I've been looking for a good synth to learn and delve into, and that one looks very interesting. On top of being cheap, it seems to have some very deep sounds and a wide variety of them. I'm a little taken back by how cheap it is but continually impressed when I see and read about what it can do. It seems that you can make some very interesting sounds with it. I know I was at least impressed with a good number of the bass sounds, pad sounds and soundscapes I heard from it over youtube. (I like the sound of the vocoder, too.) I also hear it's quite simple to learn.

I ask since I have just enough money to get it, but I was also thinking about saving up to Harmor, which I also really want to learn. I'll probably end up having both eventually, but is Razor as big and good of a synth as it looks? I'm wondering if maybe I should pass on Razor and just save up to Harmor or get Razor first and then Harmor later down the road.

I don't have any experience with Harmor, but part of the reason why Razor is so popular, besides the price and the fact that it sounds great, is becasue it's an additive synth cloaked in a subtractive interface. This allows you to pretty easily dial in some very unique sounds, though if you're looking for an actual additive synth that gives you control over the partials individually, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Bear in mind it's quite the CPU hog.

Also, you'll need to own Reaktor to take full advantage of it (not just the free Reaktor Player), so you should factor that into the price as well.

BTW, Razor has been discussed many times before, searching the forums should answer many if not all of your questions.

this powerful!!!! lol





if your looking for a good starter softsynth Ive heard a lot of good things a DCAM.

http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=62&tab=181

Yeah, synth squad is awesome. I got it for $84 during the Black Friday sale, but it's still a deal at $250, and gives you enough sounds to keep you busy for quite some time.

i have DCAM and never really used it...my old roommate bought it and shared with me....guess I should play with it more.

It does seem good. $250 is a lot, though. And I don't know if that's exactly what I was looking for. I think I'm going to keep that in mind and add it to my collection later on (maybe if they have it on sale during a future black Friday sale) but I'd rather buy Harmor than that, especially since Harmor's only $150. It just seems more practical for me. I just know I would be able to work well with Harmor over time, and that's what counts in the end. (BTW, nice one for that pic. That was funny.)

And, as I do not have the full version of Reaktor, maybe I should hold off on Razor. Since I do someday plan on getting Komplete in the distant future (probably not v8, though), that will include Reaktor and I'll just get Razor along with it. I do eventually want to use Razor.

Sounds cool for digital.

Yeah, you're always walking a thin line when it comes to investing in NI products. There's always a new version just around the corner, which probably includes their latest and greatest as part of the deal.

When I bought Maschine it came with a $30 gift voucher, which I used for Razor, making it $50. I don't own Komplete either, and at this point I'd just as soon wait for Komplete 9 to come out, either because it'll include something new and awesome or because I'll be able to get Komplete 8 for much less $.

If you just want something to mess around with while saving your money for a bigger purchase, there are many excellent freeware synths - do a search and you'll find several threads detailing this.

BTW, you never mentioned what kind of synth you're after or what kind of music you want to make with it.

If you're sold on the additive thing, I'd opt for Harmor.

There's a few kinds of music I would emphasize. One major thing I want to do eventually is make modern-sounding videogame music to sell to indie-game developers. A synth like Harmor would be invaluable for that.

As far as my music goes, I wanted a good synth for dubstep, and Harmor can do that stuff almost as well as Massive from what I hear. I also wanted a lot of very good options for creating pads and soundscapes, good leads and good bass. As an artist I don't restrict myself to one genre, but right now I'm centering around pop/acoustic-rock music. Dubstep is something I'd like to work on on the side, since I have some very interesting ideas for that genre that I don't think have been done before. (In other words, I'm not gonna try to be Skrillex.)

I know a guy who uses Harmor, and he tells me it can do pretty darn near anything. He's made some good stuff involving Harmor, too. He's also used it live a couple times with success, which I hopefully plan to do as well. He actually recommended it to me above Massive.

And, specifically, I've been looking for a good additive synth. That kind of synth simply interests me more than any other kind at the moment. The interesting thing about Harmor is that it's an additive synth in the basic body of a subtractive synth, making it almost a bit of both. It leads to a lot of options for creating things. I've heard it called the 'Sound-designers dream.' It's apparently a really heavy and rather complex synth, but it's one that I would like to learn, especially since it's reasonably priced. $150 is not bad at all for what it does. From the guy I know that uses it, he tells me it's all I'll need for years.

And I do already use a few free ones. Synth1 and Oatmeal are ones that I frequently use. And, I actually like Oatmeal more aside from the far-larger popularity of Synth1. Are there any other free synth's you'd recommend, particularly additive ones?

Check out u-he Zebralette. It's built around one oscillator from Zebra, which makes it basically an additive synth all in itself. You specify the partials either explicitly or by drawing a waveform; the oscillator has 16 such shapes specified in a wavetable. On top of that, there are oscillator effects which distort the basic waveform/spectrum in various interesting ways. And any patch you create in Zebralette you can eventually import into Zebra, should you ever go that route.

especially you can create sounds that substractive synths can't

after using harmor for 6 months i can tell you that i still don't know the synth. even today i've explored a new combination with some of the features.

+1

since the release of harmor i've never touched any of my other synths.

keep them. for some sounds the classic substractive synths are better.

i own *all* additive synths (hard- and software) and all i can say is: buy harmor! don't waste your time with other additive synths (also razor is no option).

At least Harmor can function as a demo and is easy to register/buy. Razor as far as I know has no demo, so you are stuck with what you buy. As someone who messed up and bought some supposedly fancy gear that sucked, I have to emphasize: TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!

I bought Harmor after using the demo enough to get comfortable with it. The first time I tried it, I didn't understand it. But then later, I came back to it and gave it more effort. Now I think it will become my main synth. I like it alot. It is very versatile.

But only you know if you like the sounds of it or not, so try the demo. I have not used Razor because of the lack of a demo. But my guess is that Harmor can probably make very similar sounds with the right techniques.

It's as powerful as the gaming operating sytem its designed around....

I definitely liked what I've heard of both Harmor and Razor. By a long shot Harmor is the better synth. I have no doubt. Harmor just looks so comprehensive, though. I tried the demo and barely knew where to start. I can feel how powerful it is, but it's just so much. It's one of those things that I'd grow to love after spending some good time with it, but I probably wouldn't make much good music with it for awhile. At least not more than some basic stuff.

I may end up getting Razor at some point of time just since it's so much easier to use. Taking a look at some videos, I know I could pick it up in a few hours and start straight away making cool stuff. Razor is super straightforward. Harmor may end up being my main serious synth for creating really amazing sounds and Razor would be my cop-out if I need a quick but still very nice sound to work with. I'd pay $80 for something like that on the side even if I couldn't make full use of it until I get Reaktor, meaning Komplete. And, the guy who showed me to Harmor also owns Razor, and if I ever get it I intend to try his copy out first.

and harmor will get updated the next months with not just bugfixes but some new features (e.g. bitcrush).

and razor? still bugs and the developer will not release any new updates. perhaps the sales of the synth were not big.

who said that you have to use/know all features of harmor? even with basic knowledge you can create superb sounds. just ignore the sections you don't know/need.

why do you think razor is easier to use?!? because there are not so much knobs like on harmor? or because you can select between 14 waveforms?

all i can say that razor (compared with harmor) is very limited.

I like everything from NI, and Razor is one of the best software-synths IMO.

As someone else said, it requires alot of CPU usage. The only disadvantage.

I bought it when it was 50% off, I also bought Studio Drummer which is the best drum-VST I've tried (maybe it's just because I'm tired of AD and EZD) but still a great deal.

Native Instruments +1

You obviously didn't try BFD. :D

I guess the sales weren't bad at all but does NI pay the developer for bug fix updates ?
and, can the bugs be fixed by the author given that it is a Reaktor ensemble that has to rely on Reaktor being bug free, while Reaktor isnt free of bugs ?

i don't think so. there was a little hype for around 2-3 weeks on the boards and some guys (incl. me) bought razor on the 50% sale

most people bought razor just to try it out (because there was/is no demo available).

many great disappointments after the purchase: razor can't load waveforms, you can't edit the timbres, the cpu usage is too heavy because of reaktor, ...

it doesn't matter if ni pays or not - if the developer takes his work serious then he should come up with bugfixes (and maybe with new features). but the further development/support has stopped directly after the release.

razor's bugs = razorsmith's job
reaktor's bugs = ni's job

Yeah, I grabbed razor during the 50% off sale.

I demoed Harmor. It is very powerful, but it never really clicked for me. I think it's powerful in the sense of being versatile rather than exploring new sonic territories. I've never really heard it do a sound that couldn't get elsewhere.

I found razor to be more fun to tweak live and probably because of the ease of use I did get some novel sounds very quickly too.

Actually, what I liked about harmor was the thick, full, solid bodied basses it could do, like futuristic FM.

NI usually does a summer sale, you might want to wait for. Also, it's not additive, but try the Aalto demo. It seems like it fits a lot of the qualities you're looking for.

I think that, if these people had read the product description and done some research, they would have realized that Razor is not this kind of synth, and thus would have been a lot less disappointed.

What Razor IS, though, is an extremely powerful and versatile instrument with a very straightforward, intuitive interface that allows you to create some really unique sounds very easily. Sure, it's a CPU hog, but that's why we render!

This, this, 1000x this

This was the other deal I picked up during Black Friday ($66), and what a synth it is. Additive, no, but unlike anything else out there, yes.

i love razor... can get some really big sounds out of it and it really doesn't sound like anything else. for the price it has been one of my favorite purchases.

and i see razor more as "scifi-sound-generator" which sounds aren't useful in a musical context (okay dubstep perhaps *bg).

i didn't say that. but the overall capabilities are really amazing. it does the common substractive sounds, 90's rompler sounds, fm-like basses etc.

if you like dirty gritty stuff then got for razor - if you like clean digital stuff then go for harmor

+1 ... also i like those glassy roland sounds

I like the sounds that both of them make. I would certainly use Harmor more if I do get both. The more I use the demo of it, the more I start to love it. I could only imagine the things I could make with that if I could spend days or weeks developing sounds. I still don't understand the vast majority of it, but I played with the stuff I did understand and man, that thing rocks!

I've done my research on what it is, and that's exactly how it came across. I know it's not gonna be as versatile as Harmor, but it would be nice to use if I want something more streamlined where I could more easily reach a good sound. I really like a lot of the presets, in the least. I'd think of it as my sidearm to my main weapon.

And they usually release new versions of Komplete during July, correct? If K9 doesn't interest me enough, maybe I'll get K8 for half price. If K8 Ultimate starts going for $500 or less, that might be something worth getting. There's so many plugins I'd use from it. I wouldn't pay $1000, but $500 I would do for that, maybe even a little more if I need to update Kontakt/Reaktor to the latest version down the road. Any luck they'll ever let K8-U sell for that little?

That one looks interesting. I'm too busy this week to try out a whole new synth, but I will definitely demo that one when I get a chance.

I thoroughly enjoy both. Especially if I can get K8-U for a reasonable price in the future, I do hope to have Razor alongside Harmor.

Yeah, many of the presets are excellent and very useable

If they stay true to form (and I have no reason to believe they won't) only individual products will be discounted, not bundles. There will likely be a minor price drop on old versions to make room for the new one, but it won't be 50%.

If you want to pick an older bundle up for cheap, your best bet is to get Komplete 8 (or even 7, if you don't need the Kontakt updates) b-stock from third-party merchants, as they'll likely discount more aggressively than NI will.

K7 has not been marked down at all from my previous research; I might be able to find it for $25 less than K8 currently is. K6 is the one that's cheap; last I checked, B&H Photo had it for around $250. I'm hoping K8U gets marked down considerably when 9 comes out, since I wouldn't be at all surprised if they update Reaktor and Kontakt to version 6 in the next one. I guess we'll need to wait and see what they'll do. My hope is that, at least several months after 9 comes out, a third party place will have 8 and 8 ultimate for cheap.

K8U is a great bundle, I got mine as an upgrade for $399 in December and it was worth every penny!
The USB hard drive installer is incredibly easy(about 2hours!) I'm still amazed other companies haven't followed suit with this installation approach,simply brilliant!
Razor IMO is very cool and the more I get into Reaktor the more blown away I am with the sonic possibilities of these NI gems

I hate razor, such a pain in the ass to use, i want to just load something and play not navigate menus to get to my engine then my patches.

I take this back. Somebody's selling it for $360 on Amazon. It does look very similar to K8, plus it has a plugin that was discontinued named Acoustic Refractions. My worry is that he's the only one selling it for nearly that low (that itself being a concern), and I'm not gonna have money to buy that for a very long time. I'm already saving up to a new laptop (not far from $1000) and I'm dead-set on Harmor being the first purchase after that. But if Komplete 7 can still be found for that cheap when I can get around to it, It'd be invaluable to me. Especially Kontakt and Guitar Rig. I'd make good use of everything else, but I'd probably spend the most time on Kontakt and Guitar Rig. (And plus, 7 comes with a $60 E-voucher and not a $30 one, so I'd be able to get Razor for only $20.)

So I see you're not a fan of Razor? I'm definitely hearing mixed reviews. Some love it, some hate it. I had one guy on youtube tell me he liked it more than Massive.