KVR Audio

Phorous · Post by **Phorous** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 5:53 pm

robotmonkey wrote:I have Synthmaster Player version that I got dirt cheap and that has turned out to be a very nice sound module. I would not say that it has any sound quality issues. It's actually right on the same level as FM8, ZTA+2 and Alchemy Player. So I can not understand the complaints that it does not have good sound quality.

From when I did own it I would agree with your assessment as well. It sounded fine to me and I enjoyed many of the presets.

stillshaded · Post by **stillshaded** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:04 pm

huh.. i'm kind of surprised to see so much hate for the sound. I actually really like it.

It cuts well in my opinion. Almost kind of like massive. To me when synths try to go down the analog route sometimes the sound ends up kind of "mushy" to me.

The oscillators are very flexible, especially with the new features that were just added. I also really like the filters. Maybe they do sound kind of digital, but again they cut and they sound "pure" to me. The resonance is very nice when you crank it IMO.

I think the effects are very high quality also, much better than Dune 2 IMO, which I also own.

Funny that people are saying it has less character than Serum. I tried Serum and to me it sounded very flat and sterile. For some reason Synthmaster just has more presence to me.

I also like Dune 2 and Zebra 2. And yes there is quite a bit of overlap here, especially with Zebra. However, I find that they have very very different sound qualities and they work together well in a mix.

one disclaimer, I was not wild about a ton of the presets that came with Synthmaster, but I'm very picky

Lejurai · Post by **Lejurai** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:09 pm

HcDoom wrote:what do you think about it...pros, cons? I already have Dune 2, Serum, Zebra, Hive...so, if it covers the ground that my synths cover it, Ill pass this wonderful opportunity and wont look back.

You won't be getting anything new with synthmaster.

Personally I use it quite a lot. It's a workhorse. You can do anything/everything with it. Talk about it being digital sounding or lacks character is BS since there's a lot of things to "undigitalize" it like osc drift, envelope drift etc etc.

At first I didn't really like it but then I just used and used it and learned to love it. It has kinda annoying habit of showing that if you can't program, it sounds like crap and if you do.. Boner.

Lejurai · Post by **Lejurai** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:12 pm

You can also switch the audio engine quality from the "worse" to excellent wich is.. Was it 8x oversampling.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:23 pm

robotmonkey wrote:I have Synthmaster Player version that I got dirt cheap and that has turned out to be a very nice sound module. I would not say that it has any sound quality issues. It's actually right on the same level as FM8, ZTA+2 and Alchemy Player. So I can not understand the complaints that it does not have good sound quality.

To avoid misunderstanding: I don't think the sound quality (whatever that is) is bad, just saying i don't like the general character of it. There are very few synths nowadays whose "sound quality", if you want to call it so, is bad. In most cases, their sound will just differ.

keel · Post by **keel** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:48 pm

Crashmaster would be better name for this synth. It sounds average tho. Just way too buggy.

db3 · Post by **db3** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 7:00 pm

Synthmaster is one of those plugins I've demoed plenty of times, but just not pulled the trigger. To me it feels like a jack of all trades, but doesn't better my other plugins in any particular aspect. I don't feel it sounds quite as full as other options, but that might actually be of benefit in a mix. Interested to learn what the update brings.

On a positive note there are frequent deals to be had, and the factory version offers great value currently at $54 in Audiodeluxe/JRR in cart. Would be nice if the player version had a cooler GUI, but who can grumble at $14 for 800 presets if you like a bit of EDM.

chili beans · Post by **chili beans** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 7:08 pm

Just get it, you wont regret it

Dasheesh · Post by **Dasheesh** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 8:31 pm

You guys are nuts. Synth master is one of the highest audio quality advanced synthesis engines on the planet and it's always on crazy sale.

Dasheesh · Post by **Dasheesh** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 8:51 pm

^^^ Let me add the word "digital" to that because it is undeniably digital sounding filters and oscillators, but I use it for my extreme digital mayhem.

FLWrd · Post by **FLWrd** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 9:05 pm

I like it. It is neutral sounding, that is true, but I find it an advantage. It is very tweakable: many different oscillator types, filters, LFOs, envelopes, etc., but when you need more than two pages of modulation sources, it gets unwieldy. I haven't tried 2.7 yet.

Disclaimer: I'm not a heavy synth user, more of a sample user. If I had to order synth plugins, SynthMaster would probably be my second choice after Zebra, but before anything "analog".

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:10 pm

I bought it at a no-brainer price within the last year and, while I haven't used it very often, it was certainly worth the price. It sounds good to me and, despite what others have said, I don't find the UI that bad at all - hell, considering all that it can do, I'd say that it's laid out pretty nicely. I haven't experienced any crashes or major bugs with it, so I've never needed to use support, but, as mentioned, maybe that's because I just haven't used it enough yet. Looking forward to checking out the 2.7 update.

Kinh · Post by **Kinh** » Wed Aug 05, 2015 12:20 am

chk07 wrote:Have to disagree on this point. Sylenth1 which is massively popular in EDM musc since years isn't at all "neutral" sounding, rather pretty raw. Massive too. Synthmaster sounds kind of tamed IMO. As you said, pretty neutral. Not really raw, not really soft, not really snappy. Just not my cup of tea overall, but hey, fair enough, can't like everything.

I think 'tame' is way too generalized to sum up synthmaster. There are some tame presets but there are some in Massive, in Spire, Nexus in fact many. As far as edgy and aggressive presets goes I rate Syntmaster at the top, even above Massive. I think SM has probably the most diverse range of presets and many of them. So yes, you may not like all of them, some are a little lackluster but others are gritty and brittle. The filters are good too.
The problem with it, as others have pointed out is its buggy as hell. This is 2.6 though, maybe 2.7 has improved. And sometimes support doesn't reply. I was going to buy the Everything upgrade (summer sale) but support didn't get back to me on an issue I was having with SM so I didn't bother. Oh well.

kv331 · Post by **kv331** » Wed Aug 05, 2015 12:26 am

Kinh wrote: The problem with it, as others have pointed out is its buggy as hell. This is 2.6 though, maybe 2.7 has improved. And sometimes support doesn't reply. I was going to buy the Everything upgrade (summer sale) but support didn't get back to me on an issue I was having with SM so I didn't bother. Oh well.

For which issue did I not get back to you ? Could you specify?

Thanks!

Bulent

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Wed Aug 05, 2015 1:43 am

I just love this synth. Must be one of the best value propositions in plugland. And there's a free iOS app as well.