Their stuff is great
1 Like
@howard - what’s a great synth bass plugin for keyboard for all the 80s goodness?
Might as well do something bassy with my Yamaha keyboard.
1 Like
Depends on the style you want…
For new wave and underground dance, a lot of '80s synth bass was done using some classic synths - Depeche Mode used an ARP2600 for quite a bit of stuff, New Order used a Moog Source for Blue Monday’s bass, etc. Lots of use of Rolands like the Juno and the Jupiter too, and the Korg Polysix, the Prophet-5, E-mu Emulator II, Fairlight CMI, and others.
The vast majority of pop music, and later new wave, electroindustrial, and underground dance were done using the next wave of digital synths, like the Yamaha DX7, and later the Roland D50 (or D20), Korg M1, and Ensoniq ESQ-1. And a few others (including the earlier Rolands). All of these had excellent patches for the earlier analog synth sounds too (my ESQ-1 had a killer Moog patch, for example.)
You don’t need those (though Analog Lab has a bunch of classic synths). Really almost all software synths will have good '80s synth bass sounds.
If you just want to go in to using presets that sound like the '80s then something like Analog Lab will be tough to beat. If you want to go into making your own sounds then you’ll want a real general purpose synth, of which both @wellbi and I can recommend a bunch.
Another option would be picking individual V Collection synths or UVI soundbanks if you had a specific synth you were going after.
1 Like
For mixing and mastering, this is a great deal if you have bought any other iZotope product:
Advanced versions of all the iZotope mixing/mastering plugins for $150
Ooh. Speaking of Analog Lab, look at what just got added in the latest update:
So now I have two 
(The SQ-80 was the next version of the ESQ-1, that I previously bought USQ-1 to emulate)
edit: ahh bummer, it’s only 20 presets. Yet another example of Analog Lab being a superb ad for V Collection
2 Likes
Analog lab is great. It’s limited in its ability to modify patches, but the basic sounds you have there are probably all you will ever need anyway.
If I had to buy just one HW synth, it would be Model D Behringer clone. It’s identical to Moog in sound and with 3 oscillators you are able to summon the analog magic in an instant.
Regarding mixing, I would check IK Multimeda Mixbus or T-Racks, it’s relatively cheap and it has everything for mixing and mastering.
1 Like
Hey, Vital is actually quite good. Grabbed the free version earlier and liked it enough to upgrade to paid.
Feels like it sits somewhere between Serum and Phase Plant, though on the Serum end of that spectrum. Can’t beat the price, either. I like its UI better than Surge as well.
2 Likes
Syntronik looks like an interesting analogue to V Collection:
Lots of overlap, Syntronik is more like UVI’s sample banks in that it is sample based. I would prefer V Collection here. Syntronik is less expensive though, and has a free version, which is a no brainer if you are looking to kick tires. I guarantee there’s a bunch of great synthwave and techno sounds in there even if there’s only 50 presets in the free version.
Basically the free version sounds kind of like Analog Lab but with only a tiny number of presets.
Big NI sale at PluginBoutique right now, including a bundle of Massive, Absynth, FM8 and Replika for $100.
2 Likes
I have couple good stereo expanders, but I gotta say, MDoubleTracker looks really good. Might check it out. Anyone try it yet? I generally like Melda’s products.
Hey @howard. Read through most of the thread but did not see much mention of Amplitube. Not sure if its too amateurish for most in here but I have been enjoying my setup. I don’t record a heck of a lot so I use the standalone software mostly.
I have everything in the 5th Max version cause I got it on sale over here at a local store with the Axe I/O. Even though I already had a Focusrite 2i2, I liked the layout of the Axe and it was cheaper to buy the bundle then the software seperately. As you said in this thread never buy it full pop the sale price is so much more realistic.
I like the GUI of the standalone. You can drag and drop pedals and rack effects pre and post anywhere in the chain with up to 3 amps and 3 cabs on separate lines for one input. Then you can even run a clean DI signal and do a post mix that includes mic placement on the cabs with room size.
They have simmed multi bass amps from GK, Ampeg, Trace Elliot, Acoustic, 360, Fender and more. They even have Leslie heads and cabs that bass sounds pretty wild through.
I am currently trying to work out how to use external pedals to control the setup. I have a couple of Boss controllers that make work out.
I have some other plug ins I have found online but haven’t dove deep enough to talk about them but after seeing the Darkglass ones you pointed out I think I know what Ill get next.
3 Likes
I use i the most out of any software/plugins i own; it’s nice for working on tutorials or playing to backing tracks. It’s quick and easy for recording stuff and i can just throw the tracks in reaper later.
1 Like
People seem to love IK’s stuff. Not amateurish at all.
Ampliitube, for me, has quite substantial delay between guitar input and the plugin output. (3700x OC Ryzen, 64 GB Ram and SSDs) … Sometimes I reamp the finished recording with Amplitube afterward. But most of the time I will dial my tone on my Bass and record it on its own. Just from time to time, I will use Guitar Rig from NI, which is without delay for me.
IK products aren’t definitely amateurish. Their Orange collection in Amplitube is the best emulation out ther IMHO.
1 Like
I really like Kuassa’s sims.
1 Like
the best emu IMHO
1 Like
Sweet, thanks, always love checking out amp sims.
Got my bass going though Kuassa Cerberus here, with the guitar going through Kuassa Amplifikation Clarent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih1eMayOBek
Guitar and bass were both recorded completely clean, right into the DAI’s there 
2 Likes
That has some ruckus in it! Nice. Any layering on the bass track? Just one track through sim or sim+pure DI mix?
1 Like
Bass track is my TRBX604 straight through the sim (with the sim being set up as kind of a light tube effect) but with some clean signal mixed in; however the clean signal has also already gone through a multiband compression/overdrive effect I use in Kilohearts Multipass. Final EQ and compression (and track limiting) after all that in Neutron.
I want to remaster that at some point as I overdid it with melodyne on my voice. Might multitrack the bass then too. Guitar is perfect as is
1 Like