XLN Audio - XO - Improvement, Pros, Cons

[mabian]

Uhm... isn't swing made for this?

- Mario

[WatchTheGuitar]

Uhm... isn't swing made for this?

- Mario

Yeah, but it’s not like you can easily define something like a 6/8 pattern in a grid, it’s a fudge.

[machinesworking]

Does anybody know how to change time signature on Xln Audio?! I’m trying 6/8 and 3/4 but I can’t make it work, it doesn’t fit. Help?!!

Current version of XO seems to assume 4/4 as your base tempo when building up beats so unless you can subdivide your BPM in a way to fit that other time signature into the 4/4 then you'll probably be out of luck.

One of the many reasons why the built in sequencer in XO is total garbage.
Let's not sugar coat this, the AI search is why XO is any good at all, and why normally I would praise it for that reason alone, but the sequencer is about as half assed as it comes, and the sad part is it wouldn't take much to make it decent.
I don't think any of this is that hard, extend the slots for samples to at least 16, add in at least 16 sequences, 64 beats any length, and you're done. As it stands even simple 4 on the floor beats require you to export sequences to your DAW for any amount of variation besides two parts.

The built in FX all sound great, the 16 beat sequencer GUI is pretty cool actually, but the limitations are mind bogglingly stupid, especially for an almost $200 plug in.

[JiggSaw]

Does anybody know how to change time signature on Xln Audio?! I’m trying 6/8 and 3/4 but I can’t make it work, it doesn’t fit. Help?!!

Current version of XO seems to assume 4/4 as your base tempo when building up beats so unless you can subdivide your BPM in a way to fit that other time signature into the 4/4 then you'll probably be out of luck.

One of the many reasons why the built in sequencer in XO is total garbage.
Let's not sugar coat this, the AI search is why XO is any good at all, and why normally I would praise it for that reason alone, but the sequencer is about as half assed as it comes, and the sad part is it wouldn't take much to make it decent.
I don't think any of this is that hard, extend the slots for samples to at least 16, add in at least 16 sequences, 64 beats any length, and you're done. As it stands even simple 4 on the floor beats require you to export sequences to your DAW for any amount of variation besides two parts.

The built in FX all sound great, the 16 beat sequencer GUI is pretty cool actually, but the limitations are mind bogglingly stupid, especially for an almost $200 plug in.

Agreed and the lack of updates is really ridiculous. XO's last update was June 2020 and it wasn't an impressive update by any means. I'm an early adopter and got XO during a sale but the normal price is way too high for development to be this stagnant.

[machinesworking]

Agreed and the lack of updates is really ridiculous. XO's last update was June 2020 and it wasn't an impressive update by any means. I'm an early adopter and got XO during a sale but the normal price is way too high for development to be this stagnant.

Mostly, I think they didn't take the sequencer seriously. I would rather not have it at all than in the state it's in. As it stands XO is a pretty good Battery Replacement, and a shit Geist, Maschine, Spark etc. etc. replacement.

I admit I'm the weirdo here, but I write in some odd time signatures occasionally, and the fact that this thing can't count out any non standard signature at all is beyond disappointing, it's criminal coming from a company that specializes in percussion libraries. I'm working on something in 11/8 and XO shits the bed big time if the sequencer is running, just spitting out random chaos.

I would have appreciated if they just kept to competing with Battery, the extra work they did to get to a half assed point with the sequencer scares me into thinking they'll abandon it in the future because it's pretty much useless as a drum programmer, so people will stop recommending it.

Again the AI is amazing, the whole experience of finding sounds is great, but looking at the audience they could of, should of, made it for, they dropped the ball, 8 instead of 16 sounds fits in near zero hardware pads. Both Live and Bitwig have 64 drum slots to fill, near nobody writes with just two parts to a drum line, and some people use odd time signatures.

I think it wouldn't be so frustrating if it wasn't like they spent zero time on it, the interface for penciling in dynamics is just really intuitive and great, the selection of tweaks for a sound are well thought out and quick, but the actual sequence is just as stupid as Maschine with it's one time signature for the entire song.. better yet in XO you get 4/4 and that's it.

Sorry, it's just disappointing because so much is right about XO, but as per usual the core of it is broken. Pretty much my experience with most software drum sequencers..

[mabian]

I have what I think are the main contenders in this area - XO, Geist 2, Battery.
Each have their own strength and weaknesses.

For me Geist is interesting and useful but I cannot manage to like the GUI, which is important for me (I preferred Geist 1 in this regard...). But it's powerful and fine to work with. PIty it seems a bit abandoned by FXPansion, it could grow further.
Battery is powerful and the GUI is great for me but the routing is a bit lacking (no ability to send the buses to reverb and delay? really? only individual pad send?) and there's no sequencer.
XO for me is the fastest way to get a groove sound the way I intend to, the AI search is great.
Of course I'd like a lot the enhancements mentioned like more broad signature support and many more sequence patterns. And there's no slicing at all if I looked well...
But I still trust they'll get there, as already told it's not a matter of overhaul, it can be added.

- Mario

[machinesworking]

as already told it's not a matter of overhaul, it can be added.

I've waited since Maschine came out for more than one time signature in the Song arrangement, but this is the issue with a prosumer ( I hate that term but in this case I have no other..), or pop oriented device, they don't have any impetus to correct it. Even with the much vaunted hardware MPC Live etc. Doing anything beyond 4/4 is a hack in the hardware, it's been years and it's the same. I sincerely do not think XO will get much better, they're already on the twice or three times a year 40% off sale routine with it.

The beauty of Battery is they made is easy enough to port to any new platforms without severe pain. I really wish XO AI tech was just for sale. It would be fantastic in Bitwig or Live with Drum racks. As it stands that's how I use it, as a search device, then ported to native DAW drum containers.

[audiot]

Everytime i load up up XO, it's rescaning all the folders that i've added. That doesnt make sense to me Can anyone confirm that? I'm on Cubase 10.5 and Win10.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Everytime i load up up XO, it's rescaning all the folders that i've added. That doesnt make sense to me Can anyone confirm that? I'm on Cubase 10.5 and Win10.

Yes it looks for changes. It’s a background process though so unless you feel it’s impacting anything leave it to it.

[audiot]

Everytime i load up up XO, it's rescaning all the folders that i've added. That doesnt make sense to me Can anyone confirm that? I'm on Cubase 10.5 and Win10.

Yes it looks for changes. It’s a background process though so unless you feel it’s impacting anything leave it to it.

Thank you But i would prefer a manual rescan, as the content of my folders doesnt change every day. Still doesnt make sense to me! Most of the devs have a manual rescan function (like the u-he preset browser). I think i'll contact the devs and ask for a function to disable that behavior.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Everytime i load up up XO, it's rescaning all the folders that i've added. That doesnt make sense to me Can anyone confirm that? I'm on Cubase 10.5 and Win10.

Yes it looks for changes. It’s a background process though so unless you feel it’s impacting anything leave it to it.

Thank you But i would prefer a manual rescan, as the content of my folders doesnt change every day. Still doesnt make sense to me! Most of the devs have a manual rescan function (like the u-he preset browser). I think i'll contact the devs and ask for a function to disable that behavior.

You can ask it to scan manually too, but I’m not sure if there’s a way to disable it.

[boriskarloff]

Everytime i load up up XO, it's rescaning all the folders that i've added. That doesnt make sense to me Can anyone confirm that? I'm on Cubase 10.5 and Win10.

Exactly this problem I've sended to XLN support maybe month ago. Few mails were exchanged with support and they even provide me some .bat execution but that didn't worked... Silence since then.

[LoveEnigma18]

Hi guys, I had an ongoing conversation with XLN Audio support, so I have sent this request (option to disable automatic scanning of folders) to them on your ('KVR') behalf. Most likely the reply will be "we will send it to the concerned team and/or consider for a future update". But I will try to push it further and keep everyone posted.

[yellowmix]

Reality check:

XO Lite, MSRP: $119.95, Sale: $71.97
XO (Full), MSRP: $179.95, Sale, $107.97
Geist 2, MSRP: $199
Battery 4, MSRP: $199, Sale: none/Komplete lowers individual price
Nerve: $199, Sale: no sales

XO is very competitive with the field. Factor in how much the AI categorization is worth to you then add the kit/loop builder workflows. The problem with adding more pads is that the design goal is to have a one-page GUI per-workflow. It would grow twice in height or require scrollbars for all three workflows. I can see it accommodate time signatures (or at least 16 or fewer steps), but very few sequencer allow this in practice. Geist 2 does (per-pad, as well!).

As for patterns, you can export MIDI clips and arrange them in your DAW. The issue is accessing more patterns in the GUI and a way to trigger them. I doubt XLN wants to do that; previous changes had minimal GUI impact. With XO you can build a personal MIDI drum loop library.

Conceptually the sequencer is there to preview the kit you're building in context of your mix, and to possibly build loops for export. You want a $200 sequencer plus best-in-class AI, it is nowhere near that pricepoint. XLN's marketing copy is focused on search-build-export. There's Space, and there's the Edit tab that contains "The Playground". Keep moving to the right and you get the export panel.

If you grasp and accept that you'll find a a very fast and fun kit- and loop-building workflow. Many people work with audio loops, but if people want drums sequenced then I empathize that they'll need another more focused tool to that end. Personally I use it with both Battery and Geist 2 depending on my goals and will easily recommend either. In some DAWs you have a drum rack tool or sampler. Of course, the point of having seemingly redundant tools is to optimize workflow.

As for refreshing, I highly suggest adding as many individual folders you are willing to tolerate. The larger the folder and its contents, the more likely and longer it takes to do a refresh. Personally I create a folder per sample developer/brand. That also helps with verifying licensing.

The way it's working for me is XO loads and it's ready to use. The Sample Folders icon on the top right has a white scanning progress bar on the bottom. It gets the yellow dot if the background thread notices there's been a change. I can, at my option, click the icon, it tells me which folders need a refresh, and I can scan & refresh or ignore it. It scans only those folders marked as needing a refresh. This is on version 1.2.0 so make sure you're updated. XO Lite does not have the background scan feature.

I put in a feature request to re-order/sort the folder list by column header. It seems to list it in the order it was added. They do listen to feedback, but it needs to go through their support channels. So I encourage anyone with a request to do so.

[LoveEnigma18]

Good points, yellowmix.

FWIW, XO (full) can be had for as low as ~$80 at least twice per year.