Some synths are so versatile they can find a place in any genre of music. Others are designed to specialize on one approach and scope of sounds. If your music production focus lies in a specific style you need tools that are tailor-made for it. Luckily, we’ve done some of the research for you. We selected 10 of the most popular electronic genres and found some of the best-in-class plugins for them. Best Plugin for Drum & Bass - Kilohearts Multipass The drum and bass genre lives in the low end. Bass frequencies are difficult enough to get right, but when they’re the focal point of the musi ..read more

Synth plugins are one of the most varied and versatile categories of virtual instruments. There are so many it can be hard to know where to start when you’re looking for something new to add to your library, especially if you’re new to synthesizers. That’s why we’ve done some of the legwork for you. In this article we go over eight of our favorite synth plugins and why we love them. If you're looking for the best synth plugins in 2024 we have you covered. These are our top picks!  Best synth plugin bundle - Cherry Audio Synth Stack 3 With so many synths and so little time, sometimes the ..read more

Who doesn’t love free plugins, especially when it comes to synths? Synthesizer plugins are unique in that some are a digital reimagining of the unique sounds of analog hardware synths, some are a hybrid of old school and futuristic, and some present new ideas for sounds altogether. The world of free synthesizer plugins can be a difficult landscape to navigate. That’s why we put together this list with our top choices. No matter if you do music production, sound design for film or TV, or just want some new synth plugins to play with, there's something here for everyone. What is the best free sy ..read more

There are many popular VST (Virtual Studio Technology) plug-ins available today, each with its own unique set of features and capabilities. What makes a good (thus often popular) VST plugin?  Whether it's a virtual instrument or an audio effect, VST Plugins should exhibit several hallmarks that contribute to their usability, functionality, and overall quality. Here are the top 5 plugin criteria we considered. Sound Quality: The most fundamental aspect of any audio plugin is its sound quality. A good VST plugin should accurately and convincingly produce the desired audio results. Wh ..read more

As the title suggests, what makes a good synthesizer for beginners?  Well as a beginner you'll need simple sound design controls, hands on parameters, something with scope to grow and it'll need to be affordable.   Simple sound design controls will help you get to grips with the synth parameters and help build an overall experience of how synth parts interact with each other.    Hands on parameters will allow you to hear the results of your physical changes, helping build a stronger connection with what's going on and this experience will help you translate over to oth ..read more

Trap is a sub-genre of hip hop and rap music. Trap can be lyrical or non-lyrical and ranges from styles more in keeping with it's rap and hip hop influences all the way to the more clubby EDM inspired types. It was born out of an expression of the raw US street life and much of the styles and themes include themes of drugs, crime and survival. Like its hip-hop and rap influences it often relies heavily on sampling of traditional instrumentation such as brass, flute, bells, vibes and piano, often being sampled and re-sampled and pitched or effected. Trap also often empl ..read more

In todays world the sheer selection over new and existing synth plugins can be overwhelming and bewildering. We get it you have some money in your bank, you're in the market for a synth and you just want to make noise. With literally thousands of free and paid ones available how do you separate the good from the bad? One way is to hone in on some of the most popular options. The producer hive mind and their collective consciousness has a unique way of filtering out the bad synth stuff whilst the good synth stuff quickly floats to the top - that's the stuff we hear about fro ..read more

Synthesizers have been an integral part of hip hop music since its inception. And even with so many subgenres cropping up over the years, they are as vital as ever. But what are some of the best soft synths for hip hop, and what makes them the best for you? The world of soft synths is always expanding. And there have never been more options to choose from. If you want your music to stand out you’ll need the best tools at your disposal. These are the top 10 soft synths for hip hop.  Spectrasonics Omnisphere https://www.spectrasonics.net/products/omnisphere/index.php   Spectrasonics r ..read more

  Synthwave can be everything from the classically 80's inspired tones all the way to modern Neo-retro type sounds that are decidedly in theme but only possible due to modern synthesis techniques and technology.  So from a synthesiser we want the ability to sound analogue, but also there's the occasion need for digital for those classic silky bells. We need soft attacks and a rich and full sound. Additional effects are a bonus with a particular lust for rich tonal chorus types and finally the ability to save our synthwave presets is a given. We take a look at the top 5 software synth ..read more

What is the best vintage synth vst? Who'd have thought it? That in 2022 there'd be a near infinite amount of Vintage Synth VSTs designed and developed entirely in software that so closely match the sound of the original hardware synths you'd be hard pushed to win a back to back blind test in the sound stakes on some of these. With synth developers baking in additional functionality along the way and the ready ability to load up as many VSTi instances as your CPU can handle it's clearly an excellent time to be alive for music producers and synth enthusiasts alike.  But with so much ch ..read more