Ok lads, I’m wondering!
What is the photoshop of vst plugins?
With most expansion packs and a huge user base?
There isn’t ONE plugin I’d call out, but as a counterpart to Photoshop, I’d name Native Instruments Komplete.
Like Adobe, NI have invested (and will keep investing) in a broad range of hardware and software that integrates well (see NKS standard) and covers pretty much all bases. So if want to do a production with just one vendor’s tools, you’ll go a long way with Komplete 11.
But for live use, I prefer a mix-and-match approach; not all Komplete products are the easiest tools to use live.
Cheers,
Torsten
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I’m with Torsten. It is difficult to decide, which is the very best VST.
But…so far NOT ONLY ONE 
- Nexus (huge load on presets/patches)
- Omnisphere (huge load on presets/patches/Multis/splits)
- Keyscape
- Sonik Synth 2
- Zebra (huge load on presets/patches)
- Alchemy
I’d have to agree on Native Instruments. I’d add that Kontakt would be like Photoshop (single popular product within a company) whilst NI would be more akin to Adobe (the company who makes the popular product).
For Kontakt indeed a huge amount of libraries are available.
But if I have to compare the content with other VSTi, Kontakt
is “mostly” strong and outstanding on orchestra and choir stuff.
Beside Vienna, there are nearlly no alternatives for orchestras/choirs.
But, if you looking for other pad stuff, there are much more better
VSTi, which provide them.
Coming only from the perspective in “comparison” to photoshop…yes…
I would also agree, that Kontakt/NI should be it.
NI orchestral stuff is mediocre IMHO. Nothing comes close to LASS for me, even as an older product. Spitfire has some good stuff as well (even though from what I can tell a lot of it is expensive and overrated). Of course that has nothing to do with popularity… 
It’s hard to say. I really love korg m1, cheap, light and a swiss knife. Xpand it’s awesome too, and cheaper.
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Diva for me. Then Ominisphere. Diva is demanding but a bit of a chameleon in terms of what it can cover.
Have to say wth NI I am not impressed with their support service. I have a few sound libraries that use Kontakt. I purchased a new one and had a problem with activating it via NI Native Support. Raised a query on Oct 28th and it was only today (Nov 7th) when they responded. That sucks and has put me off purchasing more NI based products.
But still wondering, what soft Synth is most used in the world.
Probably one of the freebie plugins that comes with Mainstage… 
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Was gonna say, Mainstage is ubiquitous. That’s your Photoshop. Can about guarantee you’re right- although- that’s only live. When you count studios and composers that probably isn’t the case any more.
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I guess we’re talking about content for Kontakt as opposed to NI’s own productions.
I’ve been pretty impressed with the Orchestral Tools Berlin Strings. In combination with their Capsule utility, it’s a powerful library. (For Kontakt)
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Even it is meanwhile off topic here…“coming from most popular vst plugin”
Indeed: Kontakt is for orchestra the only opportunity, cause most producers of orchestra libraries
provide them for Kontakt…beside e.g. Vienna.
In the moment “The Orchestra” (Best Service) is for me the favourite/my prefered orchestra library, cause
string runs/phrases for cello, strings, basses and brass are included…spread over the key ranges as multis.
So you get a “ready to play” orchestra.
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Although cantabile is the best on PC, i still wish there was some kinda mainstage for PC. On the other hand, i think mainstage is very limited, not importing vsts.
While Kontakt is often used in scoring and orchestral work, that is only a small part of what I personally use it for. It gets extensive use here for electric bass (Scarbee library), electric pianos (again Scarbee) and some other stuff.
Since getting Keyscape, I’m using Kontakt much less for EP though.
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I love the Scarbee Rickenbacker, and have just purchased the Sound Iron Elysium Harp. Both sound awesome. Shame about the NI customer experience, as I mentioned above. 
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Fortunately, I haven’t had to use NI support yet since my first purchase of Komplete 8 when it came out. Hopefully I don’t have any issues. I’ve heard mixed reports about their support. Some have major issues with responses and others have had their problems solved quickly.
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I’m a fanboy for the Scarbee basses. Especially the Rick. I have found the attack seems to make it feel a few milliseconds behind everything, you gotta play way on top of the beat lol And yeah, the Vintage Keys have been knocked out of rotation by Keyscape and Lounge Lizard. Keyscape is just amazing, it’s just such a resource hog too…
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Yes, I get that delay / slow attack on the Rickenbacker too. I don’t use it live, so it’s not a big problem for me, but I do have to compensate for it when recording using the plugin. Not sure why it happens, considering their other plugins / sample sets don’t seem to suffer from this.
Neil