Syrinscape: pros and cons from someone new

Suggestions
#1

I’ve heard of Syrinscape for a while, and finally decided that I wanted to try adding sounds to my online game that I GM. I’ve subscribed (@ D&D level) but I’m not sure that I will continue subscribing.
I want to provide my feedback on Syrinscape - pros and cons. At the moment, I don’t think I’ll continue subscribing, but I may very well purchase some content and continue to use the player.
First, the pros:

  • The sound library! It’s enormous! Odds are high that the sound you need has already been recorded
  • The Downloaded Player UI - I like the scenes and sounds approach. Makes it so that the UI isn’t distracting while GM’ing. No hunting for the sound if you spend a little prep time before the session.
  • The random timing of sounds to avoid the feeling of “track on repeat”

Now, the things driving me away from remaining a subscriber

  • No ability to adjust the volume of individual tracks or one-shots. After a couple rounds of back and forth with support, I still can’t hear (like at all) certain one-shot sounds. Don’t wave it off with “random distance” - let me adjust the volume, please.
  • No ability to preview sound sets prior to purchase or download. If I’m not subscribing, how can I tell if a sound set is what I need if I can’t listen to it? Yes, some sound sets have you tube videos, but to view those I have to leave the player app, find the sound set I’m interested in on the web store and hope that there’s a you tube clip. Why not show me all the names that are in the sound set prior to me downloading, then allow me to play 10 second clips of each one without purchasing or downloading?
  • The search function on the player UI is quite poor - especially compared to the online search function, and combined with the lack of preview capabilities makes it practically useless.
  • The ability to make my own sound sets or adjust volume is hidden behind the most expensive subscription tier.
  • The price - I pay less for my VTT every month than what Syrinscape costs at the tier which allows me to adjust the volume.
  • The hoops required to broadcast to Discord. The online player doesn’t interest me - the UI lacks the polish of the download client. I’ve set up a discord bot now, but it would be nice if that were supported out of the box. Syrinscape doesn’t need to re-invent the online sound wheel. Use what the players are already using. Support the most popular voice chat platforms and focus on what you are good at - making great sounds!

In summary, I’m probably looking at finding the sound sets that work for me, buying them, then just sticking with the downloaded player. The benefit of having such a huge library of sounds is defeated by the poor search functionality and lack of preview.

If Syrinscape had a $5/month tier which also let me adjust the volume and collect existing sounds into my own sound set - that would be excellent value for the money and would get me to recommend it to all my friends.

(note - I don’t play D&D or Pathfinder, so the adventure specific sound sets are neither a pro nor a con. The sounds are good, but the naming based on modules I don’t use makes the sounds even harder for me to find.)

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Feature Request: Supersyrin Bots
#2

I agree. I tried it out, but I am having significant problems finding assets to use in my homebrew adventures. If all I was using were the pre-canned adventures, it would be great, but it is very tiresome and time-consuming trying to hunt around for assets buried in other obscure sets.

Similarly, I have the Fantasy set. And, in my case, a number of the assets that were suggested to me (for a sort of creepy catacombs) were in Nyarlathotep, which is only avaialble in the Sci-Fi set! Very frustrating.

I would much prefer if there were a way to search for and gather raw audio assets, such as screams, creepy music, orc battle, etc, rather than having to look through all sorts of sets to try to find them.

All in all, great if you are playing the pre-canned adventures, not so great if you are using for homebrew adventures.

2 Likes
#3

The Online Player does allow volume change to both individual elements and the one-shots as a whole, if that will aid you in any way. Also the search functionality on the Online Player has recently been dramatically improved, which will let you search with far more precision (singling out sets, elements, moods, etc) than in the past.

And hey, if you’re asking for set suggestions, and you only have a Fantasy subscription instead of SuperSyrin, just mention that! :slight_smile: I tend to suggest from the full library, but I’m just as happy to tender suggestions within your certain subset! :slight_smile:

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#4

Hi there,

Ok so I’ve been a supersyrin for about six months and I run/GM two games per week.

I don’t understand what the problem is with the price, especially if you pay for it as a group.

I pay for it myself, I can’t believe the value for money.

Literally any sound at my finger tips. I’ve just recently learned how to devise my own sound sets.

I run Dungeon of the Mad Mage and I’m so amazed and thankful that the sounds are ready for me.

I can’t praise Syrinscape enough. Also please do your research on me too, I’ve absolutely no affiliation with the owners. I genuinely love it.

Just the other day I made a sound set of random laughter because one of my players characters is going mad. He can hear laughter in his head.

Garry Miller
anklman7@me.com.

3 Likes
#5

Regarding the price, there’s a couple differences between us.

  • I run my VTT for less than $10/month and it does all kinds of things. Syrinscape does sound. If I want to change the volume of the one shots, I have to pay $11/month.
  • I do 100% home brew. So I can’t pick up The Mad Mage bundle and just run it. I have to search. And search. And the search function is not quite fully polished yet. And I have to make my own sound sets. And at the normal subscription level, the user experience for doing that is clunky.

That’s why I’m saying that the value isn’t quite there for me. If search were better, and soundscape creation were better, and I could adjust the volume of one shots then yes, it would have value.

I’m still not sure if it would be worth more per month than my VTT hosting. But it would be a lot closer.

#6

Only one of my games is DOTMM.

The home brew one has soundest created by me. Very easily.

My VTT is £7.99 per month and syrinscape is £6.99 per month.
The VTT I use has nowhere near the range and quality of sound effects that Syrinscape does.

Comparing the two is irrelevant and I’m very happy to pay what I pay for the, let’s face it, movie standard quality of the sounds.

Also the Wilhelm Scream at my fingertips. Need I say more. :sunglasses:

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#7

Thank you so much :slight_smile:

1 Like
#8

As a brand new user I have to concur with a lot of this.

Pros:

  • Fantastic, large, diverse sound library, and a lot of it is available for free!
  • The UI has some clever ideas to allow for quick and low-mental-overhead use while DMing, as well as ways to adjust things on the fly. Moods, mood elements, and the like are a great organizing principle.
  • random timing of sounds, and the apparent variety in many of them so every sound isn’t identical each time

However, I haven’t gone for a SuperSyrin subscription yet for a few reasons:

  • I may decide not to do sound effects at all - no fault of the software!
  • While I love having a stripped down interface, the offline versions have been difficult to use while using a laptop. I can’t use keyboard shortcuts to do things like switch window or change tab focus, I can’t use arrow keys to scroll, and right-click and drag-and-drop don’t do anything or not what you would expect.
  • Even worse, the buttons are obscured and the scrollbars are sometimes hard to grab, and it’s especially difficult when a pixel’s movement will sweep you through a bunch of the soundsets. I appreciate the artful design but in some cases it seems to hamper functionality
  • I’m not sure if this is a feature unlocked by subscription, but it would be nice to be able to adjust sound effect period and randomness. I suppose you could adjust it by adding dead air to the clip and having multiple versions if you needed different frequencies, but it might be nice to have dials you could adjust directly if a sound is getting annoying from repetition (but you still want to include it)
  • I too have discovered several sounds that don’t seem to contain anything. Without access to the more advanced settings I can’t even check if there’s a mistaken distance set too high.
  • It could be cool to chain sounds, and have them be conditional or random. I’m thinking of something like the sound of a catapult firing, the missile flying through the air, and then sounds of it missing, or hitting and creating a shower of rubble, or landing in a pond. I suppose that could be done with multiple different clips as well, but it would provide a lot of flexibility without increasing file size

Overall I think it’s a fantastic tool and I will be experimenting some more before I decide if I want to subscribe, but I wanted to record my thoughts as I went through them.

EDIT: As one final addendum, a built in voice-changer would be a fantastic addition. Being able to mimic being at the bottom of a well, the gravelly voice of an elder dragon, turn everything into sibilant hisses for a snake-man, the gravitas of a demigod, etc. would be an awesome way to add depth to a conversation.

#9

What I would love is if the iPad app direct connected to Discord. I love the minimal UI of the downloaded client/iPad app. As you say - low mental overhead while GM’ing.

If the iPad app just connected to my discord channel…brilliant!

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#10

@coop, @DarkHorse

Thanks for posting this. I have been saying this for a while but with more feedback like this, hopefully they look into it.

Here is my latest issues: Problems with the new fantasy version

I have also lamented about the lack of a search but I know that is in beta, so am hopeful about it.

Thanks!

edg

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#11

Hey @coop. This isn’t a perfect solution, but I did create a video on how to use the iPad version of Syrinscape and stream to your computer (and thus, then to discord) that might be useful to you. Link below:

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#12

Hey @lordgwydione! Thanks for the link. I’m on Mac, but was able to take your idea and figure out how to do the same on a Mac.
The sound still isn’t great - the discord bot and discord sound combo kind of stink to be honest.

I tried the online player, and OMG the sound is so much better! It’s annoying that the sound is better with the online client than the downloaded client.

I’m trying the full cost, super expensive Syrinscape subscription. If my players like it I may have to bite the bullet and keep the subscription.

But now I have another observation from someone new - getting my players to download and install the correct player is a hassle! The links to download the player contain an access token and a timeout - why on earth would anyone do that? I wanted to give my players the correct download link and let them just click it. Instead I have to post detailed instructions to not download the Fantasy/Sci Fi/Board game player and instead create an account, then look for a smaller Download link - not the obvious one - and use that.

#13

Heya @coop,

Not sure what this means. Definitely just send them to syrinscape.com/online for the full instructions step by step there. :slight_smile:

Also, this video might help, it’s me taking every single step of the process for a player:

If your players can’t work it out first time, whack them in the head and send them to us on support at syrinscape dot com to help them out!

Good luck! :slight_smile: :smiley:

Also also: GLAD the sound is much better on the actual Online Player, we worked hard to invent something AMAZING to get the sound RIGHT onto your players’ devices with NO compression, hardly any latency, perfect sync AND the ability for each player to control their volume independantly.

AND note: we are currently working on solutions for getting players into your game EVEN more easily. So keep and eye on these forums for developments on that front! :slight_smile: :robot: :hammer:

#14

For a Mac did you try rogue amoeba

#15

@Benjamin - what I meant with the timeout link is if I wanted to provide my players with a direct link to the download for their platform (I want to make this as easy as possible for them) and I copy the link for e.g. Mac, it looks like this:
https:// syrinscape-us.s3.amazonaws.com/files/syrinscape-1.4.11-p9-mac-online.dmg?Signature=sometoken&Expires=1633880457&AWSAccessKeyId=sometoken

Note the tokens (are they linked to my account?) and the EXPIRES parameter. This link EXPIRES after a certain amount of time. Boo! Hiss! :slight_smile:

@Benjamin - what I would really want is a plugin for Foundry VTT so that the players don’t need to worry about an separate client application at all. Or, ideally, about creating a Syrinscape account. But I’m looking forward to whatever you guys are cooking up.

@lordgwydione I did not try Rogue Amoeba. I connected my iPad to my Mac via USB and then started Quick Time which allowed piping of the music through to the Discord bot. So a bit of a Rube Goldberg machine I’ll admit. I can look into the Rogue program.

#16

Ah yes, In see. That is a little weird! I suppose there’s was some rational thinking in the mind of the dev who set it up. Or it could be just a default thing for S3.

Either way, I reckon you’ll LOVE our fixes to game setup! Everyone’s working hard on it for you! :smiley: