The most versatile RE synth

[lzap]

Hey, as an REv9 owner and fan of chillout music, I am looking for the most versatile synth I could use in my home playing. Basically an all-rounder with decent pad, lead, bass and atmosferic sounds. I also like to have huge library ready-to-made of presets, I am not a sound engineer myself (although I know some basics). My synth workflow is modifying existing patches than building sounds from scratch. I like both PX7 and Parsec2, but maybe there is a hidden gem in the shop I do not see. Surprise me!

Here is the list so far:

• Thor
• Parsec
• Vecto
• Predator
• Expanse
• Quad
• Noxius
• Nostrome
• Antidote
• Zero
• Tres
• Obero

[jam-s]

Predator is a good allround synth that comes with a few thousand presets of all kinds.

[TritoneAddiction]

If you're looking for versatility I'd say Expanse is the best synth for Reason. You don't even have to use it for its wavetable and addictive synthesis functionality if you don't want to. You can use it as an ordinary subtractive synth with lots of filter options.
It's deep and packed with stuff to modify the sound but it's still pretty easy to use. This comes from someone who is not a tweaker. I do pretty much what you do, modify existing patches.
4 oscillators, easy to detune, spread, add density, pan, lots of lfo options, a fairly big effect section too. Probably other important stuff too that I'm forgettting right now.

Basically if I could only choose one synth for Reason right now, it would be Expanse.
The only downside I see is the DSP usage, which is still ok for what it does I think. I guess some people find it expensive, but for what it offers I don't really think it is.

[Loque]

Parsec, Vecto, Predator, Quad, Noxius, Nostromo and maybe Tres and Oberon directly came into my mind. Oberons patches are not that good and dont show what this synth is capable. But if i had to choose, i chose Nostromo, because of his smooth morph between 8 wavetables per oscilator.

[JNeffLind]

As a preset guy myself, Predator makes the most sense as it has tons of presets. Antidote is a good choice as well, as it is very versatile.

[Social Exodus]

Synapse Antidote seems pretty capable as well as the others listed here. And I also like Malstrom personally.

[Carly(Poohbear)]

I know you said RE.... however THOR....1000's of presets out there..

[lzap]

Surprised that nobody mentioned PX7 with its 200,000 patches.

[TritoneAddiction]

Surprised that nobody mentioned PX7 with its 200,000 patches.

Even though it has lots of patches, it's not that versatile. It's an FM synth so it does some sounds really well but there's a lot of sounds you're just not gonna get from it.

I think 13 synths have been mentioned in this thread already and more will probably be added to that list soon. I guess the best way is to go the old fashioned way, try out what works for you. It takes time but from my experience there's not really any short cut to figure out what tools will work for you.
I did that with most compressors and EQs in the shop. Downloaded/trialed a bunch of them at the same time and compared them to each other to figure out what I liked and what I didn't like.
I like hearing other peoples opions on stuff beacuse it's fun and interesting, but I've learned that one persons favorite plugin might be something I hate using and vice versa.
Maybe not the answer you were looking for but to me it's been very true.

[challism]

I have to cast a vote for Zero. Because you asked for versatile and Zero is a hybrid. It doesn't get more versatile than a synth which does multiple types of synthesis. Taken from the shop description: Zero Hybrid Synthesizer brings modern FM synthesis to the Reason rack. Featuring six operators with tons of waveform possibilities and a powerful algorithm matrix, you can create unique FM sounds not previously possible in Reason. But it's not just for FM. Zero also packs in additive, subtractive, and RM synthesis, flexible graphical envelopes, and three high quality on-board effects...

[lzap]

Thanks all, I made the list in the OP.

[Arrant]

Thor must be one of the most versatile synths ever made, it has a vast library available through refills and has the great advantage that you already own it
Thor is also DSP-friendly enough to actually be used for all sounds in a track. Expanse, while also very versatile and probably better sounding, is not. If you don't have other synths to rely on for bread-and-butter stuff you probably won't be able to finish a track before maxing out your DSP. It's also too new to sport a massive preset library, yet.

Predator sits in a really sweet spot somewhere between the two and must be considered in your situation IMO.

[chimp_spanner]

eXpanse? It does wavetable morphing, wave shaping, subtractive, additive. Erm, I don't know if it does FM? But either way, it does a lot of sounds very well. From basic to complex.

I also really like Antidote. The first few oscillator types are - AFAIK - virtual analogue. So you can create some very simple, direct sounds. Or you can crank up the unison and use the wavetables with a bit of modulation on the modifier. So my vote would go to either of those!

[Loque]

Shame on me, how i could forget Zero.

[Electric-Metal]

Shame on me, how i could forget Zero.

There's so much awesome stuff in the shop, you can easily overlook something

[Catblack]

Surprised that nobody mentioned PX7 with its 200,000 patches.

Not being pedantic, but I will offer up this blog post from the legendary Koshdukai who has striven to eliminate the duplicate patches from that archive.

[GRIFTY]

^ excellent. I have always hoped someone would do this............. turns out someone did it two years ago already!!!!!!!!

[ejanuska]

Predator, but really its foolish to buy it alone. Buy the the Synth Rig 2 bundle.
Mountains of presets.
I know the OP said "a versatile synth" but whats better then a versatile synth than a bunch of versatile synths?
Even at the regular bundle price it's a good deal.

Zero at the sale price would have been a good move.

[KirkMarkarian]

I won't say it's a "be all, end all" synth, but Parsec is amazingly versatile. I can use it to make so many musical sounds AND so many sound effects, it's definitely a step up from the Thor. I use Thor to make a large portion of my sounds, especially in the SFX arena, but Parsec is showing me so many other means to do things in a quicker fashion. It's weird to me that to get the sounds I get out of Parsec, I don't believe I could clump together any particular bunch of RE effects or synths. It stands out on its own, because it just does a ton of work, all by itself. And it is NOT a CPU hog. It's like a stronger version of Thor. I don't know how it is on lower frequency sounds, but I haven't sculpted everything with it yet. I have other RE synths that do certain things very well, and Parsec definitely has it's own niche.

[frog974new]

Predator , may be atm the most versatile Re with a huge FSB
and no need to add other proecessing or other effect and utility .

the weakness , its not like as a Snakebite , a monster for bass and lead with characters , indeed with the Predator we can do a lot ... but the tune seems to "clean" , no "vintage" , no "grain" .

often i use predator with redominator , snakebite or ivock to add some feeling on the tune . the good combo may Nostromo / oberon with the predator . and all that Re not are hungry for CPU

[dopplereffect]

my vote def goes to predator. the more i get into this synth the more versatility i get out of it. swear i was spot on with a moog bass on one track and then had some spacey guitar/pad/3rd osc automated in the chorus to create a string section. Its possibly the deepest synth that I can think of and the arp is seriously good with glide, swing, and gate functions and a sequencer.

[XysteR]

Buy ALL the sinfses!

[tumar]

1. Predator.
2. Thor, if you don't want to spend money on RE.

Thor is light on CPU, Predator with high quality settings is CPU killer