best synth bass vst?

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Last Alternative
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23 Jul 2017

Sorry to say but all of Reason's bass presets are sh*t. I'm not good at sound design or else I'd make my own but I do like to modify sounds that are close to what I'm going for. It's just that everything in Reason for bass is either dubwub or cheesy junk and I'm never happy with anything it has to offer. Well, sometimes but.. I'm ready to spread my wings and invest in the real mccoy.

What do you guys recommend for a good vst that has it all where bass is concerned?
I do electronic rock.
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Oquasec
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24 Jul 2017

If talking synthesis, what you know applies to everything of the same type.
This depends on how you do your bass of course and whether the tool you use has this capability or if you did not learn how to achieve something in a tool.

Some will lab up on their tools and others will find tools that suit them more for the task they do, then lab up on those.
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raymondh
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24 Jul 2017

Last Alternative wrote:
23 Jul 2017
Sorry to say but all of Reason's bass presets are sh*t. I'm not good at sound design or else I'd make my own but I do like to modify sounds that are close to what I'm going for. It's just that everything in Reason for bass is either dubwub or cheesy junk and I'm never happy with anything it has to offer. Well, sometimes but.. I'm ready to spread my wings and invest in the real mccoy.

What do you guys recommend for a good vst that has it all where bass is concerned?
I do electronic rock.
I'm more synthpop than electronic rock, but I really like:

- Synapse The Legend (Rack extension)- my favourite synth for bass. Sounds really organic, full and sits nicely in a mix. Some nice presets, though suggest turning off the FX for more the bread-and-butter goodness, and crank the saturation for more dirt. I think this would be good for rock since the synth has so much presence. It would not sound weedy under a guitar.

- Roland JU-06 (Hardware) - I know not what you were asking, but another powerful synth for bass. There's a VST TAL Juno emulation that might be worth trying to see if suits you - a lot cheaper but may still be good.

Worth a mention;
- Layering bass: It is sound design but not as complex as synth programming. Layer a sub bass behind a nice sounding character bass.
- Korg Polysix RE - Korg's answer to the Roland Juno. Very nice and useable. Does not have the power of The Legend however.
- Blamsoft VK2 - another fantastic Moog emulation. Very CPU heavy, and IMO not quite the bass beast as The Legend, but still an excellent synth.

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Libraquaricorn
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24 Jul 2017

Two good options on top of my head:

TAL BassLine 101 (Roland SH-101 emulation)

U-he Repro-One (Sequential Curcuits Pro One emulation)

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EpiGenetik
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24 Jul 2017

The best that's in there is actually Subtractor, but you need to learn a little CV trickery to really make it happen - thus, you won't just find presets doing it for you straight off the bat. :)

So, down to Presets Valley we go -

In the world of RE's my pick would be Korg PolySix/MonoPoly, although Synapse Legend is of similar quality. Both of these are perfect for all of the less demanding tasks, and either by layering or clever CV can be taken a lot further. If interested in the best that RE's can give, then Viking-2 completely derails the aforementioned synths in the bass department - it's not a preset puppy though, and the best sounds come to those of us who tweak compulsively.

On to VST's - the clear winner, and with some ease, is NI's Monark. It's more expressive than The Legend and easier to use than Viking-2. This is only my experience though, and there are f***ing tonnes of VST's out there, more than anyone could realistically be fully knowledgable of - and you might just take a shine to something because you prefer the interface etc. There is also a plentiful supply of Kontakt libraries - and for your style, you really shouldn't rule out the Scarbee's or Vir2 BASiS.

Have a look here for some freebies (although they will arguably be far more crash prone) -
http://blog.landr.com/10-free-vst-plugi ... tter-bass/

Good luck :)

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Last Alternative
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24 Jul 2017

Ok thanks guys. Do any of you have Serum or Trillian?
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Oquasec
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24 Jul 2017

Nope, neither are utilized in my productions. But that is purely a gui based decision.
Props plugs always had that explorable interface that just made sense :lol:
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BRIGGS
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24 Jul 2017

Got monark?
r11s

scratchnsnifff
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24 Jul 2017

If you want dubstep basses serum would be a great pick, it can do the whole virtual analog agenda as well. Assuming you want an all around bass synth id go with serum or even synthmaster is a great synth but as far as wanting presets serum or spire take the cake from my point of view
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Last Alternative
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24 Jul 2017

Right now what I need is a solid drone type sub/mid bass with the high end distortion and makes a good electronic urgent sound, if that makes any sense.
But I want a good VST that really does it all for bass and synth because those plugins aren't cheap!
I just feel like it's time to change it up from everything Reason has to offer.
I want something that sounds current to post-modern.

What do the pros use?
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raymondh
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24 Jul 2017

I'll add Spire / ReSpire to the list of great bass synths.

It does good vintage bass too, not just dance.

Hauser+Quaid
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24 Jul 2017

A lot of good options in this thread. My personal faves:

Serum - VST, great tones, very versatile
SubBoomBass - RE & VST, both excellent and also very versatile
Spire - RE & VST, still getting deeper into this one but I love it. Great presets!

I personally didn't love Monark. I only use it occasionally and not for bass. Never tried Trillian myself. But I think any of these tools will get you where you want to be based on what you described. Definitely try Spire/ReSpire, only because you mentioned presets and I think the factory banks have a ton of stuff. A lot of it is EDM-ey but a lot of it isn't as well.

Serum would be my personal recommendation if you were into programming, but since the factory presets are lacking it might not be the one for you.

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etyrnal
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24 Jul 2017

Last Alternative wrote:Right now what I need is a solid drone type sub/mid bass with the high end distortion and makes a good electronic urgent sound, if that makes any sense.
But I want a good VST that really does it all for bass and synth because those plugins aren't cheap!
I just feel like it's time to change it up from everything Reason has to offer.
I want something that sounds current to post-modern.

What do the pros use?
"pros" invest in their craft, and design UNIQUE sound, so they don't sound like everyone else.

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leonxx1983
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25 Jul 2017

Repro 1 is pretty hard to beat for thick analogue goodness but I also like Vacuum Pro (by Air) - something about it's sound that's really organic & soulful. (It's got 'age' and 'dust' knobs!).

Trillian is an amazingly versatile tool. The synths on there are really nicely sampled (some rare & valuable beasts in there) plus you have the ability to layer, mangle & effect them quite a bit. I think if I could only have 1 thing for all bass sounds it would be Trillian.

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sublunar
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28 Jul 2017

I'm not even really a synth guy but I own a couple hardware units and have spent a fair amount of time in Reason synths.

And I've found bass to be about the easiest thing to achieve in a synth. I mean.. there's not that much to it. What about Thor? Subtractor has kind of a harsh sound IMO when compared. Thor is pretty good for bass.

But if you're ready to invest in the "real mccoy" and do what the "pros do", then why are you looking at VSTs? Get a real instrument and twist some knobs if you're serious about it. What makes you think VSTs are more real than Reason instruments? There's lots of new and affordable hardware synths out there these days compared to just a few years ago.

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CaliforniaBurrito
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09 Aug 2017

Last Alternative wrote:
24 Jul 2017
Right now what I need is a solid drone type sub/mid bass with the high end distortion and makes a good electronic urgent sound, if that makes any sense.
Haa! This reminds me of the Aurora EX bass patch in Antidote. I remember the legend of Lunesis who once told me he tweaked this patch to produce one of his songs.

Otherwise just remember all you're doing is putting elements in the frequency spectrum so feel free to venture off into brass land. I love me some low brass notes.

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aeox
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09 Aug 2017

Last Alternative wrote:
24 Jul 2017
Right now what I need is a solid drone type sub/mid bass with the high end distortion and makes a good electronic urgent sound, if that makes any sense.
But I want a good VST that really does it all for bass and synth because those plugins aren't cheap!
I just feel like it's time to change it up from everything Reason has to offer.
I want something that sounds current to post-modern.

What do the pros use?
Something like this?


EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

10 Aug 2017

Laaarvely bass sound!

I'm still really digging RePro-1. It's just fun.
ReSpire sounds great but the interface is not fun, it is fiddly. eXpanse has a great interface.

Don't forget resampling, and multi-band distortion.

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abeonis
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11 Aug 2017

Spire VST
ABL3 RE
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Exowildebeest
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11 Aug 2017

Last Alternative wrote:
24 Jul 2017
Right now what I need is a solid drone type sub/mid bass with the high end distortion and makes a good electronic urgent sound, if that makes any sense.
I'd recommend Expanse, because the wavetables are rich in harmonics, and if you pitch them down, they give a deep bass + harmonics in the mids which you can shape with the filters and the excellent distortion, which offers a bunch of very good sounding modes and dry/wet mixing. Also, you can fatten things up with Expanse's unison modes.

All in all, if I was looking to make the sound you're describing, I'd reach for Expanse.

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davidvilla
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12 Aug 2017

Poly-Ana, factory patch 023. Increase the decay to max. Add your own distortion.
Screen Shot 2017-08-11 at 11.20.17 PM.png
Screen Shot 2017-08-11 at 11.20.17 PM.png (536.03 KiB) Viewed 8264 times

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Admiral Quality
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23 Mar 2018

davidvilla wrote:
12 Aug 2017
Poly-Ana, factory patch 023. Increase the decay to max. Add your own distortion.

Screen Shot 2017-08-11 at 11.20.17 PM.png
Thanks for the shout-out! Let us know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, everyone.

I haven't seen that skin before. Nice! Did you make it yourself?

More skins are available here: http://www.admiralquality.com/products/ ... /skins.php And of course the built-in one looks like this:
Image

And the product page is here: http://www.admiralquality.com/products/Poly-Ana/

Cheers all!

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demt
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23 Mar 2018

Cyclops by sugarbytes is a specialist bass synth bolt to cover every aspect of bass and has plenty of support from its fans more top class presets than the rest.it looks like a good un has a multitude of built in effects isle post a picture later has several effects for bass that you won't find anywhere else! And for what it does is well. Worth the money
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hear scince reason 2.5

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demt
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23 Mar 2018

Image
this is the vid

Reason 12 ,gear4 music sdp3 stage piano .nektar gxp 88,behringer umc1800 .line6 spider4 30
hear scince reason 2.5

groggy1
Posts: 466
Joined: 10 Jun 2015

24 Mar 2018

For bass, I think I go to Serum most often. It's just super-easy to program good bass for my dance/EDM (that's what I need it for).

I also reach for nexus as my second pick for bass - lots of ready-mass, great sounding bass sounds. I know it's not everyone's cup of team - but it works great in Reason.

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