KVR Audio

VividX · Post by **VividX** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:02 am

Over the years I've acquired a Triton Studio 76, Motif XS7 and ES Rack, a V-Synth GT, the Fantom XR, the Tetra, the Gaia, an MPC 2500, Komplete 7 and Maschine, Pro Tools 10 full, Ableton Suite 8, Reason 4, I have 6 expansion boards installed in the Triton and my ES Rack has the piano expansion, I collect quality soundsets and loops from Loopmasters and a few other sites, I even still have the red ASRX "Pro" I started making beats with in 1999, the one with the George Clinton and DJ Jazzy Jeff expansion! I love all my gear and I rarely sell anything because I need certain sounds forever. I've always reminded myself that a synth only needs ONE essential sound to be worth what I paid for it. Yet after only a few hours I can honestly say the Sylenth 1 is my favorite so far. Anyone agree with me? That's it's your favorite synth after a long journey? Whether it is or not, please list your synth gear, if you have time, and what your favorite is.

I recently purchased Pro Tools 10 full and am in love with the sounds. I love what I've heard from Logic too. The V-Synth was a great find on eBay because I only paid half retail and it's the most expressive board I've ever played. The Motif XS is my go-to for standard "keyboardist" sounds (I'm a guitarist but I've played keys for about 17 years now, thanks to a JX-8P that I miss sometimes, for at least one sound I remember) and the ES has at least a couple sounds that completely blow my mind. I could go on and on, I love what every soft synth does and I plan on buying more .... eventually, but because the Sylenth 1 is so amazing I'll probably just buy soundsets from Loopmasters, Vengeance, etc. I've never felt that way about a synth before. Who am I kidding? These presets are really all I need.

Future Music (or was it Computer Music, can't remember) gave the Sylenth high marks but for some reason it took me this long to give it a chance. I am so glad I finally did. Here is my top 5:

1. Sylenth 1
2. V-Synth GT
3. Motif ES Rack
4. Triton Studio 76
5. Massive

Sylenth 1 has to be the best kept secret in the synth world

V'ger · Post by **V'ger** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:19 am

High praise and almost agree, Zebra would still be the one I'd keep if only allowed one, Sylenth 2nd. Maybe this will change once I get more into Diva, but is as for now.

Mushy Mushy · Post by **Mushy Mushy** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:20 am

Sylenth1 a secret?

V'ger · Post by **V'ger** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:46 am

Hm, is it already generally accepted as topping hardware now?

xx JPRacer xx · Post by **xx JPRacer xx** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:56 am

Mushy Mushy wrote:Sylenth1 a secret?

I had the same reaction.

mholloway · Post by **mholloway** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:15 am

It's definitely a great choice for favorite synth. I own a huge assortment of soft-synths and yeah, I'd rank Sylenth at the top, *maybe* the very top -- the competition would be Omnisphere, and it's sort of silly to compare those two side by side, as Omni is a different beast entirely (but still quite remarkable). But for sheer ease of use, exceptional sound quality, excellent preset library, and all around bang for buck, it's hard for me to name anything out there that is better than Sylenth1. My overall favorite collection though (and thereby in a sense my 'favorite synths') is still the Korg Legacy Analog collection. Mono/Poly, Polysix and MS-20 will always be among my favorite soft-synths. Still use them every day.

Though I agree with others here in that it's hardly a secret

-M

bluedad · Post by **bluedad** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:29 am

I tried the demo years ago; didn't do anything for me.
zebra, is almost all I need..in software.

VividX · Post by **VividX** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:30 am

I understand that it's not a secret per-se, but I had no idea that it was essential until I heard the demo. There is a lot of buzz surrounding Massive, and I know there are a ton of boards considered standards in the industry. Sylenth1 pretty much destroys them all. I'll have to check out Zebra for sure, I have my eye on Papen's Explorer bundle, I'll definitely upgrade to Komplete 8, etc. I guess what I mean is I should have sensed more outpouring of love for the Sylenth1, like I'm expressing now. I appreciate all the insight so far, I realize I'm not the most technical gear fanatic, I had to email Lennard support a couple times to get the demo off my macbook pro.

VividX · Post by **VividX** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:36 am

mholloway wrote:It's definitely a great choice for favorite synth. I own a huge assortment of soft-synths and yeah, I'd rank Sylenth at the top, *maybe* the very top -- the competition would be Omnisphere, and it's sort of silly to compare those two side by side, as Omni is a different beast entirely (but still quite remarkable). But for sheer ease of use, exceptional sound quality, excellent preset library, and all around bang for buck, it's hard for me to name anything out there that is better than Sylenth1. My overall favorite collection though (and thereby in a sense my 'favorite synths') is still the Korg Legacy Analog collection. Mono/Poly, Polysix and MS-20 will always be among my favorite soft-synths. Still use them every day.

Though I agree with others here in that it's hardly a secret

-M

I've had Stylus since '02 and I know I'll get all the Spectrasonics synths ... again ... eventually.

My next purchase is obviously going to be Zebra based on the response.

VividX · Post by **VividX** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:54 am

bluedad wrote:I tried the demo years ago; didn't do anything for me.
zebra, is almost all I need..in software.

Ok, cool, when I get back home to my iMac (3.4Ghz quad) in a week I'm gonna throw down for Zebra, but please consider this, I only started to feel the Sylenth1 vibe when I discovered Vengeance Sound, and without even purchasing my first soundset I know they're putting together some epic patches. For the price of the Sylenth1 and just one soundset I'd say it's a worthy investment for any synth composer or music producer.

bluedad · Post by **bluedad** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:57 am

VividX wrote:
Ok, cool, when I get back home to my iMac (3.4Ghz quad) in a week I'm gonna throw down for Zebra, but please consider this, I only started to feel the Sylenth1 vibe when I discovered Vengeance Sound, and without even purchasing my first soundset I know they're putting together some epic patches. For the price of the Sylenth1 and just one soundset I'd say it's a worthy investment for any synth composer or music producer.

That's good for you, I can sense your excitement. It just didn't work for me.

xx JPRacer xx · Post by **xx JPRacer xx** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:10 am

If you like Sylenth then I suggest you try Dune from Synapse Audio. For me it's a better version of Sylenth. I also really like the synths from Tone2, Gladiator and ElectraX, though they're not really comparable to Sylenth or Dune I think they sound really, really good.

VividX · Post by **VividX** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:19 am

bluedad wrote:
VividX wrote:
Ok, cool, when I get back home to my iMac (3.4Ghz quad) in a week I'm gonna throw down for Zebra, but please consider this, I only started to feel the Sylenth1 vibe when I discovered Vengeance Sound, and without even purchasing my first soundset I know they're putting together some epic patches. For the price of the Sylenth1 and just one soundset I'd say it's a worthy investment for any synth composer or music producer.
That's good for you, I can sense your excitement. It just didn't work for me.

I completely understand, I'm that way about most Reason sounds, and I'll even include Ableton and Logic, I have to work too hard to get something that inspires me. I want to love the sounds but it just doesn't happen.

It would be a little more interesting to me if you mentioned a few other synths that do work for you. If Zebra is your only synth DAMN. Hey, only speculating here, maybe you were also "pissed off" by the fake "thank you trying this demo" guy, I know I was getting there, and I bought it after thinking, either I buy it now or hate Lennard forever. I'm glad I chose the latter. Speculating again, you sound like more of a sound designer, which I definitely am not. I tweek sounds but I don't know what I'm doing most of the time. I need the sounds to impress me right away. I'm excited for Zebra, I had never heard of it before I posted today.

mholloway · Post by **mholloway** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:34 am

xx JPRacer xx wrote:If you like Sylenth then I suggest you try Dune from Synapse Audio. For me it's a better version of Sylenth. I also really like the synths from Tone2, Gladiator and ElectraX, though they're not really comparable to Sylenth or Dune I think they sound really, really good.

I'm curious to hear why, specifically, you find Dune to be a superior version of Sylenth? What's better about it?

thanks,
-M

bluedad · Post by **bluedad** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:50 am

VividX wrote: It would be a little more interesting to me if you mentioned a few other synths that do work for you. If Zebra is your only synth DAMN. Hey, only speculating here, maybe you were also "pissed off" by the fake "thank you trying this demo" guy, I know I was getting there, and I bought it after thinking, either I buy it now or hate Lennard forever. I'm glad I chose the latter. Speculating again, you sound like more of a sound designer, which I definitely am not. I tweek sounds but I don't know what I'm doing most of the time. I need the sounds to impress me right away. I'm excited for Zebra, I had never heard of it before I posted today.

Well, I'm more of a musician than anything..but am in the process of putting my DAW back together, and Zebra was the first thing I installed. Followed so far by Reaktor, FM8 and Alchemy.

Sylenth 1 is my Favorite Synth