Sylenth1 Awesome Alternatives?

[Yorrrrrr]

Every synth has its own character, and is better suited for certain types of sounds. Sylenth1 can do some sounds better than others. DUNE 2 also can do some sounds better than others. Same can be said about pretty much every single synth. Neither can do absolutely everything better. There is no such thing as an absolute perfect synth. Different synths are like colors in a palette.

So, the conclusion is that, to be fair, Sylenth1 is irreplaceable. However, I did replace it because, for my uses, it became irrelevant with DUNE 2. But the same can't be said for everybody, I understand that.

[chk071]

@ wagtunes: I don't know what to say. The guy who did this soundset is a professional sound designer, otherwise he wouldn't have done parts of the factory sounds. And still you can hear that it's not Sylenth 1. Of course, the purpose wasn't too sound like Sylenth1, but as it was proposed here as an "awesome alternative"...

BTW, if it was true that only the sound design mattered, then everyone could just use Synth1, and live happily ever after.

[Yorrrrrr]

Yes, it was proposed as an "awesome alternative", but that does not mean it has to sound the same. That is why it is an alternative. If you want it to sound like Sylenth1, then Sylenth1 and only Sylenth1 is what you have to use. I can't make Sylenth1 to sound like DUNE 2 either, no matter how hard I try...

[mcnoone]

One persons wow factor is another persons annoying leg twitch.
Maybe some audio examples of what one thinks a WOW synth patch is...with no effects on.
This way we can see what one opinion is of the wow.

[recursive one]

Sylenth sounds don't translate 1:1 to Dune2 (and I doubt anyone would expect this), however it is often possible to approximate them pretty well (by "approximation" I mean a sound with similar character that would be able to play similar role in a mix).

Also in an actual mix almost any synth sound gets some external processing, which also accounts for the end result. I can say that I have both Sylenth and Dune2 and they both require roughly the same amount of external treatment to sit in a mix

Here is a psytrance song made with Dune2 as the only synth (except drums). I wouldn't say I'm a great sound designer, but I think I've got some of the "psytrance-specific" sounds more or less right.

https://soundcloud.com/recursion-loop/t ... ptic-cleft

[chk071]

Yes, it was proposed as an "awesome alternative", but that does not mean it has to sound the same. That is why it is an alternative. If you want it to sound like Sylenth1, then Sylenth1 and only Sylenth1 is what you have to use. I can't make Sylenth1 to sound like DUNE 2 either, no matter how hard I try...

Exactly. But there are synths which are closer than others. Anyway, as i said, probably reads a bit negative. Fact is, you can do less than 10% of what Dune 2 does with Sylenth. But again, the thread title reads "Sylenth1 awesome alternatives", and IMO, there is at least one better alternative.

It's a high level discussion anyway. It's like the five star chef arguing that the 30 € per kilo meat is just good enough. The 10 € per kilo meat would probably satisfy most, but the 30 € per kilo meat is kind of like the extra dip to it. But then, aren't musicians always asking for the best, at least if they have a reasonable amount of demand? That's why literally everyone rather uses a cracked Sylenth than Synth1 or Dune CM/BE, which would be way good for the beginning (even most probably over sophisticated for many).

[wagtunes]

@ wagtunes: I don't know what to say. The guy who did this soundset is a professional sound designer, otherwise he wouldn't have done parts of the factory sounds. And still you can hear that it's not Sylenth 1. Of course, the purpose wasn't too sound like Sylenth1, but as it was proposed here as an "awesome alternative"...

BTW, if it was true that only the sound design mattered, then everyone could just use Synth1, and live happily ever after.

As I said, some synths can do things that other synths can't do. Not all synths sound the same. And some synths just sound downright awful. No offense, but some SynthEdit developers should stick to doing something other than creating synths. And I'm not even all that picky when it comes to synths. But some of these are downright awful. Filters that virtually don't do anything. Saw waves that don't sound much different from pulse waves. I mean it's disgraceful.

But for the most part, a professionally designed synth that you've paid a relatively decent amount of money for ($50 and up) is going to sound good. It may not be easily suited to certain kinds of sounds, such as in the EDM genre (some synths are mostly suited for pads and/or old school analog sounds) but the quality is there at least to the point where a competent sound designer can get quite a bit out of that synth. Even if it can't easily do certain kinds of sounds.

From what I've listening to Sylenth (again, I don't have it) it's really not all that different in sound from any of these synths that I've purchased.

A.N.A.
Blue II
Discovery Pro
Electra 2
Massive
MPowerSynth
Omnisphere
Rayblaster
Synthmaster
Zebra 2

I am sure any of those synths can relativelu duplicate the sounds created by Sylenth if one really put their mind to it.

My point is, as a synth goes, Sylenth is nothing special.

Now, you want special synths that have engines and sounds that aren't easily duplicated by other synths? Synths that are truly unique?

This would be my very short list of synths that I personally own.

Cycle
Mr Alias Pro
Scrooo
Serum
Spectrobits
The Mangle
X11

Now THESE are some very unusual synths. Some of them are very specialized and not something you would use for everyday.

But for the most part, synths are synths. What separates them are not so much the sound as the work flow and "extra" features.

Maybe I'm jaded. Maybe after 35 years of programming synths nothing really blows me away anymore. Or maybe there is more hype to most synths than actual substance.

[2ZrgE]

@ wagtunes: I don't know what to say. The guy who did this soundset is a professional sound designer, otherwise he wouldn't have done parts of the factory sounds. And still you can hear that it's not Sylenth 1. Of course, the purpose wasn't too sound like Sylenth1, but as it was proposed here as an "awesome alternative"...

BTW, if it was true that only the sound design mattered, then everyone could just use Synth1, and live happily ever after.

As I said, some synths can do things that other synths can't do. Not all synths sound the same. And some synths just sound downright awful. No offense, but some SynthEdit developers should stick to doing something other than creating synths. And I'm not even all that picky when it comes to synths. But some of these are downright awful. Filters that virtually don't do anything. Saw waves that don't sound much different from pulse waves. I mean it's disgraceful.

But for the most part, a professionally designed synth that you've paid a relatively decent amount of money for ($50 and up) is going to sound good. It may not be easily suited to certain kinds of sounds, such as in the EDM genre (some synths are mostly suited for pads and/or old school analog sounds) but the quality is there at least to the point where a competent sound designer can get quite a bit out of that synth. Even if it can't easily do certain kinds of sounds.

From what I've listening to Sylenth (again, I don't have it) it's really not all that different in sound from any of these synths that I've purchased.
[...]

Sylenth's speciality for the most part results from that incredible sound quality/CPU use ratio. Some of those synths may be capable of mimicking Sylenth, but not with that low CPU consumption. And not everyone can/wants to upgrade his machine every two years.

[wagtunes]

@ wagtunes: I don't know what to say. The guy who did this soundset is a professional sound designer, otherwise he wouldn't have done parts of the factory sounds. And still you can hear that it's not Sylenth 1. Of course, the purpose wasn't too sound like Sylenth1, but as it was proposed here as an "awesome alternative"...

BTW, if it was true that only the sound design mattered, then everyone could just use Synth1, and live happily ever after.

As I said, some synths can do things that other synths can't do. Not all synths sound the same. And some synths just sound downright awful. No offense, but some SynthEdit developers should stick to doing something other than creating synths. And I'm not even all that picky when it comes to synths. But some of these are downright awful. Filters that virtually don't do anything. Saw waves that don't sound much different from pulse waves. I mean it's disgraceful.

But for the most part, a professionally designed synth that you've paid a relatively decent amount of money for ($50 and up) is going to sound good. It may not be easily suited to certain kinds of sounds, such as in the EDM genre (some synths are mostly suited for pads and/or old school analog sounds) but the quality is there at least to the point where a competent sound designer can get quite a bit out of that synth. Even if it can't easily do certain kinds of sounds.

From what I've listening to Sylenth (again, I don't have it) it's really not all that different in sound from any of these synths that I've purchased.
[...]

Sylenth's speciality for the most part results from that incredible sound quality/CPU use ratio. Some of those synths may be capable of mimicking Sylenth, but not with that low CPU consumption. And not everyone can/wants to upgrade his machine every two years.

Great! So if that's essentially Sylenth's selling point (low CPU, sounds good) then that's wonderful. But it doesn't make it an irreplaceable synth.

Now, Alchemy? That's obviously going to be tough to replace since there is no one synth out there that does what it does all in one package, which is inexcusable in this day and age of technological advancements. That Alchemy had not one competitor is mind boggling. But that's another subject altogether.

But yeah, if Sylenth is the only synth with that quality of sound at that low a CPU hit, then it's certainly a special synth in that capacity.

But nothing about it sound wise blows me out of the water as there are plenty of other synths that sound just as good if not better.

[chk071]

I guess if it was easily replacable, most producers of EDM would have already replaced it, especially considering the lack of a 64-bit AU version. But nope, no end in sight. Although Spire seems, at least taking a look at the mass of EDM soundsets available for it, to become more and more of a replacement. And that's basically what i mean. Where's the mass of soundsets the likes of the video posted above for Dune 2? Didn't happen so far, even though it's on the market now for quite a while too.

Again, not at all saying that Dune 2 is a bad synth, it's surely awesome for what it does. But for a replacement for Sylenth1, IMO, it's too different sounding. That said, i don't even know if the OP is still looking for a replacement, i mean, it's been 2 years now, maybe this is just discussing for discussings sake, lol.

[mchannemann]

I drop Polyana into the list

[spaceman]

Pretty awesome, isn't it?

Could be any one of probably 20 synths if you listened to it blindfolded,
not even to mention hearing it buried in a mix.

It's the notes and composition that count, not the extra 1% of pixy dust that everyone just loves to argue about.

[chk071]

Again, makes no difference then with that kind of argumentation whether you use a 169€ Dune 2, or Synth1.

Btw, a little task for this thread: Try to recreate the plucky, slowly opening supersaw sound in this sound demo from a Sylenth1 sound set with any synth you like, with the same attack, the same pluckiness, and the same "openness" and wideness, when the filter is opened, from 4:20 to 4:50: https://soundcloud.com/adamszabo/adam-v ... r-sylenth1 If you can recreate it 99% with another synth or plugin, then i'm convinced. It's actually not even the most sophisticated sound, should be "easy" enough. IMO, it shows pretty well the difference there is between the plugins/synths.

[wagtunes]

Again, makes no difference then with that kind of argumentation whether you use a 169€ Dune 2, or Synth1.

No, it really doesn't.

For the most part, consumers keep buying the dream.

[2ZrgE]

I guess if it was easily replacable, most producers of EDM would have already replaced it, especially considering the lack of a 64-bit AU version. But nope, no end in sight.

Difficult to say without having concrete numbers. Maybe a lot of people don't feel the need to replace it (perhaps they are used to it and don't want to learn a new synth, perhaps bridging works for them).