Alchemy or Sylenth??? Forgive me.

[aquar]

If you're a PC-user, try Robin Schmidt's neat little oscilloscope:
http://rs-met.com/software/freebies/SignalAnalyzer.zip

One of the saws must be a "ramp", and you can slightly modulate pitch instead of phase. Simply mixing two squares and detuning one of them DOES give you a PWM effect (of sorts).

Cheers Howard thanks for clearing that up, the SignalAnalyzer is a useful and interesting little plugin.

[muLperi]

Of course you want to use your plugins to the fullest and I also would like to have killer analogue patches for Alchemy since I'm sure it's very well capable of producing them.

[bmanic]

Heck, I'll duplicate some of the sylenth presets on Alchemy and we'll see.

Now you're talking ! This should be fun.

Why try to copy a sound with its own down sides??? Sylenth is not that great sounding...you could manage to do good things with it but it is not a reference in my ears in anyway

Hehe. Ok if Sylenth is not that 'great sounding', let's make it easier/better for both you guys: try to reproduce an original sound with Alchemy that was reproduced with Sylenth1 as well. For starters it would be a nice test to hear that lead from 'The prodigy' in their track 'Voodoo people'. Adam just released it as well in his latest soundbank: http://www.adamszabo.com/mp3/Adam_Van_B ... 2_Demo.mp3 (starting 2:20). Let's see if Alchemy's VA engine can come any closer/sound better than this, I'd be highly, higly surprised

It can't, not without a sync sample, as Alchemy cannot do hard sync. So, if we stick strictly to the VA engine, then alchemy will have extreme difficulty in producing sync sounds. It is possible to do a partial mimic of oscillator sync by modulating the pitch of several slightly detuned and narrow pulse waves but it'll still sound fake.

Cheers!
bManic

[bmanic]

When Alchemy demo becomes available I would strongly recommend downloading it and A/Bing it.....Sound is always a personal taste.
Ironically my last two synth purchases are alchemy and sylenth and I am stil trying to figure out which one I like less.
Features does not equate to sound quality and the more I play alchemy the more I am remembering this. of cousre many like how it sounds, but at this stage I don't....I will keep it and I am sure one day I will find use for it, plus the special $199 price I paid for it, it will pay for itself if I use it in two projects....
Sylenth I bought because of the GB price and because I heard an arkshun bank I like, and there are a few sounds that comes with it that I will use... but I can honeslty say I don't particuliarly like either and certainly not in love with either.....I will keep both and I am sure they will pay for themselves, but unlike many I am not particuliarly impressed by the sound of either......
play them and see if they tickle your creative bone......sound is always a personal thing...
If I had to choose one based on their current versions for my ears I would choose sylenth if I had to choose one based on potential (which is unfair because I have no idea what the plans are for sylenth) I would choose alchemy.
rsp

You've yet to answer my question addressed to you in another thread. What synth DO you like?

It seems to me more and more that you rely on presets, or that you have a more specific taste in sound. Perhaps you would like the Korg MS-20? Or phoscyon (good TB-303 emulation that goes far beyond the original). Or perhaps ABL Pro, a modular monster with a distinct sound?

I'm really interested in hearing what softsynth you like the sound of.

Cheers!
bManic

[Epiphany]

I have K-Rok's and PM0.5's (Fostex) M-Audio.

SYLENTH does nothing for me, bar some interesting percussive sounds (which I wouyld rather use a specialist software for).

Having previously owned KRK Rokits, and having used both Fostex and M-Audio monitors, and now using Adam A7s (experiencing a true "I can finally hear" revelation) I'd respectfully suggest you probably wouldn't appreciate the clarity, depth and nuance of sound that Sylenth delivers, in a way that no other VST (to my ears) does.

[bmanic]

Would be nice if Alchemy can create the same analogue sound like Sylenth1 (I remember some of the CS80 sounds eg. from Adam Szabo for Sylenth1 ). But after listening to the audio demo's of Alchemy I tend to say "no".

See, that's the rub. The audio demos of Alchemy show off about 1% of the possible sounds it can produce. It is that deep. The VA section alone comes with direct copies of waves from the CS5 (which has some interesting similarities to the CS80 waves). Couple that with the ability to put up to 5 filters in series.. no, actually, 5 polyphonic filters and 5 monophonic if you use the effects section, should give you enough power to shape a sound into nearly anything you can imagine. It's just a matter of actually DOING it that is the hard part. The tools are there but it takes some time and learning.

Alchemy kind of reminds me of how I felt the first time I began exploring the possibilities with the Kurzweil V.A.S.T system. There were some limitations (no proper self oscillation) but even these could be simulated to a certain degree using some other tricks.

Currently the only "fairly normal" synthesis things Alchemy cannot do is oscillator hard sync and FM/AM/PM. However, if you use the granular/additive part, you can get these sounds as well.

Don't get me wrong, Alchemy cannot "replace" any other synth if one is really listening carefully to the specific sound qualities of the synth you love but from what I can tell of the majority of users here and on many other forums, subtle listening skills is not very common, nor is it much appreciated either (evidenced by all the A/B and blind tests of various analogue vs digital threads). So, in essence, Alchemy could get close enough to most sounds and would thus be my recommendation as the nr 1 "my first synth" to get because it covers so much ground. It is currently the desert island synthesizer of choice, imho.

Cheers!
bManic

PS. sorry for my increasing fanboyism of this thing. I'm trying to resist, I truly am but it's just too hard!

[fas1piano]

yeah, i am also in with the group buy for sylenth and wonder if i should get into sylenth more or not. i am not sure it is necessary, because i have symptohm (need to do more with it) and recently got zebra and have been using AAS stuff for quite a while.

i am strictly a live player (soul/jazz/electrostuff), so i thought a nice and simple synth would be useful for quickly making usable basses and leads. sylenth at least does not pretend to model some specific analogue synth, which i like.

but maybe i don't need it. yet, maybe it IS quicker thant the "big synths" (symptohm and zebra and tassman do eat my songwriting time ). maybe time spent with a simpler synth is "dumb" time. i guess everybody needs to find out for themselves...

alchemy is too deep for me right now. got to find ways to use the power i already have.

fab

[Epiphany]

See, that's the rub. The audio demos of Alchemy show off about 1% of the possible sounds it can produce. It is that deep.

I realise it's repeating a well worn point, but many people aren't interested in an endless palette of unique sounds; they wan't a smaller pallette of sounds done excellently.

Besides, the scope of possible sounds notwithstanding, the Alchemy audio demos should of course still showcase a quality of sound comparable to other synths, particularly in this case Sylenth. That's if, though, Alchemy is comparable in that respect.

[zvenx]

You've yet to answer my question addressed to you in another thread. What synth DO you like?

It seems to me more and more that you rely on presets, or that you have a more specific taste in sound. Perhaps you would like the Korg MS-20? Or phoscyon (good TB-303 emulation that goes far beyond the original). Or perhaps ABL Pro, a modular monster with a distinct sound?

I'm really interested in hearing what softsynth you like the sound of.

Cheers!
bManic

I did answer actually
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... t=#3381846 .....but that question was what was fat and warm to me and I had replied omnisphere and zebra 2 for instance.....

As to this question...
my favourite is omnisphere..... zebra2 has quickly become my second favourite.
I love my Korg Legacy Collection Digital and Analog, especially the MonoPoly and dare I say it...lol. my M1......the Legacy Cell as well..the Wavestation...
I like FM-8 and Absynth 4...Massive too although I rarely use it...I use a lot of Kontakt3.
I actually like the sound of my EMu Proteus X2...Novation V-station.....yesterday I tried Gladiator 2 and I loved the sound of it too ( I have since bought it (edit:9th january))...

but yes I am mr. preset guy...

[zvenx]

bmania, I think I understand why we disagree, we have different tastes.....Just read your post above that hit the nail on the head for me.
I NEVER got the love affair with VAST.....yes it has features up the wazoo but in the end I never prefered the sound of the Kurzweil engine to Roland's or Korg's or yamaha's.
rsp

[fas1piano]

well, i am sufficiently impressed with bmanics symptohm presets to give weight to his words.

so if he said, e.g. you can do it all with symptohm and zebra, too, than i would look for the pilot error on my side.

which i already know, by the way: i tend to get lost in stuff. maybe i am not alone and maybe that is why sylenth is so much liked. as is a minimoog or sh 101 or tb 303...

[man-T]

I hadn't heard of Sylenth until I stumbled upon it here. I'm toying with the idea of getting an Access Virus (B or C). Having listened to the Sylenth demo, it does sound rather good on first hearing and obviously geared towards dance / trance etc. Question - how does the Sylenth compare against the Virus?
Thanks.

I am in the process of switching from hardware/software mix to software only, and sylenth made me sell my virus b without any hesitation.
I really believe it sounds that good. Ofc. i do have an awesome set of monitors and soundcards are swell too..

[man-T]

Alchemy is miles ahead of sylenth, which doesn't even have PWM.

It is not what you have, it is what you do with it....

[thespecialist]

It can't, not without a sync sample, as Alchemy cannot do hard sync. So, if we stick strictly to the VA engine, then alchemy will have extreme difficulty in producing sync sounds. It is possible to do a partial mimic of oscillator sync by modulating the pitch of several slightly detuned and narrow pulse waves but it'll still sound fake.

Hehe. So you're holding this plee about how Alchemy's VA with its zillion effects and filters not only can do everything Sylenth can, but even do it better and then you admit that the first request I have, can't be done with Alchemy's VA

As said before in this thread, Alchemy is a great synth and it sure has its own strengths but these mainly lie in its sample manipulation section and I think that's obviously what Alchemy's aimed at. That's why this whole thread is not that relevant IMHO, these 2 beasts are way too different and both have their own individual, different strengths.

[MitchK1989]

It can't, not without a sync sample, as Alchemy cannot do hard sync. So, if we stick strictly to the VA engine, then alchemy will have extreme difficulty in producing sync sounds. It is possible to do a partial mimic of oscillator sync by modulating the pitch of several slightly detuned and narrow pulse waves but it'll still sound fake.

Hehe. So you're holding this plee about how Alchemy's VA with its zillion effects and filters not only can do everything Sylenth can, but even do it better and then you admit that the first request I have, can't be done with Alchemy's VA

As said before in this thread, Alchemy is a great synth and it sure has its own strengths but these mainly lie in its sample manipulation section and I think that's obviously what Alchemy's aimed at. That's why this whole thread is not that relevant IMHO, these 2 beasts are way too different and both have their own individual, different strengths.

You can do hard sync in alchemy by recording a sync sweep from any other synth, resynthesizing it additively, then using the "position" knob to sweep up and down.

The VA sections of both Alchemy and Sylenth are lacking some rather key features (alchemy lacks sync, sylenth lacks pwm+ring mod) but at least alchemy has other sections that can make up for those losses... (note: Ring mod in alchemy is done in the filter section, not the VA osc section, so it's still a little less flexible than say... Zebra)

Overall I'd say even used purely as a VA, alchemy is far more flexible, especially when it comes to modulation and filters.