By JimmiG
On 2nd December 2007
Version: 1.21
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JimmiG
4 of 6 people found
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If you are like me, you probably already have half a dozen freeware and shareware VA synths laying around that you haven't even had the time or motivation to really get into..
Why should you spend this kind of money on such a seemingly simple subtractive synth, then?
Oscillators
The biggest argument for this synth is the sheer number of oscillators (called "voices" in Sylenth-speak) that it can generate and play back. It comes with four "real" oscillators, which is already more than most VA's have. In addition, each oscillator can produce up to eight detuned virtual oscillators, for a total of 32 oscillators. With 16 voices (of polyphony), you can get up to (16x32=) 512 oscillators going at the same time. The synth lacks a "master unison" to stack and detune the 16 "real" voices, but 32 oscillators from pressing a single key should be more than enough, no need to get silly here. Sylenth1 is the "king of the supwersaw" - Most softsynths only offer one Unison oscillator and one or two regular ones, or only a "master unison", kicking the synth into monophonic mode. The only synth I can think of that beats it is the hardware Virus TI with its hypersaw oscillator, free sub oscillators and master Unison mode. It also offers many additional features and a much broader sonic pallette, but it does cost at least 10x more. Still, Sylenth is capable of producing many Virus-like timbres.
Filters
While the oscillators sound very warm and full, the filter is a little too "polite" for my taste. With a high resonance setting, the audio signal is attenuated for the benefit of the self-resonance sine. This means you'll almost never get dangerous resonant peaks that might damage your ears or speakers, but it also means that the filter seems mellow and tame sometimes. With a bit of drive and distortion added, it can sound pretty nasty, but it takes some effort to get there.
Features, or rather, Limitations
This is where you really need to think hard if the synth is for you, especially considering the asking price. As other have stated, many important features are mising, resulting in a very basic synth ”on paper”. PWM is mising though you can fake it using two oscillators (a bit fiddly with multiple detuned waves). Oscillator sync is missing. The mod matrix is fairly incomplete. The Tempo Sync button is global only. Serial filter routings are impossible. The features that are implemented on the other hand are rock solid. I think it's a matter of different philosophies when releasing the 1.x version of a synth. The developer can implement all features he ever dreamed of implementing, which many do. This results in bloated, buggy plugins with high CPU usage, unexpected behaviours and frequent crashes. The other route, which fewer choose, is to thoroughly test what you have now and release it. Then, add new features with incremental upgrades, again thoroughly beta testing and optimizing each new feature that goes into the synth. I do hope the developer intends to add new features for free – asking for more money for upgrades at this point would be a little unreasonable.
GUI
The GUI simulates a real hardware synth, with a mixture of knobs, sliders and LCD's. The layout is similar to ReFX's Nexus with a big LCD in the middle and various controls surrounding it. The LCD is used only for effects and the arpeggiator (unlike Nexus where it's the main patch browsing facility), but it's positioned in the center of the window. The controls you actually use when creating a sound are towards the edge of the window. This doesn't quite make sense from a workflow perspective as it puts the effects rather than synth parameters in focus. I also prefer GUIs where the value of the current parameter is displayed as a tooltip. When it's displayed on a separate "LCD", you essentially have to look in two places at the same time - at the knob to judge its relative position, and at the LCD to see its numerical value.
Conclusion
It may sound like I'm very negative about certain aspects of this synth. This is not true at all. With a synth this good sounding and easy to work with, every little flaw really stands out. The synth is also still in its infancy, and future updates might add new features or refine existing ones. Other than the small faults, the synth is thought out and extremely easy to work with. It's tweakable and meant to be played. You won't be hand-drawing envelopes or spend hours setting up intricate modulation routings and custom waveshapes with this synth. You will however be creating powerful, musical sounds in no time. |
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By Magpel
On 3rd August 2007
Version: 1.21
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2 of 3 people found
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I've been lusting after Sylenth1 for a few months after hearing the buzz and trying the demo. Sonic character is a subjective thing, but in case you haven't already heard, Sylenth has a lively, thick, animated sound that bests most VAs I've heard. That's the good news. The bad news is not bad news: Sylenth is a bit under-developed in terms of functionality at this point, especially and most importantly in terms of modulation routings. This barebones functionality is heightened by the rather hefty price tag--Sylenth is a fair bit more expensive than other more felxible subtractive softies such as Pentagon 1 and Minimonsta.
So the thing that will sway this review of Sylenth is...the future. I'm onboard. I bought in. Unlike hardware, softies have no durable value except that which is provided by the developer via updates and upgrades. I am hoping that this synth will do a lot of growing in the months and years ahead. If it doesn't, I will certainly feel that I overpaid for this.
Sound: Fine, liquid, nice. Good filters. Very decent effects section. I am not primarily an "electronic" composer. I use synths for oddball textures and specialty sounds in my sorta Gypsy indie prog pop songs (for lack of a better term...). I think Sylenth will come in very handy for high character "analog" sounds--even thought presets are very much geared to the electronic crowd.
Stability and CPU efficiency: excellent so far.
Presets: all of a kind really, which is to say they show off the synth's limitations well. Everything is pretty by-the-book subtractive.
Features: let me be clear--Sylenth's limited scope is a plus, not a minus. It sets strict limits on what it is and what it isn't. That is fine by me. My complaint is that, even for a strcitly defined subtractive emulation, Sylenth is under-featured. The list of mod destinations is paltry. I esepcially miss the ability to address envelope stages via the mod matrix. As I suggested above, the samey-ness of the abundant presets betrays a synth with very limited routings. How about a 4x16 step sequencer, like Evolver's, to make up for it? That would be fun. Study Evo's mod destinations as well.
Value: weeeeeeeel, this is the big question. LennarDigital is really onto something with their engine, to my ears at least. And everything it DOES have feels well designed and rock solid.
Again, I'm nervous about this purchase. I feel as I bought a synth with a bunch of empty bays. I will use it and enjoy it, but I really hope the Developer stays on top of it and delivers value commensurate with the price he is asking. |
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By simesf
On 20th April 2007
Version: 1.21
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simesf
9 of 9 people found
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I'm a gear whore, I admit it. I'd got to the stage where I couldn't see the point of getting any other kind of synth, let alone yet another subtractive synth. Then I read a review of Sylenth and decided to try the demo. I bought it pretty soon after that.
Sylenth has the best analogue sound I've ever heard from a vst; it's as simple as that. I know that's always going to be a subjective and contentious issue but I say it after comparing it with the cream of the crop of today's analogue based vsts. It doesn't have a huge amount of basic waveforms, and it doesn't have a huge amount of filters, envelopes or LFOs. It doesn't have a huge amount of modulation destinations. But - it has a huge, huge, huge amount of what you really want which is sound quality.
The filters (one of the main make or break feautures of any synth) are just gorgeous, overdriving beautifully, and now that I've programmed over 256 presets for it I've never found myself coming up against any frustrating limitations; indeed if anything it's the opposite case. So many powerhouse vsts can become an involved and obscure chore to program. Sylenth, with it's simple and well laid out interface just invites you in to make fast and intuitive changes. It's moreish - over 256 presets moreish in my case.
I dropped a mark off the interface because I'd like it to look a little more polished but not at the expense of the clarity of the thing; I'd heartily recommend this synth for a first time programmer of any subtractive synth. The small diagrams of each waveform and LFO make it so much clearer to see what's going on.
I dropped two marks off the features because there are other monster synths which can do more. But if you are programming patches for songs then 95% of the time you don't need the extra 5% that they offer, and did I mention that the cpu usage is stupidly low given that this synth can have up to 32 voices coming simultaneously off just one note? I'm also leaving off two marks since this synth has the potential to expand in a number of different ways - I'll expand on this in the customer support section.
Documentation - Two marks off because there's not a huge amount of tutorial material but the manual does explain with colour diagrams about the synth and its sections. This is a straightforward and intuitive synth that doesn't need a huge manual.
Presets - I'd have liked them organised by type but the factory presets are all prefaced by BS for bass, PAD, LD for lead sounds and so on which helps greatly. There's plenty to browse through.
Customer support - I sent some presets off to Lennard with suggestions for the synth. He got back to me pronto and was friendly, enthusiastic and seemed to actually take my amateur suggestions seriously. This is a young synth made by a keen and active developer. I'm dying to see what new developments he'll come up with. He has a forum here at KVR and is prompt and helpful in his responses.
Value for Money - That's a no brainer. The best analogue sounding vst I've heard for such a reasonable price? This is my desert island analogue emulation.
Stability - I've spent quite a bit of time with it and it's never crashed once, so full marks here.
Since I bough this synth I've only kept my other subtractive synths which have specialised purposes. For general analogue sounds I go to Sylenth every time. I'm not connected with Lennar Digital and being by nature rather cynical I'm almost embarrased to write such an effusive review but I've done my best to be impartial and honest given that this is my first review here at KVR. No other vst has made me feel compelled to do so. Try the demo. You may well be surprised. |
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Last edited by simesf on 20th April 2007
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By kaverka
On 23rd February 2007
Version: 1.20
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kaverka
11 of 14 people found
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Impressive synth from a very creative and dedicated developer. I bought it at 1.11 and the new update to 1.20 shows Lennard's commitment and creativity. The little arp in it is a very welcome addition. I'm not too crazy about the look of the interface, but that's just personal taste and it doesn't really bother me, nor does it get in the way. Another person would probably think it looks great... so who really cares? It does what it is supposed to do. But what I love about this synth is the sound. I have dozens and dozens (and dozens) of plugins and this is one of my favorites right now, and I'm really satisfied with the money I spent on it. It's a decidedly analog sounding synth to me, at least that's how I use it, and it just seems to fit into my mixes well. I've found I keep going back to it and it is becoming a real little workhorse. Plus it's not heavy on CPU (say, compared to an insanely huge beast like NI MASSIVE) and it just feels well thought-out and usable. I hate to use the word "practical" but in a way it is... it is USABLE and it is NOT a one-trick pony. It's feels like a synth when I play it... not like a plugin. It can create some fantastic lows with crisp, resonating highs. For me, this is a total home run, and I'm hoping Lennard has a lot of success with it. This is an example of creative, excellent programming too. It seems stable and CPU friendly so far. I don't care at all that the interface has some SynthEdit libraries in it... I know there was initially some controversy over that and I'm satisfied Lennard will eventually get rid of those linkages. Plus, it doesn't matter at all since it's only in the interface. What matters is that the custom, original sound engine is outstanding, tight, efficient, and creates the sounds you want to hear. Also, Lennard is great about getting back to you and he is committed to providing good service. He also seems open to accepting suggestions for improvements... as long as they are intelligent suggestions. :) I don't know how good the manual is since I've never bothered to read it, since this synth is extremely straightforward to use and any synth user worth his salt won't need to read instructions on this. (So I'll give it a 10 on the manual just because it's so easy to use... but again, I actually don't know if the manual is any good since I never bothered or needed to look at it.) The presets are good, but this is NOT a preset-lover's synth... go elswhere for that. This is a REAL synth that is better suited for tweakers, players and sound designers over simple-minded patch-freaks. While the presets are good, they just don't cover everything this baby can do. Again, this is a home run for me. A new staple in my library that I find I am going back to frequently. Worth every penny spent. :) |
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Last edited by kaverka on 23rd February 2007
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