I saw that Riban asked for a list of the best plugins, here is my favorite list
It is not exhaustive. Please tell me, if other plugins are interesting, i will add to this list. We can also remove some if they have issues.
Note that this is my personal use.
The other plugins are either too crappy, with digital artifacts, either I haven’t used them enough, or I don’t like them. But I think it’s a good start for a default list. Not a lot of plugins but enough to get started with Zynthian.
LV2 Instruments :
Dexed : emulation of DX7
Foo YC20 Organ : inspired by Yamaha YC-20 combo organ from 1969
JX10 and DX10 : very simple to modulate, very clear. Try to emulate JX series from Roland, and DX series from Yamaha.
Nekobi : Inspired by the legendary TB-303
Noizemaker : Virtual analog synth, very powerful and versatile. Chorus, reverb and delay included !
OBxd : Based on the Oberheim OB-X, powerful synth, sounds analog.
Raffo : I think raffo is good, but not really a high quality instrument. I deactivate it.
EFFECTS
Chorus :
YK Chorus : Very Loud. A chorus audio effect plugin taken from TAL Noisemaker. Little digital click when to activate.
Zynchorus : Chorus/flanger with LFO, not bad but sound very digital
Compressor :
CS10QS : the compressor from the EQ10Q package, easy to filter the control signal with a HP/LP.
SC4
ZamComp
ZampCompx2
Delay :
GxEchoStereo : very simple, and stereo.
MDA DubDelay : Delay with character, very special, with an interesting LFO. A delay that bounces in a soft and weird way.
Modulay : From Shiro, very spatial delay. the time delay can be modulated live without clicks.
TAL Dub 3 : My favorite delay, very warm and versatile. Cutoff and drive included !
Tape Delay Simulation : Too crappy, many digital artefacts, totally don’t act like tape delay.
Distorsion :
GxBaJaTubeDriver : The GxBajaTubeDriver is a tube distortion plugin based on the BK Butler 911 Tube Driver. Good distorsion, it is useful to make the sound warmer, more dirty but not too distorted.
GxTubeScreamer : Simple, very distorted, good for bass, but the sound seems a bit messy.
DS1 : Emulation of BOSS DS1, very bright, sharp, metalic, cold.
Open BigMuff : inspired by the classic Electro-Harmonix Big Muff. Very heavy ! No ByPass.
ZynDisto : Stereo. Not so much character, but good for synth.
Dynamics :
TAP Stereo Dynamics : compressors, limiters, expanders and noise gates
Equaliser :
3 BAND EQ
Filter :
TAL Filter : One of my favorite ! Add LFO, cutoff and resonance to your sound. Very simple but very versatile !
TAL filter 2 : interesting but too complicated for Zynthian use.
Gate :
abGate : Noise Gate
Modulator:
Calf Flanger : Nice flanger, « Slow Resonant » and « Tooth Killer » are very cool presets.
Larynx : Vibrato
Tal Vocoder II : Nice plugin. Good for voice to make radio crappy effect.
Phaser :
ZynPhaser : One of my favorite ! very nice sound, but no Bypass.
Pitch Shifter :
X42-Autotune
Reverb :
TAL Reverb II : Ideal for ambient reverb sounds. It’s a super diffuse and lush reverb effect with a fast build up time
TAL Reverb III : stereo reverb plugin. very diffuse sound. It has an additional signal feedback path.
Mverb : Simple and efficient.
Shiroverb : SHIMMER REVERB ! This shimmery reverb is based on the “Gigaverb”-genpatch and the “Pitch-Shift”-genpatch from Max MSP.
Simulator :
X42 Whirl : A rotating loudspeaker « Leslie » emulator
TAP Tubewarmth
Spatial :
PingPongPan : one of my favorite, fades the sound from left to right.
Spectral :
MDA SubSynth : Add loud sub to your sound !
Utility :
ALO Looper : Good looper, can sync with zynSeq. If it had external synchronization and loop backup, it would be an EHX 45000 killer
SooperLooper : Cannot Sync, but you can save your loop (with snapshots)
Gain
Gain 2x2