But it makes me wonder why basic FM doesn't sound as alive as it does in Aalto, Buchla Easel V, Cadmium, my Eurorack gear etc. This is the first time in 15+ years of using VST plugins that I want to call a synth 'cold and sterile.' Don't get me wrong, it's got some sweet spots that really sparkle or growl and sound great. And wavetable-based I used to love Serum before I went E352 and then E370.īut I feel like the sound isn't always there. I feel like it should be something I would love immensely, just for having linear and exponential FM, phase modulation, and then both phase distortion and wavefolding with audio rate modulation possible, and all the flexible routing and nice GUI. I can imagine it becoming my go to software synth for designing my own sounds given the interface, sound and features. There is no dedicated FM on the OSC but you can apply via modulation.Īt $69 upgrade from V6 I will definitely get it. The combinator is a neat addition to the modulation. And there are plenty of filters to choose from including the SEM filter which I often use on other synths/samples. That said, I found the adjustable shaped envelopes really useful to help sculpt the sound which is often missing elsewhere and the visual modulation sources great for keeping things interesting. Pulsar Modular is probably the best I've heard in software in that respect.

I've not yet found a Virtual Analog that has quite that same low end roundness or top end fizz as real analog. The raw waveform is pretty good - at least as good as the better virtual analog out there. I was curious how analog it could sound and spend some time comparing the raw saw tooth bass sounds with my Behinger Model D. I've downloaded the demo - which is actually a full featured version including saving until 10 Jan and out of the many soft synths I've had was the first that really found inviting for sound design (although that may in part be that my modular journey has taught me so much).

The sound examples and a lot of the presets are very modern and edgy and put me off initially.

Arturia pigments 2 demo