Before you read anything, just know that this will be long. This is important and I wanted to make sure I give you enough info so you can give the best advice. I'm at the stage where I know enough about my DAW to be able to make use of a soft synth. I got a few VSTs on sale, Razor and George Duke Soul Treasures, but those aren't exactly versatile. I want to get a workhorse synth. People say to start out with a subtractive synth, not wavetable, fm, additive, et. But, I'm not sure if I should do that, or get something that resonates with me the most. Help me decide, please! Also note that I'm not trying to make this into a "what synth is better post". I want this to be a post about what synth would be most useful to someone fairly new to synthesis in the long run(so, not necessarily a "beginner" synth"). I plan on getting most if not all the synths on this list down the line (in maybe a year), I just want to know what would be best now.
The synths I have to choose from are:
-d16 LuSH-101, whose presets are amazing and resonate with me a lot, but whose synthesis method(I think that'd be the right term) feels extremely complicated and foreign
-u-he Diva, who I resonate with more than most synths I demoed, but considerably less than LuSH. Plus this synth has been recommended for learning subtractive synthesis (Sylenth1 has been recommended as well but I think Diva can do most of what Sylenth can do and I like Diva more. If you can prove me wrong, then please do so.)
-Xfer Serum, who I resonate with about as much as Diva. I feel as though I'd like it more if I knew enough to be able to use it properly because people who I respect, like VR, make some incredible sounding things on this. I plan on getting this eventually, so I'm not sure if I should just get it now or later
-Other recommendations are encouraged as well! I'm not looking for anything specific. Just a synth that is reliable and preferably has a degree of versatility. CPU load and other PC spec requirements aren't a problem, so you don't have to worry about that in your recommendations. But it does have to be less than or around $200. I can't afford Omnisphere, unfortunately.
Thank you if you reply! This subreddit is much more helpful than online reviews of things, so even 1 reply is appreciated! Also, I partly made this to see if anyone would recommend LuSH(it seems so cool but I don't hear much about it) so that's the only thing I searched for before making this post, so sorry if this question gets asked more often than it should. You can redirect me to some other posts if you'd like. Point out any typos I made, if you don't get the gist of it.
Submitted December 04, 2016 at 12:43AM by Trades_ https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/5gdkxl/what_synth_to_buy_to_be_a_workhorse/?utm_source=ifttt