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The main panel shows the parameters for the selected effect.

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The filters sound terrific. There isn’t exactly a multiplicity of modes - low-pass, high-pass and band-pass are all you get - but there are 12dB and 24dB options for each type (you also get a Drive control for each filter). The global Filter Control panel, meanwhile, features a Cutoff knob for adjusting both filters’ cutoff frequency, a Resonance control that operates in a similar manner, and a handy Keytrack control. Finally, there’s a Warm Drive button to add subtle colouration to the effect of the Drive knobs.

Further options

Aside from the effects section, all that’s left to consider in Sylenth1 are its modulation options. The modulation sources include two envelopes, two LFOs and four assignable slots that can be set to the envelopes, LFOs or MIDI controller data. Each modulation source has two destinations with assignable amount controls, so there are plenty of routing possibilities. On the downside, the envelopes and LFOs are pretty simple - being able to trigger the LFOs from a note-on message would be a bonus (again, this would make a good addition in an update,, but at least you can sync them to host tempo or let them run free.

As you’ve no doubt surmised by now, Sylenth1 doesn’t have many of the features you’ll find in more complex synths, but it’s an instrument we think we’ll return to again and again. What it lacks in tweakability it sure as hell makes up for in raw sonic firepower - this synth really does sound awesome, and it’s so easy to program that it can sometimes feel like you’re cheating somehow. Once you’ve got a half-decent patch on the go, it seems that nothing can go wrong - every knob you turn elicits some captivating new tone, and the range of sounds that can be conjured up with just a few simple controls is astounding.

Sylenth1 is absolutely recommended to anyone who uses a lot of bread and butter sounds from virtual analogue synths. It sounds better than 99% of the competition and, to our ears, it even rivals Access’s famous Virus. While Sylenth1 doesn’t quite have the lush sound of that instrument, on the whole it compares very well - amazing when you consider how little CPU power it requires. In a word: fantastic.