I've been working with Vital, which I really like. Heck of a synth for free.

Also getting back to browsing presets in Dune when I have time.

Also trying to resist trying any new synths.

I am in the team that tries several synths at a time, although I do like to understand them very well by reading their manuals and testing them a lot.

The ones I am getting most busy with lately are: Knifonium (love it!), ABL3 (best 303!), DS Thorn, bx_oberhausen (just bought it couple of days ago)...

Sorry, I meant soft synths

Fixed

Pigments 3:
The beautiful thing about this synth is the incredible amount of possibilities it has WITHOUT being confusing or clunky. The interface lets you dial in complex patches with ease.

They recently added a whole new "engine" where you create sounds by adding, shaping and morphing harmonics. This was a free update for existing users.

I definitely recommend it. Especially for those who are newer to synthesis. The visualizations and layout make A LOT of sense in my opinion.

Dexed:
I use this mostly for the library of presets I've gathered over the years. It's great to load up dx7 patches.

miniBit:
charming synth made with chiptune style sounds in mind. Sometimes having constraint is good for me. The synth is easy to use, but also has some quirks to explore with bitcrushing, downsampling, a step sequencer and the ability to draw in your own 32 step waveform.

Obscurium:
Very unique take on a sequencer/chord-generator. Hard to explain so I'll just say that it's so much fun. Great to play around with for inspiration or when you're bored. It's not something that I get to use on many projects, but I still love it.

I do everything with soft synths, and over the year I’ve tried to curate a limited yet complementary (and overall characterful and stellar sounding) arsenal among the dozen of synths I own.

Huge u-he fan and I’m still using Bazille and Hive 2 a lot, I just love the sound and workflow. Bazille is so underrated…

Razor brings something different to the palette and gets some love too on a very regular basis. It can do many unique sounding things, too bad there’s so few additive synths around to toy with.

I’ve also added Rhyzmatic Plasmonic to my go-to’s as well as a few VCV Rack modules (mostly Mutable Instruments’ Elements actually, as well as Instruo’s) to the list, very unique textures to be coaxed out of these.

Every now and then, Plogue’s Chipsynths (PortaFM and MD) are exactly what I need. Fantastic, quirky FM synths.

Oh my, Bazille is AMAZING! Wish I had its full version. I only have BazilleCM, the free one that comes with Computer Music magazine.

Vital and plasmonic

WhispAir from fullbucket, all of their great synths,good and free.
https://www.fullbucket.de/music/vst.html

Big FB fan; I'll have to check that out

Really enjoying u-he's Bazille lately. However, I went down a rabbit-hole regarding oversampling recently, and it seems that Melda's MPowerSynth (and MSoundFactory) have the highest oversampling capability for any synth that is out there at the moment.

I love the sound from Bazille, I just can’t stand synths with virtual patch cables.

Understandable. I was opposed to the idea at first. Doesn't bother me at all anymore, frankly. I think what was holding me up at first was that I thought it was merely a gimmick.

Besides, if you haven’t already, switch to Bazillés Gearporn GUI : having all the parameters exposed on the same tab makes a world of difference.

I bought Korg Polysix for $50.

I'm also still playing with the TAL 101 Bassline and Jup-8 v4. Every once in awhile I'll pull up Vital.

I'm tempted by Model 84, but... I didn't like TAL U NO LXv2 and sold it, and have 2 Jupiter 8 softsynths (trying to sell the TAL one). Maybe I'll try Model 84 some day, but it's also possible that the 106 just doesn't do anything for me.

I have too many softsynths but have a harder time letting them go vs. effects I don't use. Like The Legend. I never use it, but, damn it, what if I "need" that Moog sound some day... in a way that my SE-02 can't do?

Checking out the Korg Trident emulation (which I hear Jan Hammer used a lot and I'm fan so...), limited in its use for me (I can only do so much "retro") but liking it so far.

Have the Model 84. Sounds so damn good... Hate to tempt you with that, but softube nailed it.

Can't stand modular synths. But to each their own. I am messing with Hive and like everything except the UI ugh lol

I just got the arturia set. Makes me want to buy the original hardware.

I'n also trying vital, really like mod visualization.

https://www.plogue.com/products/chipsynth-ops7.html

AMAZING

its on sale. no, its a steal

A MA ZING

I've been waiting for their SNES one to go on sale, cool! At those prices couldn't help myself, the Ops7 has landed also. I've used the RYM2612 in a few tracks this year, which is a very good emulator of the stripped down chip version that Yamaha made for Sega, so I am eager to work with the full 6-op original (er, emulation thereof).

I've only got into keyboards and synths at all this year but it's been a really immersive period of musical engagement for me and I'm loving it. I'm using Knifonium a lot, often with another synth into its side chain. I like blending synths together to make a final sound - I did a track where the main sound is a mix of RYM2612 and LION, where RYM is doing the sharper attack and overall shape of the sound then LION contributes a droning background element and fills in some frequencies.

RYM2612 and LION track (Vital also, for speech synthesis, and Iris 2 gives a wet / rainy sound):


Knifonium with RYM2612 in the side chain:


I haven't made any tracks with DS Thorn or Phase Plant but those are two others I've quite enjoyed this year. DS Thorn's good sounding filters and the harmonic filter make for some really neat sound design possibilities even without being able to load your own wavetables. Phase Plant is very powerful but I've ended up using the snap-ins a lot more than it even, as they're quite handy and do useful things in other contexts than just with Phase Plant.

Hm, bx_oberhausen also, I think it has great sounding oscillators and I like how it works - straightforward, but it can do some really nice plucks and strings.

I have re-discovered Vital and love it. Not just "great for free" but great period. I would take this synth over most synths of any price.