5 Top Synthwave VSTi's

Sylenth

TAL U NO LX 2

WAVESTATION

SQ8L

Xpand!2

[brosephjames]

quick jumps
1:28 sylenth
3:32 tal u no lx 2
6:17 xpand
8:07 wavestation
10:22 sq8l

[redmission]

Out of all these, I think the FREE SQ8L sounded the best. It sounded very rich and 80s-like.

[nirsade]

from where did you got the drumes sounds?

[Timecop]

Great list! PG8x all the way for me these days!

[XenosSoundworks]

I like the SQ8L the best out of all the ones you showed. I used to play on the original Ensoniq hardware, and SQ8L pretty much nails it. Great retro-digital sound.

[danielreinoso]

Absolutely Synth1, thousand of banks and free, great sound and amazing design

[bobacks]

Great comparison tut. Going to buy Sylenth now.

SQ8L is based on Ensoniq ESQ-1 and SQ80. Two amazing synths used a lot by people like John Carpenter, Adamski, JMJ & Chris Huelsbeck. Those synths are from 1986 and 1987 respectively. They are two rare synths & hard to find on eBay. And I can't use SQ8L because I'm on Mac. So sad.

[delphisignal]

Thanks for introducing us to SQ8L! It's 32 bit only so you'll need jBridge if you are in a DAW like Cubase.
Also, just bought the Sylenth preset pack from soundbox. Nice!

[SodaPopinski]

Wow you got some great sounds out of XPand2!..I've never been able to do that lol

[AlexNes]

Which song do these tunes appear in? It is really catchy. Also, the channel is flippin' helpful, it has been a great help to try my wings in synthwave :) Thanks man

[SheldonTam]

Does the SQ8L have 64-bit version? Cubase does not support 32-bit VST long time ago.

[ShappyMusic]

SQ8L must be one of the best 80s plugin that i tried in my life up there with Sensual Saxophone

[rikfreddy]

Awesome sound! did you get inspiration for melody from Timecop 1983 "Dimensions" ?
I think Sylenth it's still the best one!

[AMPProf]

The Accent of the is the voice for synthwave!

[aandarcom]

I liked the SQ8L version the best, it had most of that 80s magic. :)

[lemonderangello]

It is probably me, but it would have been easier to hear each one if you would have soloed one part out instead of putting the whole mix on. Were all the sounds minus drums being sourced through each vst or part?

[ScytheDevTeam]

SQ8L and PG8X are both longtime favorites of mine. PG8X also has it's chorus effect in a separate VST, and it sounds pretty lush.
Wavestation rocks, especially if you grew up with Donkey Kong Country 1 & 2. DKC 2 particularly has the Wavestation sound.
I snagged Xpand for $1 but haven't used it all that much yet.
Haven't used Sylenth or the Tal, although I've used a few free Tal synths that were nice.

[DinoSvanhvit]

I went to check out the sounds for Sylenth 1 on Producerbox-what name do you go by there? i saw someone called TorGue, is that you…?

[avace]

I have 3 of these and have yet to use any of them for Synthwave. I'll have to start using SQ8L, Xpand 2 and the Wavestation

[Psychodetektiv]

Hey Sir, thank you! I´m looking for some drumsets / loops, so I can building some music around - is there any free content?