Recommendation for 70s synth leads

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I'm currently on the hunt for a VSTi that excels in those beautiful, psychedelic 70s synth lead sounds. Similar to what Dan Swanö used on his Moontower album (BTW, according to Swanö he used a Roland JP-8000 on that album).



I tried the ones that come with my DAW (Steinberg Retrologue, Padshop, Halion) and NI Kontakt. Some of the presets are alright, but nothing has really impressed me yet.

Do the fine folks of TGF have some recommendations for me?

 

[FuzzyAce]

Here's a preset in the Knif Audio Knifonium plugin. A quick demo I just now played. I purchased it at Plugin Alliance, probably got it on sale. It's smoother sounding here but can open up and get more hairy if needed. This plugin has a lot a tweaking capabilities, you'd not have any trouble getting a sound like the above vid or tons others. The presets alone will keep you busy.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I did a little more research, have listened to a lot of demos, and I am now pretty sure that I will buy u-he Diva. The demos I heard for leads and pads sound absolutely fantastic and everywhere it is praised as one of the best virtual instruments for emulating old analog synthesizers.

 

[Blix]

I did a little more research, have listened to a lot of demos, and I am now pretty sure that I will buy u-he Diva. The demos I heard for leads and pads sound absolutely fantastic and everywhere it is praised as one of the best virtual instruments for emulating old analog synthesizers.

That's a great choice, you can't really go wrong with Diva IMO

 

[LeftyLoungeLizard]

The Moog Minimoog is arguably the most heard lead synth of the 70's:

Arturia & UA have faithful VSTi recreations.

 

[synthpenguin]

I did a little more research, have listened to a lot of demos, and I am now pretty sure that I will buy u-he Diva. The demos I heard for leads and pads sound absolutely fantastic and everywhere it is praised as one of the best virtual instruments for emulating old analog synthesizers.

Did you end up going with this? It's a great choice!

The leads in the video you posted are very Minimoog, but can be pulled off by a lot of synths, it's really about patch design and, most importantly imo, how it's played. But yeah, the Diva can do really good Minimoog sounds, and the most recent Arturia Minimoog VST is great too.

I'd also suggest checking out G-Force Software Oberheim OB-X. It's the "official" (blessed by Mr. Oberheim himself) OB-X VST and it's really excellent at leads. It sounds amazing. It's also half-off right now :) I can't recommend this one enough if you like 70s and 80s polysynth and lead sounds.

Also worth mentioning Arturia Pigments, which can do a lotttt, but also features the filters of a lot of their different emulations (including their Minimoog one, as well as their Roland JP one), so you can do convincing vintage synth sounds while adding layers and modulation routings that are way more modern. In some ways, this kinda makes it feel like "Diva meets Serum" imo. Def CPU hungry at times though, depending on what you're doing with it.

It's also worth mentioning that Arturia just recently released an emulation of the JP-8000, their Jup-8000 V, in case you'd like to try that exact synth.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Did you end up going with this? It's a great choice!

[…]

It's also worth mentioning that Arturia just recently released an emulation of the JP-8000, their Jup-8000 V, in case you'd like to try that exact synth.

Yes, I bought the DIVA and I‘m very happy with it. It delivers exactly the sounds I was looking for, and much, much more!

Thanks for your further recommendations. The Arturia Jup 8000 definitely looks promising.

 

[Whizzinby]

I did a little more research, have listened to a lot of demos, and I am now pretty sure that I will buy u-he Diva. The demos I heard for leads and pads sound absolutely fantastic and everywhere it is praised as one of the best virtual instruments for emulating old analog synthesizers.

I’ve been looking at that too and then the…

That plug intimidates me.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I’ve been looking at that too [...]

The many switches and controls of the UI are much less intimidating in real operation than they appear at first glance. After a short time with the VI, you'll know quite well what has what effect. And the sound of the DIVA is simply outstanding. What's more, the factory presets are already so varied and great sounding that you can have a huge amount of fun with them alone. To be honest, the DIVA is probably the best virtual instrument I have ever bought. So here's my advice:

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I’ve been looking at that too and then the…

That plug intimidates me.

DIVA isn’t too bad to understand. Tyrell No.6 is kind of like a scaled down version, and if you use one of the Plugmon skins for it, it improves its useability massively. It’s basically just a Juno with some minor tweaks.