Native Instruments Massive X Synth - Sequel to Massive (Out Now!)

[pdxindy]

I don’t know, but if the upgrade price is equal or less than $79, then it would be between upgrading to Massive X or Dune 3 for me.

My guess is that Massive X will a greater sonic difference from original Massive than Dune 3 is from Dune 2

thats not really fair, Dune only went up 0.4, Massive has gone up 8.5

fair has no meaning in this case

nor does humour it seems...

the humour level only went up 0.4

[kobal]

if it s cpu hungry like when massive got released vs cpu of that time , it will for sure sound dope, i hope it s at least on the league of R6

[BONES]

I can't say I'm a massive Massive fan. I've had it for nearly a year now and the only use I've found for it is for glitchy sequence things. I like the UI and workflow, yet I don't really enjoy playing around with it for some reason. I don't hear anything particularly special in it's oscillators and I don't rate it's filter at all. Maybe it was amazing when it first came out but the game has moved on and it really can't keep up today.

We use it here and there but not anywhere you'd actually notice it because it just doesn't seem up to it compared even to simple things like Go2. In fact, kHs One gets more use than Massive does in our stuff. I got it in the software bundle with Maschine and I can't see myself paying actual cash money for an upgrade, unless they change the character of it completely (which seems unlikely).

Having recently bought both Factory and Cyclop, I can see Massive getting zero use in the future and, over time, probably being replaced where we use it currently.

[EnGee]

We’ll see, but my guess is that Massive X will sound like Sugar Bytes Factory (which can sound more aggressive and edgy than the original Massive).

Based on what? What an asspull

Relax! I said "my guess"! Nothing against you or NI

[EnGee]

I don’t know, but if the upgrade price is equal or less than $79, then it would be between upgrading to Massive X or Dune 3 for me.

My guess is that Massive X will a greater sonic difference from original Massive than Dune 3 is from Dune 2

Yes probably. But how this difference is usable for me? We'll see. I have Reaktor (with several ensembles) so, I don't miss a gritty aggressive sound (Factory can do that also). So, if the difference is in this direction (Reaktor), then I don't need it really. Dune 3 might be more useful for me actually

[BONES]

Factory is actually amazingly good at making "gritty, aggressive sound". It's why I bought it. It's hard to quantify but it just sounds more authentic, maybe, than Massive. i.e Massive sounds like it's trying to do something and not quite getting there, where Factory seems to do the same sorts of things better, without having to try so hard.

[EnGee]

Yes I agree. Factory is amazing synth I barely scratched its surface. It's from the very few out there with such detailed sound but with low to moderate CPU usage! This is an example of what's there of high end synths that Massive X will be competing with.

Anyway, the original Massive is still IMO the best "Jack of all trades but master of none" synth out there. It has aged well with FM8 and Absynth but I might move on with a new setup that includes Factory and Dune 3. I might add Massive X to them. Let's see and hear it first

[mutantdog]

I can't say I'm a massive Massive fan. I've had it for nearly a year now and the only use I've found for it is for glitchy sequence things. I like the UI and workflow, yet I don't really enjoy playing around with it for some reason. I don't hear anything particularly special in it's oscillators and I don't rate it's filter at all. Maybe it was amazing when it first came out but the game has moved on and it really can't keep up today.

OG Massive has certainly aged somewhat since its first release. A lot of its appeal really comes from the fact that it makes the sounds that are characteristic of multiple genres during its time. Some of those wavetables have become quite distinctive, albeit overused. The filters are pretty weak sounding by todays standards but, again, some such as Daft have become distinctive in their own right.

It still has a lot of creative depth though: the insert FX, modulation and routing section offer up a lot of possibilities. It's been one of my main go-tos for years now, albeit mainly due to my familiarity with it. Looking at MX it appears to expand on all its best features and hopefully improves on its filters a lot.

[drdriller]

Wrong, because host automation is way more precise than 14 bits, and KK's parameters use host automation, not MIDI

?? were do you get that from ? i thank it was :

7 bit midi = 0-128
automation host = 0-500
14 bits midi = 0-16384

[kv331]

automation host = 0-500

What do you mean by 0-500 ?

Host automation uses floating point resolution.

[EvilDragon]

Wrong, because host automation is way more precise than 14 bits, and KK's parameters use host automation, not MIDI

?? were do you get that from ? i thank it was :

7 bit midi = 0-128
automation host = 0-500
14 bits midi = 0-16384

Wrong. As kv331 says, host automation uses 32-bit floating point value range. Which is over 4 billion values (2^32 = 4294967296)

(Also 7-bit is 0-127, and 14-bit is 0-16383 )

[EvilDragon]

and hopefully improves on its filters a lot.

Mike Daliot worked on Monark. Don't worry.

[Elektronisch]

Any news on whether there will be expandable modules, like blocks?

There is a faq on the same page which says (in answer to the question, will it be modular?):
"No, MASSIVE X is not modular. But you can swap different DSP components (oscillators, filters, effects, envelopes, LFOs, and more)."

I think this means no.

Its kinda confusing, because when you look at modular synths they'r so called modular nature is just cables and on some synths exchangable modules. So to my understanding basicly every modern synth is actually modular and even more powerful modular then any "regular" modular. Just look at those complex modulations you can do in Serum, Dune 3, Hive, Synthmaster, Virus...Diva is actually modular aswel. So what does make modular a modular synth nowdays.

[zrennaya]

Any news on whether there will be expandable modules, like blocks?

There is a faq on the same page which says (in answer to the question, will it be modular?):
"No, MASSIVE X is not modular. But you can swap different DSP components (oscillators, filters, effects, envelopes, LFOs, and more)."

I think this means no.

Its kinda confusing, because when you look at modular synths they'r so called modular nature is just cables and on some synths exchangable modules. So to my understanding basicly every modern synth is actually modular and even more powerful modular then any "regular" modular. Just look at those complex modulations you can do in Serum, Dune 3, Hive, Synthmaster, Virus...Diva is actually modular aswel. So what does make modular a modular synth nowdays.

I really hope it won't be modular in a Blocks kind of sense. To have patching on a separate page is the biggest creative flow killer ever IMHO. That routing page scares me

[EnGee]

I don't think it's like blocks because the modulation is like in the original Massive. The routing seems also a flexible version of the original routing (not like Reaktor edit view).

If they included more analogue filters than the Monark one, then this might be a polyphonic analogue heaven (which the blocks lacks afaik).