Related news... (last 5)
There are 27 related news items in total, click here to see them all.
User Reviews for Massive
Click here to add a review
By kuniklo
On 24th May 2007
Version: 1.1.1
Read all reviews by
kuniklo
2 of 2 people found
this review helpful.
Was this review
helpful to you?
Yes | No |
| | 
GUI
Sound
Features
Docs
Presets
Support
VFM
Stability |
NI finally gets it almost completely right. First-class sound, elegant and intuitive UI, extensive modulation routings that don't get messy, an extremely useful randomizer etc. CPU usage is extravagant and you can't see two envelopes side-by-side but other than that this is a home run. Presets run towards the edgy & noisy but you can soften it up pretty easily. Completely stable and crash-free in Logic and Live. The manual is detailed and readable and shows the strengths of larger developers like NI that can affort to hire professional tech writers.
The macro modulation system is brilliant too. Much more musical than manually assigning midi controllers to individual parameters. You can easily control whole groups of params with a single knob *and* control the modulation ranges to roll your own performance instruments.
NI customer support is lousy but aside from registration and activation you shouldn't need it for Massive. Massive runs towards the expensive end of the VI spectrum but if you wait there are usually deals and bundles from NI that bring it down considerably. |
|
  |
|
|
By aaastronomer
On 8th January 2007
Version: latest
Read all reviews by
aaastronomer
6 of 10 people found
this review helpful.
Was this review
helpful to you?
Yes | No |
| |
GUI
Sound
Features
Docs
Presets
Support
VFM
Stability |
try the demo! take off the modulations and the effects, and the wave table sounds aren't much...but...add some modulation to the wave table position control and look out!! wow, this gets deep fast. without even fiddling around with the filter, amazing distortions and noises (not using the noise osc, mind you) can be obtained from a single osc. now modulate the pitch control so that it plays against the wt-position. you begin to see the possibilities. now add modulation to the modulation sidechain for each of the above. is it as good for you as it is for me? you could stop right here and have hours of fun...but, push on and modulate another osc and one of the filters...and now you have madness.
note the number of modulation sources you have. note also that the lfo sources are all dual wave with an interpolation feature to allow the creation of very complex mods. note that the stepper comes in two forms: one for simple bar-amplitude steps and one for complex wave forms at each step. try these, its not complicated at all (especially in comparison to some other synths...which will remain unnamed).
adding modulation to the various controls is also pretty slick in massive...just click on the arrow cross for a modulation source and it sticks to your cursor arrow tip...drag it to a modulation slot for a control...click again and it goes into the slot as a numeric value...now click and drag the value up or down in the slot and note how the modulation ring grows and shrinks around the control knob (or slider) showing the modulation range. the major controls have two modulation slots plus a modulation sidechain slot. this is very nice.
i'll stop now and let someone else cover the stepper capabilities and the effects. however, a quick trip through the presets will show you what these are capable of.
i get the sense that an experienced synth programmer could go well beyond the supplied presets, so look out, there's going to a hell of a lot of great presets comin to ya...! |
|
  |
|
|
|
Latest 2 reviews from a total of 2 |
