Using MXXX as an Instrument? (MSF inside MXXX)

[someone89a]

Hi,

I'm somewhat new to Melda plugins (been demoing MSF and MXXX for about a week), and am speechless with what they are capable of. Words cannot describe how incredible I think these devices are.
What particularly interests me is that it seems MXXX is able to load MSF (and both MPowersynth/MDrummer) into it's patch, meaning that MXXX is also capable of being a playable instrument.
However this aspect of MXXX seems largely undocumented as if MXXX is not designed to be used as a synthesiser itself, so I was just wanting some clarification about whether if I were to purchase MXXX (full version, not MXXXCore), I would still be able to use the 3 aforementioned instruments inside of MXXX to their full potential? Or is the standalone plugin of MSF necessary for certain features?

Any help would be great, because I go to bed at night dreaming of MXXX now

Many thanks
James.

P.S. Are there any Melda plugins not available inside of MXXX?

[bmanic]

As far as I know, everything is available within MXXX. It is the grand mother mega load thing in the Melda universe. At least in Reaper it works just fine as an instrument (even if I load the FX version) as long as I send MIDI to it.

The absolutely only downside to MXXX is that it can get a tiny bit cluttered.. but even that can be remedied by simply maximizing MSF (full screen) once you've detached it from the MXXX editor.

[someone89a]

Thank you, that’s the impression I got about MXXX. I guess if you use Ableton Live it’s more difficult as you’ll have to have two separate tracks for each instrument, but as a reaper user it’s really easy to use as an instrument.

Maximising windows works weirdly with my machine (I’m on Mac), as any floating window in MXXX will steal the spacebar control to the reaper transport, but using tabs and the front panel is dead easy.

[mljung]

Ohh I tried to make this work in Reaper, but couldn't

A small tutorial (or simple explanation for midi-dummies) would be most welcome...

::
Mads

[someone89a]

Ohh I tried to make this work in Reaper, but couldn't

A small tutorial (or simple explanation for midi-dummies) would be most welcome...

In reaper a track can handle both MIDI and audio, and so audio effects will receive MIDI from the track by default. By placing MXXX (or MXXX1) as the first effect in the chain, any MIDI written in on the track will be sent to that plugin. Inside MXXX you can then put MSF or MPowersynth and it should automatically pickup the MIDI from the track, but if it doesnt, right click on MSF or MPowersynth (or any module you want to send MIDI to, e.g. Harmonizer) and enable MIDI input. For me this then just works. If it still doesnt work, click the I/O button in the reaper plugin window and check that MIDI input is enabled. Hope this helps!

[GusGranite]

What is the benefit of routing MIDI to MSF via MXXX rather than direct? (I dont have MXXX).

Thx

[mljung]

Ohh I tried to make this work in Reaper, but couldn't

A small tutorial (or simple explanation for midi-dummies) would be most welcome...

In reaper a track can handle both MIDI and audio, and so audio effects will receive MIDI from the track by default. By placing MXXX (or MXXX1) as the first effect in the chain, any MIDI written in on the track will be sent to that plugin. Inside MXXX you can then put MSF or MPowersynth and it should automatically pickup the MIDI from the track, but if it doesnt, right click on MSF or MPowersynth (or any module you want to send MIDI to, e.g. Harmonizer) and enable MIDI input. For me this then just works. If it still doesnt work, click the I/O button in the reaper plugin window and check that MIDI input is enabled. Hope this helps!

It does - Thank you

[Gone soft]

What is the benefit of routing MIDI to MSF via MXXX rather than direct? (I dont have MXXX).

Thx

I'd dare say for many cases it's more of an inconvenience, the advantage being that someone who doesn't have a license for MSF can still sort of run it inside MXXX in a slightly convoluted manner. Also you have it in there for kind of conveniently routing into one of the inputs of multiinputs FX/modules like for instance the vocoder, morph and granular FX.

[GusGranite]

What is the benefit of routing MIDI to MSF via MXXX rather than direct? (I dont have MXXX).

Thx

I'd dare say for many cases it's more of an inconvenience, the advantage being that someone who doesn't have a license for MSF can still sort of run it inside MXXX in a slightly convoluted manner. Also you have it in there for kind of conveniently routing into one of the inputs of multiinputs FX/modules like for instance the vocoder, morph and granular FX.

Thanks

[NothanUmber]

I just learned the difference between MXXX and MSF yesterday, hope I got it right:

MXXX:
- has audio and midi in (and thus can be used as effect and as instrument)
- costs 3x (currently: 5x) as much
- does not have a player version, so people without a MXXX licence cannot use the exported devices

MSF - essentially the reverse of what is written above:
- no audio in, only midi in (so even though it contains MXXX inside it, the effects can only be applied to synthesizer voices, not external audio)
- substantially less expensive
- a player version allows to share devices with others (which is better than e.g. Reaktor or Kontakt, where the player only works with specifically signed ensembles and a special contract with NI that involves further payments. It's more like Synthedit - the dev buys MSF once and can then provide built devices without further royalties)


Hope that an MXXX player version will be provided at some point - and perhaps an upgrade path from MSF to MXXX as it is somehow the more capable "instrument+effect" version? Could attract more buyers for both MSF as well as MXXX.

Downside would be that people could create presets that essentially expose the individual Melda plugins and thus make them all available for free. (Perhaps "please don't do this" would already help. In the worst case this would have to be expected though. But on the other hand somebody dedicated to use the plugins without paying always finds a way - and people who value the plugins and the work behind them are likely to pay a share even if there exists a "workaround".) So looks like a trade-off. I personally would be much more attracted to buy a player-capable MXXX with which I could build voice+audio effects that can be shared than to buy any individual Melda plugin. For a 1000€ plugin people would likely only build presets for themselves, the target community of public presets just for MXXX license owners is probably a little bit exclusive

Edit: For MXXXCore that would probably mean that one could use all devices and presets on the easy-page that are non-factory. Loading factory presets or editing community and factory presets could still only work for people with a license for all used modules.

Edit2: Perhaps requiring at least an MXXXCore license to enable the player functionality could be a compromise? Perhaps with the factory presets also unlocked in the easy page? Could be a very interesting product! And slightly less unrealistic when sharing community presets. "Buy this 99€ player, it also comes with many cool factory presets that are more than worth it alone" sounds more reasonable than "you just have to buy this 1000€ plugin to use my stuff"