StiX : MultiSynthesis Drum Machine (v1.6 Released + Flash sales)

[Lotuzia]

Here's a video showcasing the 14 StiX Drumkits made with Wave Alchemy samples. In V0.99 RC1 we also added some all FM drumkits and a lot of new presets.

TR-909, TR-808; TR-606, KPR 77, LinnDrum, EMU SP12, System 100 Roland, MFB Schalgzwerg, Peavey Syncussion, SCI Drumtracks, TR-727, Vermona DRM MK II, JomoX Airbase, Drumfire : All in Stix now

So finally, the 15th WA demo kit will be based on the gorgeous Wave Alchemy MiNIMoOG samples. I hesitated until the end with their Pro One material, but the Mini is just too appealing

[Lotuzia]

6 mn StiX Overview Video : See and hear StiX in action, and find out why it's unique. Could not cover everything in such a short time, but I think the essential things are there.



Btw v1.0 will be releeased on March 25th instead of March 21st.
50% discount is also extended until this date.

LtZ

[plexuss]

Since the first beta, I love this drum machine, it's very unique in his way.
What I tell Xavier already and what I have my problems to acclimate but over time it would be fine is the GUI with the modules:
Normally we have on the left the OSC, Filters ... (Design), here we must check the oscillators in the middle, on the left the envelopes.

If you work daily with a lot of different soft and hardware synths, it's a bit confusing in the first minutes
Normally you have OSC, Filter, Envelopes, ADSR, Effects ...

But I'm happy for you guys that StiX is near finish for the final release ,

... Exactly. You can have all the greatest features in the world but if they are hard to use then users will not use them, or they will have to struggle through in order to use them. it's better to have as the highest priority, usability and ideally the usability direction coming from a user experience practitioner rather than a developer, PM, VP etc. and then build the features into the UX framework. Good features + good UX = good product.

There are many UX issues with StiX which impede it's ease of use. definitely there are great features in StiX and the sound quality is excellent, but I find myself struggling through the less than ideal UX of StiX to use them and it seems some other users do too.

So hopefully as StiX evolves the company will address the UX of it and make it easier to use. For now, we struggle through.

What things ?

I've emailed you about a few things and you didn't accept my recommendations. I can go through StiX and do what we call a "heuristic usability evaluation" however that will take time for me to do. maybe at some point down the line if customers complain about the usability you can contact me and we can see about doing an evaluation on the plugin UI. but trust me, there are a lot of usability issues and ways to make StiX much easier and faster to use without compromising its functionality. sound-wise, its fantastic and I am glad I bought it.

[Lotuzia]

Since the first beta, I love this drum machine, it's very unique in his way.
What I tell Xavier already and what I have my problems to acclimate but over time it would be fine is the GUI with the modules:
Normally we have on the left the OSC, Filters ... (Design), here we must check the oscillators in the middle, on the left the envelopes.

If you work daily with a lot of different soft and hardware synths, it's a bit confusing in the first minutes
Normally you have OSC, Filter, Envelopes, ADSR, Effects ...

But I'm happy for you guys that StiX is near finish for the final release ,

... Exactly. You can have all the greatest features in the world but if they are hard to use then users will not use them, or they will have to struggle through in order to use them. it's better to have as the highest priority, usability and ideally the usability direction coming from a user experience practitioner rather than a developer, PM, VP etc. and then build the features into the UX framework. Good features + good UX = good product.

There are many UX issues with StiX which impede it's ease of use. definitely there are great features in StiX and the sound quality is excellent, but I find myself struggling through the less than ideal UX of StiX to use them and it seems some other users do too.

So hopefully as StiX evolves the company will address the UX of it and make it easier to use. For now, we struggle through.

What things ?

I've emailed you about a few things and you didn't accept my recommendations. I can go through StiX and do what we call a "heuristic usability evaluation" however that will take time for me to do. maybe at some point down the line if customers complain about the usability you can contact me and we can see about doing an evaluation on the plugin UI. but trust me, there are a lot of usability issues and ways to make StiX much easier and faster to use without compromising its functionality. sound-wise, its fantastic and I am glad I bought it.

Hmm I dont think I ever received an email from you. Feel free to copy it and send it to me by PM if you wish so.

Else, we did not see people complain afaik about StiX. Quite on the opposite actually, but well. I think we've been especially open to new ideas during the beta campaign, we have retained what we thought were good ideas, and left what we thought were less good ideas, or good ideas, but that did not belong to StiX. All in all, it's quite unusual that users were given the opportunity to participate in the development of a plug in like this I think ( Think Kontakt or other plugs for example)

Then, as a matter of fact, I also use StiX. As the overview video above shows it, besides switching from the Eazy Synthesis view to the Advanced Synthesis page, and from the Sequencer Multi view to the single line edit, and that's one click, StiX is a single panel unit, and very fast to operate. So, given the power and depth it has, I think the worflow is nearly optimal. Some things could be enhanced, as always, like the presets name zones that could be larger, and a few cosmetic things, but all in all, I think you can make things in StiX that are strictly impossible to achieve with other drum machines, or combinations of drum machines and daws. Soundwise, and regarding the organic and lively character of the drum tracks. And more than that : in a fast, understandable, intuitive and easy way (if I compare it to ther DM that I wont name, but have quite complicated workflows). YMMV.

[Lotuzia]

StiX by SUPREMEJA Wow !

StiX Supremeja 1

StiX Supremeja 2

StiX Supremeja 3

StiX Supremeja 4

[sfd]

To say that most posts about STIX are purely technical is not an overstatement.

That's of course nice in a way....

But STIX is first of all an instrument. Not a tech gadget for engineers.

Hit songs with famous drum beats have been made on ridiculously primitive drum-machines. Such as the crappy and stupid CR-78 for example (Ultravox's Vienna).

If I've any issues with STIX it would be the lack of boundaries.They are sometimes good for creativity.

It's like they say - more colors gives you more options. But that does not necessarily make it a better painting.

So, let's not resort to tech talk for the sake of it.

I'm more interested to hear people's opinions about STIX's musical abilites rather then those of the placement of filters and oscilators.

[plexuss]

I agree. StiX sounds really good and has come great features too. that's why I bought it. but it's definitely not an example of good usability. it's somewhat easy enough to figure out but that's my whole point - you have to spend time to figure it out because of the poor usability.

no worries... you can't just automagically design a great user experience - you need UX experts to do this or you yourself need to be an expert. it's the same with dev - you can't just develop a great plugin without having the skills and experience to do so which is the same as usability. Lotuzia is, in my opinion, an excellent plugin/audio dev and StiX proves it.

Plugins which are examples of good usability are: Tantra, Earverb 2, Pro-Q2, Presswerk, and the like. I am not just talking about good looking UI design here - I am talking about ease of use - structuring the UI and features so they are easy to use and give most user's an intuitive experience and features they would expect. I think StiX could benefit greatly from getting a UX and UI expert involved. Maybe something to consider in the future. I've said more than I wanted to and that's my feedback. I do UX for a living and so this aspect is important to me. I won't post anymore about it if you want to discuss feel free to PM me.

But StiX is still worth buying in my opinion if you are looking for a good sounding rhythm plugin with lots of features.

vvv example of what I am talking about.

[someone called simon]

1/ Browser lists : StiX has Global Presets, Drumkits and Drumpads presets, Sample presets, etc.....

Ok, I have finally worked it out, I think. I was auditioning the global presets, but what I was expecting was drumkit presets. I finally found the drumkit presets, and If I filter by 'all', I see a long list of kits. But, here is my next frustration (sorry, I think I'm still gonna push the button on this, but I always wait till the last minute...) The tiny drumkits selection area is the only one with no up or down arrows! I'm just wanting to hit some keys on my controller, and play till I hear something that inspires me (which a lot of the sounds do), while hitting a down arrow to browse through the kits.

It's so much harder to have to click in that little window and move my cursor to the next selection! Also I guess the kits won't have those strange default sounds I notice while scrolling through the global presets, though I haven't checked that as it's a bit of a trial to audition all the kits that way, without up/down arrows. Do you have any plans to add those at any point?

[Lotuzia]

To say that most posts about STIX are purely technical is not an overstatement.

That's of course nice in a way....

But STIX is first of all an instrument. Not a tech gadget for engineers.

Hit songs with famous drum beats have been made on ridiculously primitive drum-machines. Such as the crappy and stupid CR-78 for example (Ultravox's Vienna).

If I've any issues with STIX it would be the lack of boundaries.They are sometimes good for creativity.

It's like they say - more colors gives you more options. But that does not necessarily make it a better painting.

So, let's not resort to tech talk for the sake of it.

I'm more interested to hear people's opinions about STIX's musical abilites rather then those of the placement of filters and oscilators.

StiX is very limited. It doesnt have wavetable synthesis ! So your creativity is safe. Especially if you're interested in sounds and drums sequences of the future (CroSS synthesis and Polystep modulator for example)

I'd like to hear more people talk about StiX musical abilities too. Then the ones who did made positive comments, so we'll do with that.

[Lotuzia]

1/ Browser lists : StiX has Global Presets, Drumkits and Drumpads presets, Sample presets, etc.....

Ok, I have finally worked it out, I think. I was auditioning the global presets, but what I was expecting was drumkit presets. I finally found the drumkit presets, and If I filter by 'all', I see a long list of kits. But, here is my next frustration (sorry, I think I'm still gonna push the button on this, but I always wait till the last minute...) The tiny drumkits selection area is the only one with no up or down arrows! I'm just wanting to hit some keys on my controller, and play till I hear something that inspires me (which a lot of the sounds do), while hitting a down arrow to browse through the kits.

It's so much harder to have to click in that little window and move my cursor to the next selection! Also I guess the kits won't have those strange default sounds I notice while scrolling through the global presets, though I haven't checked that as it's a bit of a trial to audition all the kits that way, without up/down arrows. Do you have any plans to add those at any point?

StiX v1.0 will have around 60 drumkits iirc. And yes, almost all of them have unique drumpads in all slots. Actually a drumkit is a collection of drumpads that blend together.

We will consider to add +- arrows to browse drumkits for v1.01, or maybe v1.0. I wont promise anything, but I think there are a lot of chances that it will be done. Considering that most other presets browser in StiX do have +- arrows, it seems consistent to add them for drumkits also, as there's a bit of room left on the GUI in this area.

Reminder : You can also generate new drumkits on the fly with the randomize function. It's instantaneous, and gives great results most of times. Of course, these drumkits wont have 'unique' drumpads like the factory drumkits. They will be build by loading randomised, but intelligently randomised, factory, or personal, drumpads ( there are atm around 700 different drumpads in StiX)

And finally : There's still a few days for you to push, or not, the button, until v1.0 is released. Very few days. Once v1.0 is released, the 50% Beta Campaign Discount will be gone.

[Daags]

I agree. StiX sounds really good and has come great features too. that's why I bought it. but it's definitely not an example of good usability. it's somewhat easy enough to figure out but that's my whole point - you have to spend time to figure it out because of the poor usability.

agree with everything you've been saying on this topic.

[Lotuzia]

I agree. StiX sounds really good and has come great features too. that's why I bought it. but it's definitely not an example of good usability. it's somewhat easy enough to figure out but that's my whole point - you have to spend time to figure it out because of the poor usability.

no worries... you can't just automagically design a great user experience - you need UX experts to do this or you yourself need to be an expert. it's the same with dev - you can't just develop a great plugin without having the skills and experience to do so which is the same as usability. Lotuzia is, in my opinion, an excellent plugin/audio dev and StiX proves it.

Plugins which are examples of good usability are: Tantra, Earverb 2, Pro-Q2, Presswerk, and the like. I am not just talking about good looking UI design here - I am talking about ease of use - structuring the UI and features so they are easy to use and give most user's an intuitive experience and features they would expect. I think StiX could benefit greatly from getting a UX and UI expert involved. Maybe something to consider in the future. I've said more than I wanted to and that's my feedback. I do UX for a living and so this aspect is important to me. I won't post anymore about it if you want to discuss feel free to PM me.

But StiX is still worth buying in my opinion if you are looking for a good sounding rhythm plugin with lots of features.

vvv example of what I am talking about.

Thanks. Well, I'm certain you noticed that most of the units you mention have around 20 times less functions, knobs etc than StiX. It's somewhat easier to pack 10 knobs in a square. Some of them are heavily tabbed, even with these few knobs. And some I wouldn't personnaly mention as 'attractive GUIs', but it's just my own taste, so well ... to each his own. Judging by KVR recent threads, I don't think ANY GUI will ever please EVERYBODY. And it's allright like this. Diversity is good.

[Lotuzia]

I agree. StiX sounds really good and has come great features too. that's why I bought it. but it's definitely not an example of good usability. it's somewhat easy enough to figure out but that's my whole point - you have to spend time to figure it out because of the poor usability.

agree with everything you've been saying on this topic.

Simply StiX in action, so that everybody can make his own idea ...

[Daags]

I don't think ANY GUI will ever please EVERYBODY. And it's allright like this. Diversity is good.

don't confuse Aesthetics with Usability ... while there may be some overlap between these two concepts in the 'interface' venn diagram, they are not the same thing. which is what plexuss is trying to explain to you (well, he's talking specifically about usability and he's right about everything he says. plus he has paid for a license, so I suggest you listen to him).

stix sounds great, as is to be expected from Xavier. but its scoring very low on usability for me. progamming patterns on this thing is tedious. I kept saying to myself 'this thing should be called SuX' while using it. I own everything else Xils-Lab make btw, but I won't be adding StiX to the collection.

some guy suggested earlier in the thread that he wanted the ability to be able to 'paint' notes, and you shot him down.... hehe, with that kind of inflexibility on good Feature Requests you certainly don't inspire me to make a pre-release purchase in 'good faith' of smart development.

I'm passing on this one, unless usability improves and you implement user feature requests, I suspect this could be Xils-Labs biggest turkey - especially at the official price. drum machine plugins need a heavier focus on usability than maybe any other plugin type, when you consider that programming drum patterns will be the most frequent thing a person will do with it.

i'll keep an eye on development, though i'm not expecting much flexibility from you Lotuzia. which is a pity, as I feel Xavier's talent is being filtered through you on this one.

[Daags]

Simply StiX in action, so that everybody can make his own idea ...

isn't that what the demo license is for ?