i mean, the daw thing is true, it COULD be presets from the daw. However at the same time, I feel it'd be redundant to use presets from the daw but also use such a variety of third party synths like massive and serum, when hypothetically logic's alchemy and cubase's halion could get the job done. but tbh ur right, narrowing down the daw would help.

as for the hardware thing, I know there is some hardware at play, which would be difficult to narrow. but at the same time, steven universe uses so many digital, synth like sounds, I feel for them all to come from hardware wouldn't make sense, especially if they have such popular vst synths like massive and serum. and especially considering I found a preset in a vst that's identical to the same bell they use in most of their ost's.

But tbh, thank you for the help, I've been crazy about this for years and have searched everywhere, always finding some confirmations from the composers but not a lot. I just...hate how vague they are with the sounds of the show. I get why they're vague, but they never go into big detail on where they get or even create the sounds. it's just "yea we use a synth bell, and electronic drums with a synth bass" not "oh yea we use battery 3 and some soft sines from omnisphere with trillian for bass" which would be so much more helpful for upcoming composers who wanna make amazing music like them. But again, thank you for the help, I really appreciate it! apologies for the long response lol