9 year old Sylenth1 just keeps kickin

[fluffy_little_something]

It's essentially free?! You have a weird way of looking at things...

And yes, the DX7 still is a good synth, just like many of the old analog ones still are. People like their sound, why else would Tal, U-he etc. try everything they can to make their plugins sounds like those old devices?

If by superior you mean more flexible, then sure, S1 can't do certain atmospheric pads, but there are other plugins for that. I don't see how that is a disadvantage of S1 when it never was intended to do that in the first place.

[Harry_HH]

It is not a $158 synth by today's standards no matter how you cut it. That is my only problem with Sylenth1. It is not worth the money that they are charging for it, especially when you can pretty much get it for free easily.

As a Sylenth1 license owner this was really news for me. (Of course the bit universe if full of those who think its no idea to pay for anything, but is the Sylenth1 easier to steal than some other products?)

[fluffy_little_something]

Sylenth1's popularity is simple. Sounds good, easy to use, and it's essentially free with thousands of free sound banks.

It is not a $158 synth by today's standards no matter how you cut it. That is my only problem with Sylenth1. It is not worth the money that they are charging for it, especially when you can pretty much get it for free easily.

How does one "pretty much get it for free"?

S1 would have become popular even if there were no way to crack it.
And I really doubt that those who use cracked versions are the ones who will get anywhere in music. Most of them probably download it, play around with it for a while, and then move on to their next prey. Serious musicians are usually not criminals.

[chk071]

It is not a $158 synth by today's standards no matter how you cut it. That is my only problem with Sylenth1. It is not worth the money that they are charging for it, especially when you can pretty much get it for free easily.

As a Sylenth1 license owner this was really news for me. (Of course the bit universe if full of those who think its no idea to pay for anything, but is the Sylenth1 easier to steal than some other products?)

The interesting thing being that everyone here seems to know how easy it is to steal it, but of course noone ever steals stuff!

[wagtunes]

It's essentially free?! You have a weird way of looking at things...

And yes, the DX7 still is a good synth, just like many of the old analog ones still are. People like their sound, why else would Tal, U-he etc. try everything they can to make their plugins sounds like those old devices?

If by superior you mean more flexible, then sure, S1 can't do certain atmospheric pads, but there are other plugins for that. I don't see how that is a disadvantage of S1 when it never was intended to do that in the first place.

I say essentially free because there are cracked versions everywhere and not just for the synth but for the synth with soundbanks of thousands of sounds. Members here themselves have pretty much said that most people just download a cracked version. Or are they lying?

Since I don't download cracked versions (more out of fear of getting a virus than the morality of it) I can't see paying $158 for a synth when I already have a collection of synths that feature synths that can do what Sylenth1 can do and more.

That's all I'm saying. I'm not knocking the synth. It sounds great. If it were $99 I'd probably buy it. But it is not a $158 synth by today's standards no more than a DX7 would be a $1,500 synth by today's standards.

[Harry_HH]

I say essentially free because there are cracked versions everywhere and not just for the synth but for the synth with soundbanks of thousands of sounds. Members here themselves have pretty much said that most people just download a cracked version. Or are they lying?

I read constantly the KVR but haven´t noticed this kind of confessions. Can you show me just a couple of links to those KVR threads?

[wagtunes]

I say essentially free because there are cracked versions everywhere and not just for the synth but for the synth with soundbanks of thousands of sounds. Members here themselves have pretty much said that most people just download a cracked version. Or are they lying?

I read constantly the KVR but haven´t noticed this kind of confessions. Can you show me just a couple of links to those KVR threads?

Those statements are right in this very thread.

[Harry_HH]

Members here themselves have pretty much said that most people just download a cracked version. Or are they lying?

I read constantly the KVR but haven´t noticed this kind of confessions. Can you show me just a couple of links to those KVR threads?

Those statements are right in this very thread.

I re-read this thread but didn´t find any confirmation to your statement "... most people just download a cracked version."

[fluffy_little_something]

It's essentially free?! You have a weird way of looking at things...

And yes, the DX7 still is a good synth, just like many of the old analog ones still are. People like their sound, why else would Tal, U-he etc. try everything they can to make their plugins sounds like those old devices?

If by superior you mean more flexible, then sure, S1 can't do certain atmospheric pads, but there are other plugins for that. I don't see how that is a disadvantage of S1 when it never was intended to do that in the first place.

I say essentially free because there are cracked versions everywhere and not just for the synth but for the synth with soundbanks of thousands of sounds. Members here themselves have pretty much said that most people just download a cracked version. Or are they lying?

Since I don't download cracked versions (more out of fear of getting a virus than the morality of it) I can't see paying $158 for a synth when I already have a collection of synths that feature synths that can do what Sylenth1 can do and more.

That's all I'm saying. I'm not knocking the synth. It sounds great. If it were $99 I'd probably buy it. But it is not a $158 synth by today's standards no more than a DX7 would be a $1,500 synth by today's standards.

I don't get the price argument. LD does a sale every half year now it seems. I would never pay 200 bucks for Element, either, that would be crazy. I assume most people buy their stuff when it is on sale because a whole lot of it is overpriced (subjectively that is, i.e. relative to what people can or are willing to pay; I am not saying that years of coding don't justify the regular price).

[wagtunes]

It's essentially free?! You have a weird way of looking at things...

And yes, the DX7 still is a good synth, just like many of the old analog ones still are. People like their sound, why else would Tal, U-he etc. try everything they can to make their plugins sounds like those old devices?

If by superior you mean more flexible, then sure, S1 can't do certain atmospheric pads, but there are other plugins for that. I don't see how that is a disadvantage of S1 when it never was intended to do that in the first place.

I say essentially free because there are cracked versions everywhere and not just for the synth but for the synth with soundbanks of thousands of sounds. Members here themselves have pretty much said that most people just download a cracked version. Or are they lying?

Since I don't download cracked versions (more out of fear of getting a virus than the morality of it) I can't see paying $158 for a synth when I already have a collection of synths that feature synths that can do what Sylenth1 can do and more.

That's all I'm saying. I'm not knocking the synth. It sounds great. If it were $99 I'd probably buy it. But it is not a $158 synth by today's standards no more than a DX7 would be a $1,500 synth by today's standards.

I don't get the price argument. LD does a sale every half year now it seems. I would never pay 200 bucks for Element, either, that would be crazy. I assume most people buy their stuff when it is on sale because a whole lot of it is overpriced (subjectively that is, i.e. relative to what people can or are willing to pay; I am not saying that years of coding don't justify the regular price).

The price argument is very valid when I can list a number of synths that I have that are about the same price or maybe a little more and are infinitely more flexible as to what they can do.

Zebra 2, which in the flexibility department blows Sylenth1 out of the water, cost me $40 more and sounds just as good if not better. There is no sound that Sylenth1 can make that I can't get out of Zebra 2.

Is Zebra 2 harder to program? Yes. Does it take a lot more effort to get those sounds in some cases? Yes. But that's more than made up for in all the things that Zebra 2 can do that Sylenth1 can't do.

And that's just one synth and one example.

I can go through them all if you want and compare them pound for pound and dollar for dollar.

To me, based on what I have and what those synths can do, Sylenth1 is at most a $99 synth and that is being very generous.

9 years ago when Sylenth1 was probably the best and maybe even the only synth at what it does best, it was probably worth $158. Hell, it was probably worth more. But not today. Not when technology has virtually left it in the dust.

I don't see how anybody can even argue this given how limited Sylenth1 is.

[fluffy_little_something]

Technology? The major improvement of the past few years was probably 0df filters. Do I need them? No, actually, I would not have bought S1 if it had had them because my computer is too weak for that.
Other than that I don't know how S1 is technologically outdated, which you seem to imply.

I have also had Hive on my computer recently, it does not sound better in terms of sound quality, although a bit different. Assuming Hive uses the latest technology since it is a brand new synth, I don't know which technologies you think S1 lacks. If they don't matter in terms of sound quality, why would I even bother having them?

Sure, S1 is not the king of flexibility, I wish it had a few more modulation targets such as individual envelope stages. But I can live with it the way it is.

I remember demoing Zebra, it was too complex and messy for my taste, didn't like the GUI, either. I am a hobby musician making 80's music, not a synth freak spending hours on a single freakish patch. The feature set is limited, but in a reasonable, productive way. For my needs S1 is perfect, actually, I am surprised how flexible it sounds, even warm pads are no problem, which I did not expect when I first demoed it. That was a nice surprise In that department it is superior to old analog hardware, simply because those lacked the number of voices S1 has. But it also works fine for basses, leads and basically anything I have tried so far.

[wagtunes]

Technology? The major improvement of the past few years was probably 0df filters. Do I need them? No, actually, I would not have bought S1 if it had had them because my computer is too weak for that.
Other than that I don't know how S1 is technologically outdated, which you seem to imply.

I have also had Hive on my computer recently, it does not sound better in terms of sound quality, although a bit different. Assuming Hive uses the latest technology since it is a brand new synth, I don't know which technologies you think S1 lacks. If they don't matter in terms of sound quality, why would I even bother having them?

Sure, S1 is not the king of flexibility, I wish it had a few more modulation targets such as individual envelope stages. But I can live with it the way it is.

I remember demoing Zebra, it was too complex and messy for my taste, didn't like the GUI, either. I am a hobby musician making 80's music, not a synth freak spending hours on a single freakish patch. The feature set is limited, but in a reasonable, productive way. For my needs S1 is perfect, actually, I am surprised how flexible it sounds, even warm pads are no problem, which I did not expect when I first demoed it. That was a nice surprise In that department it is superior to old analog hardware, simply because those lacked the number of voices S1 has. But it also works fine for basses, leads and basically anything I have tried so far.

As I said, I have no problems with what the synth does. Many synths are limited to what they can do. I own many such synths.

But they don't cost $158.

That seems to be either what you're not understanding or keep ignoring because there is no defense for it. All of my "limited" synths are either free synthmaker throwaways or cheap synths that do basic analog stuff. Anything that I have that I have spent more than $50 for, does just as much or more than Sylenth1.

Again, if you want me to go through every synth that I own that fits the above criteria, I will. I mean hell, my MUX Modular, which is so powerful and can do just about any sound and so off the charts flexible cost me a measly $61.

$61

If you can't admit that Sylenth1 is overpriced for what it can do then it's kind of pointless continuing this conversation as we're never going to agree on this.

I have no problem with Sylenth1 for what it can do.

Sell it to me for $99 (still a little pricey but okay) and I'll buy it.

I can't be anymore fair than that.

[Nightpolymath]

Technology? The major improvement of the past few years was probably 0df filters. Do I need them? No, actually, I would not have bought S1 if it had had them because my computer is too weak for that.
Other than that I don't know how S1 is technologically outdated, which you seem to imply.

I have also had Hive on my computer recently, it does not sound better in terms of sound quality, although a bit different. Assuming Hive uses the latest technology since it is a brand new synth, I don't know which technologies you think S1 lacks. If they don't matter in terms of sound quality, why would I even bother having them?

Sure, S1 is not the king of flexibility, I wish it had a few more modulation targets such as individual envelope stages. But I can live with it the way it is.

I remember demoing Zebra, it was too complex and messy for my taste, didn't like the GUI, either. I am a hobby musician making 80's music, not a synth freak spending hours on a single freakish patch. The feature set is limited, but in a reasonable, productive way. For my needs S1 is perfect, actually, I am surprised how flexible it sounds, even warm pads are no problem, which I did not expect when I first demoed it. That was a nice surprise In that department it is superior to old analog hardware, simply because those lacked the number of voices S1 has. But it also works fine for basses, leads and basically anything I have tried so far.

Good post. I don't think technology has really altered the way we perceive the sound, and improvements have been incremental rather than drastic. Digital signal processing is a solved problem, not newfangled technology still at the experimental stage. Ithzak Perlman plays a Stradivarius from the 18th century, and so far no one has asked him to replace it with a recently made violin with better "technology."

[fluffy_little_something]

Huh? I have long said that the regular price is too high and that I bought it when it was on sale. So, what's your problem with my view that S1 continues to be a great synth for 100 euros?!

I have several SE and SM synths, both free and commercial, but really, you can hear the quality difference when you make an init patch and go down the octaves. Cheap synths usually sound muffled and "diluted" there, S1 still has the high frequencies (great for bass pitch bending), and further down you can literally count the peaks.

Nor is there aliasing or other noise, even when using effects. Play chords on SE synths and you often get ugly noise with many patches.

Another things I appreciate is that S1 seems to be very robust, not a single crash or anything so far.

[wagtunes]

Huh? I have long said that the regular price is too high and that I bought it when it was on sale. So, what's your problem with my view that S1 continues to be a great synth for 100 euros?!

I have several SE and SM synths, both free and commercial, but really, you can hear the quality difference when you make an init patch and go down the octaves. Cheap synths usually sound muffled and "diluted" there, S1 still has the high frequencies (great for bass pitch bending), and further down you can literally count the peaks.

Nor is there aliasing or other noise, even when using effects. Play chords on SE synths and you often get ugly noise with many patches.

Another things I appreciate is that S1 seems to be very robust, not a single crash or anything so far.

Well I'm very happy for you that you were able to get it on sale. As i said, when I can get it for $99 max, I'll consider buying it.

I never knocked the synth for what it can do. All I said is that i have synths that can do just as much or more for less money, the same money or slightly more money.

When the company comes down to the "real" world as far as what's out there today and their prices, I think a lot more people will be buying it than already are.

That is of course unless as it's been suggested, most people just download cracked versions anyway. In that case, I guess pricing doesn't matter at all.