We now finally have at least one thing clear regarding Synth1...

[whassup]

There goes the chance of a fourth oscillator, wavetables and FM for my 1963 MiniMoog...
Seriously, Synth1 is working reasonably stable and awesome here.
And if it's gone then it's...

[Chicken Drummy]

That sucks. Thank you for the update, though. I do wonder why Ichiro is so unwilling to release the code. It's entirely his call of course but damn, what a drag....

[Chicken Drummy]

Why would he? Why would anyone want it?

It's a relic, doesn't come close to stuff available now

Why? Because there are some sounds I was able to coax from Synth1 that I've not quite been able to replicate with other software even after all these years. (Sure, maybe that comes down to my lack of skill, who knows? )

But for me it was a character thing. That synth had a certain sweet spot - these sharp, chimey, jangly lead, pluck and bell type sounds - that Synth1 excelled at. It was often my secret weapon in a lot of my older tracks.

So in my case, that's why.

[glokraw]

Synth1 has a collection of sound and synth capabilities that are easily accessible, and it's good to know that something new is always a short time away. Having 10 tools to use quickly can at times be more appealing than having to ski the learning curve of synths with 200. And speaking of two hundred, having 200 preset types spread among 20,000 variants of those, in a self-contained preset selector, is also valuable. I admire sound designers, and I will not become one in this world, but I appreciate those who share such skills and make nuanced improvements to many favorite sounds.

I'll guess that some level of insider synth knowlege is the basis for not open-sourcing the code, and that Mr Toda is honouring that relationship. More such honour is needed in this world.

[starflakeprj]

If the GUI is the main problem with Synth1, then it should be possible to create a wrapper with a new GUI that only loads Synth1, assuming all parameters are mappable.

[Teksonik]

I have mixed feeling about this story. Key point for me is that we know Ichiro is still alive so that's great news. He was always a very nice guy.

I'm kind of glad he won't release the code. One could dream that he's going to release Synth 2 but I don't think that will ever happen. The last Beta was only 12 years ago so not a life time but I fear that's the last version we'll see. I've always been of the opinion that back in the day a Synth 2 would have been a commercial success.

At any rate Synth 1 will always hold a special place in my heart. If I remember correctly I released the second full free bank of presets for it very early on.

Does it stand up to the synths of today in a market that has innovated and evolved in all that time? Perhaps not but it still has it's own flavor, love it or hate it.

Let's not forget the CPUs we used to run it on. I first ran it on a Duron 850 if I recall correctly or perhaps it was a Pentium 4 and even back then it was incredibly efficient. I think it's some of the tightest code ever written. It was the first resizable plugin (again if my ageing memory recalls back 24 years) and one of the first to allow custom GUI colors.

Synth 1 is a first ballot Hall of Fame plugin to me. The fact what we're still talking about it almost two and a half decades later speaks volumes for its quality and impact on the plugin world. Not too many (if any) other synths that old still get mentioned.

[Seafire Mk2]

I do, for the hardware synths I own and have ROMs of. But that is a different thing altogether.

Also - if you think it can't be that hard to reverse engineer Synth1, why don't you try and do it? It's easy to be an armchair programmer!

Taking credit for other people's work isn't my style, and I have much better tools in my arsenal so it would be totally pointless.

[VikingWarrior]

The only thing I really would have hoped for with Synth1 is a VST3 version to keep it futureproof.

[EvilDragon]

Well technically you could always wrap it in BlueCat Patchwork or Kush Element etc etc. That even gets you AAX support for those who want it.

It's an extra layer, sure, but realistically it's about the only thing you can do.

[Matt67]

I still really enjoy using Synth1, especially for sweep sounds. For analog sweeps, I usually go with Korg emulations, and for digital ones, Nave. But for anything in between, Synth1 is still my go-to choice—when I don’t want it to sound completely analog or digital. Maybe you know what I mean. I’m sure this works with other synths too and sounds just as good. But why spend time searching and recreating something when I already have something installed that can do it? So I’ll probably keep using Synth1 as long as it works with my DAW.

[whassup]

I still really enjoy using Synth1, especially for sweep sounds. For analog sweeps, I usually go with Korg emulations, and for digital ones, Nave. But for anything in between, Synth1 is still my go-to choice—when I don’t want it to sound completely analog or digital. Maybe you know what I mean.

Yes, the -good digital- in certain VAs. That's what makes a Virus, JX8P, Nord Lead, GR8, etc. so desirable. Character and colors.

[Teksonik]

That's one possibility. Another one, which somehow makes more sense to me, is that Daichi-san might be embarrased about his old code and that's why he doesn't want to release it out in the wild. And that's understandable, too.

To be honest that comes off as a kind of arrogant statement from someone who takes other people's code.

The possibility that makes the most sense to me is that he's very proud of his code (and rightfully so) and doesn't want you to get your grubby hands on it.

Too bad the guy who knows a guy who knows a guy didn't ask Ichiro if he has any plans for Synth 1 in the future or any plans for other projects.

[Teksonik]

Anyway I had a play with Synth1 yesterday for the first time in awhile and you know what? It's still a very nice sounding synth. Is it the best sounding synth in 2026? Of course not but it does have its own character and that's important.

I invite everyone to try Ann Nolwenn's "Dark Choir" patch found in her third bank if I'm not mistaken. It sounds sampled it's so good. She did other great patches as well:

http://ann.sounds.free.fr/

Synth 1 is capable of a surprisingly wide range of sounds given its somewhat limited architecture. I think it still stands in the upper echelon of freeware synths even all these years later.

[EvilDragon]

To be honest that comes off as a kind of arrogant statement from someone who takes other people's code.

Not at all intended, but I have to say I noticed that sort of behavioral pattern with quite a number of Japanese people... Not all of them of course, but it definitely is a thing.

"Takes other people's code" statement is weird, though... Open source is not about taking.

[EvilDragon]

I invite everyone to try Ann Nolwenn's "Dark Choir" patch found in her third bank if I'm not mistaken. It sounds sampled it's so good. She did other great patches as well

Ann's patches are friggin amazing!

And yours are, too!

And BigTone, of course...