You can never have too many synths, so why not save yourself a small fortune and buy a load of them at once in the form of a discounted bundle? Here are five of the best on the market.
Arturia V-Collection 8
The very definition of ‘comprehensive’, Arturia’s stunning library of 28 classic synths and keyboard instruments puts the history of electronic music at your fingertips in spectacular style. All the giants are here, from the Minimoog, Moog Modular, ARP2600, and Yamaha DX7 and CS-80, to the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, and Roland Juno-6 and Jupiter-8, sitting comfortably alongside less well known contraptions such as the Buchla Easel, Oberheim Matrix-12 and OB-Xa, Casio CZ-101 and CZ-1000, and EMS Synthi. It’s not all about synths, either, as V-Collection also features a raft of excellent keyboards: acoustic and electric pianos, clavinets, organs and more.
Arturia’s analogue modelling chops ensure that every plugin in the collection sounds as near as dammit to the real thing as you could hope, and the addition of various well thought-out new features and extensions to each one (effects, modulation systems, sequencers, etc) brings them all up to modern functional standards. And although initial impressions of the price tag might suggest otherwise, with so many synths in the box, and every one an undeniable winner, V-Collection 8 has to be seen as a bargain.
Native Instruments Komplete 13 Standard
The daddy of all plugin bundles, NI’s Komplete comes in four increasingly gargantuan configurations – Komplete 13 Select, Komplete 13 Standard, Komplete 13 Ultimate, and Komplete 13 Ultimate Collector’s Edition – of which Standard represents the best value in terms of synthesis, providing the vast majority of the company’s non-sample-based instruments. So that’s Reaktor, Massive, Massive X, Monark, Absynth 5, FM8, Super 8, TRK-01 and more, the only notable exclusions being the brilliant Razor (something of a modern classic) and Skanner XT (wild sample/synthesis morphing and manipulation), for which you’d need to step up to the much more expensive Ultimate edition.
Certainly, the price of Komplete 13 Standard would be very high for the synths alone, but bear in mind that you also get a ton of top notch effects, Kontakt-powered instruments (320GB of sample content), Expansions and more for your money, and it becomes clear that this is more than ‘just’ a synth bundle.
As for the synths themselves, despite the age of certain entrants (we’re looking at you, Absynth, FM8 and Massive), these are some of the finest virtual instruments ever written, taking in a diverse array of synthesis types and styles, and showcasing NI’s trademark inventiveness and attention to detail at every turn.
Roland Cloud
Roland’s subscription-based service gives you access to not only emulations of 19 of their legendary vintage hardware synthesisers and drum machines, but also a handful of very impressive new synths, and a collection of ROMplers. The Legendary series will be the main draw for most, housing flawless plugin virtualisations of the JD-800, SH-101, D-50, System-100, TB-303, Juno-106, Jupiter-8, JV-1080, XV-5080 and other synths, as well as the TR-606, 707, 727, 808 and 909 drum machines – analogue heaven! That’s not to downplay the quality or desirability of the more modern Zenology power-synth, or Aira System-1 and System-8 emulations, though, with their deep feature sets and vast sound design potential.
If the real Roland deal is what you’re after, obviously there’s no better place to get it than Roland Cloud; and with every plugin now also available as a one-off purchase (for as long as you hold a free or paid Roland Cloud account), you don’t have to sign up for a monthly fee if you only want one or two of them.
u-he All Synths Bundle
The saving over buying every plugin in u-he’s six-pack individually might not be enormous (just shy of €100), but that considerable outlay does land you half a dozen of the most acclaimed analogue-modelling synths money can buy. The flagships are Diva, Hive 2 and Zebra: the first an exquisitely realistic virtual analogue that enables mixing and matching of components modelled on a range of vintage classics; the second a state-of-the-art powerhouse combining analogue and wavetable techniques; and Zebra 2 a phenomenal semi-modular based on a diversity of oscillator and filter types. However, adventurous sound designers will have the time of their life losing themselves in the limitless possibilities of the modular Bazille and its simplified sibling, ACE; while Repro’s sublime double header of Sequential Pro One and Prophet-5 emulations really hits the nostalgic spot.
u-he’s reputation as one of the most capable development houses in the industry is well deserved, and with these six synths at your beck and call, you’ll never run short on sonic inspiration for your electronic and dance music productions. Beautiful, beautiful things.
Korg Collection 3
Long before Roland took to the Cloud, Japanese rivals Korg established their own series of hardware emulations with the acclaimed Legacy Collection. Three revisions and a renaming later, Korg Collection 3 comprises ten classic synths and workstations (plus the MDE-X multieffects processor), spanning over 40 years of the company’s history, from the miniKORG 700S (1973) to the 2015 relaunch of the ARP Odyssey, via the MS-20, PolySix, Mono/Poly, M1, Wavestation, Prophecy, Triton and Triton Extreme.
Korg’s proprietary Component Modelling Technology (CMT) delivers the goods with regard to sound and response, and all the original hardware presets (where applicable) are present and correct, including expansions. Taking the ‘if it ain’t broke’ approach to plugin emulation, the developers have bolted on little in the way of new features, but the addition of effects to those synths that didn’t already have them is a nice touch.
A supremely authentic collection of timeless instruments that fans of ’90s dance music in particular will fall in love with, and coming in at a very fair price.
Have you invested in any synth bundles, or do you prefer to buy on a singular basis? Let us know in the comments.