Chiwalker Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I am debating between Sylenth1 by LennarDigitalle and Vanguard by reFX. I like both demos, and would really see myself in the future with both. Has anyone used these and have any recommendations or problems with either? (I will use mainly with FL studio) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoozer Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Neither. Go for http://tone2.com/html/gladiator_2_vsti_au_synthesize.html or http://www.synapse-audio.com/dune.php Vanguard is old. Sylenth hasn't been updated in ages. The two mentioned above are more capable and cover all that Vanguard and Sylenth1 do - and do a lot more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazygecko Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I've tried Sylenth1 a bit, didn't see anything that made it stand out from all the other regular synthesizers out there. Vanguard has a lot more character to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 $200? Zebra 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiwalker Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 $200?Zebra 2. I've heard good things about Zebra from my teacher, but the interface looks nontraditional. why would I get the zebra as opposed to a more familiar one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I've heard good things about Zebra from my teacher, but the interface looks nontraditional. why would I get the zebra as opposed to a more familiar one? You can do anything with it. Like. Anything. It has so many modules you can implement, fully customizable wave tables and tons of cool effects for your oscillators. It's also Hans Zimmer's favorite as I hear it. And it's pretty easy to learn how to use, just watch Zircon's tutorials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Get sylenth,absynth, fm8,or massive. I Love sylenth tho, excellent synth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 You do realize you just made him more confused about what to get, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoozer Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 but the interface looks nontraditional. There's no reason to keep hanging on to a tradition that works in the real world if you're suddenly dealing with a screen instead of the real world. If you mean that the knobs don't look like knobs but rather like brightly colored circular bars - that's good, because it gives a far faster visual indicator of the value of the parameter. why would I get the zebra as opposed to a more familiar one? Because of its possibilities. Sylenth - while it sounds good - is limited in terms of synthesis. Zebra isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 You do realize you just made him more confused about what to get, right? Its his choice, It depends on what sound he is looking for. Its all down to what type of synthesis he wants to do, and what waveforms he wants to experiment with because now adays alot of synth are the same. the best way to find a synth you like is to demo it, see if you can access its parameters with ease (unless you want the learning curve to find things), the amount of possible waveforms and sounds,etc... And one thing I learned is that wasting money on a basic subtractive synth is a mistake when your daw comes with excellent synths already like abletons operator which i used in one track, and people thought i was using a nord I rented back ago. (Now adays if I need a synth to sound fat, I would put a guitar cab/bogner impulse on the track XD) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Its his choice, It depends on what sound he is looking for. He's asking which of the TWO he was looking at, you actually multiplied his conflict by adding more choices and no definite answer. Why do you post here if almost everything you offer is counter-helpful? Chiwalker, I'll also throw in a vote for Zebra 2. It has a different interface, but once you get past that, this thing can do about everything for you. The best part is that almost everyone uses it, that means a lot of people develop more sounds and presets for it, a lot of are free and pretty damn good. U-he is a pretty cool guy too, so its a win all the way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiwalker Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 To everyone who is "confusing" me, I appreciate it...really. I am open to trying new things so I will try out the Zebra demo to see if I like it. However, I found out sylenth offers an educational discount (30%!) so I may be able to afford multiple new toys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Well, the thing with a synth like that is, if you know what you're doing, you can probably get/make virtually the same stuff with it that you could for others - so don't spend more money out just to get more stuff on a discount. Start with Zebra 2 first (try the demo) and see how much you like it. Don't fall into the myth that buying more stuff will somehow advance you automatically as an artist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 He's asking which of the TWO he was looking at, you actually multiplied his conflict by adding more choices and no definite answer. Why do you post here if almost everything you offer is counter-helpful? Because having a choice of 2 synth names is pretty narrow, and he can demo each one and pick the sound he wants to beable to create his own style of sound. And what will kill in trying more more synths(including free vsts). Thats like going to a guitar center(or music store) and only trying two guitars/amps out many that you may like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Because having a choice of 2 synth names is pretty narrow, and he can demo each one and pick the sound he wants to beable to create his own style of sound. And what will kill in trying more more synths(including free vsts). Thats like going to a guitar center(or music store) and only trying two guitars/amps out many that you may like. Granted there is some hypocrisy with that everyone else here is suggesting other synths than what he was asking, but the goal still is to keep it simple and yours really wasn't that helpful. It's not quite the same as a guitar store because you can't just pick up a VST and play it quite as easily as you could a guitar. Absynth is not a synth I would recommend along those same lines because its far better for ambient purposes than what Sylenth and Vanguard give. Actually, recommending anything NI has by itself is pretty pointless since they exist in the much better KOMPLETE package (or will at some time). Zebra 2 is the best recommendation (although I probably would've gone with z3ta). Ok, enough of that tangent and back to the topic. Walker of Energy Auras, what is your skill level with synthesizer/DAW stuff? Are you a beginner, intermediate or something along those lines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiwalker Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 you can't just pick up a VST and play it quite as easily as you could a VST. ^ >.> Walker of Energy Auras, what is your skill level with synthesizer/DAW stuff? Are you a beginner, intermediate or something along those lines? Chi is short...for child but yeah that works. You could say I'm intermediate with synthesis...I rarely use presets because I find it much easier and satisfying to find a way to make the sound I'm looking for. I like the idea of sylenth1 and vanguard because I come from a ~1 year background of synth1 (the free vst HAH) but I do love synth1, and it is getting better, but it has some issues with it's LFO and mod depth routing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 ^ >.> Yeah I fixed it. Chi is short...for child but yeah that works. You could say I'm intermediate with synthesis...I rarely use presets because I find it much easier and satisfying to find a way to make the sound I'm looking for. I like the idea of sylenth1 and vanguard because I come from a ~1 year background of synth1 (the free vst HAH) but I do love synth1, and it is getting better, but it has some issues with it's LFO and mod depth routing. Awesome, Zebra 2 is your synth, man. It has a crazy amount of stuff that can help you make kick-ass sounds you're looking for. Even Hans Zimmer uses Zebra 2 for stuff like Inception. You have your winner there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrototypeRaptor Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 You could say I'm intermediate with synthesis...I rarely use presets because I find it much easier and satisfying to find a way to make the sound I'm looking for. I would recommend massive for synthesis... Personally, I like the workflow a bit more than zebra2. Between the two you mentioned in OP: sylenth is very limited, but it sounds really good at what it does: typical bread n butter sounds. It is better at this than vanguard, easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eilios Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I would recommend massive for synthesis... Personally, I like the workflow a bit more than zebra2.Between the two you mentioned in OP: sylenth is very limited, but it sounds really good at what it does: typical bread n butter sounds. It is better at this than vanguard, easily. I'd take Synleth over Vanguard, too. Go with Zebra2. If you're going to get Massive I'd recommend saving up and just full on getting Komplete anyway, but that seems out of your price range, so Zebra2 is the better option here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion303 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 On the other hand, z3ta+ v2.0 is coming soon. So yeah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Granted there is some hypocrisy with that everyone else here is suggesting other synths than what he was asking, but the goal still is to keep it simple and yours really wasn't that helpful. Explain? All I did was encourage Synlenth 1,massive,absynth, and fm8. just as you guys did with zebra It's not quite the same as a guitar store because you can't just pick up a VST and play it quite as easily as you could a guitar. Are you suggesting you cannot demo the listed synths im my first post? Absynth is not a synth I would recommend along those same lines because its far better for ambient purposes than what Sylenth and Vanguard give. Actually, recommending anything NI has by itself is pretty pointless since they exist in the Absynth is versatile Period. http://soundcloud.com/aires/track http://soundcloud.com/aires/ice-cap-derezzed-1 http://soundcloud.com/aires/boredum Tho I suck at electronic music,I strongly disagree about what you said about absynth. I Garrente 1. Absynth = Massive and fm8 in many parameters ( and some extra stuff) in one package. 2. Yah kinda agree, but massive and or FM8 are good alone. 3. yah im done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 If you're into making your own sounds from scratch, you might as well get Reaktor. Really, figure out the sounds you need the most. Do you need pads, do you need leads, do you need basses, do you need a versatile synth or one that specializes in some specific type of synthesis, many oscillators, layers, modulation options, side-chaining, what? I mean, synth X might not do complicated FM, while synth Y might not do voice-specific distortion or formant filtering or other effects. There's a plethora of synths out there, and without knowing what you need you'll just have a long list of stuff other ppl use as part of their palette. Also, if you're looking to get anything from Native Instruments, you might as well save up for Komplete. Many synths, and Kontakt, and Reaktor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 If you're into making your own sounds from scratch, you might as well get Reaktor. Really, figure out the sounds you need the most. Do you need pads, do you need leads, do you need basses, do you need a versatile synth or one that specializes in some specific type of synthesis, many oscillators, layers, modulation options, side-chaining, what? I mean, synth X might not do complicated FM, while synth Y might not do voice-specific distortion or formant filtering or other effects. There's a plethora of synths out there, and without knowing what you need you'll just have a long list of stuff other ppl use as part of their palette. Also, if you're looking to get anything from Native Instruments, you might as well save up for Komplete. Many synths, and Kontakt, and Reaktor. This ^ Also 600 doller for komplete 8 aint bad, tho i would save for komplete 8 ultimate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 The way I see it Zebra can cover a lot of synthesis styles. So get the big guy that does it all well and then when you need something more specific because it has a specific feature that you want, get a more specialized synth. For instance, if you want dubstep bass, everyone would recommend Massive. Massive is expensive and you can get great, PHAT dubstep basses on Image-Line's Harmless (built-in FL plugin) which is only $80 in comparison. Harmless does a lot of phat sounds really well, but it doesn't offer the number of magic waveforms that Massive does. I urge the higher-up guys reading this thread to try Harmless if they haven't already, because with only one posted mix (another on the horizon!) I'm not sure my opinion of an FL synth can be validated unless it's by someone more experienced like PrototypeRaptor or something. Here is a remix using only Zebra 2, Harmless, and 3xOSC. The dubstep break is indeed Harmless. There are also sounds from Kontakt. (one of the synths is layered with something from Kontakt) and the string sections are Kontakt VSL. Also 600 doller for komplete 8 aint bad, tho i would save for komplete 8 ultimate Komplete 7 is $500 and there is no higher version yet. >_> And there is no "Komplete Ultimate". Where the !@#$ are you getting your information from? Yahoo Answers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 The way I see it Zebra can cover a lot of synthesis styles. So get the big guy that does it all well and then when you need something more specific because it has a specific feature that you want, get a more specialized synth. For instance, if you want dubstep bass, everyone would recommend Massive. Massive is expensive and you can get great, PHAT dubstep basses on Image-Line's Harmless (built-in FL plugin) which is only $80 in comparison. Harmless does a lot of phat sounds really well, but it doesn't offer the number of magic waveforms that Massive does. I urge the higher-up guys reading this thread to try Harmless if they haven't already, because with only one posted mix (another on the horizon!) I'm not sure my opinion of an FL synth can be validated unless it's by someone more experienced like PrototypeRaptor or something. Komplete 7 is $500 and there is no higher version yet. >_> And there is no "Komplete Ultimate". Where the !@#$ are you getting your information from? Yahoo Answers? Dont be stupid now http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/?category=1649 by the time they tax this shit, its going to enter the 600s (duh?) It will release around sept 1 And everyone in yahoo only post links..... Edit Ultimate is $1,099...oh shit Might as well buy a dark energy or a doepfer A100 system/module(s) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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