Virtual Synthesizers is a new site that focuses on indexing virtual instruments – sort of a Vintage Synth Explorer, but for VSTs.
The site focuses on virtual alternatives to hardware electronic music gear.
It features:
- 1000+ hardware units (synths, samplers, drum machines, and more).
- More than five thousand VSTs (free & paid).
- Detailed pages with specs, videos, and historical info.
The developer notes, “I wanted a clean, easy-to-use site, where you could quickly find all the essential information in one place, thanks to an advanced search system.”
Hello, thanks for sharing. This site is still under construction but I’m making slow progress. For the moment it is only optimized for use on a PC and if your resolution is less than 1920×1080 I advise you to zoom out to about 50% for a better display. You can see for yourself by looking at this image. I’m alone on this project and have been working on it for 2 years. I’ll be getting some help soon. If you have any questions or suggestions for improving the site, feel free to leave me a message on the site or on this page, and I’ll be back to check back regularly. This site will always be free, and I hope it lives up to expectations. I wish you lots of fun!
Thomas
uh, no tamborine VST? rip off!
Hi John, you are right there is no tambourine VST and it is not planned. However, if you have ideas or references to give me, don’t hesitate. This might give me new ideas for the site. Thank you for your feedback.
oh, don’t mind me. i don’t have a computer.
Hey V.S. Thomas this is AWESOME. Viewing on a MacBook at 3456 x 2234 it looks and feels great. On first visit I discovered an incredible Reaktor collection I’d likely have never known about. Re: tambourines IF you’re open to covering the vast world of Kontakt instruments there’s whole other orbits of instruments to be cataloged (such as https://www.loopsdelacreme.com/tambourine-sisters ). Please know that your efforts are hugely appreciated!
Thank you very much :), several more categories will be added as we go along. Your messages give me a lot of strength. I’m happy to be able to share this with other enthusiasts. I’ve been concentrating on the version for the last 2 days and it’s working today!
I can’t review it at present as a Mac user, but I applaud the idea. Software is a bigger thing to tackle than hardware, since its been blossoming at a high rate. Even just a basic overview of many items would be very helpful, especially to newbies.
I doubt that many would take the effort seriously if it DID suggest a tambourine VST. đ
Thank you :). If you have any suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. As for the tambourines, I confess I hadn’t thought of them but why not đ
What a fantastic idea, and SUCH a useful service!! THANK YOU!!!
I think has this continues to expand it’s “collection” it will be a helpful resource for all kinds of needs.
Kudos!
Thank you for your encouragement. đ
V.S. Thomas –
FYI your Yamaha GX-1 contains links to the GForce String Machine. It might be better to link to the Cherry Audio GX-80 which contains key elements of the GX-1 coupled with the CS-80.
Thanks for all of your hard work!
It’s done :). Thank you for your suggestion đ
This will bring back alot of good memories
Yes :). Enjoy
Any chance to add AUv3 synths in those lists in the future?
Yes, of course, you’re right, I have to do it too. I’m going to get some help, so we’ll take care of it.
The Korg CX-3 featured is the photo of the 2001 model, not the original model from 1979.
I attempted to add a couple of comments; apparently they must be approved prior to posting.
The site looks great and has a bunch of useful information. I’ll be sure to add it to my bookmarks page (old-school 1990’s method of remembering websites).
Clicking on the icon of the Moog Voyager on the homepage returns an error message.
“Sorry, you are not allowed to preview drafts.”
I was probably working on the mobile version of the site, which must have created a temporary bug. It now works. For the photo of the Korg CX-3, Iâll fix it. Thank you very much for your feedback.
Beautiful ?
?
I see that V. S. Thomas now has a mobile interface up and running, so there’s less squinting involved in browsing from your phone. Great job!
If I can offer a little constructive criticism: Take the Drum Machines category, as an example. (I understand it’s a work in progress, but I didn’t see any indication that would affect my feedback.) One of the things that quickly becomes apparent as you go through the sections there is, at LEAST 80% of the manufacturers listed have only a single entry under them. Many others have 2, maybe 3. There are probably less than 10 brands in the entire category with more than a half-dozen synths listed.
That sparsity of content means that the whole accordion-list design, where you can only have one heading open at a time and you have to keep unfolding entries just to reveal the sole inner item, begins to feel a bit tedious. It gives the impression of a site that was overdesigned for a much bigger catalog than it currently has, and may or may not ever have.
That’s not to say that the site isn’t useful or that it won’t grow to a level that warrants that kind of structure in the future. But right now, for the most part the individual items could just be shown in a list on the page, and not only would it barely take up any more space, but the user could view everything without all that clicking around to unfold different subcategories.
Wikipedia has a policy for (well, for everything, but…) ONE of its article policies is: Don’t hide content. “Click-to-reveal” collapsible containers are fine for site navigation and user tools, but the actual encyclopedia content should always be visible right up front so that it’s more accessible to readers. After all, the thinking goes, that’s exactly what they came to see. So don’t hide it from them and make them have to do extra work just to read it
That’s an idea I’ve always taken to heart, and it’s something I try to keep in mind whenever I have to present information to people, in any context: Don’t ask them to do extra work just to hear what I have to say to them.
Hi, Thanks for checking out my site!
Readability Issue:
Youâre rightâthe page is currently open when it shouldnât be. Iâm in the middle of updating it. Once itâs done, itâll have the same layout as the âVirtual Synthesizersâ category, so everything will be easy to browse.
Missing virtual references:
Some pages have few emulation references because I build them up gradually. I usually start with one or two references (packs), then go back and add more over time â new hardware pages too. Not everything is visible yet, but by the end of March this page will be complete.
Really appreciate your interest in my site! Let me know if you have any other thoughts.
Thanks again, and see you soon!
Thomas