DUNE2 vs Sylenth1

[fluffy_little_something]

I would no longer buy any synth without good built-in effects. I hate it when I have to save dry patches and add external effects. I want to save the whole shit as a single synth patch.

[chk071]

I'd be happy with no fx. I dont see the point of fx built into synths. There are so many quality fx out there.

Yeah, i have yet to see the synth with a built in reverb as good as some quality dedicated reverb plugins, or a built in delay which sounds as good, and has as many options as Replika XT for example. Also, the advantage of using external plugins is that you can universally apply them to any VSTi, while, when you get used to the sound of a onboard fx, you'll be likely restricted to the use in the VSTi it comes with, except it allows to be used as a fx version. If it was for me, devs wouldn't have to spend time and effort on something i get in higher quality with dedicated plugins. I guess it is a selling argument though.

[fluffy_little_something]

I don't think one rules out the other. For synth-specific patches, quality built-in effects are a very neat thing.

And for buses or entire mixes you can still use more advanced external effects.

Built-in reverbs don't have to be as good as Valhalla reverbs. That is not the point of it. The S1 reverb admittedly sounds pretty poor, but the reverbs in Hybrid 3 for instance sound pretty good.

[chk071]

Let's agree to disagree. I think that especially for reverb, you can't rely on the built in ones, because, IMO, different sounds require different reverb types. For percussive sounds, i like clean sounding reverbs, or plate reverbs, while for pads i rather like more coloured, and often modulated reverb, and for pluck sounds, for example, it's very handy to have a reverb with pre-delay which really ducks the sound, some reverbs do that rather than others. If built-in usually works for you though, fair enough.

[Cinebient]

I hadn´t bought Repro-1 without the good FX....especially Jaws!
Also is there no simple way without intern FX (for me) f.e. in a synth like Alchemy to do such great morphing sounds and changing totally the timbre due to FX etc.
Then there are things where i want complex MSEG modulating a filter, chorus and maybe the delay and reverb at the same time exact the same way.
There are also a few FX in some synths i like i didn´t could found any better replacement, even when i tryed.
But i appreciate it in every synth when there is a simple FX turn off button if needed.
If someone just needs an OSC without any FX, EQ, XY pads, morphing tools whatever.....fine!

[cytospur]

I think the reverbs in Dune2 are excellent. The other effects are rather good too. Whilst I can take or leave FX on a synth, having them there gives the sound designer the opportunity to indicate how a patch might be used. Also, sometimes, the most catching element of the patch is the effect(s).

[egbert101]

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[exmatproton]

You know, the latest synths have such good quality effects nowadays, they may as well make a separate FX version, so they can be used outside of the synth for consistency. I think The Legend has a separate FX version, allowing you to use its filter too.

Indeed. I use Serum (love some of those filter types) as fx (pitched for instance + trigger fx). Lots of fun!

[fluffy_little_something]

Hybrid 3 has 7 different reverb modules, among them a plate reverb. And they all seem to have pre-delay, which is kind of standard today, along with damp, hi cut, low cut, size and time.

[wagtunes]

Here is how I look at this FX thing.

You can take away what's there. But you can't add what isn't.

If I don't like a synth's FX, I can always just not use them and use my own. But if a synth doesn't have FX or has poor ones, then I always have to add my own which means it's always one extra step that I might not have had to take had the synth had great built in FX.

In other words, I will take a synth with great built in FX over a synth with no FX any day of the week unless it's a synth that's so amazing that it's worth the extra effort to add my own FX. I don't know too many synths like that since most synths have built in FX anyway. And the super expensive synths, like Omnisphere 2 and Falcon, all have built in FX that are usually excellent.

TLDR - Give me a synth with FX over a synth without FX anytime.

[Lotuzia]

..... Whilst I can take or leave FX on a synth, having them there gives the sound designer the opportunity to indicate how a patch might be used. ....

Exactly this. Then, I think one should also make a distinction between modulation/insert fx ( Chorus, Phaser, tremoloe, Wah etc) and certain aux FX (mainly Reverb, sometimes delay as well). While I often leave the first ones, I almost always remove the plug in reverb, and simply use an aux send to feed the main, or one of a couple of main reverbs, in a mix. Reason is I especially dislike mixes with tons of different spaces, where the keys plays in a big room, the guitar in a hall, and drummer has the BD in an anechoic chamber, and half of his kit in the WC ... Most often, such situations doesnt help to glue a mix and make it coherent, and that's why I avoid them. I prefer to usefrom 1 to 3 (max) external reverbs ( And besides very few ones, synths internal reverbs are of a lower quality than my external ones, and, even with the external ones, I'm certainly a bit overpicky, cos I really like quite few )

Otoh, as I always have one or two reverb ready on an aux bus, synths without reverb dont bother me at all. I simply feed the verb with an aux send, and I can work at once as if the synth had a glorious reverb.

[fluffy_little_something]

Here is how I look at this FX thing.

You can take away what's there. But you can't add what isn't.

If I don't like a synth's FX, I can always just not use them and use my own. But if a synth doesn't have FX or has poor ones, then I always have to add my own which means it's always one extra step that I might not have had to take had the synth had great built in FX.

In other words, I will take a synth with great built in FX over a synth with no FX any day of the week unless it's a synth that's so amazing that it's worth the extra effort to add my own FX. I don't know too many synths like that since most synths have built in FX anyway. And the super expensive synths, like Omnisphere 2 and Falcon, all have built in FX that are usually excellent.

TLDR - Give me a synth with FX over a synth without FX anytime.

Especially when you make sound sets for others, good built-in effects are useful when for instance a reverb, chorus or delay is a key part of the patch. You can hardly include a manual telling people which external effects they have to use in order to achieve the patch you had in mind

[Examigan]

One of the only synths I have that doesn't have effects is Loomer's Aspect. It's great as-is, but I wouldn't complain if they added a delay and reverb.

[Lotuzia]

Here is how I look at this FX thing.

You can take away what's there. But you can't add what isn't.

If I don't like a synth's FX, I can always just not use them and use my own. ....

There's some -good- logic there

[JoeCat]

Here is how I look at this FX thing.

You can take away what's there. But you can't add what isn't.

If I don't like a synth's FX, I can always just not use them and use my own. ....

There's some -good- logic there

Agreed - in addition, it's a huge help when there's a global effects on/off switch that's patch-load independent, so you can load everything dry.

Some effects make great sense in the context of the synth (like the spring reverbs in u-he's Bazille and Madrona Labs Aalto).