You might think that the talents of the legendary synth pioneers – Bob Moog, Tom Oberheim, Dave Smith, Wolfgang Palm, and many others – lay in their deep knowledge of electronics and sound synthesis.
Sure, this was important (obviously!), but what made these legendary names truly legendary was their ability to design instruments that made sense for musicians working in the real world.
Wall-filling modular systems may have been (and probably still are) the ultimate in sound synthesis, but musicians need instruments that are affordable, don't take up an entire room, and can stand up to being hauled between stage and studio - without needing a week's maintenance each time. So, with synth circuits being both bulky and expensive, the thing that really set the pioneers apart was their innate ability to strike a perfect balance between capability and practicality.
Designers of modern software synths face no such constraints. Once you have a computer model for an oscillator, a filter, or an envelope, you can cram as many of these models as you like into a synth without adding any expense or impracticality. The only limit is the power of the user's CPU and, these days, that's not much of a limit at all!
And so it is that we are now in the midst of a golden age where, for just a couple-of-hundred quid/dollars/euros, you can purchase the most powerful, flexible, and gob-smackingly impressive instruments ever created. But which of these uber-synths is best? Which should you splash your hard-earned cash on? Let's find out...
Arturia Pigments 6
Arturia started out at the dawn of the software synthesis era, and quickly focused its attentions on creating computer models of classic hardware. As its collection of synths and plugins grew, so did its repository of algorithms, so that, when it turned its attention to creating its own original soft-synth, the company had a vast back catalogue of know-how and code to draw from. The result is Pigments.
Pigments features a multi-engine design that allows a range of different sound generators, filters and FX processors to be combined within a patch. The synth features three sound generation engines. One of these is a "Utility" engine with two noise generators and a single analogue-style oscillator, perfect for use as a sub-oscillator or drone. The other two generator slots can load any one of five different synthesis models:
- Analogue provides the three-oscillator setup found on many classic synths, with common waveforms, frequency modulation and oscillator sync.
- Wavetable is a powerful and versatile wavetable engine replete with large library of wavetables and the ability to import custom wavetables.
- Sample can host up to six sample articulations, and can operate as a classic sampler or be switched into a granular mode.
- Harmonic is an approachable implementation of additive synthesis.
- Modal is a physical modelling engine based on Karplus-Strong synthesis.
This selection may not cover every synthesis technology there is, but it's a wide enough choice to give Pigments an exceptionally varied voice. More options are available in the filter section, which offers two slots that can be arranged in series or parallel.
There's a large choice of filter models available to load into these slots, with various flavours of low-pass, band-pass and high-pass models, along with a collection of more specialized filters such as comb, formant and cluster filters. and some filters taken directly from Arturia's instrument collection (Minimoog, MS-20, Jupiter 8, and more).
The filters feed to an FX section featuring two insert effects busses and one send effects bus, with each bus able to host three effect processors. As with the filters, there's a range of standard effects – reverbs, delays, and what-have-you – alongside processors taken from Arturia's other products – a Juno-6 chorus or BL-20 flanger, for example.
All of this is backed up with an intuitive and powerful modulation system that provides three each of envelopes, LFOs, function curves, random generators and modulation combinators
All of this is backed up with an intuitive and powerful modulation system that provides three each of envelopes, LFOs, function curves, random generators and modulation combinators. These are easy to assign via drag-and-drop – the technique favoured by all the synths we're looking at – with each mapping also available as a destination for other modulators to modulate.
Pigments also boasts a powerful arpeggiator/pattern sequencer packed with enough generative, polyrhythmic and randomisation features to keep even the most experimental producer happy. Pleasingly, as well as driving Pigments, the arpeggiator/sequencer can also output MIDI, and so can be used to sequence other synths.
Pigments is good-looking, easy-to-use, and sounds fantastic. It can at times get greedy for system resources but this all depends on the patch – the Analogue and Sample engines are very efficient, but fire up a Harmonic engine-or-two and the demands can rise sharply, especially if setting the engine to generate a large number of partials. The synth comes with a huge library of patches, samples and wavetables, and can run standalone or as a plugin.
Verdict
Flexibility: 4
Ease-of-Use: 4
Sound: 5
Value: 4
Sound examples
Price: €199
Contact: arturia.com
Kilohearts Phase Plant
Kilohearts' series of "Snapin" plugins are a collection of processors that, individually, perform a single, focused task, but which can also be combined in complex ways within one of the company's three host plugins. For effects there's Snap Heap and Multipass, and for instruments there's Phase Plant, which is what interests us here.
The Snapin system makes Phase Plant by far the most flexible and modular synth in this roundup. An initial patch starts as a completely blank slate, and is divided into three sections: The Generator section is the hosting area for the main synth components, such as oscillators, filters and amps). The Lanes section provides three busses for hosting additional effects and processors, and which can be routing destinations for output modules within the Generator area.
Finally, the Modulators section allows any selection of envelopes, LFOs, and other modulation sources to be loaded and then assigned to any of the multitude of modulatable parameters within the patch. Creating patches is simply a case of clicking in one of the sections and choosing Snapins from the list of compatible options that's shown.
The Generator section is where sound generators, filters, and amplifiers are loaded. These are always arranged into groups, with a group needing at least one sound generator Snapin and one output Snapin for routing the sound to the Lanes section. There are five sound generator models available, each with a self-explanatory name: Analogue, Granular, Noise, Sampler and Wavetable. To these you can add a couple of types of filter, a distortion processor, two flavours of amp envelope, and a few mixing and routing processors.
With the capacity to host up to 32 Snapins, and the ability to route audio signals between Snapins and groups, the Generator section allows some phenomenally complex instruments and patches to be created – or, indeed, very simple ones – but the sound-wrangling doesn't stop here.
Each of the three Lanes can load any processing Snapin installed on the system. There are additional filters, dynamics processors, distortion processors, reverb, ring modulation, EQ... the list is huge. The Modulators section is similarly generous, with a wide choice of different realtime, automatic and utility modulators with which to add control and variation to a patch.
Phase Plant's detailed generators, filters and processors pack a formidable sonic punch, and the modulators unleash vast scope of bringing your patches to life. Yet all of this is delivered without placing a massive strain on the host system although, of course, a massive complex layered pad will eat more CPU cycles than a simple one-oscillator bass sound.
Perhaps best of all, given its open-ended and immensely versatile architecture, Phase Plant is remarkably easy to use, once you have grasped its concept. Visualisations are detailed, informative and attractive, signal routing is logical and easy, and managing modulators is intuitive and simple.
Verdict
Flexibility: 5
Ease-of-Use: 4
Sound: 3
Value: 4
Sound examples
Price: $199
Contact: kilohearts.com
Native Instruments Massive X
At first glance, Massive X's fixed pair of wavetable oscillators may seem a trifle primitive compared to the other synths in this roundup, yet there's nothing primitive about these wavetable oscillators. Moreover, once you get beyond the oscillators, this synth is impressively flexible, thanks in no small part to its signal routing system.
Where most wavetable synths can only traverse a wavetable's frames and, perhaps, apply wavetable folding (akin to adjusting the pulse width of a square wave), Massive X's oscillators offer a choice of 10 different methods for interpreting and working with the loaded wavetable, each resulting in significantly different sonic outcomes.
The only downside to this advanced wavetable engine is that it uses a proprietary wavetable format. Massive X includes a generous library of such wavetables, but Native Instruments hasn't released any tools for building these and so there's no scope for working with custom wavetables.
Moving on from the oscillators, Massive X features a dual noise generator replete with a wide selection of noise samples, a single filter stage offering a choice of nine different models, three slots for hosting a choice of 12 sound processor models, and three slots for hosting any of nine effect models.
The various models that can be loaded into these slots makes for a healthy amount of flexibility, but what really unleashes Massive X's sound design power is its open-ended routing system. In essence, and with few limitations, each of the synth's components can be patched to any other, in any order you like, via a simple graphical interface.
Massive X provides 17 modulation sources in total. One of these is hard-wired as the amp envelope, whilst a further eight slots can load any of the synth's two envelope and two LFO models. The remaining modulation sources have dedicated uses: three are pattern sequencers for creating repeating loops of modulation values, four are advanced keyboard tracking curves, and one is a pseudo-random generator.
Modulation mapping is easy enough, using a click-and-drag method similar to all of the synths we're looking at. However, in Massive X's case, there are tighter limits on the number of modulators that can be applied to each mappable parameter and, once mapped, there isn't much visual feedback about what each modulator is actually doing at any given time.
Sonically, Massive X lives up to its name, but not so much when it comes to system usage (it is one of the less processor-hogging of the bunch). It is impressively flexible too, but accessing its full potential feels less intuitive than with the other synths in our roundup.
Sound examples
Price: £179 (available with 50% discount at time of writing)
Contact: native-instruments.com
Native Instruments Massive X review
Vital Audio Vital
Freeware and open-source music-making software has something of a chequered history, with many promising projects descending into abandonware before reaching maturity. That's not the case with Vital.
The synth itself is free – just create an account and download the software – whilst the Plus and Pro editions pack in additional presets and wavetables (amongst other things). Mac-based users should note that, at the time of writing, native Apple Silicon support is only included in the v1.5.5 "Early Access" release of the synth, so be sure to grab that version if using a non-Intel Mac (although the older v1.0.7 will work fine standalone or if you launch your DAW in Rosetta 2 mode).
Like Massive X, Vital is built around wavetable oscillators – it has three of the blighters! The Basic edition comes with only 25 wavetables, but it's easy to import custom wavetables, and the synth even features a capable wavetable editor if you want to try your hand at creating your own. There's also a very basic sample oscillator intended for loading noise or basic waveform samples.
Each oscillator features note-snapping, useful for creating one-note chords that remain in-key, or if you're not the most accurate keyboard player! They also sport an efficient unison engine, a processing slot into which a choice of different filters and shapers can be loaded, and a flexible cross-modulation system for creating sync, FM and ring modulation effects. Simple routing allows each oscillator to send its signal to either of the two filters, both filters simultaneously, or to bypass the filter stage altogether and route straight to the effects processing stage or directly to the output.
The two filters offer a good choice of different models – classic analogue, ladder, digital, and such – and a useful selection of shapes and slopes for each model. The filter output is sent to a stereo effect bus with a choice of nine processors, including reverb, compressor, delay, EQ, an additional filter, and more. The choice of processors is fixed, but they can be freely re-ordered.
Vital has a large selection of modulators to work with: six DAHDSR envelopes (delay, attack, hold, decay, sustain, release), eight LFOs with fully customisable shapes, four random generators, four macro controllers, and a bunch of realtime and MPE control sources – mod wheel, keyboard tracking, slide, and so on. As with all the synths we're looking at, mapping modulators to parameters involves nothing more than a simple drag-and-drop, but there's also a dedicated Matrix view from where modulation mappings can be created and managed.
Sound-wise, Vital gives little away to its premium-priced competitors, delivering a rich and full-blooded a sound that's on par with the other synths we're looking at. It's also similar from a system usage point of view, able to be very lean with simpler patches but getting rather greedy when things become more complex.
It's remarkable that this powerful synth can be had for free, and upped to its full power for so little outlay. There really is no excuse for Vital not to be a regular go-to in your production workflow.
Verdict
Flexibility: 3
Ease-of-Use: 3
Sound: 3
Value: 5
Sound examples
Price: $0 (Basic Edition) / $25 (Plus Edition) / $80 (Pro Edition)
Contact: vital.audio
Xfer Records Serum 2
Xfer's long-awaited update to the wildly popular Serum appeared out of the blue back in March. For fans of the original, this new version has definitely been worth the wait, with the synth moving into the territory of Pigments and Phase Plant thanks to a new selection of models that can be loaded into the synth's three sound generator slots.
The wavetable engine of the original Serum is here, of course, with built in unison and two "Warp" slots into which various signal processors can be loaded – this is much the same as Vital, and is why many view Vital as a freeware equivalent of the original Serum. But Serum 2 has beefed things up with a choice of Sample, Multisample, Granular and Spectral engines.
The Sample engine is conventional, and similar to Pigments' and Phase Plant's, but the Multisample engine offers far more flexibility than the maximum of six layers/articulations supported by Pigments' Sample engine. Multisamples are defined in SFZ files, these being text files with a simple syntax that define all aspects of a multisample collection. Although text editing isn't as intuitive as the visual editor you may find in an actual sampler, Serum 2's use of SFZ files makes it possible to define very complex multisamples for use in the synth.
Serum 2's implementation of granular synthesis is fairly conventional and familiar, but the Spectral engine is somewhat more unique. It is conceptually similar to granular synthesis in that it separates the time and frequency dimensions of a sample so each can be manipulated independently, and whilst this gives sonic results that aren't dissimilar to granular synthesis, it is distinct enough to be a worthwhile alternative. In short, both engines turn any sample into a treasure trove of timbres from which to create new patches.
The filter section has two slots that can be arranged in series or parallel, and alongside the extensive collection of conventional and specialized filter models carried over from the original Serum are eleven new models. But, in a further encroachment on Pigments' territory, the majority these are based on classic synth filters such as the Moog Minimoog, Oberheim SEM, EMS Synthi, and EDP Wasp.
For modulation, Serum 2 provides four AHDSR envelopes, eight macro knobs, velocity and keyboard tracking, and six LFOs. These LFOs are quite special, with a choice of freely-drawable waveform, sample-and-hold, an option that tracks two dimensional paths that you draw, and a pair of chaos-based LFOs that produce fascinating non-repeating modulation patterns. Mapping of modulators is done via the same intuitive drag-and-drop system that's common across all of the synth's we're looking at.
Serum 2 features a powerful arpeggiator and a Clip player that stores and plays back predefined patterns and sequences. Each of these has 12 slots for storing patterns, with the active arpeggio or Clip pattern selectable either from the GUI or from a controller keyboard. So Serum 2 is a powerful jamming and performance tool as well as a powerful synth! And, as with Pigments, the arpeggiator and Clip players can send their notes as a MIDI output with which to drive other synths.
Some early reports have observed that Serum 2 is overbearingly demanding on the host system, but we didn't see anything better or worse than with any other synth in the roundup. As with those other synths, it's all down to the complexity of the patch, with some being very demanding, and others barely registering on the CPU performance meter.
However heavy-duty the patch, Serum 2 makes good use of those CPU cycles, delivering the same rich, rounded and detailed sound as its predecessor, and easily holding its own alongside the other synth's we've gathered here. Our only gripes are that the included patch library seems less generous than some, and the asking price is the highest of the bunch.
PRICE: $249 ($189 intro price until June 1st)
CONTACT: xferrecords.com
Verdict
Flexibility: 4
Ease-of-Use: 3
Sound: 5
Value: 2
Sound examples
Price: $249 ($189 intro price until June 1st)
Contact: xferrecords.com
Final verdict
Below, we've listed the winners in each category. Coming in on top for flexibility and ease-of-use is Phase Plant, while Pigments 6 and Serum 2 are tied for first place in terms of sound. When it comes to value for money, Vital unsurprisingly snags our top spot.
Though each has its strong points, all five of these instruments are immensely impressive. And whilst each has its own particular range of options and way of doing things, it's remarkable how close they all are in terms of sound quality and sonic versatility – marking and ranking them has not been an easy task!
Whether you want the warmth of analogue, the flexibility of digital, the realism of samples, or the fascination of the unconventional, these instruments can do it all. If you have any of these plugins in your arsenal, you won't struggle to find the right sounds for your productions.
Flexibility: Phase Plant
Ease-of-use: Phase Plant
Sound: Pigments 6 & Serum 2
Value: Vital
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