VST synths -NI/Omni/Arturia

Chewie5150

Chewie5150

Fractal Fanatic
Another synth related thread here. I love my synths when I'm not obsessed with my Axe Fx. Curious to get some input on some of the key differences between a few platforms. I currently have Komplete 14 Standard and various other VST's but looking to expand. For hardware I have a komplete S88 Mk2 and Maschine mk3 so I'm already pretty involved in the NI eco system though its a bit of love /hate. I'm not overly fond of their workflow on the software side. Komplete Kontrol...Kontakt etc. I love my Maschine mk3 though. I was looking at Arturia Collection V ....Omnisphere or possibly waiting for NI's annual summer sale and maybe upgrade from Standard to Ultimate ( i think its called...the next tier up). note, i'm not really looking to create/learn how synths work. I just want a great collection of synths/sounds /presets to work with. I love 80's stuff. But i also love atmospheric /ambient, strings, soundscapes etc etc. I tend to skip over the trap/edm/dance type sounds....just not my jam.

thoughts for those who have experience in any or all of these? also throw in some of your fav synth related VSTs
 
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Admin M@ said:
Look at U-he, especially Diva and Zebra.
The Korg legacy collection is inspiring too.
Omnisphere from your list is a must have.
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The keyboards included in Omnisphere grabbed my attention right away. Will check out U-he. Last night I was also looking at some of Spitfire Audio's instruments/sample library. Very cool stuff. I'd love to get into scoring/composing. Too many interests! not enough time!!!!
 
Chewie5150 said:
Arturia Collection V ....Omnisphere
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I use both regularly live and for production. Very different tools. If you prefer just turning knobs on a hardware synth to create sounds then Arturia Collection V is the best choice for sure. The presets are also much more immediately useable whereas omni's presets a lot of times seem crazy and designed to show off its capabilities, though I've definitely used omni presets as-is or with minor tweaks hundreds of times over the years. Omnisphere is much more powerful but the workflow is very different. I tend to reach for it when I'm reverse engineering a sound or have a specific sound in mind that I'm trying to build.

Chewie5150 said:
i also love atmospheric /ambient, strings, soundscapes
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I use Omni for this type of stuff. Its sound design capabilities are unmatched. Has some good strings stuff but not as good as dedicated strings VST. The Adagio Expressivo preset is quite good though.
Chewie5150 said:
I tend to skip over the trap/edm/dance type sounds....just not my jam.
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Omni is also excellent for this kind of stuff though definitely outside my wheelhouse.
 
here's my latest setup. I'm planning on selling the yamaha modx and replace it with possibly novation sl mk3
 

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I've used Arturia Analog Lab 4 and 5. Some really great sounds and presets but their bundles have limited parameters to tweak on the different instruments. You'll need to purchase instruments individually if you want to get full functionality from them.
 
Chewie5150 said:
Last night I was also looking at some of Spitfire Audio's instruments/sample library.
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I am a fan. Definitely start with the free LABS. I use Albion, Iceni, and One. I bought the Trevor Horn library but found it to be less exciting.
 
Thanks for the kind words about Omnisphere. We set out to prove that a music creation tool can be both deep and have an efficient user interface, and I think we succeeded in making something that is indeed powerfully simple.
 
Admin M@ said:
I am a fan. Definitely start with the free LABS. I use Albion, Iceni, and One. I bought the Trevor Horn library but found it to be less exciting.
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Funny you mention LABS...I just downloaded all the free LABS last night. though I had helluva time with the installation /folders. my mac m2 and getting Komplete/kontakt to see the files. constant error messages. Finally figured it out and mainly I had to run the NI host in rosetta to get LABS to finally work properly. I know i could just run as VST in my DAW but wanted to use in standalone via NI
 
Been doing doing more research on this and listening to a lot of online demos going through the presets from Ominisphere and Arturia's Collection V. Both are great from what I'm hearing. I think the edge for more authentic analogue sounds go to Omni. Arturia gives you a plethora of emulations for classic synths and deep editing. I'm leaning away from upgrading my NI from STandard to Ultimate as it seems what i'd gain mostly is cinematic/orchestral instruments which I really dig and love listening to but don't have any real need for that. So probs between Omni and Arturia. @strabes , How do you find the CPU load on these two? comparable? I"m not overly concerned as i have a fairly newer Mac M2 Pro. 32GB memory 2TB HDD and external SSD HDD for extra space.
 
Chewie5150 said:
Been doing doing more research on this and listening to a lot of online demos going through the presets from Ominisphere and Arturia's Collection V. Both are great from what I'm hearing. I think the edge for more authentic analogue sounds go to Omni. Arturia gives you a plethora of emulations for classic synths and deep editing. I'm leaning away from upgrading my NI from STandard to Ultimate as it seems what i'd gain mostly is cinematic/orchestral instruments which I really dig and love listening to but don't have any real need for that. So probs between Omni and Arturia. @strabes , How do you find the CPU load on these two? comparable? I"m not overly concerned as i have a fairly newer Mac M2 Pro. 32GB memory 2TB HDD and external SSD HDD for extra space.
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My 16gb M1 can run plenty of instances of both, I've never really directly compared their CPU usage.
 
~ I agree with U-he Diva and Zebra... great stuff.
~ Spectrasonics is in a class itself. Been using Omnisphere, Trillian, Stylus since they came out. If you have Trillian and Keyscape they can be used inside Omnisphere.
~ Arturia V Collection is mostly more conventional type synths.
~ NI Komplete is almost too much and I get lost in the search for the right sound as there are so many different parts to it all.
~ Cherry Audio has a range of classic synth recreations that are excellent and very affordable.
~ GForce Software has amazing Oberheim recreations that Tom Oberheim endorses.
~ Vital is an excellent and very affordable wavetable synth.

Here's a few favorites that I'm really into for pushing boundaries of what synths are capable of:
UVI Falcon
Kilohearts Phase Plant
Arturia Pigments
Dawesome Novum
Rhizomatic Plasmonic from Brian Clevinger the creator of NI Absynth

Important to note: all of the above are Apple M1/2 native.
 
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NY Guitarist said:
~ I agree with U-he Diva and Zebra... great stuff.
~ Spectrasonics is in a class itself. Been using Omnisphere, Trillian, Stylus since they came out. If you have Trillian and Keyscape they can be used inside Omnisphere.
~ Arturia V Collection is mostly more conventional type synths.
~ NI Komplete is almost too much and I get lost in the search for the right sound as there are so many different parts to it all.
~ Cherry Audio has a range of classic synth recreations that are excellent and very affordable.
~ GForce Software has amazing Oberheim recreations that Tom Oberheim endorses.
~ Vital is an excellent and very affordable wavetable synth.

Here's a few favorites that I'm really into for pushing boundaries of what synths are capable of:
UVI Falcon
Kilohearts Phase Plant
Arturia Pigments
Dawesome Novum
Rhizomatic Plasmonic from Brian Clevinger the creator of NI Absynth

Important to note: all of the above are Apple M1/2 native.
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Falcon and Pigments are catching my eye. Falcon looks quite powerful from some demo's i've been watching. Looks like one deep rabbit hole I may not return from.
 
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