XILS-lab miniSyn'X

I remember when I saw Jean Michel Jarre's famous convert in Houston in the mid 80s where he had that amazing laser harp. I was just blown away by the fantastic sound of that harp. Later on I learned that the sound was generated from a synth by the Italian company ELKA called Synthex.

The Synthex was one of those synths of my dreams. Just like the RFS Kobol and the EMS VCS 3.

Today many of those dreams became real thanks to the invention of software synthesizers.

Thanks to XILS-Lab I now have an amazing emulation of both the kobol and the VCS 3 in PolyKB II and XILS 3

And now - also the Synthex.

Yes, it's true. XILS-Lab already had the Syn'X. And even though it's an emu of the original hardware it's so full of additional features so it got a bit to far form the original - IMO.

Although the miniSyn'X also has added features it's much more true to the original.

The sound of the miniSyn'X is absolutely amazing. And I think the miniSyn'X, just as the original, is very unique sounding.

One don't have to be a sound designer or a synth expert to use it. There are, of course, all the great factory presets. But on top of that - it's ridiculously easy to create one's own sounds with miniSyn'X.

XILS-Lab added an awesome feature called Smart Load. It's a little of AI that helps creating patches. The only eventual drawback of this function would be that it's very addictive. I always wonder what other cool sound will there be if I hit the button once more.

Additional to that there's also a more classic randomizer.

I found miniSyn'X pretty soft on the CPU, It loads fast too.

However some presets (pads) can be fairly heavy on the CPU when played on the higher end in double mode.

Worth mentioning here is that the miniSyn'X has 3 modes. Single, Double and split.

There are also some nice hotkeys that makes it easier to mannage the synth.

Something that I appreciate a lot since I don't really like to work with the mouse.

I'm not the tech guy. I approach and use synthesizers from an instrumentalist's and a musician's point of view.

So, for me the ammount of oscilators and LOF's is of less interest then how it sounds.

And it do really sounds lovely and unique. Especially the basses and leads.

And of course...Yes among the presets there is THAT Laser Harp Sound !