Best softsynth ever, hits our shore's!

[monkey man]

dave bourke! if your telling me there is no way i can use synth 1 then i am downcast downtrodden and utterly dispondant and it's gonna take me weeks to get over it. That is an absolute one in a million synth, and i can't believe it's free. Are you absolutely sure a wrapper will not work? I thought thats what wrappers were for Oh well, would you mind explaining the whole situation to me in detail and why it won't work. Thanx.

Soundmaster, there has never been a wrapper that could allow cross-platform use of plug-ins. It'd be a very major bomshell should someone announce such a product.

Wrappers typically allow one spec of plug (eg: VST) to be used in a host that doesn't by default support it (eg: DP). That's all they do, I'm afraid.

[David Polich]

Okay, I downloaded the Sylenth demo and put it through its paces.

First thing I always do with any synth is initialize a voice and listen to a sawtooth wave with the filter wide open. Comparing the Sylenth to my Dave Smith Prophet 08, I'd say tonality is very good, however, unlike the Prophet, the oscillator does not drift slightly and randomly in that true analog fashion. It just remains dead stable, so in order to get analog "movement" you have to add a second oscillator and detune, or add a modulation effect such as chorus.

The presets are well-programmed. Every 60 seconds, a sampled phrase, "thank you for trying this demo" is emitted at a very high volume, so be prepared for that if you're evaluating at high monitor levels. All of the presets are very loud, and they are heavy on the trance/dance side of things, as you might expect. The lead sounds usually route mod wheel to filter cutoff, which is typical of dance and trance programming. One standout area that I enjoyed is the synthesized strings category, particularly the solo strings which have a bit of "physical modeling" sound to them. As for keyboard sounds such as Rhodes, Wurliitzer, Clavs, and organs, forget it, they aren't represented. There are no drumkits, although there are some analog-style drum sounds and plenty of rhythmic "loops" which employ filtered and arpeggiated noise and envelope modulation.

There are two layers (Part A and Part B) and each layer is an independent synthesizer, which means you have a total of 4 oscillators to work with. You can't limit the oscillators to specific key ranges, so no splits or zones are available.

Per "layer", you get - two oscillators, each with Sine, Saw, Triangle, Pulse, H pulse (35% pulse width), Q Pulse (15% pulse width), TriSaw, and Noise waveforms. Each oscillator has its own volume, phase, detune, stereo width, and pan control.

FILTERS - There is a pre-filter where you can route either Osc A to B or B to A, both oscillators in parallel, or just A or just B. There are several different filter types, a drive control, and each type can be either 12db or 24db per octave. The pre-filter is followed by a post filter control which adds another set of cutoff and resonance controls, a keytrack control, and another drive control. The filters themselves sound good, although I wasn't able to drive them into true self-oscillation. They don't get too shrill even with cutoff all the way down and resonance all the way up. They remind me of the Roland Jupiter-8 filters. Thumbs up..

ENVELOPES - each layer has an Amp Envelope A. After the post filter, you get two additional "Mod Envelopes", which can be routed to different destinations, two LFO's, and four additional modulation routings.

EFFECTS - effects are good sounding, not spectacular, and limited to distortion, phaser, chorus, eq, delay, reverb, and compressor. Distortion offers you "overdrive", "foldback", "clip", "decimate" and "bit crush". The first three all sound similar and I'd never mistake them good for amp simulators such as Amplitube, Izotope Trash, or Guitar Rig, even with the two controls, "amount" and "dry/wet" set to maximum. "Decimate" and "bit-crush" are lo-fi distortions and have a more obvious sound, good, but again these two sound similar, and won't trounce something like the OhmForce lo-fi effects.

For some odd reason, "arpeggio" is in the effects list, I would prefer to have it in its own section. Nevertheless, it has several modes, including step and chord, as well as several different triggering modes. No swing parameter that I could find, though.

There are two Modulation Envelopes (labeled "Mod Env 1" and "Mod Env 2"), which can be assigned to amp or filter, two LFO's, and four additional mod routings which can employ a number of sources. Zebra, Absynth, and Green Oak Crystal all offer way more in terms of modulation flexibility.

You have a choice of Poly or Mono Legato modes, and a single portamento control that is always on (with "0" being no portamento).

My overall evaluation is, Sylenth is very good, with a nice, transparent sound to it and lots of filter and modulation options. It has an analog-ish character to it but if you want more realistic analog emulations, I'd go with Arturia or the "real" analogs like the Moog or Dave Smith products. It is all subtractive synthesis-based, which leaves it behind more flexible synths such as Zebra 2, Absynth, and Chameleon which employ multiple synthesis types including granular and wavetable. The effects are bog-standard and none of them are multi-fx.

If you're looking for something that could really "blow you away", I'd say hold off until Spectrasonics gets Omnisphere released. Sylenth is a good product, but certainly not the "best synth ever" that I've come across.

[Tritonemusic]

Nice synopsis, David. However, you never mentioned whether or not it sounds "PHAT."

[David Polich]

Nice synopsis, David. However, you never mentioned whether or not it sounds "PHAT."

LOL. I did go looking for the "Phat" control but it seems to be missing. I guess you could say it's both "phat" and "thin" because there are thin sounds in the preset list. Then again, if you're looking for thin, then of course whatever you select would obviously be the "phattest" choice for a thin sound.

[singtou]

nice one david...cuz of that I think im gonna wait for spectrasonics then...to answer your question from before..yes bass drops are parts of dance music that signify a new part or section...im still trying to find a dance tool kit that would have all of those things..but fx sweeps for transitions and the like...if anyone does dance music..please let me know where I can find this stuff...its gotta be more simple than me having to sound design it every time!!!

[Dave Bourke]

Thanks for the comprehensive review, David. It still seems to be a good synth to have in your holster when you need a large palette of dance sounds for a "can you have it for us by Friday?" job though.

Omnisphere, of course, is a no-brainer.

Kind regards.

[nk_e]

Really nice succinct description/synopsis David. Do you write for any of the mags? You should. Thanks.

[David Polich]

nice one david...cuz of that I think im gonna wait for spectrasonics then...to answer your question from before..yes bass drops are parts of dance music that signify a new part or section...im still trying to find a dance tool kit that would have all of those things..but fx sweeps for transitions and the like...if anyone does dance music..please let me know where I can find this stuff...its gotta be more simple than me having to sound design it every time!!!

Actually, the answer is, you'll have to sound design it every time. Looks like you already have a number of sound sources at your disposal, including Stylus RMX. Have you looked into the SAGE libraries like "Big Bad Beats" and "Noizebox" for RMX? They contain grooves with variations of the groove on different keys (no kick, no snare, no synth line, no hat, etc.).

Sample libraries in the dance and r&b/hip-hop genres will often include construction kits of phrases, that's another source to look into.

Basically, though, to build killer tracks you need to construct them using multiple sound sources and programming on your own. The problem with pre-programmed drops and breaks is that you can't alter them or tweak them if you find an element that you don't like, or an event placement you want to change (well, unless you want to further edit them in Melodyne, but there again you are back to "rolling your own".)

[David Polich]

Really nice succinct description/synopsis David. Do you write for any of the mags? You should. Thanks.

Good idea, I could use a bit of extra cash.

[mhschmieder]

Dave, Keyboard Magazine started soliciting new writers last year when they changed editorial direction back to their roots (more emphasis on playing technique and synth programming technique, vs. primarily reinforcing the advertisements with product reviews).

Several people on their forum ("Keyboard Corner") -- which is the only other forum I contribute to -- now get occasional articles or snippets in the mag. Some of the competing mags don't really get to the point (succintly or otherwise). Reviews like your of Sylenth are exactly what they're looking for these days. Most of the staff are right down the street from my office .

For some reason, I just now got the joke: "Sylenth" is "Silence" with a lisp.

[soundmaster]

Trouble is, i don't like softsynths that emulate the inherent instability in traditional analog hardware. I prefer the precise modern 21st century sound, and thats what sylenth gives you. Plus it saves you having to spend millions on a hardware access virus, because it is able to produce those sounds to a T.
Now all you have to do is go and listen to Synth1 Dave and let us know what you think of that.
But the bottom line is this. The Motif XS (currently being the best of the workstations, sound wise) retails for $4,499 here in Australia and it sounds rather precise without that so called traditional analog instability. The fact is the Sylenth1 is a couple hundred dollars as opposed to thousands and yet the Sylenth does not rely on samples and beats the hell out of the XS for dance, house, and techno sounds which are right up my alley.
Why is it that Sylenth manages such a big phat sound equal to, and beyond the Motif XS, and yet costs so little. I guess what i'm trying to say is that Sylenth1 is what you call a no brainer. It is capable of doing everything i need it to do "and more" in such a compelling and exciting way.
The Sylenth1 easily replicates an expensive hardware Access Virus and yet is capable of even more and actually sounds better than a Virus. On top of that, the Nord lead replica which is the synth1, easily replicates a Nord LeadIII and yet is capable of so much more. The Nexus easily replicates expensive Waldorf hardware and yet is easily capable of so much more. The Novation V-Station is just a excellent synth to have on hand for that top notch novation sound.
Modulation routings? who gives a frogs backside about modulation routings. These synths all excel something wicked and give off AWESOME basses, phat leads, wide pulsating pads and everything in between. Modulation routings can go jump. It's all about the sound, and omnisphere, crystal, and every other software synth does not match my four aforementioned synths. These four are a bargain, hugely capable, sound utterly fantastic, phat as hell, and with them you can take on the world. Did anyone ever hear people complaing that Nord and Access synths don't have enough modulation options. well no you don't. Dave is what you call, falling into the same ole trap that quite a few others do, by expecting "Superflous" extras that don't mean or equate to squat in the real world.
And as for the Arturia synths, they sound very nice but alas they suffer from the same ole "THIN" syndrome as "MOST" other "SOFTSYNTHS" so they are simply a no go for me.
Judging by Dave Polichs version of a techno sound over on the Motifator website, he hasn't the slightest incling of what a realworld Hardhouse or techno track really is, or what it takes to achieve that genre of music to an extent that makes people jump for joy, so i would be taking his observations with a grain of salt. sorry Dave, but i have pumped the clubs silly, and you haven't. your programming credentials don't really mean a lot to me, simply because i rely on producing phat pounding tracks and not silly little presets.

[David Polich]

Ah, to be young again...

It's all good, man. Give us a website or myspace page with some of your tracks, when you get a chance.

[FMiguelez]

...so i would be taking his observations with a grain of salt. sorry Dave, but i have pumped the clubs silly, and you haven't. your programming credentials don't really mean a lot to me, simply because i rely on producing phat pounding tracks and not silly little presets.

AHEM!!
May I kindly ask, just out of curiosity, HOW you produce these "phat pounding" tracks??
Software?
Hardware?
COMPUTERS???

Please don't tell me you use Garage Band...

And what do you mean by "silly little presets"? Aren't those what you admitted in the other post that you "rely on"??

Please post one of your wonderful joy-giving, club-shattering productions for us.
I feel like dancing now

Seriously. Please share with us.

[kassonica]

So Do I

Dance dance dancing the PHAT away

[singtou]

LOL...is syneleth paying you by the post dude!???? HAHAHA!!!
im loving all this!!!!...has anyone checked out the new spectrasonics video for the synth?...purty nasty man!!!