Trance can be such a varied genre and can include everything from the nuanced minimal to the massively euphoric.
Whatever your take on it and whatever styles you produce we take you through the Top 5 best software synths for Trance music available today.
Reveal Sound Spire
Spire is a 4 Osc power synth featuring a slew of options including unison stack per oscillator, limited wavetable ability, dual filter design featuring 6 different modes, onboard FX, 4 LFO's, step sequencer, arpegiator, comprehensive mod matrix and built in EQ. Have we missed anything?
It's sound is unique, with incredibly fast envelopes when required and an oscillator and filter setup that comes with a uniquely spikey character all of its own. Analogue emulation is not it's strong point, but then we're not trying to recreate Mike Oldfield here are we...
It sits in the mix well, it's sound won't overwhelm and it has a unique ability to cut through the midrange quite nicely. Just the ticket for Trance.
Xfer Serum
Xfer was co-founded by Deadmau5 - Enough said?
Serum is a 2 Osc wavetable synth, featuring inbuilt wavetable editor, ability to load custom wavetables, more filters than we want to list, customisable multistage envelopes and the ability quickly modulate almost every parameter via it's intuitive click and drag option.
It also carries more unique parameters such as a filter drive knob, fat options and a multitude of ways to sync the oscs together.
Other noteworthy features include built in FX Modules, a dedicate sub oscillator and noise source.
It's sound is crystal clear, cutting and expels the quality, clarity and definition that other synths aspire to.
An excellent example Serums Trance prowesses from our own 64 strong Trance Serum preset pack.
VPS Avenger
You could produce a whole trance track in one instance of Avenger. It's scope is that wide and encompassing.
Designed in an onscreen modular fashion it's a pseudo mix of subtractive, wavetable and sample based synthsis including some FM and AM options and a feature set that you could fill a book with.
Stand-out features include 8 Oscillator modules (each with it's own supersaw and stack functions). 4 Filter modules (with over 47 different filter modes!) 4 AMP modules, dedicated drum synth, insert FX, send FX, macros, shapers, oscillator transform functions, honestly I got tired trying to list all its features.. suffice to say no synth offers so much in one package for such fair pricing.
It's sound is rich and bold, especially suited for EDM and other in your face genres. It makes our Top 5 Trance list however because of it's sheer versatility and commitment to being able to do almost any sound duties required and the scope in which it can achieve whatever you need. If you only want to buy 1 synth for electronic music production Avenger represents the best bang for buck.
Dmitry Sches Thorn
A relative newcomer Thorn offers something similar but also quite different to the usual crop.
Essentially a 3 osc twin filtered hybrid subtractive synth with the usual mod matrix and envelope features alongside some quirky addtions such as the harmonic filter which sits in-between the oscillator and traditional filter section.
Additionally, it comes together with a slew of good quality and often unique takes on standard FX as well as some interesting functions like the Glitch Seq, an easy way to create rhythmic glitches.
It's snappy, easy to program via the clean UI and laid out in an intuitive way.
The synth also punches out a distinctly rich and chunky sound suitable for all trance and electronic styles. We think this ones brimming with potential and is set to become more and more popular - mark our words.
Lennar Digital Sylenth1
No other software synthesiser has had such an impact on Trance music. Perhaps going as far as being an integral part of the genre revival known as Trance 2.0
Listen to any compilation of trance track around 2014 and chances are you'll hearing Sylenth1 in action. Yet its still as relevant today as it was back in it's inception..
It takes a more traditional approach to synthesis being of straight subtractive design and featuring 4 Oscillators, 2 filters, 2 amps, 7 FX, and arpeggiator and a somewhat limited modulation matrix.
It won't win any comprehensive feature awards vs its peers on this list and even loses out slightly in the sound quality stakes
Yet paradoxically to the modern mentality of 'newer must be better' - Sylenth1 has a much more laid back almost gritty sound which lends itself much more to the progressive house and progressive trance styles.
This, with it's no frills approach to easy programming, low CPU hit and flexible functions means that today Sylenth1 is stilll a relevant, capable synth with a huge back catalogue of 1000's of free and commercial quality sounds.