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

[JoeCat]

Am I missing something or is there no way to have a synced LFO with a period longer than 1 bar?

It gets even better (and here's where a manual would have really helped NI get good vibes out of the gate):

You can set those fractions to any values for each of the positions in the rate selector, and modulate them: So here I'm using L5 to modulate between 4/16 and 3/16 rates each bar.

[JoeCat]

Wow, the ridiculous aliasing discussion has inflated this thread to crazy proportions.

Why is nobody talking about the fact that NI has released, in 2019, a synthesizer that doesn't allow your DAW to automate any parameters unless you assign macro knobs to them?

I think this is a design decision is due to the number of parameters - if I'm not mistaken 128 is max for VST. Maybe also that routing and modulation complexities means automating a knob external will cause unwanted behavior such that you'd want to code that transposition in the VST. I'm giving NI the benefit of the doubt for this one.

[McLilith]

What I want to know is, where are the cup holders and power sunroof controls?

[Magic Russ]

I will agree that it doesn't seem to be the most completely complete product I've seen from them.

However, I will take MX, unfinished as it may be, in a heartbeat over OG Massive. I never really liked OGM and only ever tried to use it because it was part of the bundle. I find that MX sounds so much better than its predecessor.

[zerocrossing]

Wow, the ridiculous aliasing discussion has inflated this thread to crazy proportions.

Why is nobody talking about the fact that NI has released, in 2019, a synthesizer that doesn't allow your DAW to automate any parameters unless you assign macro knobs to them?

I think this is a design decision is due to the number of parameters - if I'm not mistaken 128 is max for VST. Maybe also that routing and modulation complexities means automating a knob external will cause unwanted behavior such that you'd want to code that transposition in the VST. I'm giving NI the benefit of the doubt for this one.

Try an Audio Damage plugin where there’s no way to automate anything.

[Elektronisch]

Wow, the ridiculous aliasing discussion has inflated this thread to crazy proportions.

Why is nobody talking about the fact that NI has released, in 2019, a synthesizer that doesn't allow your DAW to automate any parameters unless you assign macro knobs to them?

Its because Massive X is targeted to KVR community wheres only minority of people are actually making music. Majority are just checking presets and analyzing sound quality and comparing how analog it is to a synth they owned 2 decades ago or just heard samples on youtube. When you only do that you just dont need automation

[jeffb01]

nevermind.

[zerocrossing]

I'm really enjoying MX so far.

It does feel unfinished.. but I'm thinking they're gonna add to (and tweak) this thing a lot over the next several months/years.

I just wish they made it almost all modular. The ability to add however many modules, and arrange and route them however you want.. would be sick. I realize that would put it (even more) into Reaktor territory.. but if it had it's own ecosystem of unique modules, it would still retain it's individuality.

Anyway.. as it stands, this thing delivers on almost everything I need.. from fat & warm, to totally aggressive & filthy. The random LFO is brilliant.. helping to create some really organic and awesomely broken sounding stuff.

I find that these days, we’re not really starved for fat and warm, but well done aggressive and filthy, while still being organic and broken and warm is a bit more rare. This is what drew me into Massive X.

I put together a sound where I start with a simple triangle wave. This is something I do when I’m demoing any synth that has different oscillator effects. My basic premise is, how much harmonic interest can I make with a very basic oscillator. It’s kind of the opposite of subtractive... yet not quite additive... not sure what you’d call it... distortive? Hm, better trade mark that! So, anyway, I’ll lean into the filter drive. See how it behaves when being modulated by an oscillator. See how the filter effects sound, etc. Feedback? Is there a software poly that has feedback other than Massive X and Legend? A lot of the time, this is what separates the software from the hardware. It’s rare that I find great drive sounds in software, but they’re there in Massive X, for sure, and the feedback is nothing to sneeze at. I’ll say that it’s probably up there with RePro for that kind of thing.

Do I notice aliasing in the oscillators? Yeah. I didn’t at first but with all the talk I checked out the sawtooth at the upper range of my 61 key controller. Yes, clearly audible aliasing. Do I care? Not a bit. If the rest of the synth was flaccid and weak, I’d probably be part of the contingent of whiners, but the filters sound so rich and fat, the distortions are good and the feedback can get downright crazy... Pro 2 crazy? Maybe not, but crazy. Maybe I even like the aliasing. I do have a fondness for that hybrid sound where the oscillators sound very digital and they get caressed by a nice analog oscillator, and that’s what Massive X sounds like to me. I’ve got a Pro 2, 002, Prophet 12, Peak and a MicroFreak in my studio, so I’m pretty familiar with a modern hardware hybrid, and I’d say that Massive X will play comfortably along with them, any day of the week.

[JoeCat]

I'm really enjoying MX so far.

It does feel unfinished.. but I'm thinking they're gonna add to (and tweak) this thing a lot over the next several months/years...

I find that these days, we’re not really starved for fat and warm, but well done aggressive and filthy, while still being organic and broken and warm is a bit more rare. This is what drew me into Massive X....

Curious what you think of Phonec 2 (Psychic Modulation) if you've demoed it? (Not in comparison to Massive of course - two different beasts, just in general)

[zerocrossing]

Massive X reminds me of if you took the Reaktor Blocks and made a synth similar to Fathom but limited the scope to give it more focus.

Dude, I feel the same way.

Is that bad? Not that I agree. I demoed Fathom and I wasn’t really that impressed, though I have to say that there’s been a lot of development in it since.

[zerocrossing]

(Also, judging from the Abelton FB group I'm in, 90% of the wanna-be producers who make up the bulk of the market don't know - or care - what aliasing is. Half of them don't know what compression does. I'm not being disparaging - this is truth )

That I do not doubt.

It’s funny, digital artifacts, including aliasing, used to bug me, but I was all digital hardware. I rejected the Microwave XT. Too harsh. The Ensoniq Transwave stuff sounded better to me. Then I got some analog instruments and my views totally changed. I even miss some aliasing and low bitrate artifacts on the ultra smooth “Oxford Oscillators” of the Peak. Now I just view synths as having different characteristics. I only ask if they can make sounds that I like. I don’t sweat things like aliasing, and I even know my way around a compressor.

[zerocrossing]

I'm really enjoying MX so far.

It does feel unfinished.. but I'm thinking they're gonna add to (and tweak) this thing a lot over the next several months/years...

I find that these days, we’re not really starved for fat and warm, but well done aggressive and filthy, while still being organic and broken and warm is a bit more rare. This is what drew me into Massive X....

Curious what you think of Phonec 2 (Psychic Modulation) if you've demoed it? (Not in comparison to Massive of course - two different beasts, just in general)

I did demo it... I remember liking it... I never bought it. I’m not exactly sure why. I use a lot of hardware synths to, and maybe I didn’t feel like it offered me anything beyond what I already had, even though it was good.

[irism]

For those who are using macOS and not sure if your system has AVX or not, check this out:
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questio ... uch/341558

tl;dr
Type or copy and paste this below and enter it in your terminal

sysctl -a | grep cpu.feat

if there's no AVX, then you can't use MX.

[Stefken]

A chordal preset for NI Massive X

https://soundcloud.com/vintage-synth-pa ... -massive-x

That sounds very nice

[Functional]

I seriously hope they will implement midi learn into Massive X ASAP. Honestly that is the single, most annoying aspect of it all. Automating MX at least in Cubase is wonky especially with multiple instances it seems (the automation of macro knobs gets often overwritten by something else if you automate another instance of MX). Might be a Cubase-only thing, but regardless.

Implementing at minimum midi learn to the automation knobs would go a long way. Although the knobs map directly to Cubase quick controls, there's only 8 of them so even if I did map my Keylab to them, it wouldn't really allow me more than 8 knobs. God only knows, but I'll pray that this happened because of a rushed release rather than being a design choice