With Bitwig´s new Grid approach, is there any good reason to buy and use other 3rd party modular platforms?

[pekbro]

Well, I might not understand the other ways that you can do this in Bitwig, but, that's what I keep Bidule around for. If you want to, for example, create a shimmer like reverb effect using a particular reverb and a particular pitch shifter.

It's often just a matter of "this plugin has this feature and I don't want to replicate that feature in some other environment, I just want to make use of it in my custom effect."

For that you need the ability to load plugins and the ability to have feedback loops. I wish that Jeff hadn't crippled Synthedit in 64 bit because it's really somewhat ideal for this as you end up creating a custom plugin that loads your existing plugins. Bidule doesn't have the ability to create a nice U/I. MFL does this, but, you can only use those "plugins" inside of Live, and my god Max can be tedious at times.

Mulab/Mux can load plugins and create a usable U/I, but no feedback loops.

So, if Bitwig had that ability to do that quickly, it would be compelling and useful to me. Basically I want to hide all of the structure behind a custom U/I that loads natively in the host. Max for Live does this, but it's painful. You can create a Max patch that loads your existing plugins and modulate the various parameters and hide all of that behind an MFL patch that you can drag and drop into a track.

Ok, indeed a valid reason. You cant do that in the grid , though you can nest both
vst's and the grid together in another device. So, in bitwig anyway, a single top level device
is as close as you're going to get with that.

[ghettosynth]

What you have to understand, however, is that even if you don't want to build such modules yourself, if an environment doesn't support that capability then other people can't build those modules for you.

Of course different people have different interests... And you and I have always had different views on this subject.

VCV comes with over 800 modules. In the rest of my life I could never become competent with all that. I hear that number and I want nothing to do with it. Same with the Reaktor library. I could spend the next year just looking at all the Reaktor ensembles and available blocks... not actually doing anything with them. It's just so unappealing to me.

The 140+ modules that come with Bitwig's Grid s are already enough that I can create a near endless amount of useful sounds for years to come.

For sure, I can't keep up with the Reaktor library either. That said, it's not about the quantity for me. What comes with the quantity though is niche interest. So since the power is there, someone does something that might align with what you do. Like finding records (DJ problem), it can be time consuming to find the gems, but they can have much more value to you when they solve one problem well.

TBH here, I'm not suggesting that anyone go buy Reaktor, I don't really care if people use it or not. I'm just saying that the answer to the OPs question cannot be simply subsumed by some projection of how large the space of sounds will be for a given product. Having a user API has some tangible benefit, even if you're a non-programmer. Just as an example of this, look at the interest in Blocks Racks generated by third party devs getting into the game. None of that is really possible without the API and the community forming around that API.

[pdxindy]

Having a user API has some tangible benefit, even if you're a non-programmer. Just as an example of this, look at the interest in Blocks Racks generated by third party devs getting into the game. None of that is really possible without the API and the community forming around that API.

Yeah, an API for sure has its benefit. Still no polyphony, no unison, still a small GUI, no MPE support and a poor browser.

Anyway, it's good there are lots of tools for different needs and interests. I think Bitwig's Grid implementation is brilliant and far superior to Reaktor Blocks/Racks in the ways that matter to me.

[ghettosynth]

Sure, but I'm not trying to identify what works for, nor am I trying to compare the two products, I'm trying to answer the OPs question, namely:

"With Bitwig´s new Grid approach, is there any good reason to buy and use other 3rd party modular platforms?"

If one is interested in licensed products from hardware then that could be case for Softube's modular.

There are any number of reasons to choose other products, Grid is not going to be the answer for even most people's interest in modular synthesis. Simply being closed is enough reason for that. That is precisely one of the reasons that people tend to like modular kit in the first place.

[pdxindy]

Sure, but I'm not trying to identify what works for, nor am I trying to compare the two products, I'm trying to answer the OPs question, namely:

"With Bitwig´s new Grid approach, is there any good reason to buy and use other 3rd party modular platforms?"

If one is interested in licensed products from hardware then that could be case for Softube's modular.

There are any number of reasons to choose other products, Grid is not going to be the answer for even most people's interest in modular synthesis. Simply being closed is enough reason for that. That is precisely one of the reasons that people tend to like modular kit in the first place.

The OP said they want polyphony and value workflow...

(I have been comparing them because of the recent Racks)