What workhorse synth would you buy if you couldn't get Omnisphere?

[noiseboyuk]

I don't mind the activation, Avenger is just also very very expensive for me. I'll try searching for a decent price around here.

Recently Avenger 1 was £92 IIRC. But with Avenger 2 quite recent it might be a while til those discounts are around again to be fair.

[IvyBirds]

I am a long time user and fan of Omnisphere. I also either have or have deeply tried everything else you mentioned. Nothing beats Omnisphere because the samples are put together by Eric Persing who is the master of that.

However if you don't want to or can't spring for Omnisphere, my suggestion is to get HALion7

It's regular price for the full version and you want the full version is $349 but they usually run a sale in June

HALion7 comes with fantastic factory library of samples, and you can turn them into granular, Wavetables, and use the spectral engine to transform them into all sorts of things

You also get a very good VA engine, and FM-X which is a fantastic and powerful FM synth, as well as a ton of really good effects

[wayford]

HALion7 comes with fantastic factory library of samples, and you can turn them into granular, Wavetables, and use the spectral engine to transform them into all sorts of things

Never even considered Halion as a non-cubase user. Never knew it had all those things, I thought it was just Steinberg's Kontakt.

I will demo that now. Still on the expensive side, but if it does all that well, that would be very very interesting.

Edit: Oof, that price, that is a lot... It does look pretty powerful, although the UI is a bit convoluted.

[Gam456]

Perhaps the best bet therefore is Avenger in the next sale. It's certainly not like-for-like with Omni, but there is a half-decent selection of samples in there and some woweee engines to muck about with them. Pigments could be another option. Both of these are fun to program and use imo, and sound great. Avenger probably does analog better if that matters to you.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Avenger does seem like the perfect synth for me, but the "internet connection needed once in a while to prove license ownership" really bothers me. Where I live, internet connection can be a bit unstable sometimes, so I guess that's a no go for me. And it doesn't feel like you "own it" when you have to authorise it to prove you do several times a year.

Honestly I own Avenger, my advice just don't. You will be disappointed

Look after Falcon or Halion not colose to Omnisphere but complementary

You also get a very good VA engine, and FM-X which is a fantastic and powerful FM synth, as well as a ton of really good effects

It's FMLab. But it use some element from Montage FM-X

[wayford]

I guess at this point I wish I could create a synth of my own. Unfortunately, I do UI design, so I would need someone to write the code. Ugh, I just wish there was a company who would let me work on their existing synths and give them a new layout, workflow, design...

Sorry, got caught dreaming again lol. Well, one day dreams may become a reality!

People here are probably 3x my age...Maybe you know how I could eventually become a project lead in a company like Waves? Eh, that's too off-topic.

On the topic of the post, I guess I will try to find Pigments for around $45 (I'll just wait) and in the meantime save up for Omnisphere.

[Monsieur_FyP]

In your shoes, I'd try to get my head 'round Alchemy while saving for Omnisphere.

+ 1

[foosnark]

I'm not into workhorses, just exotic racehorses and horses that drink absinthe and write surrealist poetry.

[vurt]

I'm not into workhorses, just exotic racehorses and horses that drink absinthe and write surrealist poetry.

i like unicorns and pegasii.

[syntonica]

Second on Elektra and Icarus. I think Markus also offers one of the best copy protection schemes out there.

I also like Hive and Rapid. You might take a gander at Zebra Legacy with its crapton of presets to see if you like the sound.

While I do like the overall sound of Omni, I find 99,9% of the presets to be unusable garbage and the interface too stifling to make my own. If you're a preset pack user, then this may not bother you.

[CrystalWizard]

Nothing else comes with a sample set quite like Omni. It has a decent synthesis section, It sounds quite good. Falcon (which i didn't get on with but i may try again) has a more advanced synth section and can do about the same with samples but you would need to acquire them, which would likely mean spending money (and probably more money than the cost of Omni.) I found Omni many orders of magnitude easier to work with than Falcon. As noiseboyuk commented.
Another option that i'm not familiar with is Halion. Halion7 as IvyBirds points out above.I've seen it described as a monster of sampling and synthesis (like the other two) but also a steep learning curve. As a first choice i might choose Omnisphere (although i sometimes wish for the more advanced synthesis of Falcon). all my opinion.
Lastly i would take the advice of el-bo and dig into Alchemy. I have V1 (PC), is one of my favorites. It is immensely powerful and easy to use (for me).

[egbert101]

As usual, people start listing off their favourite synth until it falls into complete absurdity.

Someone will likely mention Behringer Vintage soon, as a replacement to Omnisphere.

[CrystalWizard]

As usual, people start listing off their favourite synth until it falls into complete absurdity.

Someone will likely mention Behringer Vintage soon, as a replacement to Omnisphere.

That's some top quality trolling there. Mostly i see good suggestions.

[Gam456]

Second on Elektra and Icarus. I think Markus also offers one of the best copy protection schemes out there.

I also like Hive and Rapid. You might take a gander at Zebra Legacy with its crapton of presets to see if you like the sound.

While I do like the overall sound of Omni, I find 99,9% of the presets to be unusable garbage and the interface too stifling to make my own. If you're a preset pack user, then this may not bother you.

Only 10 of 10.000 !!!
It a no sense to say that.

[hey212]

I think Equator2 qualifies as a workhorse. It's extremely flexible and sounds awesome, and if you're into MPE it's a no brainer. Would be my top choice after Omnisphere and Avenger.

[syntonica]

Second on Elektra and Icarus. I think Markus also offers one of the best copy protection schemes out there.

I also like Hive and Rapid. You might take a gander at Zebra Legacy with its crapton of presets to see if you like the sound.

While I do like the overall sound of Omni, I find 99,9% of the presets to be unusable garbage and the interface too stifling to make my own. If you're a preset pack user, then this may not bother you.

Only 10 of 10.000 !!!
It a no sense to say that.

Nope. That's about right for me.