VIR2 SyntAX review

  • £110
  • $169.95
SyntAX boasts more presets than your average ROMpler.

MusicRadar Verdict

If you simply can't get enough presets and have plenty of cash to spare, syntAX is a reasonable buy, but those on a limited budget would be far better off investing in something like reFX Nexus or Arturia Analog Factory.

Pros

  • +

    Loads of presets!

Cons

  • -

    Many sounds are lacklustre.

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Billed as "part synth, part interactive sonic revolution", Vir2 and Bunker 8's Kontakt Player 2-powered synth ROMpler can hardly be accused of underselling itself.

A collection of 2000 patches covering such standard fare as leads, basses, pads and FX, syntAX unfortunately can't live up to its own hype.

Although some of the sounds are indeed fairly pleasant, albeit unspectacular, many of the patches are weak, dull-sounding or just pointless.

Little effort has been made to put the Kontakt Player 2's engine to good use (the so-called "expert" view gives you an ADSR to tweak and little else), and the sheer volume of the available patches makes locating the wheat amongst the chaff a testing task.

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