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.
MusicRadar's got your back
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.
Computer Music magazine is the world’s best selling publication dedicated solely to making great music with your Mac or PC computer. Each issue it brings its lucky readers the best in cutting-edge tutorials, need-to-know, expert software reviews and even all the tools you actually need to make great music today, courtesy of our legendary CM Plugin Suite.
NAMM 2025: “With hardware this tough, you have a companion for life”: Bitwig enters the hardware world with the Bitwig Connect 4/12
NAMM 2025: "This is the beginning of a really long journey": Native Instruments teams up with Akai, Korg, Novation and more to "empower millions of music creators"
NAMM 2025 live report: rolling news from the world's biggest music-making gear show - as it happens