SY-300 - Why so quiet ?

Started by Brak(E)man, December 11, 2016, 08:48:23 AM

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Brak(E)man

The SY 300 seems to take its time to be popular even among the Vguitar people I'm wondering why ??
Much fewer sold than GP or is it too difficult or ?? Or is it that it's about a year later than GP ?
Not that many patches up either.
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

supernicd

#1
Speaking only for myself, it just doesn't seem to be the sort of thing I'd actually use.  I do play keys, so there's that.  And as far as guitar, from what I've seen/heard of the SY-300, enough of it seems to be covered by my 55/99/GP-10.  It looks neat.  Just a piece of gear I can't quite justify.
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

Elantric

#2
same here - And I don't understand the folks who try to use SY300 as their Amp modeler, when a $199 GT-1 works so much better

The GP-10 is a different story , It can do so many useful things I actually have a need for ( Guitar Modeling, Amp Modeling, FX, Guitar to MIDI , 8 channel audio interface). Also Id  probably use a Key9 or Mel9 before I lug the SY300 to my gigs 

Headless68

#3
I have only more recently shown an interest, the initial demos seemed to focus on the somewhat lacklustre retro synth sounds, better stuff on the iPad to be honest

I do think there is more depth for more subtle use maybe layered with other stuff, but I'm waiting for the price to come down before I bother to get one

Bottom line - not enough of a hook for this device - I'm more interested in where this non hex tech is leading tho

(In fact I'm spending more time playing the VG8ex lately than anything else - it sounds sooooo good - sooooo natural to play & respond)

Brak(E)man

I agree about the vg8 even though mine is sitting in storage.
I've had the SY about 1&1/2 Y but it seems to be a low priority
for me and I spend more time with GP.
Even though I have them side by side in my studio.

That being said the 3-4 tunes I've made with SY sounds great
The same with the 10-20 sounds I've programmed BUT
I don't know why it's so hard to get into that device.

I'm slightly confused really
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

tbeltrans

Well, I just purchased an SY-300 and the thread just before this one is my post about that.  It went completely unanswered, so I figure I will just move on and do my own thing.  Really, it doesn't matter if anyone else is interested in the SY-300.  If I (or any other person) have it and make use of it, that is really what matters.  I would guess that if somebody famous puts out a tune using the SY-300 and that tune catches on, and/or the SY-300 is seen being used by some performer on TV, there will suddenly be a lot of activity.  Meanwhile, I think the SY-300 can be quite an interesting device, limited pretty much by our individual abilities to be creative with it.  It definitely is not what people used refer to as a "ROMpler".  It really will do what we tell it to, within the limitations of what it was built to do, of course.

Tony


tbeltrans

I should have waited to purchase mine.  It could well be that there will soon be a small but healthy used market for these things. :)

Tony

pasha811

I had my first encounter in the shop (finally) yesterday. The shop was very noisy due to guitarist testing amps. Why people always use distortion it's over me :-).
The little blue box for what I can say of a very dis-comfortable 30 minutes of testing (due to shredders all around me...) I can say that some of the patches were very interesting.
I see its usage as a solo box without the hex. So in a nutshell a complement to whatever guitar you have. As an owner of a GT-1 it's immediately interesting how those two could work together. Main guitar sound from GT-1 (input from SY-300 Guitar output and off) and Synth like Solos (very good ones IMHO) there's also a patch Pat like.. from SY-300.
A complement as I said, not the main course.. that's maybe why it's there discounted since the beginning. The unit I have tried was the replenishment of the first unit sold and taken back after a week.
I think that for the new generations of Guitarists an SY-300 is 'less sexy' than a simple GT-1 or similar from other brands. Some might care. Of course the price point plays a role here. Let's say 350 Euros instead of 699 - on line price (although in the shop it's 609). I can invest on a 'complement' for 350 euros. Not for 609. Katanas for example are like ghosts in my town. I have talked with a Sales guy.. they simply disappear on arrival!!! People are getting mad at the 100W and the 50W combos, the head was not displayed so far. I think that by analyzing this phenomena the OP can jump to conclusions. SY-300 it's a niche unit for niche players. Not big market here.

Of course this is only my personal perception..
Hope it helps
   
Listen to my music at :  http://alonetone.com/pasha/

JiveTurkey

I've unintentionally used it as my main modeling device as well as synth style tones for quite some time. All the while cycling through all the big modeling Solutions. It's not a perfect box but it does what I want with any guitar that I have without having to resort to bolting on that GK aberration.

Brak(E)man

#9
I'm only surprised.
I'm a niche player.
I like to program synths and vgs
I've been at it since -87
Casio midi guitar and d-550 ,
my first guitar synth rig.
And been playing full time since -76
I don't know why this unit seems so difficult
to get friendly with.
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

Elantric

#10
Its about as (un) friendly as programming a DX7 ;)

My hats off to Gundy Keller, for getting the tones he did for the initial SY-300 demo video under 2 weeks

JiveTurkey

I did a demo with some tones by RolandVG99 yesterday, as a matter of fact
https://soundcloud.com/cavitation/sy300-demo-2016-wav

Elantric

And 80% of folks reading this will believe you are talking about a new  VG-99 demo ;)

gumtown

I brought the SY-300 the moment it was available...
played with it for a few weeks,
placed it on my pedal board,
took it off my pedal board,
SY-300 sits in a box unused for the moment.. .. .. .. ..

but I might use it again soon
as I am going to retire my very well used GR-55, currently having too many intermittent failures with my 13 pin gear, mainly GK-3B and GR-55 13 pin sockets, and always on the A and D strings.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

tbeltrans

Quote from: pasha811 on December 11, 2016, 11:33:01 AM
I had my first encounter in the shop (finally) yesterday. The shop was very noisy due to guitarist testing amps. Why people always use distortion it's over me :-).
The little blue box for what I can say of a very dis-comfortable 30 minutes of testing (due to shredders all around me...) I can say that some of the patches were very interesting.
I see its usage as a solo box without the hex. So in a nutshell a complement to whatever guitar you have. As an owner of a GT-1 it's immediately interesting how those two could work together. Main guitar sound from GT-1 (input from SY-300 Guitar output and off) and Synth like Solos (very good ones IMHO) there's also a patch Pat like.. from SY-300.
A complement as I said, not the main course.. that's maybe why it's there discounted since the beginning. The unit I have tried was the replenishment of the first unit sold and taken back after a week.
I think that for the new generations of Guitarists an SY-300 is 'less sexy' than a simple GT-1 or similar from other brands. Some might care. Of course the price point plays a role here. Let's say 350 Euros instead of 699 - on line price (although in the shop it's 609). I can invest on a 'complement' for 350 euros. Not for 609. Katanas for example are like ghosts in my town. I have talked with a Sales guy.. they simply disappear on arrival!!! People are getting mad at the 100W and the 50W combos, the head was not displayed so far. I think that by analyzing this phenomena the OP can jump to conclusions. SY-300 it's a niche unit for niche players. Not big market here.

Of course this is only my personal perception..
Hope it helps
   

Interesting thoughts, Pasha811.  When you refer to GT-1, are you talking about the desktop version of the GT-100?

Thanks,

Tony


gumtown

Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

whippinpost91850

Gumtown, you need the 13 pin jacks from Gumbo.  Ever since I got those I've had no 13 pin issues

jassy

Quote from: whippinpost91850 on December 11, 2016, 05:38:48 PM
Gumtown, you need the 13 pin jacks from Gumbo.  Ever since I got those I've had no 13 pin issues
What are those?

whippinpost91850

#18
Check out Gumbos synth-lynx jacks.
They give full ground surround. And get rid of all the static and noises caused by lost grounds on 13 pin plugs

info@synth-linx.com

Elantric

Quote, you need the 13 pin jacks from Gumbo.  Ever since I got those I've had no 13 pin issues

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=8888.msg63872#msg63872

tbeltrans

Quote from: gumtown on December 11, 2016, 04:57:58 PM
GT-1 discussion here
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=223.0

GT-1 Boss site
https://www.boss.info/us/products/gt-1/



Thanks gumtown.  This looks like a "portable" version of the GT-100.  It must be newer than the GT-100, so maybe some improvements?

Thanks,

Tony

shawnb

I always figured the sy-300 was a proof of concept.  How cleanly you can get "synth" waveform sounds with a non-hex input.

I am hoping the next gen can approximate more complex sounds - flutes, electric piano, violin.  Without introducing the latency of pitch detection + triggering pcm tones.

I am hoping each generation brings us closer to zero-latency piano & sax...
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

tbeltrans

It seems to me that the SY-300 is not doing any pitch to midi or pitch to control signal conversion.  Instead, it seems to be directly processing the guitar signal.  That would account for the quick response and could account for the polyphony.  If that is the case, then I don't know that generating any sound that requires a conversion of the guitar signal to generate a control signal that then generates the sound would be much better than what we have with the GR series.  For, say, a decent piano or violin sound that would come from playing a sample, the guitar note(s) being played would have to be used to trigger that sound to be played, rather than the guitar signal itself being that sound as seems to be happening with the SY-300.  Of course, I could be totally wrong about this since I had absolutely nothing to do with the design and creation of any of these products, and don't personally know anybody who did.

Tony


Rhcole

For me it is mutually divergent events. I was all over using and programming the SY but I got a bunch of errors in patches that put me off. Instead I rediscovered the GP-10 and the joys of clean 13 pin guitars. The Gittler cable cleaned connectivity issues up enough so that entire system worked better and is a joy to use.

I don't negate the SY as a few others do here. It has its own sound that can be very good and impossible to replicate with other 1/4" boxes. I also actually find it easy to program, except when it malfunctions. It does have crap distortion compared to other devices, but it makes up with outstanding reverbs, echos, and mod FX. And even though its Slow Gear is wonky, I wish the GP-10 had that. The multi FX routing is very powerful and if you treat the Oscs like spices instead of the main course, you can get terrific results.

I do think it is at its best for ambient, shoe-gazer, or other styles that use lots of tonal variations.

Brak(E)man

#24
I don't need piano or any other " real" instrument, I can play that on keyboards when recording,  so I was hoping that this device was going to get me back into guitar synths, I stopped using them a long time ago because of the wonky trig, but I've been very happy with the synths and synth like sounds from all the VGs, not so happy with the GP.
The crap distortion in SY would be ok with me since I'm not after nice pads or such but the difference between a complex chord , interval and a simple ones makes it hard to play a line chordwise , intervals that doesn't turn to mush. In one way the adjustment in the style of playing reminds me of the guitar to midi synths. Even with the almost zero latency and the feel of the guitar , it makes it into a bad experience but it goes beyond that. There's something with this machine I haven't grasped yet.
I guess that's why I'm procrastinating with the programming , the recording and using it at gigs.
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch