Syndt - Polyphonic Synthesizer 4+

Syndt sound nce enough, but the labels are in like 1/2 point type. On an iPad Pro, 12.9” model, I need strong reading glasses to see what the controls are. I understand that KG has a minimalist design philosophy, but part of minimalism is utility. Can’t see a thing. Interestingly, I tried to print out their 4-page “manual” and it squeezes and shrinks all four pages onto one piece of paper. What are these people, like 9” tall with enormous eyes? Hope they correct this in a future update. It has potential, but the illegibility makes it a pain to play with.

Sounds great with minimal tweaking, which is good, because there are not so many options to tweak. Sometimes that’s exactly the kind of synth app one needs. This one rides its simple design and great sounds right into the music.

A companion app allows a vector-synthesizer-like combination of presets, which adds a couple of extra ways to complicate the sounds.

Being an old entry on the platform, with a number of revision cycles, Syndt performs reliably well. Plus, the price is reasonable.

If you’re looking for something like this, you have come to the right place.

A positive and negative critique of the interface, it is a beautiful interface, simple to use and easy to understand. But as others have mentioned, it’s difficult to see. I don’t know if it’s the color scheme, but I do think that one fix might be making the control interface the full with of the iPad. It wouldn’t ruin the aesthetic, but it would give a larger amount of space that would make it a little easier to view.
Regarding the sound: it is very much a virtual analogue but tends to be more on the polite side. I’m used to using hardware and in some ways this reminds me of a the Novation Nova.
Syndt has an elegant sound that tends to be less intense than the more brash American synths. I mean this this in a good way. You can get pretty intense with it, but its sound comes through as a more polite version of analog which if I’m honest, I like very much. I wouldn’t have bought a Nova which were not inexpensive back in the day. I wouldn’t cite the comparison if I didn’t think it was a great sounding synth.

I would have liked a few extra patches, as I tend to look for a patch that is somewhat similar to what I like, and then start working from there. Another thought which I first saw on Korg’s Radias were starter patches meant to help designers find a type of sound, and then dial it in to their specific needs. I think that would’ve been a great feature here and in general any synthesizer, I also would’ve liked to have seen a randomize button. There are some really nice designs that incorporate intelligent randomization.
Overall, a really great synth. More and moreas I discover. Klevgrand’s designs and inexplicable “feel” which is an intangible as you aren’t moving physical controls. But if you keep making synthesizers like this, I’m going to be buying and making up for lost time.
One last compliment : I find your interfaces to be pleasing aesthetically and functionally.

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