What Can Hive/Sylenth/Diva Do Uniquely?

[telecode]

Just got Hive 2, love it and finding it much lower on CPU than Diva, which I also have. Also found Zebra to be lower on CPU than Diva. But it does depend on the patch; you can get almost any synth to take a lot of CPU if you try hard enough. The question is how much the average patch takes, and which features of the synth you need and use (especially unison and oversampling).

my understanding of it is (i may be wrong as am not a VST expert) is that the number of instances you can run of it is what makes or breaks it. There is a fellow on another forum who claims to have 30 instances of Zebra running in project and its stable. Maybe due to Zebra's modular nature and you can make very light on CPU patches. I don't know.

If you were to try 30 instances of Massive X or Hive, will it be stable? One instance of Massive X pretty much loads up the entire synth, no?

[clipnotic]

One thing I can tell you for sure, don't waste your money on Sylenth 1. It's ancient and not worth anything like what they are asking for it any more. It's had its day and you can do much better for your money. If you want something for trance, buy JP6K for 25 euros instead.

One fo your biggest nonsense ever!

Sylenth was my second VST I bought by release many years ago and I still use it in almost every track in different genres and always if I produce Trance stuff. Meanwhile I have almost all "known big" VSTs, so I could use others easily. Sylenth has for example one the best "snappy" envelopes and clearest OSCs I know. And it's also the easiest to use VST synth with quality results I know, so it's good for learning and also for fast workflow! For Sylenth you also get the most soundbanks in also many different genres, especially for Trance!

[ghostwhistler]

Seems rather ancient to call a program that, at least in part, exists to generate retro analogue sounds, 'ancient'. Perhaps it is, but the demo seems very usable to me. I don't quite understand the mod section or why there are two sets of cutoff/res controls. But I love 'meditation pad'. Gorgeous. The massive VAT slapped (thanks government!) doesn't really help, but I'm tempted for a tenner a month, especially if the cpu load is as light as ive heard.

[BONES]

Sylenth has for example one the best "snappy" envelopes and clearest OSCs I know. And it's also the easiest to use VST synth with quality results I know, so it's good for learning and also for fast workflow!

Yes but that's because it was the second VSTi you ever bought, so of course you find it easy. I've tried the demo several times and I hated it. The way I had to stack mod matrix entries to get the depth of modulation I wanted, for example, made it a PITA to work with. It is way too basic for him to still be asking 140 Euros for it in 2021 - only a handful of oscillator waveforms and the very minimum of basic VA modulation options. At $50 it might be justifiable but there is no way it is worth what he's asking for it. ArcSyn, for example, is basically half the price and it is a much more capable synth, with a single page GUI, that sounds at least as good and is just as light on CPU.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Sylenth1 has unique workflow and character,that's why people still use it
The more sophisticated and powerful a synth is ,the more time it takes to program it and the inspiration gone eventually.
I can achieve same or even better results with Sylenth1 for 2 minutes than 90% of the other synths,just sit better in the mix.

[ghostwhistler]

This may be a silly question.

What is a workflow? I don't get this word

[PieBerger]

This may be a silly question.

What is a workflow? I don't get this word

The flow of work in terms of synth programming I think of it of how features are implemented both in terms of function and presentation in the UI. If you have to open a tab within a tab to access a parameter and this locks you out of accessing other parameters, this is a bad workflow, at least for me personally.

[chk071]

It is way too basic for him to still be asking 140 Euros for it in 2021 - only a handful of oscillator waveforms and the very minimum of basic VA modulation options. At $50 it might be justifiable but there is no way it is worth what he's asking for it.

I agree TBH. In 2021, there's much better options (e.g. Spire) with a lot better functionality. If he'd charge $99 for it, alright, but, for that price, it's a bit ridiculous. Sylenth1 largely lives from a cult factor the synth gathered more than 10 years ago. I'd never pay full price for it
nowadays.

I can only speculate how much money Lennard could make with a successor. With such a name, I'd think it will sell like hot cakes.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Agree it's little overpriced 2021,but still this doesn't stop people to buy and use it
Workflow is line of functions or access to parameters,imagine desk with tools so on
Cheers

[Ploki]

Regards Hive 2: how is it for CPU, compared to Diva?

High.... it almost as bad as the DIVA if you want low CPU go for the Sylenth or Dune

I use hive live almost exclusively. It’s light on cpu, and nowhere NEAR diva.

Hive2 is my fav go-to synth for making stuff from scratch as well. It’s so damn fast and playable.

[DrGonzo]

I'm a bit of a Diva fanatic so please take my words with a huge grain of salt

What I absolutely adore about Diva is the cross modulation in the Jupiter oscillator. Set the oscillators to sawtooth and dial in just a touch of cross modulation and you get a bit into faking supersaws. Work with detuning and extreme settings and you go straight into cinematic ambient territory.

Another thing that is absolutely crazy fun is the stacking feature that can create anything from complex chords to uberfat synth sounds.

Hive is a totally different animal, and it's strength lies in its modulation and wavetables. It's almost a quasi-sampler and if importing good quality wavetables you can almost do anything you want with it. But when making sounds for it, I miss the different filters in Diva and (always) the cross modulation.

/Carl

[ReviveLin]

Dune3. Icarus. Electra.

[Spring Goose]

This may be a silly question.

What is a workflow? I don't get this word

It's (your) "flow" of "work" (programming the synth) (how quickly (you) can/do program the synth).

[cryophonik]

It's so funny, I was in the "Sylenth1 is overpriced/overrated/under-featured" camp for years before I started doing heavy collaborations with another musician a few years ago and he insisted that we use it. So, I bought it and began using it pretty heavily for our collabs and, eventually, my own work and other collabs. Now, it's one of my favorite and most-used synths. I just needed to accept its limitations and appreciate it for what it is, not what it isn't.

[ghostwhistler]

Regards Hive 2: how is it for CPU, compared to Diva?

High.... it almost as bad as the DIVA if you want low CPU go for the Sylenth or Dune

I use hive live almost exclusively. It’s light on cpu, and nowhere NEAR diva.

Hive2 is my fav go-to synth for making stuff from scratch as well. It’s so damn fast and playable.

To be clear, as I'm having a sernior moment, when you say "hive live" you mean using Hive to play live?

So, I purchased it. It's great. Do you know any good tutorials? I must be a masochist trying to learn this AND Diva at the same time!