Machfive 3 - Worth getting if you've got all the competitors?

[Cinebient]

And you can just keep on adding LFOs in M5, I have used 10 and more in some patches, all polyphonic if needed. Plus you have all these other step sequencers, envelops, arps, the modulation system in M5 is as versatile as Alchemy's concerning the amount of modulators you can apply. There is no limit to the amount of samples per patch, I guess the amount of RAM of your computer is the limit here.

Thank you!
In my prefered tool Mitosynth for design soundscapes and playable textures i can load up to 32 sound sources (from the build in synth) or samples inside a "wavechamber" then i can blend (not interpolate sadly) trough it any possible way i can imagine. I can also modulate the modulator (or parts of it) of the modulator.....etc. endless.
I just need a more powerful cpu for this. So recording my iPad into Logic is also just a bad workaround.

[monomaker]

Thank you.... but can i really modulate everything inside Motu Mach Five 3 and with limitless LFO, envelopes? I'm searching since a while for something similar like Alchemy but which can use much more sound sources.

AFAIK, no you can't. I've only had it for a week, but it seems there are lots of things in Mach Five that don't automate/modulate, of particular frustration is the lack of ability to auto/modulate loop size/end. I have to admit, with no manual and no demo available I bought it on the basis that people said it could modulate anything, then found out that simply wasn't the case. Certainly the mod matrix length seems unlimited, but what can and can't be modulated is more restrictive than a hardware sampler from 20 years back.

Also, be aware that it doesn't install with a PDF manual, if you purchase new you get a printed manual, if you buy a second-hand licence it's likely you'll have to buy a manual from MOTU (which is $15 and you have to call them in the States, I don't know if they add shipping for that, I'll be able to tell you next week).

I seem to get quite a few crashes whilst using the IRCAM Stretch/Granular mode. Also, I can't use those modes for anything quick and rhythmical because they seem to have timing troubles, making them more suited for ambient sound design. If you slice something up in MachFive, then set some of the slices to the IRCAM modes they no longer sit in time, you need to wiggle the notes around and render it all into place. As already discussed, editing several things simultaneously is a PITA.

I bought Halion 5 a little while ago and currently prefer that by a fair margin, its got its faults too but apart from having very different sounding granular modes it's a lot more stable and productive for me. In Halion 5 the granular stuff has no odd latency, so you can use it for beat programming.

There isn't a lot of content available for MachFive, so I'd hoped they'd focused on making it amazing for sound design. The IRCAM stuff is cool, but for creative sampling I'd load Halion and for library playing I'd load Kontakt, so MachFive struggles to assert its relevance in my Sampler folder. Perhaps when I get the manual I'll learn things that will make me feel very differently about this, but at the moment I've got buyers remorse with it.

[Sampleconstruct]

In MachFive's granular engine every grain fades in over time, so you can't use it for percussive, temposynced stuff really. But the Stretch Mode let's you sync loops and beats with no trouble. HALion's granular engine is still far superior to M5's, sound- and feature-wise, not only because of the different available grain shapes.

[Cinebient]

Well, thank you very much guys. Seems then it's not what i need. Interesting sometimes how a tools for 15 bucks beat all the big toys in some areas
Now i hate apple (and CA) more and more since i think that Alchemy 2 is THE tool for me.... oh wait.... it will never see the light (maybe in parts inside Logic 11).

Any sampler can do this for me.... for exampel i want to laod a few samples into it and when i play a key it could start with a percussive keyboard sound, morphs into a cello...then a violin...a synth sound... etc.... then ends into a kind of field recording. I want to modulate also the order and speed of this blending inside one patch. This are the things i like to do and can inside an app i like. All the common filter sweeps are sounding great and so but are boring and nothing unique after several times. So give me that and 100+ LFO's and i'm happy.