Nexus 2 vs Sylenth1 vs Zebra 2 vs ??

[jaredistheman]

I have some extra christmas money and i'm really wanting to get a good all around synth. I'm thinking i like these but i'm honestly not sure because i don't know a whole lot about the subject. Nexus 2 is sounding awesome but is about $50 more and i don't really know if it's worth it.

I'm wanting a synth with good leads, arps, midrange synths that could follow guitars and that sort of thing (for pop music). I'd also like the ability to have some dance/progressive house/dubstep type sounds too.

I'm truly open to anything and i'm curious to hear you guys input. Thanks!

 

[Josh Burgess]

Sylenth1 is one of my favorite synths. It sounds best for leads and trance. I think it would work well in prog metal. Native Instruments Absynth is my favorite for ambient/spacey pads and atmospheres. NI Massive is great for all types of bass, including the house/dubstep stuff you're looking for... but if you're looking for just one synth that can do all of that really well, I'd check out Camel Audio Alchemy. I was pretty impressed with what it could do and the variety of sounds it covers well. Check out some of the demos from their sound packs.

http://www.camelaudio.com/Sound-Sample-Libraries.php

 

[jaredistheman]

Awesome man! I'll definitely check alchemy out

 

[Djunn]

Try Synthmaster: http://www.kv331audio.com/synthmaster.aspx

 

[pifos_2]

i like nexus and sylenth both.
nexus is no synth, just a rom player. so it depends if you're into creating your own patches or just finding cool presets and tweaking a bit.

those 2 synths are really dance instruments. a fantastic allround instrument is omnisphere, but it's more expensive.

 

[Toxic Grind Machine]

Agreed.. nexus is a heavy sumbitch for your CPU btw, but sounds great.

I prefer sylenth 1 though, more tweakable when you really go for depth, and sound very direct and not so hard on the CPU.

 

[ashgallows]

zebra 2 is my favorite synth of all time as it sounds incredible and is flexible as all hell. Only thing is you really need to get under the hood to prgram it. If you are into just plug and play nexus is hands down the one. I have sylenth1 but imo it has ni massive disease as it tends to sound thin and kind of plasticy. there is a free synth called sonigen that you may also like as a supplement to nexus as it's kind of a zebra clone and it wont cost you anything.

 

[updog]

i second alchemy. i use many softsynths (none of those you mentioned though) and i always keep coming back to that one. it's one of the most versatile softsynths i can think of. if you like to flip through presets more than spend time tweaking sounds, it could be a good idea to get the alchemy player, maybe even a soundpack or two. seriously every time i recommend camel audio products to someone it looks like i'm being paid by them, but they're really THAT good.

nexus sounds good, but as it's a rompler, the results are usually less than original, but for those bread and butter sounds and filling the gaps, it's probably great. there are also a lot of expansions so if you keep buying them you won't run out of sounds anytime soon. i wouldn't solely rely on it but it could be a great tool, i actually keep thinking about buying it. it's currently being sold at a reduced price.

 

[Ericlingus]

nexus is great as an all around synth that sounds great without any tweeking. Sylenth is great for leads and arps. I'd get nexus if you can only get one synth.

 

[AeternusEternus]

i chose omnisphere for my first synth. it's really powerful, check these thingies..


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt5XK3WAD20&feature=related[/ame]

 

[MetalSound]

thanks for the camel audio tip. i´m just downloading the free player. the demos on their site sound great and i´m thinking of buying the arp sounds now.

other than that i can really recommend sylenth1. don´t know about the other ones you mentioned.

 

[JonWormwood]

Seriously, alchemys Capabilties are endless.