Is Spectrasonics Stylus RMX still relevant?

[Captain]

Heh, KVR in action again.

I have used RMX since it was released, even used the original Stylus before that. I have used them on several gold and platinum selling albums, so I guess they are good for something. That being said, it's been a while since I last even opened RMX, mainly because of the tiny non-resizeable interface and some "missing" features. But the sounds themselves are still great, and you can always find some use for loops that are already neatly sliced and ready for MIDI playback. I wouldn't mind the exact same sound library with an updated interface, but hopefully we'll soon have a completely new plugin with new sounds too!

[jclosed]

Well - The application itself is still very usable. I love how you can use the time designer and groove menu to create all those variations. Add in the Chaos designer, audio effects and all those other tricks you can do, and you have a very usable and flexible tool.

And as a personal bonus I still have Recycle! I bought years ago from Reason Studios, so I can use any recorded and/or self made musical (or non-musical) phrase, loop or just plain sound to turn it into a REX file that can be converted into STEAM data. Of course this opens up a lot more possibilities than I have with the standard libraries.

Considering I bought Stylus RMX years ago, and have used it so many times, I think I got more than worth my money. I still use it often enough to make it a "to keep" tool/instrument in my setup.

I must say though that I think it's more than about time this application gets an overhaul. It could gain from a more modern interface, and it would not hurt to get some more tweak and edit possibilities. Lucky enough the latest updates for all Spectrasonic instruments added a zoom option for the interface of those instruments, so it's not longer a tiny screen you are peeking at. But I still hope something is brewing for Stylus in Spectrasonic's development kettle.

[noiseboyuk]

I've found Stylus RMX to be pretty useless, the included loops are pretty useless for any kind of music I can think of, listen to any videos of it in use and you'll see what I mean.

I wonder what proportion of KVR posts are essentially blowhards who can only converse in wild hyperbole? Every product from X is useless, Y is worthless, Z is the only thing worth buying. Or in this case, Stylus RMX is useless for any kind of music. Stylus RMX - the instrument that must have been used on literally hundreds of thousands of commercial, library and commissioned music tracks over the past 15 years.

I find myself instinctively drawn to any post here that displays even the slightest degree of nuance, an ability to see strengths and weaknesses and try to weigh them up.

LOL. Didn't you say in a previous post "The core library is prehistoric"...
And then dblock says "I don't use it as much these days"...
Why is nobody saying, in this thread, that they use it all the time and that it's wonderful?

I'm not sure you're understanding the concept of nuance, BenfordLaw. There is this crazy notion that you can really like parts of something, and not like other parts. You can work round the less good parts sometimes, especially if the good parts make doing so worthwhile. LOL.

[Captain]

Lucky enough the latest updates for all Spectrasonic instruments added a zoom option for the interface of those instruments, so it's not longer a tiny screen you are peeking at.

Huh? I'm pretty sure you still can't zoom/resize the Stylus RMX interface, or did I miss / misunderstand something?

[dblock]

I've found Stylus RMX to be pretty useless, the included loops are pretty useless for any kind of music I can think of, listen to any videos of it in use and you'll see what I mean.

I wonder what proportion of KVR posts are essentially blowhards who can only converse in wild hyperbole? Every product from X is useless, Y is worthless, Z is the only thing worth buying. Or in this case, Stylus RMX is useless for any kind of music. Stylus RMX - the instrument that must have been used on literally hundreds of thousands of commercial, library and commissioned music tracks over the past 15 years.

I find myself instinctively drawn to any post here that displays even the slightest degree of nuance, an ability to see strengths and weaknesses and try to weigh them up.

LOL. Didn't you say in a previous post "The core library is prehistoric"...
And then dblock says "I don't use it as much these days"...
Why is nobody saying, in this thread, that they use it all the time and that it's wonderful?

"...I've made thousands off TV cues using RMX..." Translation: It's wonderful!
"...it is still in my template..." Translation: I use it "often enough" not to want to remove it.
Sometimes you have to read between the lines. I'm just saying not everybody can work with every tool regardless of how old or new it is. I only stated what I've been able to do with it. On every royalty statement I get, there are multiple tracks where I used RMX in some way. Your results depend entirely on you. If you can't do anything with it, just maybe it's not entirely the plugin's fault. That said, yeah, RMX came out 17 years ago in 2004. Is it a wonder that there aren't a bunch of ringing endorsements in 2021 17 years later? C'mon. Sylus RMX was so useless that people have been anticipating Stylus RMX 2 for over 10 years. Nobody hopes for an update to a product that is useless to begin with.

[noiseboyuk]

Lucky enough the latest updates for all Spectrasonic instruments added a zoom option for the interface of those instruments, so it's not longer a tiny screen you are peeking at.

Huh? I'm pretty sure you still can't zoom/resize the Stylus RMX interface, or did I miss / misunderstand something?

Agreed, I don't think you can for RMX unless I missed it too. The other three products are zoomable.

[jclosed]

Lucky enough the latest updates for all Spectrasonic instruments added a zoom option for the interface of those instruments, so it's not longer a tiny screen you are peeking at.

Huh? I'm pretty sure you still can't zoom/resize the Stylus RMX interface, or did I miss / misunderstand something?

Agreed, I don't think you can for RMX unless I missed it too. The other three products are zoomable.

Sorry - My fault. I do not actually enlarge any Spectrasonic instrument interface, apart from Omnisphere. I was always thinking that I could enlarge Stylus if I had a need for that, because all instruments got an update at the same time. I was obviously wrong here.

Well - Another thing that needs an update then. Let's hope that it's not far away...

[gnu23]

Answering the OP's question: Is Spectrasonics Stylus RMX still relevant?

Yes.

Thank you.

[ObAside: A recent GearSpace staff post, Ten of the Best Software Synthesizers, generated at last count, three pages of comments on why a given poster's synth should have been on the list, or why the staff was wrong, and various minor dustups and associated snark. I'm shocked.. shocked!, I tell you, to see that sort of thing of KVR. /s]

[Echoes in the Attic]

It has some excellent kits of single hits. An overlooked element of RMX maybe.

[LoveEnigma18]

never mind

[dfraze]

It will always be relevant for someone somewhere as are some really old hardware synths.

[SLiC]

Unlike many current VSTs from 'big name' companies, RMX has just been updated to have full native support for both Apple Silicon based Macs and the VST3 plug-in standard.

https://www.spectrasonics.net/news/news ... php?id=125

[zvenx]

Thank you.. Nice
rsp

[Echoes in the Attic]

Unlike many current VSTs from 'big name' companies, RMX has just been updated to have full native support for both Apple Silicon based Macs and the VST3 plug-in standard.

https://www.spectrasonics.net/news/news ... php?id=125

Hmmm, I'm not sure if this is a good sign for Stylus RMX. The fact that they updated this version to M1 and VST3 must mean they aren't so close to a successor, or why would they put all that energy into updated the existing version? From what I understand making a VST3 version is a fair bit of work. Would have thought they'd save that for an RMX 2.

Gotta say though, I do like the electronic drum kits in RMX.

[LoveEnigma18]

Indeed. I am also getting a feeling that Stylus RMX successor isn't happening anytime soon. That's why I just grabbed a used license for less. Doesn't make sense to wait. If they add resizable GUI in a future free update, I would not even bother about the successor, as this is the only thing I want. Considering they added VST3 support now, although unlikely for a free update, I see a little hope. That said, as an fyi, it is manageable on my 2K display. Anything beyond that would make it almost impossible to work with it and I would not recommend Stylus RMX to such people. Of course, if you are already use it on a bigger display, you know your problems.

Anyway, I have run into a bug immediately after installing it, and even Spectrasonics support confirmed this to me. The MIDI drag and drop is not working in FL Studio (20.8.3). Not sure if it works in other DAWs. I tried to workaround by dragging it to desktop and then back to FL Studio, but it does not work.

EDIT: I am on Windows 10.

Does anyone know if it is a new bug and whether it is DAW specific? I wonder if it is worth installing some older version in case the problem is new?

Any help is appreciated.