Top 5 Virtual Synths for EDM Production
These are my top 5 to goto vsts at the moment.
Here's my list of some of the virtual synths i use, hopefully this can be helpful to people who want to start producing music and have no knowledge of virtual synths (vsts)
1) Serum Price $189.00usd https://www.xferrecords.com/products/serum
The dream synthesizer did not seem to exist: a wavetable synthesizer with a truly high-quality sound, visual and creative workflow-oriented interface to make creating and altering sounds fun instead of tedious, and the ability to “go deep” when desired - to create / import / edit / morph wavetables, and manipulate these on playback in real-time. the built in effects suite is amazing the quality of sound the possibilities are endless with this synth! This is why its my to goto
2) Massive Price $149.00usd https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synths/massive/
**Massive is a sonic monster – the ultimate synth for basses and leads. The virtual-analog concept belies the contemporary, cutting-edge sound it generates. Clearly laid out and easy to use, MASSIVE gives you earth-shuddering sounds from the very first note.
Used in
Dirty South - Let it go (Axwell remix). NI Massive >> SQ Power Stab
Axwell & Dirty South - Open Your Heart. NI Massive >> Midnight Children
Chemical Brothers - Salmon Dance. NI Massive >> Big Deeper
Deadmau5 - Reward Is Cheese. NI Massive >> TresManos
Tristan Garner - Caribe. NI Massive >> butterfly
M.I.A. - Omarion & Wale: Whirlpool in Massive
House Party - Meek Mill: Concave in Massive
FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt - Jay Z: Basement in Massive
3) Spire Price $189.00 http://www.reveal-sound.com/
Spire reminds me of a new better quality version of Sylenth1. It's a very easy virtual synth to use and get great quality sounds out of it. Very easy to make your own Sounds/Banks in Spire.
4) Sylenth1 Price $139.00 https://www.lennardigital.com/store/
With all the functionality and processing horsepower mentioned above, you might expect that this synth would max out even the fastest CPU in no-time, especially considering the high sound quality of each single voice and effect. Well, one of the many benefits of this synth is that it doesn't. It uses highly optimized code and SSE instructions in order to reduce the CPU usage to a minimum. It will also automatically turn off any parts that are not used, to save extra CPU time. This enables you to create pure quality sound using only minimal system resources.
Used in
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga: 023 Dominator Preset in Sylenth1
Earth: Oldest Computer - Childish Gambino: 023: HOV Dominator in Sylenth
Loud - Mac Miller: 019 ARP Trancemania in Sylenth
Gonorrhea - Lil Wayne & Drake: ARP Airbow in Sylenth
BedRock - Young Money: KEY Pizzicato in Sylenth
We Be Steady Mobbin' - Lil' Wayne: 001 ARP 303 Saw in Sylenth
5) Omnisphere2 Price $499.00 https://www.spectrasonics.net/products/omnisphere/
Omnisphere can be 5 one day and 1 the next day. Omni has everything from piano to edm synths the possibilities are endless with Omnisphere. This virtual synth should be much higher on my list. This synth is great for trap music!
Used in
Higher – G.o.o.d Music: Whistilzer 1 in Omnisphere
Higher – G.o.o.d Music: Tuvan in Omnisphere
Paperbond – Wiz khalifa: Bowed Gopichand FX Bend in Omnisphere
Thursday – The Weekend: Children of Time in Omnisphere
Thursday – The Weekend: Chrysanthemum Pins in Omnisphere
Presidential – Rick Ross: Jazz Stacks Dah-Dat in Omnisphere
Time Machine – Travi$ Scott: Gospel Choir Ohs in Omnisphere
Illamerica – Travi$ Scott: Big OlÕ Bee Bass Lead in Omnisphere
Honorable Mentions!
Tone2 Icarus Price $169.00 https://www.tone2.com/icarus.html
Icarus is Alot like Serum but! Icarus has a third oscillator while Serum only has 2 oscillator's. In my opinion Serum sound quality,presets and effects are just that better in my book!
U-He Hive Price $149.00 https://www.u-he.com/cms/hive
Hive was made to be fast and simple. The streamlined single screen UI lets you dive into sound creation immediately. A fluid workflow invites you to tweak away until your sound is just right (or wrong in just the right way). Hive was engineered to be light on CPU, and won’t slow you down while you work. But being fast and simple doesn’t mean we’ve sacrificed sound quality or creative control - Hive is packed with features, controls and enough flexibility to deliver stunning sounds. The only con i have on hive is that it take's up a lot of memory other then that the sounds are great and so are the filters!
REFX Nexus $249.00 Starter Package https://refx.com/nexus/
The bad part about nexus is that its hard to tweak and make your own sounds other then that its has great orchestra sounds and the sound quality is great. Me personally i like to make my own sounds that's why its not in my top 5.
Used in
Avicii - Seek Bromance - reFX Nexus -> PN Terminators Theme
StadiumX - Howl At The Moon - reFX Nexus -> PL Dyk Pykes
Lush & Simon - Adrenaline - reFX Nexus -> LD King of Buzz 5
Stay Schemin' - Rick Ross: LD Theme Init 1, under Dance Leads in Nexus
Look At Me Now - Chris Brown: AR Roman Wing, under Hands up Electro 2 in Nexus
Macaroni Time - Chief Keef: AR Jingle Bells, under in XP Store'n'Forward in Nexus
Scholar - Gucci Mane: LD Crying Female, under XP Psytrance in Nexus
MC Hammer - Rick Ross: CL Soft Orchester, under Classical in Nexus
Honest - Future: LD Crying Female, under XP Psytrance in Nexus
Thank you)) I'm using a synthesizer Serum)) It's great)
yea its a great synth one of my favorites
Great post! I'm more into hardware - but I also have Komplete Ultimate 11 and some of the VSTs you list. I don't get around to using them much.
I think an honorable mention should go to Roland Cloud and Arturia's stuff - they make some really good virtual instrument recreations. I'm using these a bit more than the others.
One of my favorite VST synths is Xils-labs - and I started with them 4 years ago with the Synthix (a Synthex recreation). That synth sounds incredibly close to the original.
Anyway I've followed you, upvoted and hope we can chat about all things geeky synths in the future :)
Cheers,
@ranzee