KVR Audio

mcnoone · Post by **mcnoone** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 4:22 am

Sylenth is not a good synth.
The end...whatever...eat it people.

Elektronisch · Post by **Elektronisch** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 6:14 am

Seeing the ammount of soundbanks that come for Reveal-Sound Spire synth i can conclude:

now that is a killer synth!!!

2ZrgE · Post by **2ZrgE** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 9:00 am

mhog wrote:Regarding presets, Sylenth1 has the "wow" factor. Hive is just "mmm... ok". That's all.

Have you tested the new factory previews?

If Howard's presets don't have a "wow" factor for you then we have a different opinion about "wow" I guess...

spaceman · Post by **spaceman** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 9:41 am

Trancit wrote:
ariston wrote:
Lotuzia wrote:Ime nothing sounds really like Sylenth.
I second this. ...
That's really not true...
Of course every synth has a special sound because of the algorythms used but MuLabs MUX does a really good job of replacing Sylenth...

I created a Synth with the modular engine, which is included in the factory library, called SilenCio with a quite similar structure of Sylenth...

Sylenth and my SilenCio plays this 8 bars sequence...
Tell me, which one is Sylenth and which one is the copy:

https://soundcloud.com/trancit01/soundtest

If you want to replace the Sylenth sound and want to have a good support and regular updates for a reasonable price (49,- € Full modular Synth/Sampler/FX) there is your solution:

http://www.mutools.com/mux-product.html

Second one I would say.

spaceman · Post by **spaceman** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 9:54 am

ausgeno wrote:...
Not sure why people are so hung up on Sylenth, it was a great plug when it came out in 2007 but I don't see the appeal in todays market...

Would you say that a Moog released 20 years ago or a Virus released 10 years ago is irrelevant in today's market?

Let's face it, most people treat software like a cheap pill satisfying a gear lust addiction and the synths only become "irrelevant" because a justification is needed for buying new gear.

Sylenth1 sound just as great as it did when it was first released, just like any of those classic hardware synths.

1wob2many · Post by **1wob2many** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 10:43 am

spaceman wrote:Would you say that a Moog released 20 years ago or a Virus released 10 years ago is irrelevant in today's market?

Let's face it, most people treat software like a cheap pill satisfying a gear lust addiction and the synths only become "irrelevant" because a justification is needed for buying new gear.

Sylenth1 sound just as great as it did when it was first released, just like any of those classic hardware synths

Spot on Spaceman.

I've often seen soft synths being described as "dated" or "long-in-the-tooth" in these forums (with no explanation of what is meant by these terms in context). The output of soft synths is numbers and the same numbers were available 10 years ago as are available now. And of course a soft synth released a few years ago is much less likely to bring your CPU to its needs than some of the less "dated" synths.

ZDF: the Go-Faster-Stripes of the VST world?

GeorgeZ · Post by **GeorgeZ** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 11:02 am

The only time I feel a soft synth is dated, generally, is when the workflow is hampered in some way, that is surpassed by something else, that fulfills my needs. To be honest, 99% of the time for me it's the preset browser that makes a synth feel dated, especially is if comes with 1000+ presets. Other than that, I have no problem using old software

Caine123 · Post by **Caine123** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 11:22 am

mhog wrote:Regarding presets, Sylenth1 has the "wow" factor. Hive is just "mmm... ok". That's all.

yes the Hive presets are not the best mostly atm, they have no wow factor for me too. they are well for their style, definitely. but they need to have more factory presets like serum etc. which have more BOOM, here yu EDM kids, we blow you away!

cause many sounds are sounding old school and for that i already can get Dive, Zebra etc. (which i have).

spaceman wrote:
ausgeno wrote:...
Not sure why people are so hung up on Sylenth, it was a great plug when it came out in 2007 but I don't see the appeal in todays market...
Would you say that a Moog released 20 years ago or a Virus released 10 years ago is irrelevant in today's market?

Let's face it, most people treat software like a cheap pill satisfying a gear lust addiction and the synths only become "irrelevant" because a justification is needed for buying new gear.

Sylenth1 sound just as great as it did when it was first released, just like any of those classic hardware synths.

im not a big sound designer, but a jp8080 can also do a heavy supersaw, you can distort and eq by taste, a synth is OVERALL a synth, what changes in recent years are of course better? algos? and more user friendliness with morphings. better guis normally etc. but a saw is still a saw....

you could do wobbles 20 years ago too, couldnt you? it was just no trend....

Rommelaar · Post by **Rommelaar** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 11:24 am

Best alternative would be Sylenth 2.

recursive one · Post by **recursive one** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:29 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuKIYwv2nMk

Pretty awesome, isn't it?

Yorrrrrr · Post by **Yorrrrrr** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:35 pm

Yes!. Pretty awesome sounds.

Sylenth1 is a classic and and amazing synthesizer for what it is, no doubt of that. But in 2015 there are some new ones that are just better and/or different. DUNE 2 is a fine example. To me it is like Sylenth1 on steroids. Every section of the synth is better: oscillators section (2 stacks of 32 plus sub and noise, better unison and detuning options, wavetables, Osc sync, RM, FM, proper PWM), filters (more filter types, not just one), envelopes (MSEGs), modulation matrix (way better, so much more sources and destinations), effects (better, especially reverb). Sound? D2 can do every single sound S1 can, and SO much more. It is incredibly flexible, the unison engine allows to stack up to 8 different sounds, not just part A and B.

No, really, it is better in every single aspect. Sylenth1 used to be my work horse, but not anymore, because it became irrelevant as soon as I picked DUNE 2 up.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:57 pm

Though those sounds aren't bad, you can exactly hear where Sylenth1 and Dune 2 are different on these kind of sounds (the ones using supersaw and the pluck sounds). Dune 2, just like Dune 1, sounds a bit plasticky and tinny on these, especially when you open/close the filter, or when there's filter envelope involved (check out the first sound where he closes the filter with the mod wheel, sounds pretty lame when it's closing. Same with the "Flower Power" sound, some weird, plasticky attack there.). I wouldn't say it's unsuited for them, or that it sounds bad (sounds a whole lot better than Dune 1 for these sounds). I just want to say i can understand why one would prefer Sylenth1, or Spire for them. I don't want to lie though, there's most probably the "heard it in gazillions of productions, so it just sounds right to me" factor involved too, so to some degree, it'll always sound weird when there's not the "signature sound". Will be interesting to see what Aiynzahev can do with Dune 2, he already made some sounds for other synths which were surprising good and suited, but you can't apply magic either. Anyway, just my opinion.

Yorrrrrr · Post by **Yorrrrrr** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:05 pm

Maybe it is not the synth itself, but the sound designer and his choices. You would have to compare the sounds made by the same artist or translate the sound from Sylenth1 to the other to really see if it can sound the same or not.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:10 pm

Maybe. But IMO the patches in this soundset are pretty classic Trance patches, the type you hear in every 2nd track, so i guess they are comparable. And when i tried Dune 2 i had the same feeling i get now from these patches. Anyway, maybe that all sounds too negative. What i want to say is that Dune 2 is well suited for these sounds, but i don't feel it's specifically great for them, like other synths/plugins.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:16 pm

Yorrrrrr beat me to it. It's not the synth but the person using it.

If you don't believe this to be true, listen to some of the KVR Challenges right here at this forum. I am amazed at some of the sounds people have gotten out of free synths. These are truly talented individuals who make me look like a total scrub.

Sure, some synths are going to be easier to do things with than others because they have more features. Some synths can make certain sounds that other synths can't make, such as a wavetable synth versus something like a Minimoog. But somebody with true talent and a knack for getting the most out of his synth will turn just about anything into a work of art.

I've heard Sylenth. It's got a nice sound. But it's nothing special. There are plenty of synths that can do what it can do or more. But that's not what's important. What's important is what the person using Sylenth does with it. And the synth is certainly just as capable as something like the free Synth1, a synth that produced some amazing KVR Challenge recordings.

The reason I don't personally own Sylenth is because it's 32 bit. I'm not spending that kind of money on a 32 bit synth. If they go 64 bit someday, sure. But until then, it's one of the few synths that I don't own.

But it has nothing to do with the way it sounds.

Because it's not the synth. It's the user.

Sylenth1 Awesome Alternatives?