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I collect free VST synths like there's no tomorrow, and I have been considering reentering trance production (my first few attempts were disasterous, so I've been working on some sappy techno/synthpop stuff). There are TONS of freebies out there, and many are extremely good. Usually, what you get with a comercial VST is more flexibility with a synth and lower amount of time fidgeting with the knobs. I'm fairly confident there is nothing that the commercials can do, that you can't do with combinations of free VSTs, it's just a matter of how much time you can put towards it.
That said, for trance leads, these are my favorite freebies:
Claw (use multiple claws and sculpt the sound with envelopes)
FreeAlpha (Best freebie by LinPlug, but their commercial instruments are better)
Crystal (it's a ambient machine at first glance, but can make some wicked leads. Very much like absynth, but the interface is less friendly. Massive learning curve.)
JX220 (good foundation for leads, but requires a lot of effects)
Commercial instruments:
LinPlug Albino (absolutely sick instrument for trance leads. This will be providing my leads for two of my tracks in progress. Possibly my favorite soft synth to date.)
Absynth (it does a little of everything, and all of it well. HUGE learning curve like Crystal, though not quite as bad)
Pentagon (Ugly, but very usable interface. Does a lot of everything. Very analog sounding for the price.)
Now, the part where VSTs need to come a long way, ironically, is effects. I think there is a lot of nuance in a good analog harware effects processor that is practically ignored by dsp-coders (freebie coders anyways). Good analog reverb, compression, and distorsion/modulation is almost always much better in hardware. I have yet to try the high-end software effects plugins (that tend to run better than $500 US), but my guess is, for that price, a multi effects processor is the better buy. A friend's studio is all hardware, while mine is all software. Our synth quality is pretty much even until we start piling on effects. His stuff comes out warm and crisp, while mine tends to sound flat and boring.
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VSTi junkie.
Last edited by Haimoimoi on Mar-28-2003 at 00:59
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