Just thought I should give the reviews found on this forum a little balance as many give this synth 5 stars.

To me a 3 star is a very good synth, so Surge is very good, period. However, for better synths that cost zero I think I rather choose Synth1 and then perhaps some of the synths that comes in a stripped/limited version with Computer Music, the mag, like Dune CM. Not exactly free then, but at least close.

Compared to things like Diva, Omnisphere and Serum, Surge does not have a chance when it comes to ocilator sound and programability.

Somewhere in between, pricewise, there is Fathom. To me the "best synth" ever, all things considered. It is not that sophisticated as the three mentioned and it stills struggles a little with CPU load (version 2.3) but at that price!!.

Surge will never be my main synth, but it has a quality that makes me not to delete it from my plugg list. Some of the factory presets are quite good, and there is a bunch of good presets to be downloaded from KVR. Programming on your own is quite easy and the manual is fairly good. However you need good eyes or fresh spectacles as the interrface is tiny and for some people it can be cumbersome.

One of the best things with Surge is that it is open source so a load of peple can contribute to future development. Open source and a lot of people can however also be a challenge as there might be different opinions on directions for development. Those who lives will see.