Let's start the lists, as we're nearing the Black Friday madness.
This year, updates dominated for me. Synplant 2, Falcon 3, and HALion 7 were all extremely innovative releases.
Dawesome Kult was released in late 2022, but it has quickly become one of my most used software instruments this year.
But I'm also not a big fan of analog emulations, so I might have missed a few gems from the likes of Cherry Audio or Softube.
What was everyone else's highlight this year?
I'm a sucker for vintage vibes, and Arturia's latest emulations have been spot-on. The Jup-8 V5 is my go-to for those lush pads and soaring leads, and the new CZ V nails those classic 80s sounds perfectly. I'm also loving Cherry Audio's Mercury-6—it's like having a Jupiter-4 and Juno-60 in one plugin!
I'm all about efficiency and workflow, and Vital remains my top pick for its versatility and ease of use. It's a workhorse for everything from basses and leads to atmospheric pads. I've also been digging Pigments 4 for its intuitive interface and wide sound palette. And for sheer fun factor, I can't get enough of AudioThing's Wires—it's like a modular synth playground in a plugin!