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All Reviews by DrWashington


By DrWashington
On 14th March 2009
Version: 2.2

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LennarDigital Sylenth1

Wow.

I'm still shaken and disturbed by the fact that this synth even exists in software form.

IT'S BLOODY AMAZING.

And, it'll only get better.

Lennard Addink has got to be one of the very best DSP programmers in the world. This is a rich, RICH piece of software. The sound quality is just absolutely top notch, and this coming from a long time Virus user. I prefer this over my Virus Rack XL, BECAUSE MY VIRUS RACK XL DIED... long, slow, and painfully. The sounds it made in its last throes should have been sampled. This is something I will forever regret. They were unbelievably, hysterically, awful. You people would have died laughing. I'm not kidding. I wish I had them. Anyway -

Now, I have a brick. A $1350, pretty black, beknobbled brick. Thanks, Access.

BUT! Though it's not as feature laden, the sound quality of Sylenth1 is at least on par with the famous German hardware offering. I'm still just shocked and amazed that one guy in the Netherlands did this all by himself. And, considering the CPU cost, this is work of brilliance beyond mere mortal comprehension. While other companies will spend years developing a single filter that costs 20% of a respectable modern CPU under normal use ALONE, Mr. Addink gives you everything you could reasonably ask for in a software VA for, oh, around 5-7% under normal (i.e. completely INSANE) usage.

If he were to create a truly feature-rich version of this synth, including true PWM, wavetables, etc., he could easily become a rich man. This is THE bread-&-butter VA soft synth to have, in case you were wondering.

Though this synth certainly can't do everything, for what it DOES do, it shines like no other. Absolutely stellar, and absolutely BEYOND worth what I paid. I cannot gripe that I pre-empted the group buy by two weeks. I am happy, and I feel no buyer's remorse, even though, had I waited, i could have purchased it for half of what I paid.

In case this doesn't make sense to you yet, in case you like electronic music or makin' beats, or whatever the hell it is you do with your studio when you just don't wanna be bothered by the world outside and you need to get lost in an evening of digital tweakage, let me state it plainly:

THIS IS *THE* SOFTSYNTH TO HAVE in 2009. This and VOPM, if you like/know FM. :)
 
    
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