Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Favorite Versatile Soft Synth VST
There is sooooooooo much to choose from. Suffering from jack of all trades master of none.
i love using synths for rhythm, arpeggios, and general atmospheric trippyness.
If you had to choose one offers the most diverse sounds and presets what would pick disregarding cost?
Comments
If cost is no issues I'd say LogicPro X with Alchemy...
Take a look at this list, there's good detail and reviews are usually attached. http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/the-50-best-vst-au-plugin-synths-in-the-world-today-621799
Any of the top 5 would keep u busy for years to come...
Synthmaster 2.8 is incredibly versatile and deep. Sylenth has 10s of thousands of preset banks available aftermarket. And so on. A lot of them have demos available.
Zebra 2 / Dark Zebra
Most synths - by their very nature - are pretty versatile. A lot of it comes down to personal preference - does it sound good to you? How easy do you find to program it? Does it have the features you like (for example, you mentioned an arpeggiator). As for VSTs, I don't really use them as I pretty much make all my music on the iPad.
ArcSyn is amazing and gives more than averages good results with its random function. One I almost always go to first.
^ These. SynthMaster is also pretty versatile, but it's kind of a pain in the ass to program IMO. Reaktor might also be of interest, particularly when you factor in the vast user library.
However, ultimate versatility / cost not a factor I would say Kontakt. But that is kind of a whole different ballgame.
+1
Phonec 2 sounds nice
There are too many....
My Top 5 today:
Dust
Omnisphere 2
P900 Modular
Falcon
Dune 2
(...then there is Alchemy 2, Sculpture, Zebra, Reaktor, Chromaphone, Avenger etc. etc.).
I love to layer my synths and save it as Logic patch/instrument. If you have Logic just open some of the layered arp patches and you know why it is always better to combine several synths/tools, add external FX and midi FX.
Sadly these things are still a pain in iOS.
There are too many (for the example Factory is another I wanted to mention...)
The method you mention, building patch/instruments with separate synths, is something I've really been zeroing in on lately in iOS. So far I've found FLSM, SunVox, and Caustic to be nice ecosystems for building scientific--super-synths inapp. All three allow combinations of very interesting synths and samplers into a single instrument or patch.
As you say not so easy to combine the many amazing standalone iOS instruments in a standalone DAW...
In that vein a definite plus 1 for Falcon, an amazing vst scientific-super-synth builder
Retrologue 2 from Steinberg sounds very nice, has an impressive set of features and costs less than some other big name synths
I only use Synthmaster, Alchemy, Bassstation, and a free CM string plug it.
I like Reactor for sample stuff.
I always liked Toxic Biohazard. 6 op fm synth with an incredibly easy mod matrix grid. Everything is pretty much on one screen including fx and eq. I don't think you'll find an easier to learn fm synth. It also had a cool sequencer as well. One of those synths where you feel like you can do no wrong.
Synthmaster, Sylenth & Blue 2 here and pretty pleased
I think ZynAddSubFX is the best VA I've heard. Too bad it's freeware, people underestimate it.
It's purely analog emulation but U-Diva is pretty versatile, pseudo modular architecture where you can mix modules. filters and envelopes from different vintage synths so no wavetable or additive, basic FM.
@LeonLeroy again, disregarding cost and assuming we are talking Mac, I am a Native Instruments fan. I invested in Logic Pro X as my DAW and NI Komplete Ultimate 10, which includes Massive, Reaktor, Absynth, FM8, Razor and many other notable synths/sample based libraries. It's been a truly worthwhile investment. There is SO much versatility in that selection.
Oh i forgot U-he Repro-1! Damn that sounds awesome (that 32X oversampled Jaws wavefolder/distortion is the best i ever heard)!
(i got Embertone's Solo String Collection for 199$, normally 500$ via Audio Plugin Deals).
But i hope i'm done with collecting synths now and use them more, lol.
Now i collect some more sample libraries
+1, Repro-1. U-he has more than its share of first tier stuff. HIve, Bazille, A.C.E....some one already said Diva, Zebra. Even the freeware one Tyrell N6 is a winner with 1000s of great presets on the net
My favourite has gotta be XFer serum. If you feed in wavetables from a bunch of different synths you can basically make it sound like anything. I've got tons of wavetables from vsts like massive and even a ton of analogue synths and unlike most vsts I literally make my own patches for whatever I'm making since the plugin is so easy to sculpt what you want...
Definitely check out Sugar Byte's Factory! Looks like many unique interface and modulation options. Seems very well thought out and capable of producing unique moving sounds!
I'll put a plug (ugh) in (double ugh) for anything by Uhe. The sound is incredible and the provide fantastic support.
synthmaster. I can get just about any sound i want very quickly.
maybe not technically a soft synth but native instruments Kontakt is a cannot live without plugin for me.
+1 Serum