Which synth is killing Sylenth1?

[recursive one]

Post a sylenth demo of the music you made with it here and show me how great it is.

This whole circle jerk of a thread has nothing in it showing me anything other than empty words. Someone put a demo up that demonstrates the awesomeness of this synth. I listened to the demos of it on their website and was not impressed at all.

I understand from your posts that you are fond of 70's rock and not very big on modern dance music, right? Then I think, Sylenth is just not the right synth for you, it has the type of sound popularized by trance producers, i don't think it can compete with something like Diva in more "vintage-like" areas.

[EnGee]

Hmmm, I don't agree so much with the list in musicradar site.

My List would be:

1. Diva
2. Monark
3. Razor
4. Massive
5. Reaktor 5
6. Zebra 2
7. Alchemy
8. DCAM
9. Harmor
10. Sylneth1
11. Lush 101
12. Largo
13. Loom
14. Spectral
15. Sculpture
16. Enzym
17. Oberheim SEM V
18. Diversion
19. FM8
20. Absynth 5
21. Padshop Pro
22. Cyclop
23. Imposcar 2
24. SynthMaster
25. Z3ta+2
26. kHs One
27. Synplant
28. Twin 2


I really think that number one should be Diva. It is the best sounding synth after all and it has wide range with great coding and concept.

Other synths like Monark and Razor brought something new, especially in the sound that can't be created easily in other synths. Other synths are not only excel in sound but designing sounds in them has a very unique experience like Massive or DCAM or Alchemy

Sure I forgot other synths, but those what came to my mind. I tried all of them except Loom that I just saw a tutorial about it.

[recursive one]

I've recently checked out Sylenth1 in depth and I think it's f*n brilliant. It's not easy to come up with anything better at what Sylenth1 excells at without at the same time taking away from it. It's limitation are its strength and its curse, and anything that wants to compete in that area will face the same problem. Tough call

There was some guy developing a synth called Hive One ...

This guy is also known for making another synth which is commonly thought to match the sound quality of expensive analog outboard. Is it harder to match the quality of a plugin released back in middle 00's?

[xamido]

It's number 1 because it's the easiest to use for pirates.

- Low cpu usage even on netbook
- Easiest to crack
- Used and shown so often on 'EDM' tutorial
- Lots of soundbank around

Of course it's going to be number 1 in a poll. And these EDM kids don't care about the extra sound quality diva or monark provide, they only want to write music on their cheap laptop and Sylenth tick all the point.

[Tronam]

Post a sylenth demo of the music you made with it here and show me how great it is.

This whole circle jerk of a thread has nothing in it showing me anything other than empty words. Someone put a demo up that demonstrates the awesomeness of this synth. I listened to the demos of it on their website and was not impressed at all.

Since you want to be impressed, it would probably save a lot of time if you shared what styles of music you like and perhaps a subtractive synth example that *does* impress you. Might have better luck that way instead of trying to randomly guess your subjective taste.

[BBFG#]

Hmmm, I don't agree so much with the list in musicradar site.
My List would be: ...

I think of anything requiring Reaktor as Reaktor and the individual ensembles as subsets of it.

[In.Sight]

It's number 1 because

- Lots of soundbank around

Lots of absolutely identical soundbanks around

[idfpower]

It's number 1 because it's the easiest to use for pirates.

- Low cpu usage even on netbook
- Easiest to crack
- Used and shown so often on 'EDM' tutorial
- Lots of soundbank around

Of course it's going to be number 1 in a poll. And these EDM kids don't care about the extra sound quality diva or monark provide, they only want to write music on their cheap laptop and Sylenth tick all the point.

Um..what?

Yes, Sylenth is dead easy to use and very light on CPU - but what does piracy has to do with that?

Regarding cracking: (almost) all synths get cracked. Some get cracked systematically - as soon as a new version is released, in a couple of days (sometimes hours) the cracked version is released as well (see TAL-U-NO-LX or Spire). Monark got cracked as well. Same for Diva (although I'm sure Urs will say it's only a matter of time untill one of their time bombs gets triggered - and he might as well be right, heh). So it's not like Sylenth is the only synth a pirate could get his hands on, you know...

Regarding Monark: Moog emulation aside, first off you need Reaktor to use it, second, IIRC it's monophonic - I really don't see how it's the same thing as Sylenth. Yes (judging from the various demos I've listened to or watched) it seems like a cool instrument; and for the record I think Diva is really awesome - BUT not all people are into this type of sounds and some folks (like me) are still working on old computers that can't handle newer synths.

Bottom line is: different ppl like different things. I really don't see why we have to get through such debates everytime a product scores the first place in a poll. Such polls only reflect some folks' preferences - it doesn't mean the tools you're using suck compared to those and it doesn't mean that your preffered instruments are thought to be the absolute top by others. Use whatever makes you feel happy & inspired, don't get bothered too much about online polls It's pointless

[EnGee]

Hmmm, I don't agree so much with the list in musicradar site.
My List would be: ...

I think of anything requiring Reaktor as Reaktor and the individual ensembles as subsets of it.

Yes, maybe you are right.
I don't have Reaktor, just the player and some instruments that came with it and with Komplete Elements.
Of course I tried Reaktor in demo mode and read/saw tutorials and other resources. I almost bought it, but I realised that I won't have enough time to enjoy real life!

[BBFG#]

Hmmm, I don't agree so much with the list in musicradar site.
My List would be: ...

I think of anything requiring Reaktor as Reaktor and the individual ensembles as subsets of it.

Yes, maybe you are right.
I don't have Reaktor, just the player and some instruments that came with it and with Komplete Elements.
Of course I tried Reaktor in demo mode and read/saw tutorials and other resources. I almost bought it, but I realised that I won't have enough time to enjoy real life!

You got me thinking what MY top synths were and Reaktor was one of them.
On my list I wrote it after its number and it read,
#.) Reaktor (Razor/Prism/Metaphysical)
Because its more about what I use than what polls tell me I should use.
But at least it and two of my synths match yours for being in the 'top ten'.
(Alchemy, Zebra2HZ, Reaktor)

[Urs]

Urs, that's the best backhanded compliment I've ever seen

Well, I actually really meant what I said.

At a closer look, Sylenth1 has a remarkable concentration on a set of sweet spots. In some ways painfully so (lack of PWM for instance), but then it has "hidden" tricks to compensate (again, PWM for instance, using 2 oscillators). Then, it has self oscillating filters (without requirement for constant noise input) and overall quite good DSP - the comnpromises are taken at the right level. The concept of tabbing the synth structure instead of tabbing the modulators (see e.g. Massive) is IMHO unconventional but effective. Tabbing the effects as if they were an added on internal processor helps to further hide the complexity, without making people cry "too many panels".

Like pretty much all developers out there, I've envied Sylenth1 for its success, and I used to smirk at its limitations. This has changed since I tried to design a synth for a similar target group. Once that is factored in and once one steps back and sees the full picture, it's quite clear why Sylenth1 has its place.

However of course, most people don't see the whole picture. They only see the limitations, the agreeably dated UI design, the target audience whatsoever in isolation. That's the curse I spoke of, and it is what make people sniff at Sylenth1's success.

[xamido]

Um..what?

Yes, Sylenth is dead easy to use and very light on CPU - but what does piracy has to do with that?

Of course it have a lot to do with piracy. That music radar poll is opened for public, so anyone can vote. No requirement for people who have legit or crack license. Ask any crack user which synth they will recommend first and sylenth will come first, followed by massive. That's why in public poll sylenth is always number one. I'm talking about in almost every public poll for synth sylenth will always be top or near the top.

Of course we know in KVR Diva will always be number one.

[idfpower]

Of course it have a lot to do with piracy.

I was reffering to "It's number 1 because it's the easiest to use for pirates" - which implies that either pirates are idiots & can only handle a simple type of synth, or that it's the easiest cracked synth to get. While I have no idea if that's the case regarding the first hypothesis, I know the second is wrong, because ppl have access to pretty much all (creaked) synths, not just Sylenth.


Regarding Sylenth: what makes it stand out IMO is its incredible sound clarity. Even when you drench a sound in (its native) effects, it still rings our crystal clear. I don't know why is that - maybe it has something to do with its architecture, or maybe the onboard effects are perfectly calibrated so they enhance the sounds without adding too much & destroying them - or both - but no other synth sounds the same to my ears. Plus it has a very clean and friendly UI - especially for the folks that don't like knob tweaking.

[Gamma-UT]

Um..what?

Yes, Sylenth is dead easy to use and very light on CPU - but what does piracy has to do with that?

Of course it have a lot to do with piracy. That music radar poll is opened for public, so anyone can vote. No requirement for people who have legit or crack license. Ask any crack user which synth they will recommend first and sylenth will come first, followed by massive. That's why in public poll sylenth is always number one. I'm talking about in almost every public poll for synth sylenth will always be top or near the top.

Of course we know in KVR Diva will always be number one.

If it's all crack users voting, isn't it strange that Nexus 2, which IIRC is only available in dodgy form as an older version, features so highly? Number 4 ain't bad.

[xamido]

Should have phrased my statement better. One of the boost for sylenth rank is piracy, not the only one.