MeldaProduction

DIGIFEX · Post by **DIGIFEX** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 9:59 am

Mmmmhhh...
Just installed the demo and played around a bit.

It's not a bad package all in all - don't get me wrong, but there are a few shortcomings I may not be accepting; especially at the current price point:
- no graphical filter representation (only envelope shown in window - I'd prefer to see both)
- no toolset for painting partials into the harmonic editor (paint only odd or even partials for example)
- no synthesized presets for waveforms or harmonic spectra - only recreations of instruments like organ, accordeon, etc. (Am I missing something here?)
- no drop shadow for popup boxes (looks a little confusing sometimes when a popup is melting with the background)

OK, what's most important: The synth really sounds good and most of the presets are good as well (at least for my taste). But Linplug's Spectral isn't bad eather and comes at 119 Euro. You can use different filters for drawing harmonic spectra and you can draw filters in a similar way like you do in the oscillator window which is a nice feature. There are several presets for filters as well. The interface of Spectral is a real beauty. And concerning sound and presets there not much to complain about.
Of course MPowerSynth has it's strengths as well. But for the moment it's the price that's putting me off. You can get Dune 2, Serum, Spire or Diversion for about 150 Euro these days. All excellent sounding stuff with excellent interfaces. I doubt MPowerSynth will be doing well at 200 Euro.

MeldaProduction · Post by **MeldaProduction** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 4:56 pm

Ok so :

- Graphical filter representation - sorry, but no, I already denied it a few times. I understand the point of it, but it's just wrong here, not mentioning in a lot of filters it makes absolutely no sense, it's dependent on note frequency (!!! that's not usual and is a big advantage), and is a waste of resources. It's a synthesizer - it should be creative and you should use your ears, if a filter looks one way or another shouldn't be so relevant.
Anyway if you need a visualisation - go to the FX section, create an equalizer or dynamic equalizer, it would contain the traditional filters you have in other synths and you have all the visualisation you can think of

. But not for the filter section, sorry.

- Painting partials - there is a harmonic generator! And of course, I'm open to suggestions for making the editor of harmonics better. But to be honest, what's the point behind odd & even partials??

- Synthesized presets - I don't get it, you have a harmonic generator, which can create virtually limiteless sets of harmonics. You can convert standard shapes like saw to harmonics etc... having presets for these seems completely illogical to me.

- Drop shadow - cannot be done, OS does that - OSX and Win 10

. Even if we would do it somehow, it would collide with the OS's shadow. On 8.10 several styles are having better outline to make it easier to spot the popups.

- Price - that's always a problematic question and I'm glad for your feedback. Anyway, I checked Spectral, found nothing so "beautiful", it was very hard to use to me, and featurewise it's hard to even compare it to MPS. I'm not saying it's bad or anything, if you like it more that MPS, than you should definitely get it and not MPS. But MPS has features no other plugins on the market have (just the FX section is worth more than the price tag, then the randomizer, the osc features, unique filters...), the GUI is exceptional when used in practice, different, but once you get used to it, you won't be able to get back. It has over a 1500 presets, have you ever seen a synth that can do a vintage organ simulation like MPS? I personally already replaced my sampled organs with it

.
There are many synths on the market, many of them are good. MPS is very unique in the way it works and can do things nothing else on the market can. And comes with such a huge bank of great sounds than it serves as a "go-to" even if one isn't really a sound designer. This doesn't mean that you will like it, in which case the price is irrelevant

. And if you do, right now it's just 149 EUR and also have the eternal madness discount, so you can get it cheaper from time to time

.

DIGIFEX · Post by **DIGIFEX** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 5:53 pm

Hi Vojtech,

thank you for your quick reply. Let me quick explain a little concerning the points I mentioned:

- Graphical filter representation: It's true, you can't judge the quality of sound by simply looking at a curve. Bt what I like is that you can learn from it. I'm not a seasoned synthesist and I'm curious to know what's going on in the frequency spectrum when I choose something like "formant" or "comb". In fact I learnt this recently from synths that show curves for the filters. But may be this isn't necessary for the real pros.

- Painting partials: What's behind odd and even partials? Well a pulse wave does exist excluseviley of even partials if I'm getting it right. So I suppose it wouldn't be a bad thing I you are able to shape the sound of an oscillator a little more detailed by only painting odd or even partials. I have to admit though that I overlooked MPowerSynths Harmonic generator (sorry!). It's a very powerful tool on it's own - very interesting!

- Synthesiszed presets: What I would like to see here are waveforms like they where used in synths like Waldorf Wave or so. It would then be easier to recreate sounds of that specila kind of synths. But in the meantime I tried the random feature of thge MPS oscillator generator and was impressed how quick I got interesting sounding stuff far beyond basic saw or pulsewave sounds. And the possibility to anlayze samples is a welcome addition too. I bought a large collection of samples from nearly everything important in synth history some years ago. So it should be possible to get synthesized waveforms from hear in spades.

- Drop shadows for floating windows: Well, I'll try to examine if a different Windows preset may help. But this is realy a minor problem. I could live with that.

- Price policy: OK, to put it short: My experience so far is that MPS seems to be something like a Ferrari in the chassis of a Volkswagen. It looks decent but you have to open this Pandora's box and dig for a while until you see and hear what's different from other synths. This hasn't to be a bad thing at all - it's natural that you mention those parts of a synth first that look familiar. For me new sound possibilities are what counts first. And in this case examining MPS seems to be very rewarding.
Maybe the price is OK for a professional who is ready to dig a little deaper to see the values inside MPS. But I'm an amateur musician and therefore wouldn't pay 200 Euro for a plugin - even if it's top notch. Anyway: If I can get it via the eternal madness sale I think I'm going to grab me a copy.

Regards, Wilfried

Breeze · Post by **Breeze** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 6:39 pm

DIGIFEX wrote:- Synthesiszed presets: What I would like to see here are waveforms like they where used in synths like Waldorf Wave or so. It would then be easier to recreate sounds of that specila kind of synths....
And the possibility to anlayze samples is a welcome addition too. I bought a large collection of samples from nearly everything important in synth history some years ago. So it should be possible to get synthesized waveforms from hear in spades.

Seems to me you've solved your own issue here: since you can import wave samples, why should MPS offer them? You can pick and chose waves from a wide variety of free waveform archives or record and import your own. I've gotten excellent results with the import feature. It would be useful though to have the option of saving the waveform with the preset.

synzh · Post by **synzh** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 4:35 am

Vojtech mentioned something I've definitely noticed, that some reviews seem leave out - the many quality FX effects included in the synth. It's like a whole mini-set of the effects that they sell separately that are well loved, in the synth itself. I almost couldn't believe it at first, but sure enough, they're in there! This was a big plus for me.

DIGIFEX · Post by **DIGIFEX** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:29 am

OK, changed my first opinion on MPS and finally bought that thing. It's true: the effect section of MPS is ground braking for a softsynth. Never saw something like this inplemented anywhere in a synth and it's all layed out well! Have a look at the rotary speaker emulation and it will drop your jaw. Compared to this the effects section of most other synths looks like a child's toy.

I came across MPS reading the test in soundbytes magazine - but only part one of the review was released yet, so I didn't get a grasp of what's going on in the modulation and effects section. I wonder why they don't release part two of the review?

MPS is very deep water to dive in - but very rewarding in the end. And since I personally don't have the time to program from the ground up it's pleasing to see, that MPS presets are first rate and can be used as a starting point for sound creation. I did a few comparisons to other top notch synths I own (Harmor for example, which's presets where rated "terrific" in Computer Magazine) and MPS is easily in the champions league here.

MeldaProduction · Post by **MeldaProduction** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 2:21 pm

Thank you folks!

And please spread the word

.
Anyway the second part of the MPowerSynth review in SoundBytes is actually out there:

http://soundbytesmag.net/mpowersynthreviewpart2/

xNiMiNx · Post by **xNiMiNx** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 7:51 pm

synzh wrote:Vojtech mentioned something I've definitely noticed, that some reviews seem leave out - the many quality FX effects included in the synth.

I think the reason is because theres so much goodness under the hood to describe. Ive been working with MPS and not reading too many reviews, do they mention MTexturedStyleEditor? That should be in reviews too imo, icing on the cake.

woodsdenis · Post by **woodsdenis** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 1:47 am

A monster of a synth to be sure, downloaded the demo and played with it for hours and bought it.

1. A lock on the Quality setting is a must IMO
2. Volume Levelling of the presets.
3. A pruning of presets is needed quality not quantity. There are a lot of gems here but 1600 + presets is only an advantage if they all contribute something, a lot don't and would turn off a potential buyer who doesn't dig deeper. First impressions count.
4. Get some of the big designers to do sound sets for it. The potential is huge. I would be pounding on Ayin Zahev's door to get him to do a set for this.

Don't mean to be harsh but helpful and am a Melda fan, would love to see this succeed big time.

BasariStudios · Post by **BasariStudios** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 1:56 am

The Power Synth has so much potential in the right hands, i do not own
a copy but i remember from the Demo for which i did not have time to
finish the 25 Presets it can do quiet a few things like no other synth can.
The depth of it is ages ahead of many synths. But needs a good programmer too.
With the Demo i had it with few presets or none i think, i don't remember
correctly, i created some on my own.

woodsdenis · Post by **woodsdenis** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 2:18 am

BasariStudios wrote:The Power Synth has so much potential in the right hands, i do not own
a copy but i remember from the Demo for which i did not have time to
finish the 25 Presets it can do quiet a few things like no other synth can.
The depth of it is ages ahead of many synths. But needs a good programmer too.
With the Demo i had it with few presets or none i think, i don't remember
correctly, i created some on my own.

Yes I agree its nearly OTT with the possibilities, worth a purchase at the discount price now definitely.

synzh · Post by **synzh** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 2:29 am

woodsdenis wrote: 4. Get some of the big designers to do sound sets for it. The potential is huge. I would be pounding on Ayin Zahev's door to get him to do a set for this.

100% with you on this one - lots of presets, a few good ones in there but most are so-so or meh. Sound designer(s) could make a big difference here; possibly already in the works?

woodsdenis · Post by **woodsdenis** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 2:51 am

http://www.zentralmassiv-sound.com

Hire this guy for a start, great commercial EDM sounds.

BasariStudios · Post by **BasariStudios** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 3:20 am

synzh wrote:100% with you on this one - lots of presets, a few good ones in there but most are so-so or meh. Sound designer(s) could make a big difference here; possibly already in the works?

Problem is that at the initial release of the Synth it was offered as make 25 presets and get a free copy.
Many of the Sound Designers did not go for this and was left for anyone, whoever can make a sound so
it ended up with 1600 presets of which some are good some maybe not. And most of the Sound Designers
do other things and won't really go for a Free Synth based on Designing Sounds for it. I mean i have done
it in the past but that also depends on the time of the Designers, what are they doing at the moment or
if they have something more important working on. There is a synth developer who i know who actually
hires us to design, gives you a copy of the synth, you sign a contract, you get paid, you do the sounds,
the sounds get tested and it goes to final release...no matter what this is one of the greatest synths.
I as a Sound Designer never judge synths by the Presets but by what i can do with it.

woodsdenis · Post by **woodsdenis** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:44 am

I think we all agree on the quality and depth of the synth, there is really no disagreement there. But most of us posting here are not the big market for this. Good presets sell synths, most buyers really don't know or care about the inner workings or any of that.

I come from an age where I owned and used everything from a Minimoog to a Fairlight, I am not a soundesigner but back then you had to have a knowledge of synthesis to get around these hardware monsters. What made me interested was the sheer power of this synth, that will mean virtually nothing to the average user if it doesn't sound good out of the box . TBH it really doesn't, the idea of creating presets to get a free copy is a novel a approach to get a mass of product, but can be counterproductive.

Either way I love it, it's a tweakers dream that should be way bigger than it is.

Oh there should be a sticky on the forum for commercial and free sound sets for this.

MeldaProduction

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MPowerSynth improvements & feature requests