MuLab & MUX UI Looks

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Vector graphics are more efficient, that doesn't mean they are superior. There are many times when they wont work, namely when image quality is critical. No matter how good the artist. :shrug:

But yeah the knob generator and such is pretty awesome, every DAW should have that. MuLab looks great but more customization would still be my preference. :)

*Chiefly, I would still like to be able to dock additional stuff in that sidebar or scale/move things around to my liking. :) E.g. transport controls on the bottom etc...

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As you mention the sidebar, or browser as it is known, I'd just like to add that it would be great if it were tabbed and also you were able to do a horizontal split. So top and bottom halves showed different things.

As much as the MuLab task bar is useful, I would prefer it to be vertically listed in a browser tab or in the bottom half of the browser.

Reading stuff in a horizontal fashion as is done now is not natural way to look through a list of anything.

This could even be enhanced so that all muxes used in a project are shown in the bottom of the browser and if it's a parent mux, allow browsing of the child muxes via a Tree structure. Much more efficient to see and open and edit things buried deep. Gives a visual idea how muxes are built. :)

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First, I'd like to say the MuLabs Modular/Wiring view is great. Probably the best out there. Literally industry leading.

I've always liked the idea of the 2D abstract, wired modules, view. I trained as an electrical engineer. I think in signal flows. MuLabs is a very good abstract view of interconnects.
  • VCV (any modular model) - wires. rats nest of wires
  • Reason - more abstract, better than VCV, but still rats nest of wires
  • Reaper - track wiring. Correct solution. Abstract signal flows on a 2D diagram. Ugly and not WYSIWYG, but it works.
  • Melda - MXXX, modular hierarchies. Pretty good. A few flaws. Wiring is menu configured. It is abstract and 2D. Very easy to trace the signals from the diagram.
The Melda issues that MuLabs avoided!


I use Melda alot. Very flexible, deep, sounds great.

I struggle with their UI a bit.
  • Flat UI. Melda tries to keep things flat for maximum control visibility. Good idea, but in practice I'd rather click windows than constantly scroll with scroll bar. MuLabs windowing from the modular view wins
  • No VSTs. Huge MuLabs win
  • Wire connection is configured with a menu. Not a big ding, but the drag and drop in MuLabs is easier to snap together.

Compared to Reaper.

The flexibility and available commands in the MIDI editor is much higher in Reaper.

One key feature I use often is the "slice note" tool. It's in Reason too.

Reaper MIDI editor is big and I can customize the keyboard short cuts. If you do a lot of MIDI clicking, this is a big advantage.

Get an Artist

Giving that the Modular view is leading the industry, I would have a few real artists mockup alternate controls, fonts, based on some MuLabs example projects snapshots.

I would have them look at BitWig and Studio One as examples.

Even Ableton looks dated to me these days.

  • Target 4k on a 32inch monitor.
  • Offer a 400% mag on the GUI scaling
  • Make about a dozen color themes
  • Make a few font themes
  • Maybe open up the UI elements for end user edits.

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