New synergy amp

[paisleywookiee]

One significant problem. USB-B in 2025? Get the fuck out of here with that. Jesus, I’ve had USB-C since 2015.

 

[GTR37]

Not going to lie....I was not really interested in the Synergy stuff until now. This has a bunch of features I was looking for in a small package. May just grab one!

Yes I might just pick one up
I honestly expected to hate but pretty much every damn video I have seen of this thing
From Guitar Jon to Michael Nielsen , Studio rats
All different modules and they sound great
Usually you see a bunch of videos and go meh
The biggest surprise for me has been the hi gain stuff like John Browne w the Recto
That thing sounded massive and way tighter than most EL84 Low wattage heads I have heard

 

[CBHScott]

And now…a message from Leon:

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

Not going to lie....I was not really interested in the Synergy stuff until now. This has a bunch of features I was looking for in a small package. May just grab one!

Same here, even without the desire to swap preamps a whole lot, this format / pricing / features is attractive even disregarding the ability to swap preamps. Their 50 was overkill for me, preamp + seperate poweramp in a rack also not for me..20w head might well be a match.

I’m curious if there is a combo in the stars. To me, ability to swap “my pre” into different housings (combo/head/preamp), would be an even more compelling call to the platform.

Also curious if any of the digital boys would ever partner up…axe/kemper/helix/qc tech in a box you can insert into one of these. In my mind the concept of pres/digital you can put in different but standardised “make it louder” hardware…makes total sense.

 

[laxu]

I’m curious if there is a combo in the stars. To me, ability to swap “my pre” into different housings (combo/head/preamp), would be an even more compelling call to the platform.

IMO this system is best suited to swap cabs when you need if you want to get the most out of it. Not live of course, but you wouldn't be swapping modules between songs either.

Also curious if any of the digital boys would ever partner up…axe/kemper/helix/qc tech in a box you can insert into one of these. In my mind the concept of pres/digital you can put in different but standardised “make it louder” hardware…makes total sense.

Not much need when you can just buy a poweramp to use with any of those. The only real advantage Synergy has over the modelers is that it's analog and all tube, with no menus in sight.

The appeal is all in the "you get the real deal tube amp, but also some of that modeler-ish convenience" when you don't need to buy a whole big tube amp when you want a different sound. Just buy a preamp module for the price of a boutique pedal and swap it in.

 

[HotRats]

Looks like a nice product if you play in different bands and need diverse sounds for different scenarios and don't want/like to go digital.
I can see it work very well on silent stages or any live situation where you use your cab for personal monitoring and feed the PA directly.

Since digital solutions offer much more for much less I don't see it as a competitive product for recording unless you're anal about analog stuff or really love how synergy modules sound.

I would be personally be much more interested in an updated 2 modules 50W head,

 

[FuzzyAce]

Nice looking product with really cool features. Tempted.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

IMO this system is best suited to swap cabs when you need if you want to get the most out of it. Not live of course, but you wouldn't be swapping modules between songs either.


Not much need when you can just buy a poweramp to use with any of those. The only real advantage Synergy has over the modelers is that it's analog and all tube, with no menus in sight.

The appeal is all in the "you get the real deal tube amp, but also some of that modeler-ish convenience" when you don't need to buy a whole big tube amp when you want a different sound. Just buy a preamp module for the price of a boutique pedal and swap it in.

I understand that to many diversity of sound is the attraction…but it has another one: diversity of amplification method / what you carry with you.
Put your preamp in a 20w head/combo when want to travel light….or in the 50w when you need power…stick it in a syn1 in your studio for recording.

Same if there would ever be digital modules..from studio rack switched in 10 seconds into a combo with a synergy slot for your gig…I’d want that! (For the “I want digital but also Amp where I'm at peeps) Atm I have 2 units cause I don’t want to redo cabeling all the time…and im maintainig 2 sets of sounds.
Offcourse you can just buy a poweramp…but you can also just buy the full amps. Left or right…this is about reducing gear / adding flexibility / do more with less…

 

[JerEvil]

These fuckers all need to get their demo units back to synergy so I can get mine! Lol!

 

[JiveTurkey]

It could be the selective snob in me or just knowing it has 84s in it but all the demos (other than the Ola one) have that thing I don't want out of them. 50 watts with 34s or 6l6s? Yes please. Heck, 20 watts with 6l6s like the MT? Yes please. Still a killer product overall either way.

 

[2dor]

It could be the selective snob in me or just knowing it has 84s in it but all the demos (other than the Ola one) have that thing I don't want out of them. 50 watts with 34s or 6l6s? Yes please. Heck, 20 watts with 6l6s like the MT? Yes please. Still a killer product overall either way.

Even 20W with 6V6 would be better; amp would "hold together" better in theory - that's what they used for the Astro 20W
That said, trying it out is the only way to find out.

 

[Elric]

I’m trying to decide if a Syn1 added to my Soldano Astro makes more sense than getting the Syn20ir.
I wish I knew if the new ‘0 watt power amp mojo’ they put in the new Syn20 ir is enough to warrant the extra expense in that scenario.

I still have an Ox Stomp sitting unused of late…and a Two Notes Opus hardly used as well. Use one of them and Astro 20 with a Syn1 as an alternative to getting the Syn20ir or sell them both to help fund the Syn20?

The 0watt power thing is on the modules it has absolutely nothing to do with the 20IR. Sheesh, so many people have no clue about that, Synergy really confused a lot of customers with that bit of hype for the Zwreck module.

Also the ENTIRE back end of the 20w in silent/direct mode is digital. The entire power amp is ignored. It is basically the same as your Astro 20 but has additional parameters for reactance and structure. It’d be an absolute waste if you have the Astro 20 and do want another power amp.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Also the ENTIRE back end of the 20w in silent/direct mode is digital. The entire power amp is ignored. It is basically the same as your Astro 20 but has additional parameters for reactance and structure. It’d be an absolute waste if you have the Astro 20 and do want another power amp.

Really? That’s stupid. Just use a modeler then.

 

[GTR37]

The 0watt power thing is on the modules it has absolutely nothing to do with the 20IR. Sheesh, so many people have no clue about that, Synergy really confused a lot of customers with that bit of hype for the Zwreck module.

Also the ENTIRE back end of the 20w in silent/direct mode is digital. The entire power amp is ignored. It is basically the same as your Astro 20 but has additional parameters for reactance and structure. It’d be an absolute waste if you have the Astro 20 and do want another power amp.

It hard to say as one of the Synergy guys said that the presence and structure is included on the XLR so maybe they are taking the tap after the power amp ?
It’s kind of vague

 

[Enchilada Jones]

The 0watt power thing is on the modules it has absolutely nothing to do with the 20IR. Sheesh, so many people have no clue about that, Synergy really confused a lot of customers with that bit of hype for the Zwreck module.

Also the ENTIRE back end of the 20w in silent/direct mode is digital. The entire power amp is ignored. It is basically the same as your Astro 20 but has additional parameters for reactance and structure. It’d be an absolute waste if you have the Astro 20 and do want another power amp.

Thanks! That makes it easy knowing there is no ‘synergy’ between the new module’s 0 watt circuit and Syn20ir power amp.

A Syn 1 and ZWreck module are probably both in stock somewhere now as well!

 

[paisleywookiee]

Yeah I was under the impression that the “zero watt” thing is a new feature being implemented in all modules, benefiting all Synergy gear.

 

[hblu22]

I received mine from zzounds yesterday and wanted to give some feedback. I have been a pretty longtime user of synergy and still have a syn-50 and syn-1. That said it is usually easier to just fire up a modeler or the Dimehead NAM player. I thoroughly enjoyed using the syn20-IR. The structure and reactance do change the feel and it is very easy to dial in. I even found new life and use for some synergy modules that I had not bonded with as much in the past as the reactance and structure controls made those much more useable. The included IR’s sounded good but I found even better results throwing in a few custom IR’s I made using GGD Cali, GGD goldstack and Contenders:Round 1. The clean is better than I recall the clean on a syn-30 I demoed. I used it without a cab and given the super low latency it had the same immediacy I would typically experience with my real amps. Only things I wish they did differently - on/off switch to kill speaker output instead of just rolling the master volume down, standby switch or bypass mode that would allow for hot swapping modules, ability to save the high and low cuts per channel - they are global assignments presently (this seems like a feature that could be updated with software) and 2 more IR’s like they included on the astro20 for total of 6 - absolutely all non deal-breaker items but that would have really made it perfect. On the flip side having 4 ir’s means I have to really evaluate my collection and just narrow it down further and clearly many people roll with just one or two favorite ir (I.e., Leon Todd) and I obviously don’t show up to play with four speaker cabs…..
Apparently they will be adding a volume pad in the future for the software as the xlr output can get hot.

 

[GTR37]

I received mine from zzounds yesterday and wanted to give some feedback. I have been a pretty longtime user of synergy and still have a syn-50 and syn-1. That said it is usually easier to just fire up a modeler or the Dimehead NAM player. I thoroughly enjoyed using the syn20-IR. The structure and reactance do change the feel and it is very easy to dial in. I even found new life and use for some synergy modules that I had not bonded with as much in the past as the reactance and structure controls made those much more useable. The included IR’s sounded good but I found even better results throwing in a few custom IR’s I made using GGD Cali, GGD goldstack and Contenders:Round 1. The clean is better than I recall the clean on a syn-30 I demoed. I used it without a cab and given the super low latency it had the same immediacy I would typically experience with my real amps. Only things I wish they did differently - on/off switch to kill speaker output instead of just rolling the master volume down, standby switch or bypass mode that would allow for hot swapping modules, ability to save the high and low cuts per channel - they are global assignments presently (this seems like a feature that could be updated with software) and 2 more IR’s like they included on the astro20 for total of 6 - absolutely all non deal-breaker items but that would have really made it perfect. On the flip side having 4 ir’s means I have to really evaluate my collection and just narrow it down further and clearly many people roll with just one or two favorite ir (I.e., Leon Todd) and I obviously don’t show up to play with four speaker cabs…..
Apparently they will be adding a volume pad in the future for the software as the xlr output can get hot.

Sounds like a positive review
What modules did you try in it?
Did you notice at low volumes a huge difference between the syn50 or were they relatively close w the structure options

 

[laxu]

I even found new life and use for some synergy modules that I had not bonded with as much in the past as the reactance and structure controls made those much more useable.

Which modules did you feel sounded better with the SYN20?

 

[HomespunEffects]

This with an SLO module would be amazing.