SYLENTH 1..works a dream in Live 7...

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:40 pm

^ I get waht you're saying with "dressing" it up, and I know analog does well indeed. I think it's all those other factors that really bring it home for me and everyone else who loves this synth.

In any case, I'm glad you got to try it out. I was curious as to how it compared to your Voyager...I suspect the answer will be "no where close"

glitchrock-buddha · Post by **glitchrock-buddha** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:02 pm

Poster wrote:just downloaded the Sylenth demo to hear what this fuzz is all about...

not impressed really.. (not judging the utterly fugly trance presets it comes with)..

I A/B'd it with Analog, only 2 oscs and the filter, all FX off.. they're very close and alike..

mind you that Sylenth comes with a butt load of inhouse FX and a A-B oscillator section..
if you strip it to the bare minimum all this 'powerhousing' is gone..

its a great synth, but i.m.o. not as good as some are trying to claim it is..
Analog is at least on par when it comes to raw oscillator/filter power..

I couldn't disagree more. And believe me, I want to agree. I really wanted to like analog since I own it with the suite, but the raw oscillators come nowhere close to Sylenth1. And the filters aren't even in the same league.

Before I got sylenth1, I wouldn't really use analog, mainly because I'd use zebra2, minimonsta, ARP2600, pro-53, massive or gladiator for VA sounds. But sylenth1 just sounds that much better for stripped down simple phat VA, that I doubt I will use many of those anymore for that. I'll still use them for what makes each of them unique, but mostly it's sylenth1 now.

And regarding the question about novation automap, yes you see the parameter names on the lcd screen of the novation. Sylenth1 is particularly well suited because it's not modular. It's hardwired with a very standard layout the fits the controls well on the novation.

cheers

Poster · Post by **Poster** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:08 pm

nebulae wrote:I was curious as to how it compared to your Voyager...I suspect the answer will be "no where close"

I'm the last to say such things..
I've owned a fair lot of analog hardware.. the Voyager is absolutely the cleanest of them all..
VST's come very, very close when it comes down to this so named 'analog' sound..

The newer the analog hardware (Dave Smith, Moog) the closer a VST can come i.m.o..
Because still the hardest part to emulate is the sloppyness, the unpredictable and unstable circuits..
No, slightly detune an oscillator with an LFO doesn't cut it.. theres more.. its alive..

The 'character' my MS20 had is something I never heard coming out of a VST..
It was totally unpredictable and unstable, which gave it that nice charm..
In fact it turned out it was broken.. the internal power supply unit had a flaw that made the whole circuit unstable..
Now that unstable was good! but because the LFO was totally out of order I had to get it fixed..
Once I got it back it sounded so clean, so stable.. sigh..

The real reason I still prefer hardware over VST is the dedicated interaction I have with the instrument..
Soundwise software can do a lot more and is just as good as contemporary analog/digi hardware..
Its just still that small 'undefined' factor that makes the difference..

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:12 pm

^ makes complete sense...you're The Joker...you like your chaos.

That makes me Batman.

Werd.

rob lee · Post by **rob lee** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:31 pm

just a thought....if you don't like the sylenth presets and think they all sound trancey why not create your own??? sylenth has enough creative power for what i need anyways..

rob

Frederik654 · Post by **Frederik654** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:56 pm

What if ..

Now so called 'bad' Vst's would sound perfectly the same as old analog gear..

Would we like the 'better' Vst's more or would the 'bad' ones become the 'better' ones ?

Translated on-topic; What if Analog was a perfect emulation of a Moog or Arp or Pro53, What would be our opinions on Sylenth1 and Zebra2 likes ?

Fred

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:58 pm

^ I know you're making a good point, but I don't know what you're saying.

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:02 pm

Who'd have thought a simple statement like 'I tried sylenth and it works great in Live 7' would provoke a 5 page response"

Additionally, every time someone recommends a VA emulation you are guaranteed a) someone will come out and argue their knackered old moog or whatever 70's synth still creams any vst/au (possibly, but the title of the thread wasn't 'SHould I go hardware or software analog'); b) someone will pitch in with a whine about Analog and it's lack of usability and CPU unfriendliness *based on it's presets which are almost all racked 4,5,6 FX deep, multiple FX chains etc, so what do you expect is going to happen to the CPU - turn off the bloody reverbs and choruses and delays and use a freaking send*; c) Any reference to any softsynth other than Zebra being good will result in 2 dozen Zebra fans weighing in and pooh-pooing anything non U-He. and the sheep who '+1'

Well, Zebra is a great synth, +1 (yes, I am another sheep !). Yes, failing hardware will never be totally emulated 100% (arturia are having a good crack at it, their TAE engine even emulates circuit degradation to a point).

Sylenth looks pretty good. Test it out. I personally think the GUI is OK. DO more than pull up presets, tweak it around and see if it gets your mojo going. If it doesn't then fine, Zebra or any number of vst/au's or hardware will do it but it isn't necessary to write a 15,000 word essay

Frederik654 · Post by **Frederik654** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:05 pm

I guess I mean that 'maybe' there is no point in having synths win a 'best of' when it comes to sound. It can by it's capabilities, visualization and price tag, but not by it's sound.

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:07 pm

Frederik654 wrote:I guess I mean that 'maybe' there is no point in having synths win a 'best of' when it comes to sound. It can by it's capabilities, visualization and price tag, but not by it's sound.

aah, excellent point. However, I'm still writing a complaint about you:

I've been hesitating to write this letter because I've been afraid that, if I did, Mr. Frederik 654 would do everything in his power to make me develop an eating disorder. But after reading about Mr. 654's predatory personal attacks, I could hesitate no longer. Without going into all the gory details, let's just say that Mr. 654 exhibits an air of superiority. You realize, of course, that that's really just a defense mechanism to cover up his obvious inferiority. Unlike his credos, my own wisecracks are not vague and undefined. Sadly, lack of space prevents me from elaborating further. Now the surprising news: Certain facts are clear. For instance, you may make the comment, "What does this have to do with detestable, grotty scaramouches?" Well, once you begin to see the light you'll realize that Mr. 654's publications are now a staple of his sympathizers' half-measures. Now, I could go off on that point alone, but for the nonce, he is content to create widespread hysteria. But quicker than you can double-check the spelling of "archaeopterygiformes", he will threaten the existence of human life, perhaps all life on the planet. Until we address this issue, we will never move beyond it.

Poster · Post by **Poster** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:09 pm

leedsquietman wrote:Who'd have thought a simple statement like 'I tried sylenth and it works great in Live 7' would provoke a 5 page response"

are you even slightly familiar round these parts?

lay a turd.. someone WILL pick it up..

anyway.. if directed at me.. I never stated anything you say..

lola · Post by **lola** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:10 pm

Poster wrote:
nebulae wrote:I was curious as to how it compared to your Voyager...I suspect the answer will be "no where close"
I'm the last to say such things..
I've owned a fair lot of analog hardware.. the Voyager is absolutely the cleanest of them all..
VST's come very, very close when it comes down to this so named 'analog' sound..

The newer the analog hardware (Dave Smith, Moog) the closer a VST can come i.m.o..
Because still the hardest part to emulate is the sloppyness, the unpredictable and unstable circuits..
No, slightly detune an oscillator with an LFO doesn't cut it.. theres more.. its alive..

The 'character' my MS20 had is something I never heard coming out of a VST..
It was totally unpredictable and unstable, which gave it that nice charm..
In fact it turned out it was broken.. the internal power supply unit had a flaw that made the whole circuit unstable..
Now that unstable was good! but because the LFO was totally out of order I had to get it fixed..
Once I got it back it sounded so clean, so stable.. sigh..

The real reason I still prefer hardware over VST is the dedicated interaction I have with the instrument..
Soundwise software can do a lot more and is just as good as contemporary analog/digi hardware..
Its just still that small 'undefined' factor that makes the difference..

To me the most common thing that doesn't get emulated nicely so far is analog resonance.
I never heard a vst which can do proper selfoscilation and has a nice reso like analog does have.
For example, those free tal-uno juno60 vst which are very nicely coded are not capable of doing this... with reso open it just sounds like a clean sinus wave.

Frederik654 · Post by **Frederik654** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:12 pm

nebulae wrote: Until we address this issue, we will never move beyond it.

You just did ..

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:13 pm

^ I dunno, lola, Nitro, Volcano, and Quadfrohmage all have nice self-oscillation filters, and Sylenth1 has an nice filter that does this, as well as a drive function that can really make some squeeling sounds.

Often, I'll add a really good filter in the chain of a not-so good synth, and get a good result. Fortunately, with Sylenth1, we make no such compromises

Poster · Post by **Poster** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:14 pm

lola wrote: To me the most common thing that doesn't get emulated nicely so far is analog resonance.
I never heard a vst which can do proper selfoscilation and has a nice reso like analog does have.
For example, those free tal-uno juno60 vst which are very nicely coded are not capable of doing this... with reso open it just sounds like a clean sinus wave.

+1
funny you say that because I wanted to add that in my post but thought it was enough already..