KVR Audio

Lennard · Post by **Lennard** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:55 pm

I'm fully aware of the competition from these plugins. But the major reason I built Sylenth1 in the first place, is because I wanted to overcome the problems of each of these synths has.

Minimonsta has nice oscillators and filters, but only 3 oscillators and no sound effects. Plus, it uses alot of CPU resources when used in unison mode. Z3ta is also a good synth, but it has inferior filters, and the oscillators lack clarity, especially in the highs. Plus I personally don't really like its user-interface. And the Korg Polysix for example is also nice, but it simply lacks modulation options and consumes quite a lot of CPU.

Sylenth1 combines the strength of all these synths into one, and adds even more, while still being very conservative with the CPU resources.

Transmatic wrote:but the Filters, the Filters are some of the best I've heard in a SoftSynth! Lennar will you be making any Filter VST Plugs The Filters are RAW!!!

Thanks

And yes, you can definitely keep your eye out for a filter VST in the future!

fred-hal · Post by **fred-hal** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:01 pm

..will there be a group buy?

Trusty · Post by **Trusty** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:05 pm

fred-hal wrote:..will there be a group buy?

Of course there will...when Lennard decides eating is better than over-charging, there will be a group buy.

It is a good synth though, I'd happily pay $50-$75 bucks for it as long as it had at least 256 presets.

Good job on the synth.

mistertoast · Post by **mistertoast** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:14 pm

It does sound really good.

Reverse Engineer · Post by **Reverse Engineer** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:29 pm

Since i came to KVR a number of years ago, i've seen devs come and go because they priced themselves out of the market. Some of the products they were selling kicked ass in a big way, but instead of shifting twice the amount of units at half the price (which really isn't an issue in the software world since you don't build each synth to order

), they stuck to their guns and faded away.

I really do wish Lennard the best, and if he's happy with what he sells at that price, then good for him, but one tip i would give you...no matter what you charge, never use invasive security such as PACE or Syncrosoft, you'll immediately ostracize a large part of the market based on that alone.

RPH · Post by **RPH** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:45 pm

funny this type of discussion is always about software synths and never about hardware..

mistertoast · Post by **mistertoast** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:50 pm

>>funny this type of discussion is always about software synths and never about hardware..

How is it funny? What is the incremental cost per extra copy of a software synth? And what is the incremental cost per extra unit of hardware synth?

How much investment would it take to start a software synth company? Now how much to start a hardware synth company? What's the cost of a patch versus the cost of a recall to fix a bad membrane switch?

Trusty · Post by **Trusty** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:02 pm

mistertoast wrote:>>funny this type of discussion is always about software synths and never about hardware..

How is it funny? What is the incremental cost per extra copy of a software synth? And what is the incremental cost per extra unit of hardware synth?

How much investment would it take to start a software synth company? Now how much to start a hardware synth company? What's the cost of a patch versus the cost of a recall to fix a bad membrane switch?

Not to mention that "bang for the buck" factor as being a reason to use software over hardware in the first place. When buying hardware, you are buying a "whole" poduct, software simply runs on a "whole" product. You can "resell" software on occasion, but not as easily with software that may not run on machines ten years from now and keeping the machine that the software runs in top order ten years from now is also a question...and certainly not for the value hardware has over time, more often than not, by comparision to software has over time.

RPH · Post by **RPH** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:08 pm

mistertoast wrote: How is it funny? What is the incremental cost per extra copy of a software synth? And what is the incremental cost per extra unit of hardware synth?

It's funny because ppl never whine about the cost of some type of hardware synth, and just start saving money to buy it.

Dunno, don't own a software or hardware company.

mistertoast wrote: How much investment would it take to start a software synth company? Now how much to start a hardware synth company? What's the cost of a patch versus the cost of a recall to fix a bad membrane switch?

Investment can be intellectual or money wise ( or others i guess ) ...so that can be a lot in a software or hardware company.

The cost is time, maybe you have all the time in the world and are you willing to work for free and is the town / city you live in almost free... but that's not the case everywhere

If he thinks this is a reasonable price for this synth ( i don't think it's that expensive ...NI products are not cheap as well

) then let him have that price and don't whine like a cheap ass.

Are you able to code in ASM or C++ and do you know DSP coding ?
Do you know howmuch time it is to build stuff, and research optimising routines etc.
Bugtracking, testing, etc , etc.

Again, if this dev. feels this is a reasonable price then it should be fine...
No need to listen to a few kids on KVR that think they know all.

my 2 cents

Cya!
Rob.

mistertoast · Post by **mistertoast** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:14 pm

>>Are you able to code in ASM or C++ and do you know DSP coding ?
Do you know howmuch time it is to build stuff, and research optimising routines etc.
Bugtracking, testing, etc , etc.

Funny that you ask. As a matter of fact I do.

But you missed my point. I'm only speaking of incremental cost of goods.

Pricing a softsynth is tricky. No doubt. I'm not saying what he should charge.

RPH · Post by **RPH** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:15 pm

Trusty wrote: When buying hardware, you are buying a "whole" poduct, software simply runs on a "whole" product.

A VST plugin is a 'whole' product, running on a 'whole' product

Trusty wrote: ...and certainly not for the value hardware has over time, more often than not, by comparision to software has over time.

For good hardware you pay like 1000 euros or more, he is selling his good software product for 159 euro. So i say really cheap

And in ten years there won't be a knob loose or wires loose

And in ten years there will still be old pc's that ppl can buy to run this,. or maybe emulation mode on modern pcs.

Cya,
Rob.

mistertoast · Post by **mistertoast** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:16 pm

In theory, you could be profitable selling a $20 softsynth. How, sell a million of them. Sell a million hardware synths at $20 each and you're spectacularly broke.

RPH · Post by **RPH** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:16 pm

mistertoast wrote: But you missed my point. I'm only speaking of incremental cost of goods.

What are incremental costs of goods ?

( english isn't my native language )

mistertoast · Post by **mistertoast** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:19 pm

>>What are incremental costs of goods ?

Just the extra cost for each item sold. Like the cost of the box and the CD and the manual.

Again. I'm not telling him what to charge. But I would be surprised if he can sell many at $200.

RPH · Post by **RPH** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:22 pm

mistertoast wrote:In theory, you could be profitable selling a $20 softsynth. How, sell a million of them. Sell a million hardware synths at $20 each and you're spectacularly broke.

Theory and reallife are not always the same.

I dunno if you said it, but the VST market is very competitive.
no-one sells a million copies of their product..

Again the hardware bit.. hardware is very different, you need to pay for housing, ppl, production costs, etc, etc..

imo hardware and software is like comparing apples with fish ( or something

).

my 2 cents

Cya!

LennarDigital Sylenth1