Best FM synth ?

[Carl A]

+1 FM-8, deep rabbit hole but it is superb and unmatched imo.

[gkillmaster]

If you are an Ableton Live user, check the Fors FM synths, simple design and lot of FM (and PM) fun (https://fors.fm)

wow, thanks. Never heard of them. Ambidextrous Synthesizer from them looks intriguing.

I really appreciate this recommendation. These are so much better than they might first appear. Amazing and I think I'm going to pick up one of the sets.

[gkillmaster]

+1 FM-8, deep rabbit hole but it is superb and unmatched imo.

Yeh, I think I agree. I keep coming back to it. Seems so logical and straight forward and extensive!

[corex]

I bought Phase Plant during a recent sale, and I've been really happy with it. I like that you can apply FM or PM (or both) to the wavetable oscillator and sampler as well. The modular approach and modulation options are really powerful.

I've used FM8 since it was FM7, and it's great but the modulation routing is really limited in comparison.

[Dilibob]

I use vcvrack 2 a lot now for this, has every option I need and in poly. Mirack isnt the best, but has a very good set of basic fm modules to learn the concepts. [ i btw have fm-8, but tend not to use it because I find vcvrack 2 easier to use & integrate with the other eurorack stuff).

[Gribs]

“Best” is fairly subjective. There are many takes on the DX-7 (plus) including the free one mentioned already. Komplete gives you FM-8, Arturia Collection V 9 gives you their own take on a model of the DX7, Korg OpSix emulates the KB (I have both) which is very cool but still has system-dependent CPU usage issues (probably avoid for now), Rob Papen Blue 2 is a good alternative that is mature and has a great preset library if you care plus a dedicated and responsive developer.

Phase Plant is a really cool modular environment that keeps getting better with every update.

“Workstation” software like Halion and Falcon have 4-Op FM modules.

If you want to emulate a DX7 with more outside something like Dexed, FM-8 is probably the way to go still.

[starthief]

FM8 has some friendly macro controls and a more flexible mod matrix rather than the classic algorithm selection, but OPS7 is a more accurate emulation.

[wuff_miggler]

fm8's effects dont initially look like much - but im gobsmacked at how much work they're doing when i turn them all off to analyze a sound.

[rplktr]

Opsix Native 1.0.3 works perfectly for me. Previous versions had CPU issues related to the VST UI but now all is good on an M1 Max Macbook. I prefer it to the FM8 since it provides a great blend of FM and other forms of synthesis. But it's centered around FM operators which makes a lot of sense to me.

[wuff_miggler]

which other synthesis can you do on opsix? wavestate + opsix native are probably 2 of the most exciting synth VST things to come out i reckon