Back here I posted about the Softrope soundscape program (which I've also used successfully as a live theatre soundboard program). A couple of days ago, I stumbled across something else as well.
It's called Syrinscape, and at first glance it seems really spiffy. They have two programs, actually: one devoted to fantasy gaming, and one to sci-fi/post-modern. It looks fairly polished, and uses algorithms to make the different soundscapes sound more organic rather than like a looping tape. It is already programmed to fade in and fade out certain effects like background music and rainstorms when toggled. Not bad.
But there are a couple of issues:
1) It is entirely self-contained. You cannot add in your own sounds or music files to plug into different soundscapes, so you are limited to what is packaged with the program. Now, in total that may not be terribly restricting, as there is a fair variety of sounds available, but...
2) The majority of the prepackaged soundscapes are unlocked through either a subscription service (which, to its credit, permanently unlocks any new 'scapes released while the subscription is active) or by purchasing them directly. Without one or the other, you are limited to two 'scapes in either the fantasy or sci-fi program.
3) I personally would have preferred they not split the 'scapes into fantasy and sci-fi. Doing so requires that anyone wanting to be fully prepped for, say, Shadowrun has to have both programs up and running, since the Shadowrun setting incorporates both post-modern weaponry and magic.
It seems almost like the Syrinscape creator saw Softrope and thought, "Hey, I could put together sound packages and charge people for the convenience of not having to find sounds and put together their own." And that's not a bad thought, but most gamers I know don't tend to have much expendable income, myself included.
The one aspect of Syrinscape, though, that could really sell the product is something that Softrope doesn't have and, judging by their website that doesn't look like it's changed since I first wrote about them, likely never will: mobile support. Syrinscape is available in both the iTunes app store and on Google Play for Androids, and is intended for tablet use (you can use it on a smartphone, too, but it isn't optimized for it). Being able to take your soundboard with you on a tablet is a nice feature, making it a lot more mobile and less visually distracting than a laptop.
Is that worth $6.50-10.00 per month? For me, not really. I don't tend to have more than one actual tabletop game every three months. I'd be more likely to spend $5-10 getting a Roll20 membership, which would let me use their site on a mobile device as well. It's possible I might decide to pick up a sound pack here and there, but at $4 each or $20 for a six-pack, it still seems a bit pricey. I'll stick with my Softrope.
