Boss SYB-5 Review

Chronicle · #1 08-26-2009, 10:14 AM

Yeah, so I got one of these bad boys new for 25$....yay clearance items at work

I must say, if I ever need to some 70's horror music- i'm set! For anything else....ehh not so much...

It does not track fast playing at all which is it's major downfall of the unit. The sounds are a bit cheesy thus why I'm saying I could only find a use for it in a 70's horror film. Some of the sounds can sound pretty cool and creepy. The low-end loss is significant in some settings. Nothing new to really post that we already know about.

All in all, for 25$- I couldn't go wrong....for 159$ new? Get a EHX BMS.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8021266

With Echobox
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8021527

takfar · #2 08-26-2009, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chronicle

The sounds are a bit cheesy thus why I'm saying I could only find a use for it in a 70's horror film.

Add in some fuzz, delay, maybe modulation, and it sounds awesome. I recorded some of that a couple months ago with my old board: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gopdjYa39A

Ditto on the tracking, tho.

Chronicle · #3 08-26-2009, 10:24 AM

I'm sure my Echobox can make this thing shine.......will make clips of that

dannybuoy · #4 08-26-2009, 10:55 AM

Great sound in the first clip at 1:04!

FreaqyFrequency · #5 08-26-2009, 11:08 AM

That's the thing about the SYBs. The sounds are really cool and actually rather unique (can't really get them with a BMS either), but they are so constricting as to what you can play.

**Bryan R. Tyler** · #6 08-26-2009, 01:48 PM

Wow, it really DOES cop the 70s horror soundtrack synth sound (huge fan of late 70s/early 80s horror). I wouldn't buy it for any other purpose either

Chronicle · #7 08-26-2009, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybuoy

Great sound in the first clip at 1:04!

EHX BMS pulls off that riff so much better

bigchiefbc · #8 08-26-2009, 09:17 PM

Jovi, thanks for the clips.

I disagree that that is the only use of the pedal, and I definitely would have tweaked the pedal a bit differently for other uses, but that is not a criticism at all.

I dig the Behringer clone quite a bit, and will be doing a full-on demo of it sometime to illustrate my point.

Chronicle · #9 08-26-2009, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigchiefbc

Jovi, thanks for the clips.

I disagree that that is the only use of the pedal, and I definitely would have tweaked the pedal a bit differently for other uses, but that is not a criticism at all.

I dig the Behringer clone quite a bit, and will be doing a full-on demo of it sometime to illustrate my point.

I'm looking forward to the clips and your take on it

JimmyM · #10 08-27-2009, 12:46 AM

Believe it or not, I picked up an SYB-3 a few months ago and it's a mainstay on my board now because of its envelope capabilities. I totally love it as an envelope filter. As a synth, eh...

jufros · #11 08-27-2009, 01:11 AM

It's too bad the tracking is so atrocious. I like to play a little funky and it doesn't sound like this will permit too much of that. Cool sounds though.

bigblondeafro87 · #12 08-27-2009, 10:00 AM

For the eight millionth time, the tracking is FINE if your playing is clean and defined. Its a monophonic pedal, so you can't play chords or let your notes overlap. If you want to play sixteenth note funk stuff, get something else but this pedal tracks just fine for most applications

Chronicle · #13 08-27-2009, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigblondeafro87

For the eight millionth time, the tracking is FINE if your playing is clean and defined. Its a monophonic pedal, so you can't play chords or let your notes overlap. If you want to play sixteenth note funk stuff, get something else but this pedal tracks just fine for most applications

We know it tracks single, slow notes fine, but play faster and it doesn't track.

jufros · #14 08-27-2009, 11:46 AM

I'm pretty satisfied with BOD->(dirt)->Moog w/ low cutoff for dubstep/dnb sounds but I would really love to have another option for some deep sounds. I'm also on the hunt for anything that can churn out some non-offensive high end to blend in parallel. GI Fuzz->Maxon AF-9 (on high pass mode) is pretty squelchy and awesome as is BSW->AF-9. I don't get too much use out of my BSW though so maybe I should pick this up?

Chronicle, can you post a clip of some deeper sounds?

Chronicle · #15 08-28-2009, 10:00 AM

Monday

Bootzilla · #16 08-28-2009, 10:33 AM

Can you also disable the envelope filter and just use it as a waveform generator?