Asking for recommendations: best VSTi for atmospheric pads

[TheTrueZoltan!]

So far I used a Korg Trinity from the 90s, but recently sold it. Keys are not my main instrument, but I really like to put some atmospheric pads, choirs & strings on my songs. Love me some cheese!

My DAWs already have some good stuff, like Alchemy (Logic Pro) and Padshop (Cubase), but I was wondering… what VSTis would you guys & gals recommend for my purposes? Is Omnisphere still the indisputable king of pads? I have also considered to buy EZkys from Toontrack because of its workflow advantages, but none of the available sound expansions seems to cover what I want. So I was thinking to buy Scaler 2 and a nice VSTi.

 

[TJontheRoad]

Pigments first comes to mind because it can do almost anything. Pads with high levels of modulation motion is are easily achieved.

 

[Jim Roseberry]

Omnisphere and Pigments are both capable of atmospheric evolving pads.
Pigments UI is really nice. You can see exactly what's going on (Envelopes, LFOs, Modulation, etc)

If you like the Korg Trinity, you might check out the Korg Triton and Triton Extreme virtual-instruments.
Samples are a little short by today's standards... but sound good and pretty light on CPU.

 

[DrewJD82]

I’ve got the Triton VST, I dig it quite a bit but often forget I have it because I end up using EastWest’s Opus. It’s a subscription service but a really legit one; Opus allows you to combine ALL their VST’s within one main suite and it’s really, really stellar. It shows you all their libraries and gives you a demo sound by clicking each of them, if you don’t already have it you can download it right there. It’s organized great and their libraries are fairly vast. I know this gets lots of use in the soundtrack/scoring world, they’ve got plenty of libraries for that stuff and tons and tons of others. I think it’s $25 a month for everything with zero restrictions.

 

[scole]

I have a couple of UVI Falcon expansions like this one, Ether Fields. More of a modern sound compared to the Trinity/Triton. The packs aren’t that expensive but you do need to have Falcon which is $200 or $300. Falcon also uses iLok for licensing (some people hate iLok so I thought I’d at least mention it.

 

[TJontheRoad]

If you like the Korg Trinity, you might check out the Korg Triton and Triton Extreme virtual-instruments.
Samples are a little short by today's standards... but sound good and pretty light on CPU.

These are now on sale till 4/27

https://korg.shop/software.html

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Thanks for your recommendations! One thing I should also mention is that I have no f*****g clue about sound design so I heavily rely on presets. I just play some chords, scroll through presets and choose the one that works best. I usually like the more ethereal sounding pads and choirs that blend well with heavy guitars.

I just downloaded the Pigments demo. First impression is quite promising, and it‘s also a lot cheaper than Omnisphere. I could buy a license 2nd hand for $80. And that Korg collection is quite tempting, too.

About 15 years ago I had Omnisphere 2‘s pre- predecessor Atmosphere and loved it! I sold it when my then girlfriend died and I lost all interest in making music for a while. But when I open old Cubase projects from that time I still really like the sounds I recorded with Atmosphere. Damn, if it wouldn‘t cost f*****g 400 EUR I‘d buy it without hesitation. But if there are cheaper alternatives that are equally good… otherwise… buy nice or buy twice, right?

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Quick update: My mother just called and asked if I had any wishes for my birthday on April 27th. Well, if that isn‘t a lucky coincidence?! Told her a gift card for Best Service would be much appreciated. Omnisphere it is!

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Omnisphere arrived yesterday. Played the first chord on my MIDI keyboard…

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I’ve got the Triton VST, I dig it quite a bit but often forget I have it because I end up using EastWest’s Opus. It’s a subscription service but a really legit one; Opus allows you to combine ALL their VST’s within one main suite and it’s really, really stellar. It shows you all their libraries and gives you a demo sound by clicking each of them, if you don’t already have it you can download it right there. It’s organized great and their libraries are fairly vast. I know this gets lots of use in the soundtrack/scoring world, they’ve got plenty of libraries for that stuff and tons and tons of others. I think it’s $25 a month for everything with zero restrictions.

Still looking for a really good choir library and the EastWest Hollywood choir seems to be by far the most recommended one. Unfortunately I am highly allergic to subscription services and their regular „Play“ software platform isn‘t M1 native yet. Bummer. I bought the entry level version of Soundiron Olympus, but don‘t like it very much. It sounds a little bit „aged“ - like played through a grammophone - and it always seems to be slightly out of tune, which is really strange.

 

[DrewJD82]

Still looking for a really good choir library and the EastWest Hollywood choir seems to be by far the most recommended one. Unfortunately I am highly allergic to subscription services and their regular „Play“ software platform isn‘t M1 native yet. Bummer. I bought the entry level version of Soundiron Olympus, but don‘t like it very much. It sounds a little bit „aged“ - like played through a grammophone - and it always seems to be slightly out of tune, which is really strange.

They Play software is their older librarian, Opus is the new one and was greatly improved, but I'm not sure if that works with M1 yet. It was just launched a couple months ago, but I haven't looked.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

They Play software is their older librarian, Opus is the new one and was greatly improved, but I'm not sure if that works with M1 yet. It was just launched a couple months ago, but I haven't looked.

Perhaps I‘m mistaken but I think that the older (not M1 native) Play software is included with their libraries but the newer (and M1 native) Opus has to be bought seperately.

 

[DrewJD82]

Perhaps I‘m mistaken but I think that the older (not M1 native) Play software is included with their libraries but the newer (and M1 native) Opus has to be bought seperately.

Hmm, not sure how it works with the subscription; if I remember right I got a prompt to download Opus when I opened Play, I didn’t pay anything extra for it.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Hmm, not sure how it works with the subscription; if I remember right I got a prompt to download Opus when I opened Play, I didn’t pay anything extra for it.

Apparently I was mistaken, Opus seems to be included with the library. But TBH the information on their website is pretty misleading. Hm, the 55% off sale is still live for a couple of hours… $178 is pretty tempting.

[Edit: just bought it]

 

[DrewJD82]

Apparently I was mistaken, Opus seems to be included with the library. But TBH the information on their website is pretty misleading. Hm, the 55% off sale is still live for a couple of hours… $178 is pretty tempting.

[Edit: just bought it]

Sh*t, I didn’t even realize it was going on sale, definitely worth it to me and if I didn’t just send family a bunch of cash I’d buy it outright. I think the subscription is $20 or $25 a month, it’d pay for itself after 4 months!

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Sh*t, I didn’t even realize it was going on sale, definitely worth it to me and if I didn’t just send family a bunch of cash I’d buy it outright. I think the subscription is $20 or $25 a month, it’d pay for itself after 4 months!

Fvck, turns out I actually was right about Opus. Hollywood Choirs only includes the Play software, which is outdated and not M1 compatible. Opus would require a license for a newer library. So now I paid $178 for a library I can only use in Logic. Cubase 12 refuses to open non-M1-native VST3.

 

[DrewJD82]

Fvck, turns out I actually was right about Opus. Hollywood Choirs only includes the Play software, which is outdated and not M1 compatible. Opus would require a license for a newer library. So now I paid $178 for a library I can only use in Logic. Cubase 12 refuses to open non-M1-native VST3.

I could have sworn Hollywood Choirs is in Opus?

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I could have sworn Hollywood Choirs is in Opus?

Well, if you already own an Opus library (Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition) or have the subscription, you can actually use Hollywood Choirs in Opus without problems. But if you just purchase Hollywood Choirs you're fvcked and won't get a license for Opus. That's a stinking pile of BS.

 

[DrewJD82]

Well, if you already own an Opus library (Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition) or have the subscription, you can actually use Hollywood Choirs in Opus without problems. But if you just purchase Hollywood Choirs you're fvcked and won't get a license for Opus. That's a stinking pile of BS.

That’s really *****y. Hollywood Choirs was what originally pointed me to EastWest, too. Damn!

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

That’s really *****y. Hollywood Choirs was what originally pointed me to EastWest, too. Damn!

I just received a reply from their support team. They sent an Opus license to my iLok account, so everything is fine now and the library sounds fantastic.