesome! Just looking for something interesting to spark my creativity! Sorry about the rant. (Actually not that sorry )


Written on my iPad

[Huts]

http://soniccharge.com/synplant seems to be What So Not's favorite plugin, pretty unique to anything I've seen before

[ThisIsSovereign]

Once you are ready to get your hands dirty and dig deeper into the anatomy of Synplant you will have the option to crack open your sound seeds and modify their underlying genetic code.

This looks pretty intense , I might have to play around with this.

[fragments]

All the analog emulations are just the software companies jumping on the nu analog hype going around recently. Give it another year or two...all the nu analog hypsters will be selling their minibrutes for 200 dollars on eBay.

Honestly as far as synthesis options and modulation possabilities go I think Alchemy is pretty amazing (ok, I am fan boy). But it does pretty much everything but FM. Also, Reaktor which I had and sold before I got to play around with it at all.

I know I am naming well known VSTs here...but they are well known for a reason : )

I have read about SynPlant before. Is it really doing anything that different? It does synthesis via randomization and the basic way genetics work right?

[_ronzlo_]

Synplant is fun if you don't want to get hung up on technical details ( "I want to modulate my attack time directly based off the phase position of the second oscillator herdy derdy bork") and just want to tweak sounds - in essence, if you want a sort of controlled randomization. It's fun but ultimately frustrating when you're close to a sound you want and can't tweak the particular thing you want to.

Alchemy is just fuckin' crazy though. That's a beast of a synth for sure. Reaktor too.

Papen stuff is great but challenging sometimes IMO.

[erratech]

Its not exactly groundbreaking but I love the setup with Atlantis, for the price of free you cant go wrong. I have made some wicked strings and clunky digital noises, good fun.

[Crimsonghost]

Alchemy definatly. That's probably to only synth I don't own that I feel like I need

Curve has a really cool concept, but the sounds arnt much different ( nit to take away from the synth). Same with Synthmaster, which I love.

I really dig Razor because you don't see too many additive synths.

[Turnipish_Thoughts]

M Theory is pretty unusual in it's workflow and sound. Not as far out as that thing posted further up, but it's a refreshing change from your average additive/subtractive workflow.

It's free too, which is always a bonus

[fragments]

Alchemy definatly. That's probably to only synth I don't own that I feel like I need

Curve has a really cool concept, but the sounds arnt much different ( nit to take away from the synth). Same with Synthmaster, which I love.

I really dig Razor because you don't see too many additive synths.

Razor is the shit. It has a sound to it for sure...but if I need a sound w that Razor vibe nothing else will do.

[penguinoid]

Alchemy definatly. That's probably to only synth I don't own that I feel like I need

Agreed, well, not about the "synth I don't own" part but yeah, get on that it, it's incredibly deep!

[cyclopian]

Yeah, Alchemy is by far the 'best' imo in terms of depth and with a usable interface. When it comes to loading in samples and just playing around; its really easy to find great sounds by playing around in Alchemy, and they are easily controllable.

Many of the more 'experimental' soft synths I've tried just feel like shooting in the dark when it comes to controlling the sound. Some great sounds can be had, its just tough when actually trying to work those sounds into a tune.

I think a lot of the 'emulation' and basic wavetable and additive synths are so popular because they are flexible and easy to understand. Sometimes a simple squarewave sound can be more powerful than some 50 voice polyphonic granular synth thats being controlled through fractal algorithms

[NinjaEdit]

VA is relatively straightforward for the programmers as well.

[jaydot]

Massive.





















jk h3h3

[mromgwtf]

Once you are ready to get your hands dirty and dig deeper into the anatomy of Synplant you will have the option to crack open your sound seeds and modify their underlying genetic code.

This looks pretty intense , I might have to play around with this.

And that "genetic code" is just your general preset parameters, such as filter cutoff or adsr. A way to get an idiot impressed.

Massive.





















jk h3h3

What's so funny? It is indeed a revolutionary synthesizer.

[mromgwtf]

Alchemy definatly. That's probably to only synth I don't own that I feel like I need

Curve has a really cool concept, but the sounds arnt much different ( nit to take away from the synth). Same with Synthmaster, which I love.

I really dig Razor because you don't see too many additive synths.

It's de-finite-ly

[jaydot]

Once you are ready to get your hands dirty and dig deeper into the anatomy of Synplant you will have the option to crack open your sound seeds and modify their underlying genetic code.

This looks pretty intense , I might have to play around with this.

And that "genetic code" is just your general preset parameters, such as filter cutoff or adsr. A way to get an idiot impressed.

Massive.





















jk h3h3

What's so funny? It is indeed a revolutionary synthesizer.

I guess it was a pioneering synth. But it's not versatile enough for me. It's excellent at making bass-I made the track "Surge""'s bass with it, but it's a bit of a one trick pony. That's my opinion

[sam the dnb man]

I use Alchemy and Absynth quite a lot. I mainly use Alchemy for resynthesis though.

It's a great synth and the presets sound amazing. However I don't like using presets as I like to make everything from scratch as the additive side of it requires time and patience. Time is something that I don't really have at the moment.

All the featured are top notch though. The modulation possibilities are endless. If only it had FM and had a multi output feature so that you could route each filter to their own individual channel

[_Agu_]

I still got a plan to create FM-synth with 36 operators (9 carriers and 27 modulators) in Reason. It's also going to have some wicked frequency dependent control on modulation amounts, which means you can for example use mic and control the synth with your voice. I'm pretty sure it's going to be very innovative

[bouncingfish]

I still got a plan to create FM-synth with 36 operators (9 carriers and 27 modulators) in Reason. It's also going to have some wicked frequency dependent control on modulation amounts, which means you can for example use mic and control the synth with your voice. I'm pretty sure it's going to be very innovative

Wow, please make an AU or VST out of this! :'o

[samurai]

I think both Aalto and Kaivo from Madrona Labs are really nice