6. Autochroma by Imagiro

The modern VST market operates on the same economic principle as everything else, where prices seem to climb endlessly upward to "take out a loan" territory. Then there's Autochroma, which at forty dollars feels like a pricing error - except it's not. It's one of the most versatile granular effects I've encountered in my obsessive journey through Granular VSTopia.

What sets Autochroma apart can be distilled into three key aspects:

• It's incredibly powerful, with a very intuitive design
• It's genuinely fun to use, offering countless creative possibilities and an excellent preset library to learn and build from
• It's $40

The interface presents this power through elegant minimalism, a refreshing departure from the overcrowded panels and crazy geometric laser grids that dominate modern VST design.

5. MORPH3 by Zynaptiq

MORPH3 is another entry into Zynaptiq's canon of insane and unique sound design tools - a "style transfer" VST that allows you to change the shape of one sound to fit the mold of another - something that you might need to hear to fully understand, as I have a hard time articulating it. It's tons of funs to mess with though, and constantly in my daily life, I hear sounds and wonder: "What would that sound like combined with a synth / piano / violin / voice?" My takeaway after a couple hours of messing with it:

• It excels at transitioning between instruments and sounds with remarkable coherence
• It enables the creation of harmoniously bizarre textural combinations by merging unexpected sound sources (glass breaking with reverberant piano, for instance)
• It serves as an invaluable tool for breaking through creative blocks in sound design

It doesn't always net you the results you think you're going to get, and I'm sure with more time you'd understand the (11) different morphing algorithms. Right now, at least to me, it feels like a happy accident generator about 50% of the time. It's a bit steeper at 279 USD, so some other tools that promise this capability are probably worth a peek too (such as Alexander Pano's Color Transfer Bundle, which I also use very regularly).

3. TB Collection by Tweak Bench

With VSTs increasingly defined by complexity, Tweak Bench's Complete Bundle stands as a testament to focused utility. For ten dollars, you receive twenty-two plugins that have become essential elements in everything from contemporary chiptune to modern hyperpop. Their strengths lie in three (count 'em!) areas:

• Versatile lo-fi and 8-bit processing that adds character without overwhelming the source material
• A straightforward approach to sound design and manipulation that encourages experimentation and raw utility
• An efficiency of design that makes them invaluable as quick-access tools

The 32-bit, Windows-only limitation requires some technical accommodation through JBridge, but the sonic character these tools impart to productions justifies any setup complexity, imo, fr fr.

2. Sylenth1 by LennarDigital

The discourse surrounding Sylenth1's pricing often misses a crucial point: this synthesizer has remained relevant through multiple paradigm shifts in electronic music production, and it's still updated pretty consistently. Its enduring appeal stems from three key characteristics:

• An interface that presents complex sound design possibilities through accessible controls
• A synthesis architecture that continues to reveal new possibilities even after years of use
• My favorite: The Shift+R randomization feature that can spark entire compositional directions (also great as a horror SFX generator)

The amount of time it's been out is complimented by the sheer size of 3rd party libraries for anybody who wants to browse presets more than design sounds themselves; I'd reckon one of the largest of any VST.

1. Serum by Xfer Records

Serum's ubiquity in modern production speaks to something fundamental about its design: it manages to be both immediately accessible and persistently deep. Its prevalence isn't a limitation but rather a testament to its capability as a sound design platform that continues to reveal new possibilities even after years of use. The interface encourages exploration like a toy designed for particularly bored indoor cats - hidden panels, knobs, tables, etc constantly reveal new potential (like the waveform audio bouncer hidden completely invisibly next to the namesake logo???)

Some very cool people love to claim they can "totally tell when something is a Serum supersaw" - and then I'll show them a Serum supersaw and tell them it was made with something else, and they usually say "oh yeah, it definitely was."

These people are fucking cool and you should try to be like them.
Through Splice's rent-to-own program, it represents perhaps the most significant sound design investment available to modern producers. If you aren't using this, wake up - you fell into a coma in 2013 and your family misses you.