Best Free VST Synths

[Togeo_Studios]

This is where we will keep a list of the best free vsti synth plugins.

Let us know your favorites and we will add them to this post with a link to the site where they can be downloaded.

There are so many free synths available that you could go on forever and this is not to say that these are the only good ones, but what we would like to list here.

1. Sound quality
2. Usability and interface
3. Available presets.
   

Basicly a lot of bang for the buck, so to speak. Tell us why you like them and what you use them for in your music.

Free VST Instruments

Proteus VX - Free sample player from Emu including the Composer X bank containing 1000 sample presets. Based on and will load the EmulatorX / Proteus sound banks.

Synth1 - 2 oscillator free synth by Ichiro Toda with FM and ring modulation. It can make some nice VA type sounds and has a lots of free presets available.

Crystal - free semi-modular software synthesizer featuring both subtractive FM synthesis. Be sure to get the extra rom and you can add your own extra soundfonts too. We have a few free preset banks at Togeo Studios also.

Oatmeal - Oatmeal is a two oscillator polyphonic subtractive synth with a great sound capabilities. Also check out our article for more presets and skins.

[dnsdobai]

EMU Proteus VX

http://www.emu.com/promo/proteusvx/welcome.asp

[Togeo_Studios]

Oh nice one...seen it before but never checked it out because I thought you needed an Emu sound card for it to work. Glad I followed it this time, very cool.

[dnsdobai]

Very hot and intresting:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic....sc&start=0

[Togeo_Studios]

(02-15-2009 11:57 AM)dnsdobai Wrote:  Very hot and intresting:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic....sc&start=0

It was a very neat idea although it doesnt appear he has done anything with it since 2007. I really liked the way you could manipulate the waveforms on the fly like that. Would like to see something along the lines of that kind of custiom waveform editing in a new synth now.

The developer mdsp was the creator of Live Cut and Live Fire which are very cool glitch and delay effects. He always seemed to have those "outside the box" type of ideas that I found interesting. I wonder what projects he is doing now or where hes working at.

[GeoSuPhat]

Three that I like the sound of a lot:

Although I understand the workings of FM synthesis about as much as I understand my wife, the sounds of Yamahas DX series, NI FM 7/8, Fruitys Cytrus always had something special. So...

Purple is a really nice sounding FM synth with a very nice gui skin by Odo.

Tim Conrardy has always produced some of the best presets for so many synths that anything he would be involved in conceptualizing would have to be pretty good....

Cygnus evolving pads and soundscapes, concieved by Tim Conrady (with the soundfont version skin by Odo)

And another good Ambient atmosphere, pad synth with a really good randomizer is H.G. Fortunes STS-33

[dnsdobai]

(02-03-2009 01:39 PM)Togeo_Studios Wrote:  Oh nice one...seen it before but never checked it out because I thought you needed an Emu sound card for it to work. Glad I followed it this time, very cool.

Proteus VX is not copy protected or card locked like other versions of EMU instrument and sampling software, and can be used either as a VSTi or in stand alone mode.