User Reviews by KVR Members for Synth1
Synth1 is one bastard when it comes down to software synthesizers. Take it from a pro, I've been using Synth1 since I think around 2003, always loved this plugin a lot. It gives the user almost a hardware feeling to the sound. You can hear me using Synth1 on most of my skweee albums. The presets is rather awkward, and doesn't hold the quality one really wants to have. But there is a mother lode of banks made by users who love this synth. The delay and chorus has some anomalies from time to time, but the phasers is spot on. I always use external chorus and delay effects anyways. Still if you want a really cool sounding synth with that 80s flavor then I'd say that it's the time to give it a try. It certainly cannot hurt anyways.
If i could only have one freeware softsynth, Synth1 would be it. I guess that's why it has the name, duh. Supposedly Synth1 is modeled on the Clavia Nord Wave 2. Whatever it is modeled on this synth is all muscle and no fat. It can do the whole gamut of analog synth sounds. It has plenty of polyphony, and there are literally thousands of user-created sounds available for download. One of the soundbanks appears to be based on a General Midi bank. How many times do you see an analog synth attempting to do all the General Midi sounds?
If Synth1 has a significant failing it is the user interface. The fonts and layout are ugl-, well let's just say a matter of taste. While you can choose the basic color scheme, you can paint a pig, but it's still a pig. Don't be put off by appearance though, Synth1 has a great personality and is fun to be around. This bird can sing. Did I mention that it's free? I guess it's getting better looking all the time.
If Synth1 has a significant failing it is the user interface. The fonts and layout are ugl-, well let's just say a matter of taste. While you can choose the basic color scheme, you can paint a pig, but it's still a pig. Don't be put off by appearance though, Synth1 has a great personality and is fun to be around. This bird can sing. Did I mention that it's free? I guess it's getting better looking all the time.
One of the best free synths out there, I think. It was originally released back in 2002 I think. That's 8 years ago now.
It's criminal that there isn't a review newer than 2007. After a couple year hiatus the developer has made an enormous number of improvements.
I agree with another reviewer that if you just download this and try a few of the presets, you might be disappointed. But if you just persist and spend a little while intelligently experimenting with it you will be amazed.
As mentioned at top it is architecturally modeled after the Nord Lead 2 Red. It is extremely light on the CPU and you can use a whole stack of them on any halfway new PC.
The other thing to note is that there are at least two dozen patch banks contributed by various users--check those out as well.
Soundwise that is obviously a personal choice. I find the sounds have a cleanliness and clarity that make this an excellent choice for lead sounds of all kinds. Like many synths it can benefit from a little filtering, reverb and processing but what doesn't? Simple GUI, very easy to use. Oh, one important thing: a one page GUI-no flipping around to different tabs forever (yes, I know that more complex synths need more complex GUIs)
The English documentation is still a little quirky as the author is not a native English speaker, but it has improved since 1.07. Again, the device is intuitive enough that this is not a huge issue.
Stability; I have never seen a hang or crash that I can attribute to use of this. I have used it on Windows 2000 and XP systems.
Definitely a 10/10 overall all factors considered. Besides, what's the risk in at least trying it out.
I gave the customer support a 5 since I have no idea about it.
It's criminal that there isn't a review newer than 2007. After a couple year hiatus the developer has made an enormous number of improvements.
I agree with another reviewer that if you just download this and try a few of the presets, you might be disappointed. But if you just persist and spend a little while intelligently experimenting with it you will be amazed.
As mentioned at top it is architecturally modeled after the Nord Lead 2 Red. It is extremely light on the CPU and you can use a whole stack of them on any halfway new PC.
The other thing to note is that there are at least two dozen patch banks contributed by various users--check those out as well.
Soundwise that is obviously a personal choice. I find the sounds have a cleanliness and clarity that make this an excellent choice for lead sounds of all kinds. Like many synths it can benefit from a little filtering, reverb and processing but what doesn't? Simple GUI, very easy to use. Oh, one important thing: a one page GUI-no flipping around to different tabs forever (yes, I know that more complex synths need more complex GUIs)
The English documentation is still a little quirky as the author is not a native English speaker, but it has improved since 1.07. Again, the device is intuitive enough that this is not a huge issue.
Stability; I have never seen a hang or crash that I can attribute to use of this. I have used it on Windows 2000 and XP systems.
Definitely a 10/10 overall all factors considered. Besides, what's the risk in at least trying it out.
I gave the customer support a 5 since I have no idea about it.
I absolutely fucking love this thing, I have used it on so many productions it's not even funny! If synth1 was a man I would consider becoming gay. OK, maybe not but..
The sound is as you would expect from a very well written digital "analog simulation" instrument, clean and fat.. well my ears can't detect any problems in the software anyway.
The user interface is straightforward and very easy to understand if you have any idea of how a "normal" additive synth works. It gives you a very solid feel, you DEFINITELY don't worry about this thing sinking your machine with a blue screen or something.
The feature set is close to perfection.. there are no overwhelming amount of choices and "getting from point a to point b" is in no way tedious.
I also think it looks great, and as another reviewer pointed out, the ability to actually change the size of the interface is such an amazing idea you wonder why you don't see that more often. Screen sizes vary wildly!! Perhaps the buttons etc aren't "iconized" with fixed bitmaps and scaling was easy to accomplish.
Also this thing has this added emotional bonus: you will know that you are using something that was created out of love and giveen to the world for free... just for the act of giving something really nice and useful. And you're not compromizing one bit by using something that was just given to you...... the quality of this thing is awesome!!!
The sound is as you would expect from a very well written digital "analog simulation" instrument, clean and fat.. well my ears can't detect any problems in the software anyway.
The user interface is straightforward and very easy to understand if you have any idea of how a "normal" additive synth works. It gives you a very solid feel, you DEFINITELY don't worry about this thing sinking your machine with a blue screen or something.
The feature set is close to perfection.. there are no overwhelming amount of choices and "getting from point a to point b" is in no way tedious.
I also think it looks great, and as another reviewer pointed out, the ability to actually change the size of the interface is such an amazing idea you wonder why you don't see that more often. Screen sizes vary wildly!! Perhaps the buttons etc aren't "iconized" with fixed bitmaps and scaling was easy to accomplish.
Also this thing has this added emotional bonus: you will know that you are using something that was created out of love and giveen to the world for free... just for the act of giving something really nice and useful. And you're not compromizing one bit by using something that was just given to you...... the quality of this thing is awesome!!!
This is probably one of the best freebie synths out there. Aside from its sound, there arent many VSTis, that are THIS low on Cpu.
It has 2 oscillators only, so someone could say: hey thats not enough. Think again. This synth can do pretty heavy virus-like basses, i reprogrammed this on it. Amazing. It has a supersaw, even some commercial synths dont have this actually. There is a FM section also. Synthesis structure is modelled after Clavias Nordlead2, so you can imagine what it can sound like , although i doubt it can sound excatly like it.
Filter is absolutetly fine for me and i dont miss much here .
The arpeggiator is very nice to use, it cant compete with albino's arp, but i did quite nice ebm-like sequences.
Many people complain that is has no mod-matrix. First question: do you need actually 16 modulation targets?
Anyway, a little modulation matrix could be fine. You can check out LFO1 + LFO2 of course.
Gui department is something to debate about: it is not a pretty modern gui, on the other side, it shows nearly everything what i like to see. You can change color AND size of the gui. Even commercial synths dont offer this.
Preset management is cumbersome at first, you have to set the path where your presets are. But if it is done, it is one of the best preset management. Why? Because you can access presets without "load" and so on and you can browse all of them in a host. Perfect. Would be nice if we can access 16 Banks in that gui.
There is a button says "OPT". Now if you hit this, you can access the settings area. There you can see your controller assignments. Furthermore this baby has midi learn cc. In this OPT-Menu you can turn off slider window, thats seems to be annoying. If you want a virus like black color try this one: Panel = #08080f and Text = #c8c8c8. But write down your old values first ;)
Effects department is nice also, there is nothing to complain about. In Version 1.07 there is Compressor, ring modulator, decimator, Distortion1+2, Phaser. There is also an EQ between, delay and chorus are also on board.
It has a decent unison mode. Although you only can switch it on and cant say how many voices you want to use, it sounds great to me. Next to it there is stereo spread, so you can do ultrafat stereo spreaded basses or leads/pads.
A new option there is "Lissajous", so if you hit it it can sound a little bit warmer, the bottom end of frequency is more up. You can only hear if you have decent headphones and try some basses.
Documentation is also on his website, what more you can ask? Some parts are japanese : http://www.geocities.jp/daichi1969/synmanu/readmeeng.html
Dont get fooled by the standard preset bank, download all other banks and try them out.
Sometimes i wish, it could have a suboscillator and a reverb. If Ichiro Toda continues with this and would announce it can import sysex from Nordlead2 i think that would be insane.
It has 2 oscillators only, so someone could say: hey thats not enough. Think again. This synth can do pretty heavy virus-like basses, i reprogrammed this on it. Amazing. It has a supersaw, even some commercial synths dont have this actually. There is a FM section also. Synthesis structure is modelled after Clavias Nordlead2, so you can imagine what it can sound like , although i doubt it can sound excatly like it.
Filter is absolutetly fine for me and i dont miss much here .
The arpeggiator is very nice to use, it cant compete with albino's arp, but i did quite nice ebm-like sequences.
Many people complain that is has no mod-matrix. First question: do you need actually 16 modulation targets?
Anyway, a little modulation matrix could be fine. You can check out LFO1 + LFO2 of course.
Gui department is something to debate about: it is not a pretty modern gui, on the other side, it shows nearly everything what i like to see. You can change color AND size of the gui. Even commercial synths dont offer this.
Preset management is cumbersome at first, you have to set the path where your presets are. But if it is done, it is one of the best preset management. Why? Because you can access presets without "load" and so on and you can browse all of them in a host. Perfect. Would be nice if we can access 16 Banks in that gui.
There is a button says "OPT". Now if you hit this, you can access the settings area. There you can see your controller assignments. Furthermore this baby has midi learn cc. In this OPT-Menu you can turn off slider window, thats seems to be annoying. If you want a virus like black color try this one: Panel = #08080f and Text = #c8c8c8. But write down your old values first ;)
Effects department is nice also, there is nothing to complain about. In Version 1.07 there is Compressor, ring modulator, decimator, Distortion1+2, Phaser. There is also an EQ between, delay and chorus are also on board.
It has a decent unison mode. Although you only can switch it on and cant say how many voices you want to use, it sounds great to me. Next to it there is stereo spread, so you can do ultrafat stereo spreaded basses or leads/pads.
A new option there is "Lissajous", so if you hit it it can sound a little bit warmer, the bottom end of frequency is more up. You can only hear if you have decent headphones and try some basses.
Documentation is also on his website, what more you can ask? Some parts are japanese : http://www.geocities.jp/daichi1969/synmanu/readmeeng.html
Dont get fooled by the standard preset bank, download all other banks and try them out.
Sometimes i wish, it could have a suboscillator and a reverb. If Ichiro Toda continues with this and would announce it can import sysex from Nordlead2 i think that would be insane.
I was testing this synth since a few months ago, I realized that the presets sucks (honestly), really crappy, but indeed the Synth1 is a great VSTi, I'm making a soundbank on it and will be released soon.
About the fx... really good chorus, delay, unison, filters and extras, the oscillators are cool! but the pulse isn't totally squared, I think that could be better.
The FM control isn't alias-free, the filter section is just awesome, the envelope control works perfect, you can make a really good sounds on it, but about the equalizer, it's very simple and could be better...
It doesn't has enough documentation, the skin of the program (user interface) looks poor and could be better too (yeah, I know that we can change the colors but it looks too flaky). About the sound, sounds cool but there are a few things that could be better.
Stability... it never crashes but I've made a arp with LFO in filter... the speed of the LFO isn't the same when you open the program again, just in the first preset. there's something wrong.
It's free, its great but could be better, it just needs some adjustements and the synth1 will be probably the best free v/a in the world! but remember... the factory presets sounds awful, don't judge this synth by it's presets! It's better than you can inmagine!
About the fx... really good chorus, delay, unison, filters and extras, the oscillators are cool! but the pulse isn't totally squared, I think that could be better.
The FM control isn't alias-free, the filter section is just awesome, the envelope control works perfect, you can make a really good sounds on it, but about the equalizer, it's very simple and could be better...
It doesn't has enough documentation, the skin of the program (user interface) looks poor and could be better too (yeah, I know that we can change the colors but it looks too flaky). About the sound, sounds cool but there are a few things that could be better.
Stability... it never crashes but I've made a arp with LFO in filter... the speed of the LFO isn't the same when you open the program again, just in the first preset. there's something wrong.
It's free, its great but could be better, it just needs some adjustements and the synth1 will be probably the best free v/a in the world! but remember... the factory presets sounds awful, don't judge this synth by it's presets! It's better than you can inmagine!
On the list of update points for ver 1.7 the last one is stated as:
"Internal processing improvements."
That would be putting it mildly, the aliasing has well and truly gone and what we have is one of the smoothest, most wonderful sounding soft-synths around at this time, freeware or commercial.
I actually tried out the Synth1 when it first came out, wasn't too impressed, threw away. But recently I decided to give it another chance with this latest version.
Wow, just a lovely sound to it, very easy to program and capable of a wide scope of rich warm dense sounds.
I have the preset bar a low score because quite frankly the presets that come with it are pretty aweful. Spend time programming this thing and you'll get to realise just what makes the synth1 really special.
The filter does remind me a little of the Nord hardware synths and you could certainly class this soft-synth as having somewhat of a weighty 'hardware' sound to it.
I can very much see myself using this in future productions.
Its free so what ya got to loose, check this beauty out!
Arksun
"Internal processing improvements."
That would be putting it mildly, the aliasing has well and truly gone and what we have is one of the smoothest, most wonderful sounding soft-synths around at this time, freeware or commercial.
I actually tried out the Synth1 when it first came out, wasn't too impressed, threw away. But recently I decided to give it another chance with this latest version.
Wow, just a lovely sound to it, very easy to program and capable of a wide scope of rich warm dense sounds.
I have the preset bar a low score because quite frankly the presets that come with it are pretty aweful. Spend time programming this thing and you'll get to realise just what makes the synth1 really special.
The filter does remind me a little of the Nord hardware synths and you could certainly class this soft-synth as having somewhat of a weighty 'hardware' sound to it.
I can very much see myself using this in future productions.
Its free so what ya got to loose, check this beauty out!
Arksun
There are many free synths. That is something great and that helps a lot musicians like me who tried to make their first steps into electronic music creation and didn't or couldn't spend much money.
But there's always a but. Many of these free synths are not that good. Ok the good intention is there, but when you try the thousands and thousands of free synths available, you see there're only 2 dozens that are really good.
Synth 1 is one of the best.
What does this synth have so special? It has 2 oscillators, that's nothing uncommon. It has 2 lfos which can be linked to the filters, the oscillators, the envelopes, etc. well... It has a filter, a chorus, a delay...
But what a filter! what a delay! what a chorus! All top quality. Only a look at some of its presets can make you aware that this is not another synth. They say it's based on Clavia Nord. Maybe, maybe not. It just sounds great. You can not only create any type of sound: bass, pads, strange effects, etc. You can create great bass, great pads, great effects.
It has an arpeggiator to make things better. And fm synthesis too. and ring modulation too.
This synth could perfectly cost around 100 euros and wouldn't be expensive related to the price of other soft synths. Many who have tried this synth know the great and many qualities of this synth. (great sound, versatility, analogic feel, ridiculous low cpu usage...you can even change its colour!)
And apart from the fact that it sounds great, it's so easy to understand! Synth 1 has been the synth that's helped me to learn substractive synthesis.
Now that I've bought Reaktor I know my studio has improved a lot. But Synth 1 will always have a special place in my songs. There are things that one always knows.
Buy it, I mean, get it. It's free but you won't make allowances. It's just one of the best soft synths available.
But there's always a but. Many of these free synths are not that good. Ok the good intention is there, but when you try the thousands and thousands of free synths available, you see there're only 2 dozens that are really good.
Synth 1 is one of the best.
What does this synth have so special? It has 2 oscillators, that's nothing uncommon. It has 2 lfos which can be linked to the filters, the oscillators, the envelopes, etc. well... It has a filter, a chorus, a delay...
But what a filter! what a delay! what a chorus! All top quality. Only a look at some of its presets can make you aware that this is not another synth. They say it's based on Clavia Nord. Maybe, maybe not. It just sounds great. You can not only create any type of sound: bass, pads, strange effects, etc. You can create great bass, great pads, great effects.
It has an arpeggiator to make things better. And fm synthesis too. and ring modulation too.
This synth could perfectly cost around 100 euros and wouldn't be expensive related to the price of other soft synths. Many who have tried this synth know the great and many qualities of this synth. (great sound, versatility, analogic feel, ridiculous low cpu usage...you can even change its colour!)
And apart from the fact that it sounds great, it's so easy to understand! Synth 1 has been the synth that's helped me to learn substractive synthesis.
Now that I've bought Reaktor I know my studio has improved a lot. But Synth 1 will always have a special place in my songs. There are things that one always knows.
Buy it, I mean, get it. It's free but you won't make allowances. It's just one of the best soft synths available.
Hello, my nick is DrFx and I'm a Synth1 addict. I have tried a disintoxication program, but the fact that this particular synth is freely available and the rush it gives to its users is awesome makes it hard for me to quit. Sure, people will say, have you tried others, then maybe you will be able to leave it alone. Well, I tried the other VSThadone treatments out there, some I have even paid for, but nothing beats a good old Synth1 VA fix! Yes, you get it from a Japanese dealer, and you can't understand a word he says about how to use it, but just keep pressing those little buttons and you'll have it installed in a cinch! And what other VST lets you have the GUI colour and size any way you want them? This little synth can do (almost) anything, sounds GODLY, costs NOTHING ($$$ or CPU-wise), is obscenely easy to use and never fails you! Only one problem, though! Their developer went strangely AWOL many months ago, probably kidnapped by Angry Swedish Emulatees or Mad Native Instrumentors, so development stopped. Anyway, who gives a rat's ass? It's the best free VST out there in terms of balance between CPU, versatility, ease of use and pure genius! GET IT NOW!
Ok, there are over a billion 'analog' emulation vst synths out there. Some with one OSC, some with eight. I have always found two to be the best compromise in sound vs resources. Maybe because i grew up on a Micromoog instead of a Mini. Anyway, I played around with Synth1 for a few months, and found it very easy to use. Everything did what I expected it to do. It is unusually light in the resources hit, and never had it crash.
Okay, so then after all this time I download some of the banks other people have created and was completely blown out. If you do not have this synth in your arsenal your crazy.
Okay, so then after all this time I download some of the banks other people have created and was completely blown out. If you do not have this synth in your arsenal your crazy.
Reviewed By brok landers on 26th September 2003
OS: Version: 1.06. Last edited by brok landers on 27th October 2006.
this review applies to the version 1.06
well ... i`ve been using the synth since the very first release, wich was 1.01 i believe.
and after all the time i can only say one thing:
this synth is a reference for coding. it uses allmost no cpu.
after a few updates it got allmost uncrashabe stable.
up to now (since 1.04) it never crashed on my system.
that and the cpu-issue means a lot, especially when you are doing your work allmost entirely on the computer.
the gui :
i like it.
could look better, but it`s very intuitive, very easy to use, and it even supports the scrollwheel on your mouse.i wish i could say that from way enhanced plugins, even most very expensive plugins don`t do that. WHY ???
and it has a really unique feature that no plugin has.
it can be resized to the size that you need, regardless to the resolution of your grafic card. why noone else ?
the funktionality :
ok ... it says it´s modeled after a nordlead 2.
not at all. there are many cool features still missing in this synth that the nordlead 2 has. most of all i miss the incredible morphing function. imo this is the real advantage of the nordlead. anyway, what the synth 1 does is like expected, so its cool ... remember, it`s free. but my personal wish is a 24 slot-modulation matrix, where you could route the desired internal and external controllers to the desired destinations, and then set the amount of each (linplug-like). this would lift it to my ONLY favourite.
and the delay coud be pingpong, alternating left and right only.
the sound :
far away from real analog. has to deal with some serious aliasing, so all thats analog is the substractive synthesis.but thats the price to pay for surprisingly loving your cpu meter when playing the synth ;=).anyhow, see this relative, because thats the fact with most of all digital synths, wether ther´re hard or software.the saturation of the filter starts too hard even on lowest setting, could be way smoother. but all in all it sound good somehow, and unique.however, i use it a lot, and somehow it allways surprises me again and again, after all the time i use it.
the presets are, lets say, by far not representable for what you can do with this plugin, but thats a matter of taste. i f.e. personally don`t need the 1000st brass.
value for money :
simply untouchable. big plug for no money. developers of pay-plugs should start to think. if freeware gets slowly but surely better than theirs then what? i love you, ichiro ;=)
support and manual :
japanese support, so if you`re not capable of japanese, you`re out of this, as ichiro doesn`t seem to spreak english. anyway, if you know about substractive synthesis just a bit, you don´t need the manual wich actually is in english. the development seems to go straight forward, and there`s hope for an english website, i read. cool.
all in all this is a big step forward in the history of free vst synths and it shows, that a good algorithm (though not the best) does not necesserally eats up all your cpu. if this synth grows on, i would even pay for it, if it reaches the state i wish ...
thanx ichiro, and go on !
brok landers
well ... i`ve been using the synth since the very first release, wich was 1.01 i believe.
and after all the time i can only say one thing:
this synth is a reference for coding. it uses allmost no cpu.
after a few updates it got allmost uncrashabe stable.
up to now (since 1.04) it never crashed on my system.
that and the cpu-issue means a lot, especially when you are doing your work allmost entirely on the computer.
the gui :
i like it.
could look better, but it`s very intuitive, very easy to use, and it even supports the scrollwheel on your mouse.i wish i could say that from way enhanced plugins, even most very expensive plugins don`t do that. WHY ???
and it has a really unique feature that no plugin has.
it can be resized to the size that you need, regardless to the resolution of your grafic card. why noone else ?
the funktionality :
ok ... it says it´s modeled after a nordlead 2.
not at all. there are many cool features still missing in this synth that the nordlead 2 has. most of all i miss the incredible morphing function. imo this is the real advantage of the nordlead. anyway, what the synth 1 does is like expected, so its cool ... remember, it`s free. but my personal wish is a 24 slot-modulation matrix, where you could route the desired internal and external controllers to the desired destinations, and then set the amount of each (linplug-like). this would lift it to my ONLY favourite.
and the delay coud be pingpong, alternating left and right only.
the sound :
far away from real analog. has to deal with some serious aliasing, so all thats analog is the substractive synthesis.but thats the price to pay for surprisingly loving your cpu meter when playing the synth ;=).anyhow, see this relative, because thats the fact with most of all digital synths, wether ther´re hard or software.the saturation of the filter starts too hard even on lowest setting, could be way smoother. but all in all it sound good somehow, and unique.however, i use it a lot, and somehow it allways surprises me again and again, after all the time i use it.
the presets are, lets say, by far not representable for what you can do with this plugin, but thats a matter of taste. i f.e. personally don`t need the 1000st brass.
value for money :
simply untouchable. big plug for no money. developers of pay-plugs should start to think. if freeware gets slowly but surely better than theirs then what? i love you, ichiro ;=)
support and manual :
japanese support, so if you`re not capable of japanese, you`re out of this, as ichiro doesn`t seem to spreak english. anyway, if you know about substractive synthesis just a bit, you don´t need the manual wich actually is in english. the development seems to go straight forward, and there`s hope for an english website, i read. cool.
all in all this is a big step forward in the history of free vst synths and it shows, that a good algorithm (though not the best) does not necesserally eats up all your cpu. if this synth grows on, i would even pay for it, if it reaches the state i wish ...
thanx ichiro, and go on !
brok landers
There's probably enough reviews here, but I'd like to add another, if only because this little synth deserves it. I will, however keep it short, so as not to repeat whats already been said
Many synths now seem to suffer from what I call "patch bloat". Presets are made to sound huge and lushious for that immediate Wow factor. You won't find that with Synth1. It has a very clean sound that cut through a mix in a very refreshing way.
My only negative comment is that I get stuck notes sometimes in Cubase, which can be annoying, but at the end of the day, its free, it lovely... go grab it :)
Rozzer
Many synths now seem to suffer from what I call "patch bloat". Presets are made to sound huge and lushious for that immediate Wow factor. You won't find that with Synth1. It has a very clean sound that cut through a mix in a very refreshing way.
My only negative comment is that I get stuck notes sometimes in Cubase, which can be annoying, but at the end of the day, its free, it lovely... go grab it :)
Rozzer
What can I say that hasn't been said before..? This synth is fantastic..! It sounds gorgeus, easy to program, there's a great patch saving feature and there's a lot of patches available for it (probably because it's so easy to program). Since I've had it, I've used it on almost every song, it's part of my default song now.
I've just read that back and realised it doesn't sound like a review - just praise. Well so what! This is one of the best VSTi's ever (IMO), and it's FREE..!
If you don't already have it, stop wasting time reading reviews and download it.... NOW!
I've just read that back and realised it doesn't sound like a review - just praise. Well so what! This is one of the best VSTi's ever (IMO), and it's FREE..!
If you don't already have it, stop wasting time reading reviews and download it.... NOW!
Reviewed By Dingo865 on 8th February 2003
OS: Version: 1.05a. Last edited by Dingo865 on 8th February 2003.
I cannot believe I've been using this gem for 6 months or so, and yet never reviewed it!
If you've ever dreamt about owning a Nord Lead, you'll be shocked: at the moment, this is as close as you can get - free or otherwise! It's not an emulation, but the overall character of Synth 1's sound is so clean, crisp yet powerful, and bright that you feel like you're staring into the crystal-clear blue depths of a forgotten lake high in the snow-covered mountains of middle-earth...:) I've never heard another VSTi that makes two oscillators sound like a suite of synthesizers, yet doesn't 'muddy' the sound with all sorts of unwanted noise and distortions.
The devil is in the tiny details, though: how easy it is to program, the stunningly well-thought-out, built-in patch management system it offers, the customizable size and colors...
...and the arpeggiator. You know the situation when a certain feature, one that you can often find on many other synths too, happens to integrate with a certain VSTi so well that you get perfect synergy? Like Crystal and its envelopes, z3ta and its x-y pad, etc.? Well, Synth 1's arpeggiator elevates this gem to be much, MUCH more than the mere sum of its features. I found entire songs hidden in it just by my messing around for a couple of hours, and you can actually get it to sound like a whole orchestra!
You don't want to get it? GREAT! It's too dangerous a weapon to allow anybody from the competition to get their hands on it...:)
As to the points: I gave 10 both for documentation and for support, because even though they're missing, this VSTi is so ingeniously designed that you never need them.
If you've ever dreamt about owning a Nord Lead, you'll be shocked: at the moment, this is as close as you can get - free or otherwise! It's not an emulation, but the overall character of Synth 1's sound is so clean, crisp yet powerful, and bright that you feel like you're staring into the crystal-clear blue depths of a forgotten lake high in the snow-covered mountains of middle-earth...:) I've never heard another VSTi that makes two oscillators sound like a suite of synthesizers, yet doesn't 'muddy' the sound with all sorts of unwanted noise and distortions.
The devil is in the tiny details, though: how easy it is to program, the stunningly well-thought-out, built-in patch management system it offers, the customizable size and colors...
...and the arpeggiator. You know the situation when a certain feature, one that you can often find on many other synths too, happens to integrate with a certain VSTi so well that you get perfect synergy? Like Crystal and its envelopes, z3ta and its x-y pad, etc.? Well, Synth 1's arpeggiator elevates this gem to be much, MUCH more than the mere sum of its features. I found entire songs hidden in it just by my messing around for a couple of hours, and you can actually get it to sound like a whole orchestra!
You don't want to get it? GREAT! It's too dangerous a weapon to allow anybody from the competition to get their hands on it...:)
As to the points: I gave 10 both for documentation and for support, because even though they're missing, this VSTi is so ingeniously designed that you never need them.
What to say ?
Its all been said before...
Simply the BEST comercial or free virtual analog synth out there.
And this one is FREE !
Get some of the 3rd party sound banks from KVR
and you will understand what every body is raving about.
Ohh yes, trash the sound bank that comes with SYNTH1.
Have fun
Midiworks
Docuentation 10 because NOT needed
Customer Support 10 because NOT needed
Its all been said before...
Simply the BEST comercial or free virtual analog synth out there.
And this one is FREE !
Get some of the 3rd party sound banks from KVR
and you will understand what every body is raving about.
Ohh yes, trash the sound bank that comes with SYNTH1.
Have fun
Midiworks
Docuentation 10 because NOT needed
Customer Support 10 because NOT needed
Reviewed By VitaminD on 5th February 2003
OS: Version: 1.05a. Last edited by VitaminD on 24th August 2003.
this will sound like a record being replayed from whats already been said but..
synth1 is very clean and rich sounding.. i realized after really exploring this synth that its all in the onboard-fx.
edit: after using synth1 for a year+ now... I can definately tell that it aliases pretty badly in some circumstances. So watch out.. there is a very defined tiney/chimey aliasing noise if you try to push synth1 too hard.
mainly the chorus... it has (1x,2x and) 4x for ultra-silky leads..
one thing though that gets to me is the knobs. When one selects a knob, a bar automatically pops up to show you the amount. however, since the gui is so close-together, this leads to not being able to get to other knobs UNTIL i click something far away from what i really want!!
edit: about the paragraph above, i resolved this by simply clicking the "opt" button and selecting a larger gui!!! (you can resize the synth's gui in percentages, 150% did it for me) as a result im editing the score.
edit: "the color selection is a novel idea, but i would have rather had a locked gui with a more professional design." -- Im changing my opinion.. I like the ugly gui of synth1.. the ability o change colors has kept the look fresh for me.
sonically though, this synth is stunning (and free to boot)
I wish more developers would read this and realize this is what we want.. crystal clear sounding synths with loads of options that are easy to program and use little cpu(even at relatively high polyphony)!
-rgcaudio, bigtick, linplug.. are you reading this!?
In short, (and IMO) Synth1 is the best VA on the VSTi market.
synth1 is very clean and rich sounding.. i realized after really exploring this synth that its all in the onboard-fx.
edit: after using synth1 for a year+ now... I can definately tell that it aliases pretty badly in some circumstances. So watch out.. there is a very defined tiney/chimey aliasing noise if you try to push synth1 too hard.
mainly the chorus... it has (1x,2x and) 4x for ultra-silky leads..
one thing though that gets to me is the knobs. When one selects a knob, a bar automatically pops up to show you the amount. however, since the gui is so close-together, this leads to not being able to get to other knobs UNTIL i click something far away from what i really want!!
edit: about the paragraph above, i resolved this by simply clicking the "opt" button and selecting a larger gui!!! (you can resize the synth's gui in percentages, 150% did it for me) as a result im editing the score.
edit: "the color selection is a novel idea, but i would have rather had a locked gui with a more professional design." -- Im changing my opinion.. I like the ugly gui of synth1.. the ability o change colors has kept the look fresh for me.
sonically though, this synth is stunning (and free to boot)
I wish more developers would read this and realize this is what we want.. crystal clear sounding synths with loads of options that are easy to program and use little cpu(even at relatively high polyphony)!
-rgcaudio, bigtick, linplug.. are you reading this!?
In short, (and IMO) Synth1 is the best VA on the VSTi market.
Reviewed By wannabe on 26th January 2003
OS: Version: 1.05a. Last edited by wannabe on 26th January 2003.
This synth is so sweet to explore...
(It took me 5 minutes to figure out,how the presetmanagment runs...)
Then you started to play...
And it didn't take long till you find out , how *****EXPENSIVE***** this thing sounds:
So clear and confident.
The provided GeneralMidi(!!!)-bank seems just want to show that synth1 can even do this,... you'd better try the banks in the banks/forum-section.
For trance-tweakin'-fellows this is absolutely a must:
You can control every parameter, and there are lots of them.
A Delay- and Chorussection is highly reasonable implemented and gives you an additional dimension for soundcreations.
The build-in appregiator had made me think: "...at last !!!".
CPU? whatareyoutalkinbout?!
Sync?? Everything you need.
Documentation? Is there one for the ZR-1 in japanese ?
Costumer service? Is there one for the ZR-1 in japanese ? :)
Actually I didn't need some,... for what ?
It never chrashes and it's worth a thousand times the cost for downloading.
(It took me 5 minutes to figure out,how the presetmanagment runs...)
Then you started to play...
And it didn't take long till you find out , how *****EXPENSIVE***** this thing sounds:
So clear and confident.
The provided GeneralMidi(!!!)-bank seems just want to show that synth1 can even do this,... you'd better try the banks in the banks/forum-section.
For trance-tweakin'-fellows this is absolutely a must:
You can control every parameter, and there are lots of them.
A Delay- and Chorussection is highly reasonable implemented and gives you an additional dimension for soundcreations.
The build-in appregiator had made me think: "...at last !!!".
CPU? whatareyoutalkinbout?!
Sync?? Everything you need.
Documentation? Is there one for the ZR-1 in japanese ?
Costumer service? Is there one for the ZR-1 in japanese ? :)
Actually I didn't need some,... for what ?
It never chrashes and it's worth a thousand times the cost for downloading.
Somehow, Synth 1 almost always lands somewhere in each new song or sketch I whip up.
The patch handling is done by Synth 1. This concerned me at first, but it's so well done that I now champion this idea. The patches are all there, waiting for me in each different host I use or try out. The initial presets are a gutsy attempt to show the variety of sounds that can be made, but this synth really got good when people started putting new banks out there. I think Synth 1 is going to have to go to 100 banks of 128 patches, instead of just 10.
Synth 1 never crashes or crackles. Like IBlit, Crystal, Vivaldi, Drumatic, Crazy Diamonds, and precious few others, this is a synth that just seemed to drop from heaven. I'm eager to see what comes next. No, not eager--impatient to a maniac degree.
The patch handling is done by Synth 1. This concerned me at first, but it's so well done that I now champion this idea. The patches are all there, waiting for me in each different host I use or try out. The initial presets are a gutsy attempt to show the variety of sounds that can be made, but this synth really got good when people started putting new banks out there. I think Synth 1 is going to have to go to 100 banks of 128 patches, instead of just 10.
Synth 1 never crashes or crackles. Like IBlit, Crystal, Vivaldi, Drumatic, Crazy Diamonds, and precious few others, this is a synth that just seemed to drop from heaven. I'm eager to see what comes next. No, not eager--impatient to a maniac degree.
Reviewed By gassle on 26th January 2003
OS: Version: 1.05a. Last edited by gassle on 8th February 2003.
The best thing about this VSTi is its filter quality and simple but flexible layout. The filter is not very fat but WILD. Excellent for crazy bass/arpegio lines with resonance and extreme filter movements! It does not sound cheap at all like most of the free VSTi's and many commercial ones. The quality is very Nordic, really.
The GUI is not very cool but the ability to change the colours is nice. It is extremely low on CPU and the onboard delay, chorus and arpegiator is great bonus!
My only problem with it is that the latest version still appears to be detuned when used in 48khz. And the presets that come with it do not show the real potential of this synth.
Probably the best everyday synth among free vsti's.
The GUI is not very cool but the ability to change the colours is nice. It is extremely low on CPU and the onboard delay, chorus and arpegiator is great bonus!
My only problem with it is that the latest version still appears to be detuned when used in 48khz. And the presets that come with it do not show the real potential of this synth.
Probably the best everyday synth among free vsti's.
This is the best VSTi ever. It is hard to understand why the commercial VSTis have a hard time living up to this one. Easy to maneuver, low CPU usage, a good sound and quite good looking too. Easy to control and do own presets, and the saving function (for the presets) is very well made. If this machine does not have good enough sounds, it takes seconds to make your own! The sound migt be a bit flat, but that can be compensated with proper FX.
You can change colors on it ^o^
(I like it #980000 and #00000)
You can change colors on it ^o^
(I like it #980000 and #00000)
Reviewed By warbug on 1st December 2002
OS: Version: 1.05. Last edited by warbug on 15th August 2003.
the sound is ok but it lack something its too flat. i have not been able to squeeze a sound out of it that i could use in any of my songs. i really don like the GUI; those little level indicators that pop up when a knob is moved is quit enoying and seems to get in the way. the installation of the synth was very troublesome cubase did not recognize it rightaway.
Reviewed By Funkybot on 25th November 2002
OS: Version: 1.05. Last edited by Funkybot on 26th November 2002.
Ok I've really tried to love this synth but something about it just won't let me. The sound of this just doesn't get me excited the way some other softsynths do. There's nothing about the oscs or the filters that really has me jumping up for joy, but again I can't nail what it is I don't really like about them, they just seem a bit to nonspectacular to me. Even as a freebie I think FreeAlpha and the CM101 sound better, but Synth1 does have a few things up on the others. For instance the arpegiator, why don't all softsynths have one? It's just so much fun to play with and really brings some life to what I consider to be a less than spectacular synth. Also there's DXi version. Big ups to the developer for doing this, again I hope other devs take note of this. Let's not forget the inclusion of a mono/legato mode, some devs have been known to overlook this at times. The last super cool thing about this (aside from it being free of course) is the CPU useage. Wow does this thing hardly take up any CPU! I'm convinced I could run 15 instances of this before I'd get near spiking the CPU. The GUI needs some work, it's not bad, but some nice textures would really help out. All in all this is staying on my hard drive if only for it's strong points, but I'm not otherwise overly impressed by this.
Reviewed By AudioWhore on 20th November 2002
OS: Version: v1.05a. Last edited by AudioWhore on 20th November 2002.
Freeware or not, this beast is one of the most incredible machines for tracey arpeggiated synthlines in existence!! It's got lovely sweeping filters, syncable lfo's, now 48/96 khz support and it's FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
Here... take my Nord Lead 2.. For FREE! Sounds too good to be true. This thing uses way too little CPU for how good it sounds. It has eq, and a very flexible chorus/flanger + a syncable delay.
I feel sorry for commercial soft-synth developers right now because the standards for them has risen another bar. Which is only a good thing..err for me :)
The user interface scored an 8 because I think it is easy to see what does what, and despite it's relatively plain appearance, it feels solid. The sound got a 10 because it deserves it. Have a listen to the ever increasing list of user-presets for this synth to see what I mean. It's so quick to get a great new sound.
Features also got a 10 because of all the syncable options which are now available and the cool fm, ring and sync features that can drastically change the sound. Also it's so quick to find patches. Though it would be nice to have a 'right click and assign to controller feature' but hey, this is made by one man, not Native Instruments. The Documentation is pretty low right now as you have to be online and run it though a Jap-to English converter to see it.. But really, who cares. This is to easy too use to require a manual! Just experiment.. The Presets are pretty nice gm-style sounds but I'd prefer some wacky synth creations. Lucky there are plenty floating around the net and on this site. We all know 'value for money' deserves a 10.. I don't know about customer support but because I haven't needed it I'll give it a 10! Stability is 10 because it has never-ever crashed on me!
Best free synth of 2002 (IMHO!) If you don't have it yet then you are really missing out..
BTW this is both for DXI and VSTi
Here... take my Nord Lead 2.. For FREE! Sounds too good to be true. This thing uses way too little CPU for how good it sounds. It has eq, and a very flexible chorus/flanger + a syncable delay.
I feel sorry for commercial soft-synth developers right now because the standards for them has risen another bar. Which is only a good thing..err for me :)
The user interface scored an 8 because I think it is easy to see what does what, and despite it's relatively plain appearance, it feels solid. The sound got a 10 because it deserves it. Have a listen to the ever increasing list of user-presets for this synth to see what I mean. It's so quick to get a great new sound.
Features also got a 10 because of all the syncable options which are now available and the cool fm, ring and sync features that can drastically change the sound. Also it's so quick to find patches. Though it would be nice to have a 'right click and assign to controller feature' but hey, this is made by one man, not Native Instruments. The Documentation is pretty low right now as you have to be online and run it though a Jap-to English converter to see it.. But really, who cares. This is to easy too use to require a manual! Just experiment.. The Presets are pretty nice gm-style sounds but I'd prefer some wacky synth creations. Lucky there are plenty floating around the net and on this site. We all know 'value for money' deserves a 10.. I don't know about customer support but because I haven't needed it I'll give it a 10! Stability is 10 because it has never-ever crashed on me!
Best free synth of 2002 (IMHO!) If you don't have it yet then you are really missing out..
BTW this is both for DXI and VSTi
Reviewed By x_bruce on 6th November 2002
OS: Version: 1.x. Last edited by x_bruce on 6th November 2002.
Synth 1 seemingly came out of nowhere. It is a simple but functional interface design that leaves some room for improvement. As it stands you can redesign background and text colors and resize the interface which are nice touches.
Sounds included are of all things General Midi however some are quaint. This is the first analog VA to include such a thing and they are not as uninteresting as one might think. There are 10 banks of 128 patches available and already resources for additonal patches here at K-v-R, get them, they will show off the instrument's capabilities more effectively.
Read the specifications above. This seemingly standard synth with nice features but nothing earthshakingly new to add packs quite a punch. It's more on the digital side of analog meaning it's easier to get harsh sounds rather than lush analog. That hardly matters as the range of Synth 1 is huge. Great for leads, pads, effects - especially effect and some basses are all there and in a easy, fast interface that a novice could experiment with and get good sound.
What's missing? No footpedal sustain support, ocasional grainy and crackling sound while moving controls. There is a popup bar for each control, convienient but sometimes annoying as it stays active until you click elsewhere to dismiss it.
Download it, marvel at it's sonic character and go nuts filling up the remaining 896 patch locations. And don't forget the patches at K-v-R. If you need a starting place or just a more convincing idea of how good Synth 1 is load these presets.
Synth 1 does for VA analog/digital what Crystal did for exotic FM implementation. With these two, a lead synth like Triangle and a soft sampler found in most hosts these days you have an effective studio for next to nothing.
Although there is room for improvement Synth 1 beats many commercial synths for sound quality and character.
Sounds included are of all things General Midi however some are quaint. This is the first analog VA to include such a thing and they are not as uninteresting as one might think. There are 10 banks of 128 patches available and already resources for additonal patches here at K-v-R, get them, they will show off the instrument's capabilities more effectively.
Read the specifications above. This seemingly standard synth with nice features but nothing earthshakingly new to add packs quite a punch. It's more on the digital side of analog meaning it's easier to get harsh sounds rather than lush analog. That hardly matters as the range of Synth 1 is huge. Great for leads, pads, effects - especially effect and some basses are all there and in a easy, fast interface that a novice could experiment with and get good sound.
What's missing? No footpedal sustain support, ocasional grainy and crackling sound while moving controls. There is a popup bar for each control, convienient but sometimes annoying as it stays active until you click elsewhere to dismiss it.
Download it, marvel at it's sonic character and go nuts filling up the remaining 896 patch locations. And don't forget the patches at K-v-R. If you need a starting place or just a more convincing idea of how good Synth 1 is load these presets.
Synth 1 does for VA analog/digital what Crystal did for exotic FM implementation. With these two, a lead synth like Triangle and a soft sampler found in most hosts these days you have an effective studio for next to nothing.
Although there is room for improvement Synth 1 beats many commercial synths for sound quality and character.
Reviewed By AndreasE on 6th November 2002
OS: Version: 1.04. Last edited by AndreasEhrhardt on 6th November 2002.
This is one of the best synths (free or commercial).
The sounds are great and most presets are fine. It has a great flexibility to produce most different sounds. And the included arpeggiator is phantastic.
It has a nice and clear GUI, which makes it easy to work with in a very short time.
The docs are only in Japanese, so I cannot say if they are good or not. But do one need them for that easy to handle synth? And as I have no problems with that synth, I didn´t need support yet.
I had no stability problems at all.
As it is free, the VFM is the best possible.
The sounds are great and most presets are fine. It has a great flexibility to produce most different sounds. And the included arpeggiator is phantastic.
It has a nice and clear GUI, which makes it easy to work with in a very short time.
The docs are only in Japanese, so I cannot say if they are good or not. But do one need them for that easy to handle synth? And as I have no problems with that synth, I didn´t need support yet.
I had no stability problems at all.
As it is free, the VFM is the best possible.
My first review here, been hanging around here for a while though..
Once again another cutting edge VSti,
I think this one is the best (by far) free virtual analog on the market..and the more "pro" sounding
The Gui is not wonderful but functionnal,
but the sounds...My god, the filter is superb, remind me a lot of NI type of filter like the one on the pro 52.
It is capable of a wide range (from superb pads to fat sounding Basses to crazy LFO sounds) of sounds with the build in effect (delay and a fat chorus) which are excellent.
The modulation capability (LFo) are really impressive too and very flexible to my opinion.
The integrated arpeggiator is really good too (but it won't replace my good old ORION arpeggio)
The manual is in japanese and i can't read japanese so...
Don't be fooled by the presets, this synth is capable of more beautiful sounds.Read the topics about this synth in the forum, you'll find links to very good presets by teksonic and audiowhore..
Oh ! and i forgot to say it doesn't crash once in Orion Platinum 3.51....
Put a proper manual in english (or french :)), give us full banks of presets, a more "Pro" GUI and i'll give 10/10 in every category to this impressive VSTI
By the way sorry for my "crappy frenchy" english...
Once again another cutting edge VSti,
I think this one is the best (by far) free virtual analog on the market..and the more "pro" sounding
The Gui is not wonderful but functionnal,
but the sounds...My god, the filter is superb, remind me a lot of NI type of filter like the one on the pro 52.
It is capable of a wide range (from superb pads to fat sounding Basses to crazy LFO sounds) of sounds with the build in effect (delay and a fat chorus) which are excellent.
The modulation capability (LFo) are really impressive too and very flexible to my opinion.
The integrated arpeggiator is really good too (but it won't replace my good old ORION arpeggio)
The manual is in japanese and i can't read japanese so...
Don't be fooled by the presets, this synth is capable of more beautiful sounds.Read the topics about this synth in the forum, you'll find links to very good presets by teksonic and audiowhore..
Oh ! and i forgot to say it doesn't crash once in Orion Platinum 3.51....
Put a proper manual in english (or french :)), give us full banks of presets, a more "Pro" GUI and i'll give 10/10 in every category to this impressive VSTI
By the way sorry for my "crappy frenchy" english...
Latest 26 reviews from a total of 26
Discussion: Active
Discussion
29 August 2012 at 7:07pm
chk071
chk071 Mhh... so a 5/10 rating, because your Linux software isn't capable of running VST's correctly? Just saying, because on any Windows host i tried Synth1 in, the arp, delay and polyphony work correctly... there's also no need to improve the synth, but the software you tried it in.
29 August 2012 at 10:10pmgLOW-x
gLOW-x May be you'd better stop now using this configuration.Because you obviously don't know how to use VSTs on Linux.A lot of users reported Synth1 working perfectly with Wine or Vestige.
You'd better stick with Windows or Mac OS X...or learn HOW to use VSTs on Linux.
But if you post bad reviews every time a VST don't work right on Linux, you are going to use your fingers soon.
Reviews are not for troubleshooting things like "this VST don't work on my Linux with a beta wrapper" if you know what i mean ;)
ppl will be hard (like me) but you really searched it by playing the 'i'm smart because i use Linux to run VSTs" whereas you can't even use the simplest and most stable simple freeware synth
31 August 2012 at 4:02pmbriandc
briandc If you can link me to others who run it in Vestige without problems I'd be very grateful. :)
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31 August 2012 at 7:07ambriandc
briandc Maybe it would be better to deal with the message, rather than just shooting the messenger??
I've tried about 200 different free VSTs in VeSTige. Many of them have nice working interfaces, good arpeggiators, mono/poly functions that work just fine.
It's not my fault that Synth1 doesn't perform as well. (I even re-installed it, thinking the md5sum was bad. No difference.)
Oh, one more thing: some of the patches actually make Synth1 crash. (Something that no other VST instrument I've tested does.
5/10.
Why should I lie?
THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED
THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED
1 September 2012 at 9:09pmwikter
wikter I think that all the reviews should respect the fact that testing adapters in beta stage the results depend on the adapter and not the plugin. This review about a linux adapter is out of place...
2 September 2012 at 12:32amglokraw
glokraw Festige will do about 50% of vsts in linux, dssi-vst about 20%, while reaper
is about 90%, and you need nvidia graphics, and pci audio, or the numbers go down somewhat,
as the gui are often the failpoint. Synthmaster creations fail the most, some Synthmaker apps have a
few quirks, module dependant, while dongled apps, or those with custom copy protection intertwined with windows code unsupported by wine, always fail. As they should!.
Wine has proven to draw gui better this year than last, as is it's history. New linux users who are musicians, should avoid updating a working daw box to the 'newest' linux, but they fall for it over and over and over.
Musicians with supported hardware, a linux using friend, or the desire to learn the OS beyond audio production, have a bright future, as at least 5 audio production distributions are improving apace.
The 400 meg Studio 1337 (yeah, Steinberg, I said 'meg') is astounding. Pro-Tools needs that much code
just to use a mouse. @ briandc, for best longterm 'luck', become familiar with puppy, rpm and deb based
distributions. The hardware detection and support are different, and nuances of software are different.
A particular failure in one type of distro, is often fine in another.
The crashes based on Synth1 presets are probably based on not using reaper to host your plugins,
or an arcane sublimity in wine math calculations not liking a motherboard chipset.
I experienced some of those, but not in the last three years. A sound designer
I asked looked at the presets, and saw no obvious symptoms.
Cheers
5 September 2012 at 3:37pmStudioDave
StudioDave Just a note to say that I've been testing Synth1 with the Festige software on AVLinux 5.0.1. It works nicely here, and I've been testing it with various soundbanks. Great synth, very straightforward design with excellent sound quality.
I won't give it a rating, I agree that it's a bit bogue to evaluate a Windows-based VST while running it on Linux. But as I said, IMO it's a great synth.
8 September 2012 at 12:22amHooj
Hooj Been using Synth1 for about 18 months now! I've auditioned just about every (popular) synth on the market (especially the FREE ones). I hate to admit this but Synth1 is even better than a few of the "paid version" synths. If you know synthesis, you can achieve some very nice sounds from this synth.
Don't judge it based on the many presets available. Instead, use them as a "guideline" and create your own according to your needs & style of music.
13 September 2012 at 9:02ambriandc
briandc I am aware that VSTs are made for Windows. FeSTige is made to run these apps in Linux, and many of them work very nicely. (I'm using KXStudio, which is built upon Ubuntu Studio, which is Debian-based.)
So my point is, if other "less popular" VSTs work so well, it's a shame that this synth, which has been highly regarded here at KVR, is not able to work correctly. At least, not on KXStudio. Maybe AVLinux is better, but I don't know, since FeSTige should be the same in either distro.
So there must be something in other VSTs that make it more compatible, that is missing in Synth1.
Again, it's not that I can't get Synth1 to work at all. It works. But the arpeggiator doesn't, and the mono/poly control is a bit confusing, since sometimes it indicates "poly" but I can't get more than one note at a time. Finally, some sounds cause it to crash entirely.
The people at KXStudio are currently working on the issue, so hopefully we'll see things change soon. Especially since I'd really like to be able to use this synth to its fullest. :)
brian
13 September 2012 at 4:15pmjuandaco
juandaco Hi briandc. I have Synth1 running perfectly smooth with a configuration similar to yours, but with Reaper and wineasio. I know that Reaper is propietary software, but in not expensive, plus it has really good VSTis support under Linux. I have regular Ubuntu 12.04 with KXStudio repositories. You just need to install "wineasio" (should be installed with KXStudio) and install Reaper. Mine works flawlessly. Hope this helps.
13 September 2012 at 6:28pmjuandaco
juandaco Hello again brian. I managed to run Synth1 also with dssi-vst. Just type in a terminal vsthost followed by the path of the dll for Synth1.
14 September 2012 at 8:43ambriandc
briandc Hi juandaco,
thank you for taking the time to help me out. :)
I have tried dssi-vst, but it didn't behave any better than FeSTige (still had no luck with arpeggiators, mono/poly, etc). But I will certainly take a look at Reaper.
I have wineasio installed in my KXStudio installation, and the people behind the project are working on integrating Synth1 into the Carla host. If that succeeds it'll be a great step ahead for the entire community, imo..
brian
15 September 2012 at 4:18pmbriandc
briandc Silly me! I already had a Reaper demo in KXStudio!! (insert facepalm here)
So anyway, a very happy ending. Synth1 is now working just fine, arps, polyphony and all. And no presets cause crashes. ;) Lots of neat effects and things, too.
I don't know if it's my favorite yet, but I certainly give it an 8. The controls are clear and responsive. Very nice! :)
brian
29 October 2012 at 12:40amsteven96663
steven96663 New to this. My first post. Have to contribute 10 posts before I can rate and review this truly excellent free 10 out of 10 gem. Been loving this one for simply ages. It's the cats pyjamas. Oops, I guess I just reviewed and rated it ;o) Only another 9 posts to go, then I'll give this Synthesiser the proper review I feel it deserves.
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