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Synth Decision


stewblack
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I am coming to the conclusion that with my health issues mitigating against me ever properly learning how to programme it  I might sell my Future Impact. 

My need for squishy squelchy envelope filter sounds has been met by the source audio spectrum, and that's about all I was using the FI for. 

I would still like a synth pedal and I've been totally spoilt by the sound quality of the FI. So has anyone used the FI and the Boss SY1? 

I'm thinking of funding one with the sale of the other. My reasoning being this: I would like a couple of decent modern synth sounds and I'm happier not hooking up to a PC to get them. 

The real question is would I be happy with the sounds from the Boss?

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4 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

Are your programming issues related to programming your own sounds or getting others’ sounds onto the pedal?

You only have to hook up once to get whatever sounds you want onto it. 

I appreciate that and am always grateful for those who share their great patches. 

I really wanted to learn to programme the pedal and build my own sounds. 

However I have to accept when something isn't working. Someone else may get the joy from it which  I cannot. 

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45 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I appreciate that and am always grateful for those who share their great patches. 

I really wanted to learn to programme the pedal and build my own sounds. 

However I have to accept when something isn't working. Someone else may get the joy from it which  I cannot. 

I’m happy to do a video chat help session sometime. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I now have the C4 and the SY-1.

First impressions are that the C4 takes up less space than the FI (in its original case) but I'll have just as steep a learning curve with the software. FI wins with regard to having proper midi in/out, C4 wins with simplicity of 'on the fly' controls to change essential parameters live. FI wins with the ability to scroll through the patches with a footswitch as opposed to the C4 requiring fiddly finger fiddling. 

SY-1 beats them both for straight out of the box simplicity. Plug in and move through a host of presets with ultra responsive simple controls to dial the sound you want. 

Tracking, and sound quality is great on all three, but don't be put off if you've used the old Boss synth pedals, this one is the real deal. Every single sound is entirely customisable and perfectly usable. 

The Boss is straight onto the board and ready to be gigged, the C4 has to be on and off for programming and almost certainly won't be 'right' when used with a band (it's never the same in the mix) however unlike the FI I will be able to tweak the basic parameters. 

Time will tell, but the SY-1 is winning right now. 

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@stewblack - thanks very much for that "first impressions" post - very useful.

I've had the FI and several SA pedals, but not the C4, but also decided to opt for the SY-1 because of its phenomenal tracking and the immediacy of its dials.

I think you're the only BC'er I've come across who has had all three of the FI, C4 and SY-1, and I sense you're broadly at the same level of "geekery" as me i.e. happy to get into some PC editing. So I'll be following how things develop with interest! 

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16 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

happy to get into some PC editing. So I'll be following how things develop with interest! 

I am happy to geek out within limits! However since developing chronic fatigue my ability to concentrate and learn has been severely diminished. 

I can spend 20 minutes trying to learn a new thing, retain nothing  and the effort expended in doing so can put me in bed for a couple of days. 

It's not always that bad but it often is. So I'm afraid you won't learn much from following my lead. 

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Sorry to hear about the chronic fatigue.

It's probably worth mentioning for anyone else following, that in price terms, once you have added midi & /or neurohub options to get the most out of your C4 it's broadly in the same price bracket as the FI i.e. £300+ whereas the SY-1 is retailing for around half of that, but also that the FI and C4 are true synth pedals i.e. generating synth waveforms whereas the SY-1 is a synth emulator.

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29 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Sorry to hear about the chronic fatigue.

It's probably worth mentioning for anyone else following, that in price terms, once you have added midi & /or neurohub options to get the most out of your C4 it's broadly in the same price bracket as the FI i.e. £300+ whereas the SY-1 is retailing for around half of that, but also that the FI and C4 are true synth pedals i.e. generating synth waveforms whereas the SY-1 is a synth emulator.

The FI is £260 new (though one needs to factor in £20 or so for an interface).

I’d still like to try the SY-1 at some point. 

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  • 1 month later...

The SY-1 is specifically marketed as a Guitar and Bass synth. The SYB-5 is a much older pedal and I haven't used it, so I am sure it is fine for what it does, but it isn't the same sort of thing as the SY-1.

I guess the difference is 10 sounds vs 121 sounds

 

Edited by Woodinblack
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22 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

The SY-1 is specifically marketed as a Guitar and Bass synth. The SYB-5 is a much older pedal and I haven't used it, so I am sure it is fine for what it does, but it isn't the same sort of thing as the SY-1

Agreed re the SY-1. And in fact there is a bass / guitar mode switch on  the rear which you would, of course, typically set to "bass" as a bass player. [Aside: the exception is when you want to use the SY-1 as an octave down pedal, in which case use Bass Mode-4 on the top dials with "Guitar" mode at the back].

image.png.f8c28cbdf7ebf8c1021ab83dfb001fc6.png

20 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Totally different beasts, a switch on the end of the SY-1 for guitar or bass and every single sound is usable. 

The SYB5 is garbage in comparison. Seriously not the same league. 

+1^^

SY1 has far greater versatility, ability to sustain the synth whilst playing a bass line over it and superb tracking. The SYB-5 doesn't (correction: apart from the sustain to hold - see @paul_5's post below. I clearly didn't get that far with it when I had mine 😁).

Edited by Al Krow
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Yeppers, the SYB5 is years old, and the tracking isn't great - certainly not by today's standards.

One thing that massively bugged me about the SYB-5 was that while it did the 'press to hold' function (really useful) it had a sweeping filter on the drone note, which I didn't want. I found the only way to get rid of that swooshing was to use a Behringer BSY600! 

 

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From what I hear in demos the SY1 has more usable sounds... By that I mean more sounds that are similar to what you'd hear on 70s and 80s pop records, whereas the SYB5 I had just seemed to make industrial noise, which isn't my cup of tea. 

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11 hours ago, Teebs said:

Isn't the SY-1 a guitar *spits* pedal?

Does it work okay with bass @stewblack

?

What do people think about the SYB-5?

Most guitar pedals work fine with bass. Some pedals lose low end, but most of my favourite pedals aren't bass specific.

I wasn't a big fan of the SYB-5. The tracking isn't great, and the sounds aren't the best. I think it's a bit womble really.

Edit.... since when is womble a good substitute for 'w@nk?'

Edited by Doddy
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I really like the look of the sy-1. The only thing that would put me off is the lack of ability to save patches. So if you used more than one sound you would have to bend down and fumble with the nobs mid set, rather than just hitting a patch pedal. Other than that, judging by the videos I've seen on YouTube. It looks like the most useable synth pedal I've ever seen. 

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14 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

judging by the videos I've seen on YouTube. It looks like the most useable synth pedal I've ever seen. 

I did the same - it does look (& sound) pretty good 👍🏻

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