Synergy SYN2 or Egnater M4?

[blacknoize]

I've been thinking of getting a SYN2 but have a chance to get a dual-channel Egnater M4 for a couple hundred less.

I'm really digging the sounds of the Synergy Metropoulos and Soldano modules, but I don't think either of them will get quite as clean as I want, so I'd either need a second SYN2 or would need to compromise to get the range of tones I need from just two modules.

The dual channel M4 would certainly hold enough modules to cover the range of tones I need, but I'm not sure the Synergy modules I like would sound just as good.

I could just get a SYN2 and a couple modules now, and just add another SYN2 down the road. I guess the second SYN2 would be in the loop of the first SYN2, and my effects would be in the loop of the second SYN2? Switching channels and bypass with MIDI is easy enough.

I play in a cover band that does primarily 80s-2000s rock/hard rock music, but some older and some newer. I need clean tones, but they probably don't need to be Fender or Vox clean. I also don't need ultra modern high gain.

I'd be using my Randall RT2/50 as the power amp.

What would you do? Thanks!

 

[j4q0]

The mods I have sound brighter through the SYN2 than in either an RM4 or M4, could be due to the V1 tube, though I haven't done some tube swap yet.
A few mods benefit from the brighter tone, others don't, most don't care.
I think the mods sound equally good in either. I don't have any Synergy mods (yet) FWIW.

After trying tons of modules (or amp models in the modelling world) everybody realizes they only need 2 or 3 tones and some times a boost (your choice of boost).

If you find 2 mods than can give you those 3 tones you'd be OK with either.
If you really need more than 3 tones, the M4 is probably a better alternative for you.

 

[Capt_Tippy]

After trying tons of modules (or amp models in the modelling world) everybody realizes they only need 2 or 3 tones and some times a boost

Strongly disagree...

 

[Ulf]

Although, I really like the Syn-2, I would never swap it with an M4.
Four modules is just nice. And to me having clean, crunch and dual high gain sounds is just a dream.
If you want to add the Syn-2 to an existing head, it's another story.

 

[keg8605]

Maybe go for the M4 first. Buy some modules and a syn2 from Sweetwater. Compare and send back the syn2 if you don't see much difference or sell the M4.

 

[MarcoR]

I play in a cover band that does primarily 80s-2000s rock/hard rock music, but some older and some newer. I need clean tones, but they probably don't need to be Fender or Vox clean. I also don't need ultra modern high gain.

Playing in a cover band? practicality it a must, weight is an important factor. The RT2/50 is really heavy so a rack with a loaded M4 is a bear. Add a power supply and you'll need a 6U rack (don't see many 5U).

The Syn2 would save a few pounds and a 4U case would still fit a power rack.

A Bman or DS would give you a variety of clean and mid gain tones and the SLO or Metropoulos would cover the dirty perfectly. I'm really happy with the DS and SLO combo but the Bman and Metropoulos are next on the list.

Personally, I would never need more than a combination of either sets of modules for live playing but it's nice to switch it up a little while still in the same ballpark tonally.

 

[teofilrocks]

The thing I had forgotten about is the SYN2 has a stereo FX loop, whereas the (R)M4 is mono. At first this seems important to me, but perhaps it's not? As far as (non-mixer) routing, this just means that w/ the SYN2, your loop would return to it before sending to a stereo amp. With an (R)M4, your last stereo effect would feed the stereo power amp directly. Is that correct? Good / bad?

 

[blacknoize]

I play in a cover band that does primarily 80s-2000s rock/hard rock music, but some older and some newer. I need clean tones, but they probably don't need to be Fender or Vox clean. I also don't need ultra modern high gain.

Playing in a cover band? practicality it a must, weight is an important factor. The RT2/50 is really heavy so a rack with a loaded M4 is a bear. Add a power supply and you'll need a 6U rack (don't see many 5U).

The Syn2 would save a few pounds and a 4U case would still fit a power rack.

A Bman or DS would give you a variety of clean and mid gain tones and the SLO or Metropoulos would cover the dirty perfectly. I'm really happy with the DS and SLO combo but the Bman and Metropoulos are next on the list.

Personally, I would never need more than a combination of either sets of modules for live playing but it's nice to switch it up a little while still in the same ballpark tonally.

Maybe I should be concerned about practicality, but I'm not. My main set up is a Randall 667 and a 4x12, with a 10U rack that contains a Furman, an RJM Effect Gizmo, and my pedals/effects. If anything, I could put the RT2/50 and M4 in my rack and not have to haul the 667 around, and my rack would probably still weigh less than my cabinet. For smaller shows I have a POD XT Live and a vertical/slant 2x12.

I really appreciate the input though

 

[blacknoize]

The thing I had forgotten about is the SYN2 has a stereo FX loop, whereas the (R)M4 is mono. At first this seems important to me, but perhaps it's not? As far as (non-mixer) routing, this just means that w/ the SYN2, your loop would return to it before sending to a stereo amp. With an (R)M4, your last stereo effect would feed the stereo power amp directly. Is that correct? Good / bad?

I'm strictly mono. I'd probably run the output of the M4 into my RJM Effect Gizmo, and then use it to switch in any effects I need, then out from there into the power amp. I'm guessing the Master output of the M4 would effectively become the effects send level to the rest of my chain? My effects loop right nw contains an Eventide H9, a Peavey Autograph II, and the second side of an ISP Decimator Pro Rack G.

 

[MarcoR]

The thing I had forgotten about is the SYN2 has a stereo FX loop, whereas the (R)M4 is mono. At first this seems important to me, but perhaps it's not? As far as (non-mixer) routing, this just means that w/ the SYN2, your loop would return to it before sending to a stereo amp. With an (R)M4, your last stereo effect would feed the stereo power amp directly. Is that correct? Good / bad?

You have it right, typically you would send the mono output from the preamp to your stereo FX, and that's perfectly fine.

But consider this... I have my stereo rack FX connected using the SYN2 send and stereo returns, and a cool unexpected feature revealed itself; you can use one side of the main output (no speaker emulation) and use the other side of the XRL output (with speaker emulation) at the same time!

That allowed me to send both the main left output to a Two Notes CAB and the right XLR output with speaker emulation to my DAW. Sounds really good and ironically, the speaker emulation on the SYN2 sounds very similar to the Own Hammer H75 M75 IR I like to use.

Not sure the outputs work this way if you don't have stereo FX connect but pretty cool there is a way to have both direct and emulation at the same time.

The other benefit would be if you didn't have a CAB and were just using WOS, you could track with emulation on the SYN2 and still send a direct out to the DAW where you could apply WOS after.

 

[MarcoR]

I'm strictly mono. I'd probably run the output of the M4 into my RJM Effect Gizmo, and then use it to switch in any effects I need, then out from there into the power amp. I'm guessing the Master output of the M4 would effectively become the effects send level to the rest of my chain?

Yes, exactly. I would consider a splitter/mixer approach to maintain your analog dry preamp signal. The Rane SM26 is popular. I used a GRX4 and RJM Mini Line Mixer for a while but now use a Switchblade 8F.