If you could only use one soft synth…
…what would it be? Free, paid, no restrictions apart from the fact it has to be a soft synth. I only have free ones (including some pretty good ones IMO) but I’m getting the urge to invest in a new one.
Was thinking about Absynth or Massive because I’ve heard a lot about them… anybody have any favourites?
I would pick Omnisphere, it’s probably the most comprehensive synth out there now and all that content it comes with is amazing.
Of the two you list I would pick Absynth, always fun loading your own samples in that one and going nuts.
Used to be Sylenth1, now it’s Massive… Although I’ve taken a huge liking to Ableton’s Operator lately…
Zebra 2 HZ easily for me. I never dipped my toes in Omnisphere or Sylenth. Never got on with Massive. FM8 is growing on me as I learn FM though…
For freebies…Synth1 is about as awesome and versatile as you can get for a free 64-bit softie.
the arturia mini v. you can get nearly anything out of that machine.
I’m not sure if this counts but I would pick a drum synth - Maschine, Punch or Ultrabeat. I literally can not make my music with out them.
I want to say Serum but I haven’t found enough presets for it, so Sylenth1.
I would just program a soft synth that ran other soft synths so i never had to choose 
Yep Operator is fun, but it’s complicated for somebody who doesn’t know what they’re doing. I’m putting some effort into trying to get to grips with it better.
I’ll definitely check out Sylenth1.. a few people have mentioned that.
Once you learn the general concept of how synths work via oscillators, filters, asdr, etc.. You can basically bounce between any of them. There are different types of synthesis to choose from though, like Ableton’s Operator which is an FM synth, and Sylenth1 which I’m almost positive is subtractive synthesis
You can learn about the different types here if you’re curious:
FM’s pretty crazy to get to the point you understand it. But it’s capable of a lot of very cool stuff that you can’t get from subtractive.
I recently got into FM… Been toying with Operator and it’s been really cool. Need to get FM8 though
FM8 is really cool, (crazy great basses via FM) but you might want to look into De-exed or Deexed or something. It’s a free DX7 emulation. Allows you to take DX7 sounds and incorporate into Deexed or vice versa I believe. (as does FM8)
Holy wow that layout looks horrendous lol
It’s free dude! 
I haven’t actually used it, but a lot of people say it’s damn good for free. FM8 I’m sure allows a lot more and the arp on FM8 is killer good and customizable. But, it’ll cost ya too.
I would probably go with sylenth1, but it’s on the edge with massive
Has anything come out recently that would add to these suggestions? I’m still struggling with Operator to be honest… I often end up scrapping it and going to Analog out of frustration.. hehe.
look up operator videos on youtube and how to get specific sounds and follow along with the screen. it’ll show you how certain sounds are achieved and you’ll eventually be able to tweak them and make your own
e/ I first learned about synthesis and what everything means and what it does but it didnt necessarily help me make the sounds that were in my head. i would still pull up the synth and get nowhere. i had to learn the way i described above.
another good way to learn operator is to look at the presets that ableton comes with and learn the presets and how the racks are macro’d.
Make your own