I am pretty well-versed with Sylenth, I have spent a lot of time practicing what each particular tool is able to do as well as watching tons of masterclasses. I would not under any circumstances recommend getting Massive on its own - the extra $300 for Komplete is WELL worth it! The only thing that you really miss in Ultimate (other than the sample libraries) is Razor, but you'll be busy with all the new toys in any case.Thank you for the response. The pre-built Reaktor units (Monark, Spark, Razor) are excellent, as well. There are basically infinite sounds in there, especially if you put in the time with Reaktor and Kontakt.
![u he hive vs serum u he hive vs serum](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BgoAYAg_YNU/maxresdefault.jpg)
Or, and this is my real advice, just get Komplete and mess with the synths that come with it.
![u he hive vs serum u he hive vs serum](https://u-he.com/products/hive/assets/images/uhe-hive2-screenshot-fullui.jpg)
I would not under any circumstances recommend getting Massive on its own - the extra $300 for Komplete is WELL worth it! The only thing that you really miss in Ultimate (other than the sample libraries) is Razor, but you'll be busy with all the new toys in any case. I'd go either with a "big rompler" like Omnisphere (yes, it is expensive, but it does EVERYTHING) or an FM/Modular-oriented synth (Zebra comes to mind) before Hive or Massive.
![u he hive vs serum u he hive vs serum](https://assets.asset-repo.net/styles/original_optimised/s3/assets-images/Hive.jpg)
I suspect you really know Sylenth, and are looking for something massively different - and if that is the case, I'd go looking somewhere else than what you listed. That being said, I use Omnisphere 2 for synth sounds far more often than the "dedicated" synths, mainly because I know it. I have all those you listed except Nexus (tried it, didn't gel with me), and Massive is the one amongst those that gets the most use. In my mind, Massive is a must have - sure, it sounds digital (GASP), but it is super versatile and capable.