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Sylenth1

Synth (Analogue / Subtractive) Plugin by LennarDigital
MyKVRFAVORITE441WANT176

Sylenth1 has an average user rating of 4.53 from 30 reviews

Rate & Review Sylenth1

User Reviews by KVR Members for Sylenth1

Sylenth1

Reviewed By JimmiG [all]
December 2nd, 2007
Version reviewed: 1.21 on Windows

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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Comments & Discussion for LennarDigital Sylenth1

Discussion
Discussion: Active
eod
eod
2 July 2012 at 11:03pm

Hello.

I have purchased Sylenth1 a while ago however am having registration issues within Windows 8 preview. I still hear the nagging demo mode sound even though my name appears in the Registration info window within the plugin. can anyone else confirm this and will there be a fix in the future?

Regards,

Chris

Steve196
Steve196
14 July 2012 at 3:01pm

Hi Chris,

In the beginning I experienced the same kind of problem, but it was solved once i had removed the demo version(s) properly. I use Windows 7, so maybe Windows is indeed the cause but i have some doubts about that.

Regards,

Steve

AmericanYellow
AmericanYellow
5 August 2012 at 9:46am

Hey all,

I had the same issue in Window 7 64 bit, but re-installing a few times fixed the problem. I now have the same issue again on 1 of 2 computers both running Windows 8 Release preview 64-bit. Both computers have the same hardware, software, and were set up at the same time with the same procedures. Re-installing does not work, just spent the entire month trying to figure it out, and I've finally given up. Also, Sylenth causes every DAW I use to eventually crash after a couple of the repeated nagging noises. Based on my experience and other forum posts, it seems to be a somewhat random problem with Sylenth. Annoying!!!!!
Regards,

Die Hard Sylenth Fan

Lennard
Lennard
27 November 2016 at 1:23pm

Anyone still having problems with this, just make sure to update to the latest version of Sylenth1.

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gjfurlan
gjfurlan
16 March 2013 at 7:13pm

Thank you Steve! I will do that! I really appreciate your help with this.

Greg.

Steve196
Steve196
16 March 2013 at 7:28pm

Hi Greg,.

You're welcome! FL10 can pick VST's from other folders as well, even outside FL. For example within the VST folder in Steinberg. Please let me know if it still doesn't work. Kind regards, Steve.

gjfurlan
gjfurlan
17 March 2013 at 3:58am

Hey Steve,.

I got it to work thanks. My friend my Belgium was telling me since I like trance that I should get the Sylenth1 definitive collection, but I did not see it available for download on Lennar Digital's website. Is it an expansion pack for the regular Sylenth1 download?

Thanks,.

Greg.

Steve196
Steve196
17 March 2013 at 12:34pm

Hi Greg,.

Within Sylenth1's /menu/check for updates you will see a list of downloadable sounds (presets). But those are not recent (2009 and 2010) and not grouped by genre. I don't know the 'definitive collection'. There are many presets or pathes packages for sale, most of them by genre. For examples at Loopmasters (Trance Sylenth1 patches) or at Samplemagic. All those sounds can be created by yourselve, by trail and error, but these patches may save you a lot of time. And patches can also helpfull in learning how these sounds were created, especially with Sylenth1 were you can quickly see all the setting. Adding some drumsamples might also be a way to save time when it comes to adding a good kick drum, drumloops, risers, bombs, etc. There several nice "the making of" or "in the studio with" video's on Youtube which have FL and Sylenth1 in it, for example one featuring AVICII. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but these vids can give useful insight in using FL, Sylenth1, etc. Kind regards, Steve.

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dune_rave
dune_rave
18 December 2013 at 6:28pm

OMG.

I wouldn't sell this piece of software - this is a real treasure.

I tried almost every existing plugin - free / commercial - and Sylenth1 is still in the top10.

So if you try to sell it, I bet you will find a buyer almost immediately :)

android420
android420
14 February 2014 at 10:23am

hi.

i wanted to know if i can put a sylenth and then create any channels and connect to this sylenth.

or do i have any time i create a channel to create another sylenth for each channel.

i'm working with nuendo or cubase.

thanks guyz.

Steve196
Steve196
15 February 2014 at 7:39pm

Hi, i'm not sure if i understand your question right, but if you choose Sylenth as (one of the) VST(s), a channel is created automatically. You can also asign the synth to a specific channel (usually by 'replacing' something else) or 'clone' (= copy, including settings of the other one) the thing.

Each channel can (later) be assigned to a specific mixerchannel and there you can add (additional) 'effects'.

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ballacr75
ballacr75
29 December 2014 at 12:10pm

Hi all, I'm new with Sylenth1, fantastic and very inspiring synth! only a question, why not add real PWM, Fm and SYNC between oscillators?

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Arpeggiolo
Arpeggiolo
27 November 2016 at 1:10pm

My favourite ARP was named "Good Times"

which was there in the demo version but when.

I paid for v3.28 it had disappeared...?

Lennard
Lennard
27 November 2016 at 1:19pm

It's in FactoryBank4, preset 009: ARP Good Times.

DJBenniBoy
DJBenniBoy
30 January 2017 at 6:46am

Where did the bi (ben insole) bank go lennard? What bank are the sounds in?

Lennard
Lennard
24 March 2017 at 2:15pm

They are in FactoryBank4 (added in Sylenth1 v3.030).

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DJBenniBoy
DJBenniBoy
7 April 2017 at 4:01am

Brill lennard! Im putting the news out there to all customers who own sylenth1 that they need to get the free upgrade to v3.30! ....could we possibly get access in near future as sound designers to possibly dual arpeggiators? One for osc a and b ...and use the modulation matrix for both....i.e the way it works now....every sound i make i want to show off sylenth1s full potential...so i shall be working closely with you....if there are problems i shall let you know? What could also be a great idea is if there are far more complex skins (maybe a great team of skin makers who could drop skins onto the site) and people can download them in a (for example, skn format or similar)....i think the drive is sound at the moment...im glad i brouught something to a great product lennard. I shall also be later on providing more sounds and working around updates to bring only the best to sylenth in terms of sheer sound quality.

Benjamin Insole (aka djbenniboy)

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U-o
U-o
4 October 2018 at 5:53pm

Hello, what exactly mean online activation (challenge/response) copy protection? Does it mean that I have to be connected to internet? Thanks for reply.

Lennard
Lennard
5 October 2018 at 8:11am

Hi, no you can also activate Sylenth1 on an offline computer. Please note though that if you're on the monthly payment plan, Sylenth1 will need to be connected at least once every month so that it can check the payment status. If the payment plan ends, or if you don't use it at all, you can use it completely offline.

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