What Makes A Good Synth Generator?

 By synth generators I mean  plugins that allow to create your own unique sounds. Some artists prefer such plugins instead of using samplers because it makes you way cooler.


What matters: 

1. How many oscillators are there?
   
   There should be at least 2 oscillators. You'll use 1 or 2 for most sounds unless you are really good at it
   
   
2. What type of waves you can choose from?
   
   You will be able to choose from simple waves like saw, sine, square, pulse, but it's nice to have some additional options.
   
   Rob Papen Blue which has 6 oscillators and multiple wave options compared to 3xosc which has 3 oscillators, few wave options:
   
   
   
3. Filter options
   
   How many filters can you choose from? Can each oscillator be linked to filter you want? Most will have Highpass and Lowpass filters. Some of top tier synths might not have Formant, Notch and Comb filters.
   
   Z3ta+ having 6 oscillators and only 2 filters:
   
   
   
4. Envelopes
   
   Do you want a pad sound or keyboard hits? That's where envelopes come in.. It's good if you have separate ASDR envelope for each oscillator. It's also good to have envelope for filters.
   
   Vanguard doesn't have separate envelopes for each oscillator, only main ones:
   
   
   
5. LFO options
   Low Frequency Oscillators add some more programming options. Wobbles! What waves can you choose from? Can you have multiple LFOs? Can you link one LFO to another?
   
   Malstorm having some fancy waves and some minimal linking options(mod:A control changes speed of the first LFO):
   
   
   
   
6. Modulation options
   
   This is where serious shit gets going. The most popular interface is source/destination and I like it more than 2d graphs which make stuff complicated.
   
   Example in Thor synth:
   
   
   
   
   Unnecesary complicated Sytrus modulation options:
   
   
   
7. Portamento
   Make sure you've got that knob! It can be hard to do outside of Generator.
   

Things that don't matter in a Synth Generator(in my opinion):

1. Post effects (reverb, delay, distortion, etc..) - I think these should be left for other plugins using mixer channels. There you can do it more effectively.
2. Gate, arp settings can be done outside of generators too.