SWAY will be able to do things that FM-X/HALion can't, but HALion can also do a ton of things that SWAY won't be able to doSway may end up being the most advanced FM VST available. Halion 7 has some great FM capabilities but does not create patches in the same way as a hardware SY/TG with its RCM Modulation. Sway will definitely set itself apart from all other FM VST's.
I love the TG/SY77 & 99 engine, and know it very well, but I also know FM-X very well and know what it is capable of, and they are both insanely powerful and very deep
For my purposes I think FM-X is way more powerful than TG/SY99 but then again I never had much use for samples in FM and the spectral tools alongside all the waveforms and two extra operators gives you options that the SY99 never dreamed of
The idea of RCM sound great on the SY99 but in the real world for me I never found much use for it unless I was using very simple waveforms, as anything complex used a modulator turns into extremely non musical noise and garbage. So you can start with something complex and then filter it down to the point where it's super simple
With FM-X you start off with a bunch of waveforms, then you can shape them even further using the spectral skirt, doing that and then having two extra operators at your disposal to modulate a modulator using pure FM Synthesis you can make any kind of waveform you desire, not to mention if you want to use a filter you have many more types available and have significantly more options on how you use them inside of your algorithm, as well as the ability to have far more complex envelopes
As always YMMV. I enjoyed my TG77 and SY99 for many many years but I think what my Montage can do in both Hardware and Software and what HALion7 can do with it blows it away, as it allows me to explore different things that SY99 can't do
Having said that I still plan on getting SWAY the first day I can buy it. I mean why not have a Ferrari and a Lamborghini in your garage?
Especially as both SWAY and FM-X can do things the other can't. Which one you find more powerful just depends on what is more important to you and the Timbres you want to make
Statistics: Posted by IvyBirds — Sun Jan 12, 2025 10:57 pm