The 5 Best Synth VST Plugins for Beginners (2022)
“What are the best synth VST plugins for beginners to sound design in 2022?”
For a beginner, learning how to use VST synths to create, edit and finetune your own original sounds can seem like an impossible task.
Unfortunately, many VST synths on the market are far from beginner-friendly.
The complex interfaces of VST synth plugins often appear incredibly confusing and overwhelming at first glance. This often leads to beginners relying solely on presets and plugin patches to discover new sounds.
However, learning the fundamental concepts of VST sound design can be incredibly beneficial. Even understanding the basic controls of a VST synthesizer can open up a universe of sonic possibilities.
However, like I said some VST synths out there are simply not designed for beginners, whereas others are a lot more intuitive and easy to understand.
So, without further ado, here are our top picks for the best VST synths for beginners in 2022. These plugins are a fantastic starting point for learning the ropes of sound design, so you can start creating and perfecting your own unique sounds.
The Best Synth VST Plugins for Beginners 2022
1. Arturia – Pigments 3
Sound Quality
Features
Value for Money
Who this plugin is for: Producers looking for an powerful, yet highly intuitive synth plugin with a stunning GUI design.
For years, Arturia have been creating some of the most popular, critically acclaimed audio equipment and software, especially their range of legendary hardware synthesizers.
Pigments 3 is (one of) their flagship VST synth plugins, well known for it’s beginner-friendly layout and incredible sound quality.
It’s also extremely versatile, and can easily be used to create sounds perfect for hip-hop, trap, dubstep, future bass and even lush ambient textures.
In detail, in contains 2 engines in parallel, with a choice of a virtual analog triple oscillator engine, a complex Wavetable engine (including over 160 wavetables), a sample & granular engine (including sample library), or even a harmonic oscillator additive engine. Pigments 3 even has a third “utility engine”, with a choice of an analogue-style oscillator layer with 5 waveforms and 6-octave range, or dual noise sample players with a built-in sample library.
You can then transform these sounds using a seemingly endless amount of filters, envelopes, LFOs and FX. Plus, if you do want to use presets as a starting point, Pigments 3 comes with over 1200 individual patches.
Pigments 3 takes the number 1 spot due to it’s simple, structured layout. The interface includes color-coded modules and graphical feedback to help visualise how you are shaping and morphing the sound. Because of this, it acts a great “introductory” plugin to start learning sound synthesis.
This product is available for both Windows / Mac and 32-bit / 64-bit.
Click here to check best price + more info / reviews.
2. KV331 Audio – SynthMaster One
Sound Quality
Features
Value for Money
Who this plugin is for: Producers looking for an incredibly popular, inspiring plugin that is perfect for beginners.
KV331’s SynthMaster One is a two-oscillator, polyphonic wavetable synthesizer with a single-screen interface, and is about as beginner-friendly as VST synth can get (without being “dumbed down”).
The plugin comes with around 500 presets, which act as a fantastic starting point for editing your own unique sounds. The interface features two identical oscillator units which feed two filters that can be configured in several different ways. It also offers two LFOs, two envelope modulators that augment two dedicated amp envelopes and a dedicated vibrato module. Last but not least, SynthMaster One offers a dedicated FX section, which includes chorus, compression and reverb controls.
So why is SynthMaster One an ideal VST synth for beginners? Firstly, the single-screen layout makes it easy to become familiar with the various modules. Some VST synths are laid out using separate “panels”, which can be quite confusing if you’re not an experienced synth plugin user. Secondly, it isn’t bloated with unnecessary parameters, and each module is very intuitive and organised.
Plus, the sound quality of SynthMaster One is absolutely stunning. Like all KV331 products, it is clear that a lot of care and attention has gone into the sound design. It’s also very affordable compared to other similar products on the market.
So, if you’re looking for a powerful, highly usable plugin that doesn’t break the bank, SynthMaster One should definitely be on your radar.
This product is available for both Windows / Mac and 32-bit / 64-bit.
Click here to check best price + more info / reviews.
3. Initial Audio – Sektor
Sound Quality
Features
Value for Money
Who this plugin is for: Producers looking for a beautifully-designed synth plugin with a ton of tricks up its sleeve.
Sektor by Initial Audio is a lean, mean-looking synth which, at first glance, contains all the standard features you’d expect from a VST synth – filters, LFO’s, envelopes, FX. However, upon closer inspection there’s a lot more here than meets the eye…
Sektor comes with over 500 presets, 200 wavetables, 100 multi-sampled instruments and over 250 single samples. If you prefer using a preset as a starting point for creating your own sounds, Sektor has more than enough to get you started.
The plugin offers two wavetable oscillators, one sub oscillator and a sample player. Any of these modules can be shaped with the ADSR envelope, modulated with an LFO or fed into the filter section.
The sound design possibilities within Sektor are incredibly vast, as almost any control can be modulated in a variety of ways.
Initial Audio have done a fantastic job of creating a beginner-friendly, easy to understand VST synth. All the controls are clearly laid out, with multiple visualizers to help you along the way.
This product is available for both Windows / Mac and 32-bit / 64-bit.
Click here to check best price + more info / reviews.
4. u-he – Diva
Sound Quality
Features
Value for Money
Who this plugin is for: Producers with some knowledge of sound design looking for a powerful, comprehensive VST synth.
In the last few years, Diva by u-he has become one of the most popular, acclaimed synth plugins on the market (and for good reason!)
In my opinion, this is one of the best sounding, most versatile synths out there, packaged in a sleek, gorgeous GUI. It has a noticeably vintage tone and character, setting it apart from other cleaner, digital-sounding synths. The main element that sets Diva apart is the sheer authenticity of the analogue sound.
Now, I probably wouldn’t recommend this synth to complete beginners to sound design. Some of the controls are fairly advanced, and the layout does not feel as intuitive as the other synth plugins on this list.
However if you have some basic experience with VST synthesizers, I’d recommend Diva as a stepping stone to more advanced stages of sound design.
This product is available for both Windows/Mac and 32-bit/64bit.
Click here to check best price + more info / reviews.
5. AudioThing – miniBit
Sound Quality
Features
Value for Money
Who this plugin is for: Producers looking for incredibly stripped-back, chiptune-style synthesizer plugin with a vintage character.
When it comes to VST synthesizers, AudioThing’s miniBit is about as intuitive as it gets.
miniBit has an incredibly simple design, as it is mainly used to emulate the sound of 80s game consoles and retro computers. It features a main oscillator with 18 waveforms paired with a sub oscillator (a square wave pitched one octave below). It also has an LFO, envelope, a filter, delay and a bitcrusher section.
Because of its simplistic layout, miniBit is perfect for getting to grips with the basics of synthesizer sound design. For many beginners, even synths such as Pigments 3 or Diva can be very overwhelming and confusing. This is why starting with a simple 8-bit synth can often be a great starting point for beginner producers.
Having said that, the plugin does still have some interesting additional features. It features an 8 steps sequencer that can be used to automate several parameters: pitch, volume, cutoff, resonance, waveform, and downsampling. Sequencing the waveforms will generate sounds reminiscent of early trackers and wavetable synthesizers.
I understand this one may be TOO beginner-friendly for some producers. However, if you’re struggling with other, more complex plugins, miniBit is definitely worth checking out.
This product is available for both Windows / Mac and 32-bit / 64-bit.
Click here to check best price + more info / reviews.
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