Synthmaster on sale for $59

[Jim Alfredson]

I wrote about this plugin back in 2019 when I first played with it at NAMM. It has since become one of my go-to synth plug-ins and I have most of the u-he stuff, Arturia's V7, and various other synth plugs. But I find myself using Synthmaster a lot. It's just a great sounding, easy to use, versatile synth. The layout reminds me of Alchemy though the engine is not the same, but I like how it is organized. It leads to an easy programming experience. And it's on sale for only $59 right now, which is crazy. Check it out.

 

https://www.kv331audio.com/synthmaster.aspx

[RudyS]

Seems like a nice plug-in. Can you describe what you think are it"s strengths? Where are you using it for the most?

[Stokely]

I'll probably get it at some point. My impression is that it's an all-rounder and somewhat similar to Zebra in being semi-modular (I could be mistaken). I'd probably get it now but I said "no more synths"--then u-he went on a super-rare sale, and I got bx_oberhausen from Plugin Alliance for 9.99 (sale and voucher). I'm a sucker for sales. The good thing is that Synthmaster (and One) go on sale pretty often. Looking forward to 3.0, sounds like a lot of work has gone toward it as I've read about it.

[Tusker]

Thanks for the heads up Jim. I had heard about it and yet I have more synths to learn than I have time to learn. I like Alchemy"s integration with sampler formats in Logic and yet Alchemy"s filters don"t quite have the personality of some bespoke VIs. Coming from you, the synth master recommendation makes it worth a second look.

[Jim Alfredson]

Seems like a nice plug-in. Can you describe what you think are it"s strengths? Where are you using it for the most?

 

Pads, pads, pads! It is a pad machine. Gorgeous, evolving, deep, rich pads. It is also really great at arpeggiated sounds. And bass!

 

I think the comparison to Zebra is very fair; they are quite similar.

[David Emm]

Stokely is right to call it an all-rounder, which is my one small issue with it. I already have several synths that cover its list of powers, such as Alchemy. The demos are impressive, although the ample presence of VA/EDM presets and very generous pricing are part of why its such a hit with independent European producers. Its also a synth that wisely allows you to drop in your own WAVs, which you can then tweak like any other onboard sound. That's smarter than building a full sampler for the instrument.

 

More precisely, if you have this AND Zebra AND Pigments AND an MS-20 Legacy AND a VCS3 of any kind and on and on... you're KC material. More to the point, where do you find the time to play even half of it adequately? I'm not sinless about buying something just to tweak & reverse-engineer presets, but I've learned to monitor the overload factor.

 

I also know that by law, if I take up Omnisphere, I am only allowed 4 additional specialty synths or the Art Police will beat me with sticks.

[Dr Mike Metlay]

It has an interesting reputation in the software geek community. People are very proud of how much it can do and how good it sounds, and it frequently comes blasting out of nowhere to win or place high in Best Software Synths Of The Year polls (it's beaten Omnisphere at least once in one major poll). I love it, but I mainly use it because it has a decent Mellotron sample set (yeah, yeah, I know, shut up) that I can process to hell and back. It's fast to play and quite deep in some areas, it's super-affordable, and the devs are among the nicest guys I've ever met in the music software world... and that's saying a lot when you consider some of the great people out there.

 

Yeah, the extra add-ons can add up on the price, but getting into it for $59 is a no brainer. For this crowd, the one pack I recommend adding is Nori Ubukata's Art Rock Basics. It's got most of what you'd want to add in, and lets you avoid all the endless EDM packs.