Just curious what everyone else thinks it the creme de la creme in the software world synthesis. Your desert island, 5 plugin synths tops, and you aren't allowed any hardware synths there, only one computer and software.

For myself and the styles of music I do it's no contest, all the Tone2 Stuff. If I had 5 desert island soft synths it would be Tone2 Icarus 3, Electra 3, Saurus 4, (best punchy bass in software IMO), Nemesis 3 and a not Tone 2 one, Kontakt (of course, a cheeky way to work around the 5 limitation and everyone needs access to a sampler anyway).
Icarus is actually doing real vocal synthesis which is crazy fun. Goodbye Yamaha FS1R.
I never see them talked about here and they are so good.
Put it this way, I hate using wrappers, I refuse to except for special use cases, but even though they don't have AAX versions the Tone2 stuff is used in every song via Patchwork or Metaplugin. I keep bugging them for AAX but they say Pro Tools is too small a market, I tell them that they do AU and only Mac users have that and usually only with Logic, and Pro Tools has both Windows and Mac and the userbase is not that small.

Maybe one day.

I thought about the Virus TI now that it's in software, but honestly, it didn't make the top 5. IF there was ever a 1:1 recreation of the 3rd wave made in software, I'd probably swap it out with Electra 3 since Icarus can do most of Electra anyway.

Sure there's heaps more stuff I use day to day, but I am just wondering what people go to and think are their absolute favourite plugin synths - stuff they truly love.

Native Instruments Razor, Vital, Kilohearts Phase Plant.

(Other choices maybe DS Thorn or Dune 3.)

I have a lot. But I gotta say, those new softube soft synths that got released last few years really do kick ass. I don’t use them enough but I can really tell the difference in quality.

Also, Hive 2 I think is amazing sounding.

I’m not a huge synth user but getting more into it and my favorite by far is the gforce obx but that might be because I have a great affinity for the oberheim going back to the 80s

• u-he Zebra 3
• u-he Repro-1
• Kilohearts Phase Plant
• NI Reaktor
• Gforce OB-E V2

I am not a synthesist by nature, but I like to dabble with them. I’d probably be happy just with Zebra/ZebraHZ, just because it was (iirc) the first synth plugin I bought like 15 years ago, I just know it the best and it is rather flexible.
Hive I like, too, maybe throw in Diva, too, but I am not really interested in “as analogue as possible” anymore.
I have some other synth plugins by other manufacturers, but mostly forget that I have them, just haven’t spend as much time with them so I don’t get results as quickly as with the u-he stuff.
Oh, wait, I like the Korg Polysix once in a while, because its so dead simple and limited but has its own sound.
Not bothered with new stuff anymore.

I'm not very familiar with them, so this makes me curious, tell us more.

What style of music do you produce, and what kind of sounds do the Tone2 synths excel at?

(I'm a big u-He Diva fan myself.)

Omnisphere

The moment I got it, I stopped buying other softsynths. GAS cured! (But then, I also have a few hardware synths.)

EDIT: I see @ dfghdhr included Reaktor in their list. Good point. It's the sole survivor on my hard drive of the pre-Omnisphere era.

I don't have favourites, because I own just about every softsynth from every vendor. It's more a matter of which softsynth is right for the particular part. For example, u-He's Prophet 5 might be the best "Prophet 5" for a part that calls for a Prophet synth, but I might use Arturia's Prophet 5V for another part, because it has the particular tonality and resonance and harmonic content I need for THAT part.

I have Korg's ARP Odyssey and G-force's Oddity 3. They are both ARP Odyssey emulations but they sound completely different. In all fairness, no two hardware ARP Odysseys (or Minimoogs) sounded EXACTLY alike.

It really comes down to which color from the paintbox do u need.

I love physical modeling synths because they only exist in software and are capable of sounds no other synths can produce. If I just want to start my day immersing myself in super cool, unique sounds I will open up an instance of Plasmonic or Imagine or Objekt or Generate. If I am looking for some sound that bridges the gap between analog and physical modeling, I'll turn to my FM synths (OpSix, Plogue, FM8, Arturia DX7v, or even my Yamaha MontageM).

Is it OK if i only have 4 in daily use? )

U-He Zebra - using it more than 10 years, replaced my Virus.
Not the greatest UI, but i used to it.
Not in love with its "classic VA" sound when it comes to basic subtractive, but great for complex and evolving sounds, including physical modelling.

U-He ACE - for modular-style noises and stuff.

Surge XT - for everything analog-style, it has greatest filters.
Modulation UI is really good, wish they'd add modifiers for matrix (lin/log/exp) and a good reverb. Tho i use Valhalla anyway )

Vital - now this is a Virus of modern times, i'd say.
Use it primary for soundscapes and physical modelling, can't fall in love with its filters for subtractive analog-style sounds, feels like filters kind of in a "uncanny walley" category. Modulation at it's best - remapping everything and unlimited resources are great! — not to mention LFO range goes to full audio.

- - -

I've tried Virus software clone, but was not impressed, just like with a hardware version anymore. Tho it has nice patches collection (for someone).
The "classic VA" sound flaws are very prominent, and i'm not a fan of using it just for "vintage VA" character.
UI — not graphics, but structure and features and parameter ranges — are still great, just like in HW. Wish more software developers took this in to account.

Is phaseplant something that really needs to be learned top to bottom?

I usually start by judging factory presets to see if a synth can do what I want, then I reverse engineer and learn it if I find something in the bank that I consider stunning and realise the synth is capable of what I personally like.

I bought phaseplant, KHS One and every plugin they make before they went freeware, as I wanted to support a new indie dev (bit me that one did), and the only one I actually used (One) was discontinued.
So I stopped upgrading to the total bundle, I am missing the two latest snap heaps, convolver and something else but after supporting them so strongly I would have thought they'd add them as goodwill rather than wanting another 37 bucks. So I'm kind of over Kilohearts.

That's another story, and I went OT, but I am just curious about Phaseplant, truly, as I KNOW a lot of people love it. I just personally haven't found an inspiring sound in the factory bank. Is there a demo video of a particularly good sound(s) or do you have a particular stunning pluck or pad I could try and reverse engineer? When I didn't find the sound I wanted I just stopped trying with it, but you've got me curious. To be in someone's top 5, there is *obviously* something I missed.

I do like Vital, but it seems development has stopped on that one so I am too scared to invest and will only use the free version.

The Korg Odyssey is stunning but the way I really want to use it, polyphonically, the CPU is nuts (as is their new ARP 2600 emulation).

Therefore I tend to fall back to the GForce one but you are so right, they really are different.

GForce is in my top 10 btw, their Oberheims are my favourite emulations of those, I like Axxess a lot, VSM for string machine pads and Imposcar is an all time top 10 synth for me.

There was a pad I created in the OG Imposcar that started off a song on its own, it just had this gorgeous warm quality to it that was ideal for that track.

One day I did an experiment, when I was in one of those weird moods after I read someone say that most soft synths sound the same.

I auditioned over 20 thousand pad presets, including tweaking them, from over 120 alternative soft synths, including the entire Reason+ (count that as one) and I could not replace the Imposcar pad. Just could not do it. So to me, that makes it special.

The value is in the ecosystem, I would say. The synth itself can do a lot of things but when you add almost infinite modulation and (admittedly at times a bit basic) effects, it becomes insanely capable.

Most of the time I use Bitwig's stock synths and the Grid.

But I also like

Roland System 8 (go-to), TB-303.
Madrona Labs Aalto and Kaivo (West Coast and Physical Modeling, respectively)
Vital
Zebralette 3
Ports of Mutable Instruments - I use kxstudio's open source Cardinal plugin for these, which is based on VCV Rack.

Ooh, that's what i'd use a lot, only if it was a separate plugin — Bitwig grid is plain awesome!

u-he Diva and Repro
Synapse Legend
Vital
Xils 505

By vocal synthesis, are you referring to the oscillators or Icarus' formant filters? As for my favorite softsynths, Hive, Icarus, Razor, OPS7, and Omnisphere! Microtonic is great for drums, and Viper is great for trance. And I recommend putting your instruments through Tritik's Echorus. It'll make them warm and wide.

Hi, there's a bank on the soundset pages:

https://www.tone2.com/vocals.html

They say on that page that the vocals in the demo songs are NOT samples but synthetic. That was freaky to me to read once I had listened to the demo songs, check it out. So it's some sort of vocal synthesis.

I just love Pigments. So easy to use and the UI I can actually see clearly

Massive X
MSoundFactory
Harmor
VCV Rack
Zebra

I'm largely with @ Mies in that Omnisphere started solving nearly all of my synth needs as soon as it appeared in my collection, but I still use some others. I can honestly narrow it down to three at the moment, in this order:

1. Omnisphere (with Keyscape integration)
2. Roland Zenology Pro (I'm a sucker for '80s and '90s Roland sounds)
3. Arturia Mini-V (I use Moog sounds a lot and this nails it for me)

I'm very curious about Zebra and Falcon but just haven't felt the need for them yet. And there are plenty more that I always enjoy using whenever I pull them out, from Arturia or G-Force, etc. When I need to work fast, though, my top three do nearly all the work.