Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
It’s here and it doesn’t disappoint.
Tracking - stable and smooth across the whole fretboard (for both guitar and bass). Chords can get messy but that’s down to the sound used rather than the tracking I think because some are also very clear and precise.
No discernible background noise.
Huge range of sounds from 11 groups, each with 11 variations ie. 121 separate sound sources before you move any of the controls. They are pretty impressive too and, generally, very usable. The controls change a variety of things, depending on what sound source you are using - rate, tone colour, depth and pitch on some. Natural guitar and synth sounds are easily blended.
Take a look at the sounds on offer from the Boss website and you see what’s there. I particularly enjoy the sequences - very inspiring.
The only downside is the inability to save presets. I can see myself taking lots of phots of settings I nailed the intro to the Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ in the shop but can I remember now - no ! I’ll remember to grab a pic next time
All in all it’s a step beyond anything Boss have done in the compact pedal synths before. Great fun, encourages creativity and I am enjoying every second with it.
Tracking - stable and smooth across the whole fretboard (for both guitar and bass). Chords can get messy but that’s down to the sound used rather than the tracking I think because some are also very clear and precise.
No discernible background noise.
Huge range of sounds from 11 groups, each with 11 variations ie. 121 separate sound sources before you move any of the controls. They are pretty impressive too and, generally, very usable. The controls change a variety of things, depending on what sound source you are using - rate, tone colour, depth and pitch on some. Natural guitar and synth sounds are easily blended.
Take a look at the sounds on offer from the Boss website and you see what’s there. I particularly enjoy the sequences - very inspiring.
The only downside is the inability to save presets. I can see myself taking lots of phots of settings I nailed the intro to the Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ in the shop but can I remember now - no ! I’ll remember to grab a pic next time
All in all it’s a step beyond anything Boss have done in the compact pedal synths before. Great fun, encourages creativity and I am enjoying every second with it.
- Pepe
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Re: Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
Sounds ace! I have to get my hands on one soon.
- laurie
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Re: Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
What I'd be really interested to know is... Is there a way to get full-range/high fidelity synth output, or is the synth output tailored for playing through a guitar amp?
Re: Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
Not sure on that one yet Laurie. I only played it through a Fender Super Sonic and a Roland JC-40 today. I’m going to try it with Cubase this weekend and I’ll let you know what it sounds like through a couple of Genelec monitors.
- chromandre
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Re: Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
thanks for reporting! Would you say there are any basic settings that cover OC-3 sounds?
Re: Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
On balance, I think it’s tailored for playing through a guitar amp Laurie. It’s missing something when recorded into Cubase without any extra processing. Inserting a quality stereo delay or reverb, as expected, does take it up a notch.
Re: Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
Just done a comparison chromandre using a guitar.chromandre wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 4:33 amthanks for reporting! Would you say there are any basic settings that cover OC-3 sounds?
Some of the OC-3 sounds are definitely there. Close approximations of the OC-3 ‘Drive’ sounds are there and the one octave down but I was struggling to get a good two octave down sound. It does take a lot of work with the parameters and also selecting the right preset fx group. As you would expect the ‘Bass’ group is a good place to start. The tracking though is way better.
- chromandre
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Re: Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
thanks! yeah I figured this might be the case I am really curious about trying out how the poly oscillator works in practiceThe_Doc wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 11:35 amJust done a comparison chromandre using a guitar.chromandre wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 4:33 amthanks for reporting! Would you say there are any basic settings that cover OC-3 sounds?
Some of the OC-3 sounds are definitely there. Close approximations of the OC-3 ‘Drive’ sounds are there and the one octave down but I was struggling to get a good two octave down sound. It does take a lot of work with the parameters and also selecting the right preset fx group. As you would expect the ‘Bass’ group is a good place to start. The tracking though is way better.
- laurie
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Re: Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
Excellent! Thanks for testing it out.The_Doc wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 11:27 amOn balance, I think it’s tailored for playing through a guitar amp Laurie. It’s missing something when recorded into Cubase without any extra processing. Inserting a quality stereo delay or reverb, as expected, does take it up a notch.
Re: Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
Very nice reading about this one, I surely must have one!