Is MSoundFactory by MeldaProduction the sound-designers wet-dream? / Why should I not buy it?

[DarkStar]

Some people love the features but hate the UX, so try before you buy!

I think that that is slightly off-topic, but the GUI can be changed. There are several factory Styles and some third-party ones too, all with customisable colour palettes .

The only downside I would see is : lack of examples. I mean : no good presets, not a huge sound designers community, so if you want to do something rather complex and are looking for help or tutorials, you might be on your own.
But I've always been a big big fan of MPowersynth, so I would say : go !

I can see over 50 Devices here and over 1,100 global presets. The sound designers are working away quietly. There are several excellent video tutorials (check out Chandlerhimself) and KvR forum users are often around to help on the MedlaProduction sub-forum.

Don't you think what we can hear in those Chandler videos is quite amateur-ish sounding ?

But I understand what you mean anyway, there is some work going on in background, I get it.

Anyway, don't get me wrong : I'm not saying in any way MSoundFactory is a bad choice, I'm saying a very, very few people may know how to make it sound really good, so if you need advices, you might quickly run out of ideas. MSoundFactory is an excellent choice.

I think that Chandler's primary aim in those videos is to describe and explain the features and possibilities. He is probably working on producing great sounds too, for later publication as Devices.

[DJErmac]

I made some of the most amazing sounds ever using MPowerSynth. Put your trust in Melda.

[Tj Shredder]

I had the honor to test it for a complete month. I could not relate to it, though finished the OSC.
The weakest point are the oscillators. Plain boring, the only usable oscillator is the wavetable, which forces you to wade through wavetable collections to find something usable. The filters as well are not inspiring at all...
There are a bunch of presets which sound decent though, but those eat CPU for breakfast, because they use a ton of fx to make the synth part sound more interesting. If you want to test a synth, switch off the fx! If it still sounds good its ok. You can make the cheapest sound decent with enough reverb thrown in...
At the same time I was playing with the Grid, and each oscillator can have its own life by modulating the waveforms in various ways. Night and day!
The workflow is also not that intuitive, to analyze existing patches is hard.
The Grid isn‘t a VST and bound to Bitwig, but if you are after a modern intuitive modular, you should rather check out Lion. As MSF its MPE compatible

[teilo]

It's ridiculously powerful, and because of that, highly complex. There's almost nothing you cannot do. However, I wouldn't let that scare you. Synths like Halcyon and Falcon are also highly complex, but MSoundFactory is much easier to program than either of those IMO. There is an initial hurdle with the confusing device/patch distinction, but once you get over that, the rest is fairly straightforward, particularly if you are already familiar with the Melda modulation system.

But does it sound good? It doesn't inspire me much. Mostly this is down to the filters.

The Melda filters are not bad by any stretch, and it has a huge number of them (if you count the slopes for each), but for any given filter type (LP, HP, BP, etc.,) there is only one "type" of filter. You don't get analog-modeled LP. You just get an LP. Yes, it has slopes from 6 to 120db (!), but you won't get, say, transistor ladder fatness or Oberheim sizzle out of it.

Also, though the standard filters have a nice range of DB slopes, the range is not very practical. The "useful" range of an LP, for instance, tops out at 36db, or maybe 48. There are 6 more options from 60db to 120db beyond that. I'm sure hardly anyone touches them. Below that you get 6, 12, and 24. I would prefer to at least have an 18db option, because I would actually use that.

I would be remiss to mention MTurboFilter, a beta module not yet standalone, which lets you create a filter using a text formula. This gives you more flexibility and the ability to create filter types not covered by the standard filter, but you need to learn the math to do it. It has an analog dial to introduce analog-like non-linearities, but it doesn't really correspond specifically to analog synths. Further, you still need to learn the filter language to use it.

So despite the power of the synth as a whole, the bland filters keep me away from it.

[RobinWood]

I made some of the most amazing sounds ever using MPowerSynth. Put your trust in Melda.

I've spent a lot of time searching the arpeggiator in MPowerSynth. I'd not put my trust that high

When MSF was released there were already discussions about it and I made a review there. I've demoed it not long ago again and it has the same flaws like in the beginning (like the automatic generic layout making parts unusable, not being able to scroll because instead it changes controls, boring oscillators, very high CPU even with small modulations, modulating filters sounds so wrong, and much more). Demo it. If you think it's great, then buy it (it's still a paid beta iirc). I personally can create all kind of sounds quicker and easier with other synths. I've not missed anything so far where I'd say: MSF is the solution.

[DJErmac]

I made some of the most amazing sounds ever using MPowerSynth. Put your trust in Melda.

I've spent a lot of time searching the arpeggiator in MPowerSynth. I'd not put my trust that high

An arpeggiator is the last thing I'd use in any synth...

[DrFolder]

I really enjoy using Msoundfactory and really like the sound, especially the polymorph filters. New features are constantly added with each update and I always seem to find new ways of using it. I start it blank each time and start building to see where it takes me. I like the granular effect by Melda that is included but would like to see a granular oscillator added at some point (Please ). A spectral oscillator like Padshop 2 would also be a helpful addition and one can only hope.
A feature in Falcon that I find useful is easily swapping out samples that are already mapped by double clicking a sample in the browser without removing and readding each time, I would like to be able to this in Msoundfactory (Not sure if this can already be done). Other than these few personal things I think Msoundfactory is pretty special.

[Soundplex]

Oh yeah the "Kontakt killer" as wished by the dev XD I think it just makes basic things fundamentally different so that it disrupts any motivation in sound design. For me as someone who already owns some other synths I don't see the value it should add On the other hand I've tested Bitwigs the Grid which is full modular and immediately felt I'm gonna purchase Bitwig just for it

[kvotchin]

Okay. Which is yours "'does everything'" synth?

My other one is Falcon.

[dakkra]

MSF is my current go to. I don't mind the menus and the GUI, but I understand why it would turn others away. It's not terribly inspiring, that's for sure. But, if you can get past the GUI, it's a dream to work with. Melda finally added ZDF/SVF filters which are great for filter FM. Still not as nice as a fancy ladder filter model but it's serviceable.

The oscillators are almost infinitely customizable and modulatable. Turbo filter is great for making sweet spot filter sweeps and saturation. There's per voice distortion and other fx. And the effects section is just mervelous. Especially the multi band effects (crossover and MXXX allow for custom multi band effects).

Definitely takes a long time to learn and master though, which will also turn many people away. And as for the company, some love it and some hate it so YMMV. I've never had an issue with Melda, personally.

[craggvalehouse]

It is my favourite synth - hopefully it keeps getting updated and the workflow tweaked, no reason to think it won't - and we just got a big multi sampled Monastery piano and experimental version too for free which is pretty great ! - MSF is just an insane bargain for what you get if you are into sound design..

[SLiC]

I bought it (as it was cheap) but have never really used it, I just don't like the look of it or the workflow. None of the presets it comes with have made it in to a track, nothing really stood out to me other than 'there is a lot of stuff'...hard to put my finger on, but I just seem to get to a better sound faster in Zebra and haven't really found anything I 'need' MSF for yet....

Maybe one day I will have the time to dive in to it, but it was my first 'Melda' so the learning curve is huge and I am not sure the will is strong enough....

[Brother Greg]

I’m a fan of MSF. I’m someone who usually has to struggle to figure out how a piece of music software works, and I don’t think this one is at all hard to use, once you get over a hurdle or two with it. The first one, as I recall, is that once you first open MSF, you see lists of sounds, and it isn’t immediately obvious that the first thing you need to do is click on the “edit” button to get to the guts of the software. From there on, the GUI is quite functional, even if not as esthetically pleasing as many others’.

It’s the only synth/sampler combo I find inviting to create sounds with, both short and long ones, easily made weird. Modulation routing is clear and easy to use. Effects are clear and easy to use. The ability to create sounds side by side and blend them is easy. I compare these capabilities to Halion 6, and I find MSF much less finicky and more powerful.

That said, there are aspects of MSF I haven’t begun to play with, such as the multiparameters, which scare the hell out of me. But there are about 10 tutorial videos that explain them—and someday I’ll watch them. MSF is immediately approachable but offers endless depths to explore if you want to create sounds.

[layzer]

You can already do alot with SURGE, pair that with synth1, Zampler, some top freeware synths sweetened with some TAL effects then tighten the mix up with a good master bus comp/limiter and you can really make some great stuff with very little GAS.
then sgain, if you got wads of cash shooting out your rear, by all means buy buy anything you want.

[Whywhy]

If you use MPE and like physical modeling, Msf is a must have.