A device for synthesizing sound having sinusoidal components includes a selector for selecting a limited number of the sinusoidal components from each of a number of frequency bands using a perceptual relevance value. The device further includes a synthesizer for synthesizing the selected sinusoidal components only. The frequency bands may be ERB based. The perceptual relevance value may involve the amplitude of the respective sinusoidal component, and/or the envelope of the respective channel.