Hey Everyone. I couldn’t find anything on the subject so I thought I would ask. The synths that I currently have is Operator (Ableton), Sylenth, and Arturia’s Minimoog. Not only do I love the sound that I get from all the synths that I have, but the layout is extremely friendly and easy to use, except for Operator which I am slowly learning how to use.
I have tried out the Rob Papen synths, and although I love the sound that comes out of them, they are laid out somewhat difficultly and I find them hard to use. The other slight issue I have is that the Native Instruments synths (Massive, etc.) take up alot of my CPU. The other synths that I run don’t have this issue.
Can anyone help me out and let me know of any synths that they have that are A) easy to use/laid out B) sound good and C) don’t kill my CPU. The biggest issue for me is the lay out of the synth. Obviously I want something that will sound good and compliment my current synths and of course fill any gaps I might have with my current lineup. Lastly, I plan on upgrading from my current 2.16 gHz core 2 duo laptop to a 3.06 gHz desktop with 4 gb of RAM, but that is a few months down the road.
Please help! Any and all suggestions would be a great help. Thanks.
You’ll love Massive mate.
Mate i’ve tried Operator, it baffles my brain! You should give us a little tutorial bro, would be much appreciated 
The problem with Massive is that it kills your CPU. I know it sounds good, but so does Sylenth. I also don’t really think Massive fills any gaps withing my current lineup of synths.
hey howard id try to learn albino .its the one i always reach for !
If yor stuck i always find that the best way to get a certain sound is deconstruct then reconstruct a preset this will show you what parameters are being used/routed and help you to understand the synth better . .
Imo albino is the mutz nutz …hope this helps man 
I don’t know massive, but have Rob Papen Blue and now Rob Papen Predator. Predator is much more straightforward than the other papen synths I have seen, as all of the parameters are on the same screen and there is a relatively recognisable signal flow.
I’m relatively new to subtractive synthesis but have already had some success with Predator creating sounds from scratch, so would certainly recommend it.
Do you guys rate Sylenth1 then? I know they use it in all the vids on this site.
Totally agree! I find most soft-synths today either O.T.T or the layout to be a nightmare. Sylenth and Massive are both synths I feel that suffer from this. The minimoog which you’ve already mentioned is a good choice. Another synth (although isnt out yet but already seems to tick all the boxs) is fxpansion d-cam synth squad. Simple interfaces and promising big sounds. Cant vouch for cpu intensity yet though. Fingers crossed that fxpansion can deliver the goods.
I thought the rob papen synths were pretty good in all departments to be honest though.
I love Sylenth, but it has its limitations(as so pretty much all synths). This is why i listed my main synths that I use, because I want to know of something that would fit my needs and specifications. I have tried Blue and Albino3, but Blue I got rid of and Albino3 I’m thinking of doing the same. Its just too much of a hassle to me. I wish the layout would just be straightforward like the Minimoog and Sylenth.
Each to there own I suppose. For example I cant stand the layout on sylenth and prefer blue to albino (although dont own either)!
This is one of the reasons I still lean towards hardware, as I think the layout and simplicity of hardware is spot on. Keep an eye out for that d-cam also.
After doing a little reading, I noticed Zebra and Z3TA. Does anyone have any experience with either of these synths? When using, is the UI considered well laid out and easy to use, the sound is good, and it doesnt kill CPU? Just curious.
Has anyone every used Spectrasonics Omnisphere? Any opinions? I was thinking of getting rid of everything except for Arturias Minimoog, Sylenth, and Operator and adding Omnisphere. Other than a few specialty instruments in the NI line(piano, organ, etc)
if you have cpu issues then stay clear of omnisphere as its very a cpu intensive. Zebra is semi-modular so might take a while to get used to although theres plenty of online tutorials for it. Z3ta is a touch dated now but still very powerful (6 osc). Just download afew demos and try,
I used to layer z3ta and mini moog to make really wierd sounds
All of theses Synths Sound Great And Use Next to nothing for cpu & are also very easy to use.
Native Instruments Pro53
DiscoDsp Discovery
Novation V-Station
Zebra2
FAW Circle
Sylenth
Arturia Mini-Moog V
This might be a little naive of me to suggest, but in the short term if your having processor issues, why dont you sequence the problem synth lines in a separate session and bounce the finished audio files to your main project so you wont have 5 instances of massive or whatever running at once
Or better yet…upgrade your computer.
[quote]stylz (7/28/2009)[hr]Or better yet…upgrade your computer.[/quote]
i hate when people just suggest to upgrade computers lol thats just lazy. buy a new pc/mac just because one synth it to much CRAZY or STUPID.
you guys do know what a freeze function is for don’t ya hahaha.
i know guys that still produce using 900hmz and 1Ghz Macs with only 512 ram lol using things like logic 5-6 and cubase sx 2 with only one or two plug-ins.
the sad thing is those guys still get much better results than me hahahahaha
Omnishpere will make your computer explode.
Operator is dope. Eq’ing and saturation are musts! It needs more envelopes and lfo’s.
I’m growing partial to making synths in sampler. I can get the ghetto bass herve sound with it.
I’m making a track right now where I use nothing but samplers.
I just got a new iMac. Very powerful machine. However, if I want to ever use my Macbook, I can. I will mainly use it for sessions of audio. I like a more powerful machine so that I can work with alot of tracks with alot of effects going at the same time without popping or clicking. It definately helps me (especially since i am still learning) when I am in the groove. That way, if I am getting popping or clicking or whatever, I dont have to go in…freeze the track…flatten it, just to free up processor space.
BTW, I wasnt able to freeze a midi track that had a compressor on it. Is there a way to do that, or am I just a dumbass?
[quote]howiegroove (7/28/2009)[hr]I just got a new iMac. Very powerful machine. However, if I want to ever use my Macbook, I can. I will mainly use it for sessions of audio. I like a more powerful machine so that I can work with alot of tracks with alot of effects going at the same time without popping or clicking. It definately helps me (especially since i am still learning) when I am in the groove. That way, if I am getting popping or clicking or whatever, I dont have to go in…freeze the track…flatten it, just to free up processor space.
BTW, I wasnt able to freeze a midi track that had a compressor on it. Is there a way to do that, or am I just a dumbass?[/quote]
you should be able to freeze any track with processing on them. although it may be different if the compressor has a side chain working.
Thats the problem tho. I use the sidechain alot and you cant freeze it.