KVR Audio

Sound Author · Post by **Sound Author** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:00 pm

You see it all the time, ads on Loopmasters, Synthmob, Pluginboutique... Presets for Massive, Sylenth, and perhaps a few sets for Xfer Records' Serum ... maybe some for Spire.

Of course, I remember when Massive was a hot new item, and it's still a powerful and useful instrument, but there are a LOT more instruments out there we could be making presets for. It seems like people are making presets for Massive because all anyone ever sells...are presets for Massive!

There's no demand for anything new because there's no supply of anything new! As sound designers, we really need to start putting our necks out there and take more chances developing quality patches for quality synths that deserve far more attention than they're receiving.

Last April, AIR released their plugins on the open market for non-Pro-Tools users for the first time. These are really powerful instruments guys, and almost a year has gone by and hardly anyone has mentioned them.

Linplug's Spectral, Cakewalk's Z3TA+2, Madrona Labs: Aalto and Kaivo are revolutionary modular instruments. Hardly any buzz.

And don't even get me started on u-he. Zebra 2 is one of the most celebrated semi-modular plugins ever developed! I see maybe a preset bundle here and there -- Joseph Hollo has made some great sounds for it -- but still, there's a drought of creative content for all these amazing instruments!

I'm afraid NI's Massive, albeit a great little synth, has become a comfort zone

Perimeter Sound · Post by **Perimeter Sound** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:05 am

Most likely it's just because soooooo many people have them. Also they are good synths, but see #1.

ksandvik · Post by **ksandvik** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:10 am

Go to http://www.u-he.com/PatchLib/ for tons of Zebra patches.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:15 am

Sound Author wrote: I'm afraid NI's Massive, albeit a great little synth, has become a comfort zone

I think that's much more the case for Sylenth; there is a lot of really cutting edge sound design being done for Massive from people like Leap into the Void, The Unfinished, Josef Hollo, Nucleus Soundbanks, Eclipse Sound etc.

mebaru · Post by **mebaru** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:48 am

NI Massive is one of the best and most popular synth on the market. Sylenth is a bit old and a lot of modern synth can do better but it sounds great, is easy to learn, not very CPU intense and still very popular and used by many people (for example it's my favorite synth too and I use it almost everywhere). Both synth have been promoted by some famous edm producers.

When you're going to sell presets obviously you will target for a bigger market.

Robert Foster · Post by **Robert Foster** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 3:07 pm

Its simple - you make a sound set for Massive - you get a (relatively) lot of sells (lot of people own it) - you make sound set with equivalent quality and mood for Serum you get 3 sales after one week.

So this not even covers the Demo maker costs - not the mention the standard synth cost is 150-200 $ at average.

So many people who sale sounds are rather sceptical when it comes to new synths - can't blame them when you look at the numbers.

Aleatoriac · Post by **Aleatoriac** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 3:16 pm

Supply and demand the will of the people has spoken those in the minority can f**k right off and die.

That's the way it is.

Don't you ever try to do anything different or step out of line, the collectivists will incarcerate or destroy you, you outlier off the bell curve, you rogue statistic.

Tricky-Loops · Post by **Tricky-Loops** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 3:23 pm

Because Hive isn't released yet!

garryknight · Post by **garryknight** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 9:53 pm

More than likely because they both date from 2007. That's almost prehistory!

VariKusBrainZ · Post by **VariKusBrainZ** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 9:58 pm

Because certain commercial artists made it known these are the synths that make their signature sounds and the sheep that have no creativity of their own buy the same tools in the hope they can plagiarise their heroes

andrew71 · Post by **andrew71** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:04 pm

I guess Massive would still be popular as it has been bundled with Maschine for quite a while now.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:08 pm

I don't think people realise how deep Massive is, it's really a very powerful and well designed synth, easy to modulate with lots of possibilities and modulators available, and still amongst the best implementation of macro controls opening up a lot of performance possibilities. If you want to find out what it is capable of Jeremy Janzen's presets in the 3 Databank series are an absolute masterclass in Massive sound design, so are Leap into The Void's - especially the Unlimited patch series. Both make use of the patch notes to explain how their sounds are achieved, these guys really know their stuff.

Xenos · Post by **Xenos** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:09 pm

Damn straight. There are plenty of excellent alternatives to the Big 2 - Serum, Hive, Z3ta 2, Gladiator, Zebra, Rob Papen Predator, Synthmaster, etc, etc. I like Massive and Sylenth, but I make it a point to take a risk with lesser-knowns. Sure, it won't sell as well as the Big 2, but you gotta have a break from the same old routine. Plus, I can come back to the Big 2 synths with some new ideas, tricks, etc. Each synth has its own workflow and way of doing things, which can be a much-needed creative whack upside the head.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:15 pm

What is surprising is why there are not more soundbanks for Blue II - that synth is a powerhouse!

V0RT3X · Post by **V0RT3X** » Mon Mar 30, 2015 1:04 am

I just want to know why Native Instruments has not released Massive 2.0 yet.

If it's such a great selling product why not f**king update it?

Why are Massive and Sylenth STILL Cornering the Preset Market?