This is inspired by the grand old polyphonic beasts birthed by Roland, Korg, Sequential Circuits et al in the '80s. The competition at the budget end of the plugin synth market is fierce, but if you want a synth that sounds great, is easy to use and comes with loads of presets, NI's Super 8 might well be your best option.

Mac/PC | VST/AU/AAX | $99/£89 | Buy at Native Instruments

Download it now and it could quickly become your go-to for rich, vintage poly sounds.ĭownload DiscoDSP OB-Xd Best synth plugin under $100

While other freeware synths are undoubtedly more adventurous or original than OB-Xd, none are likely to match the broad appeal of this excellent virtual analogue. Sonically, this is up there with many paid analogue emulations and, while it lacks the bells and whistles of something like Arturia’s V Collection synths, OB-Xd does build on the design of the original with a morphable filter design and voice variation controls. OB-Xd lives up to its inspiration on both fronts. This is an emulation of Tom Oberheim’s classic OB-X polysynth, an analogue classic beloved for its thick, rich sound and easy-to-use interface. It remains our favourite freeware synth, though, based largely on its blend of simple usability and excellent sound. OB-Xd isn’t the flashiest free synth, and nor is it the newest, despite being updated to version 2.5 in recent months. Follow MusicRadar on Instagram to stay up to date with the latest gear news, artist interviews and tech tutorials.You might not need all of them, but any one of them is likely to improve your music-making setup. Below, you'll find what we consider to be the best choices in a range of different categories. There are so many plugin synths on the market these days that settling on a shortlist of 'best' ones is pretty much impossible, but we've given it a go. For example, not all plugin synths currently offer native support for Apple's M1 Macs, though more and more are being updated to provide this. You may also encounter standards such as AAX and RTAS, both of which are specific to Avid’s Pro Tools software.īe sure to check compatibility with your specific computer hardware, too. You can get Mac VSTs, too (though it’s worth mentioning that not all Windows VSTs run on Mac), and Apple also has its own standard called AU (Audio Units). On the PC, Steinberg’s VST (Virtual Studio Technology) is by far the most popular, and supported by pretty much all the major DAWs. There are a variety of plugin standards out there, so before you buy any plugin synth, you need to make sure that your DAW is compatible with it. Typically, you’ll find banks of presets, too: pre-programmed sounds that can simply be loaded up and played or used as starting points for further editing and sound design. You can also program notes for it to play using your mouse, and each synth will come with its own set of controls for adjusting the sound.

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