XLN Audio - XO - Improvement, Pros, Cons

[Zoopy]

Why anyone makes a sequencer in this century that can't do polyrhythm is a mystery to me. This thing could have been something great, instead it ended up just being a fancy looking sample browser. Such a shame.

it's definitely more than that. I just export the midi and make my own poly stuff with xo all the time, works great.

[skarvika]

I wish XO's sequencer would let you work with more than 2 bars. I love how quick it is to put things down in it, but I haven't actually used it because the length is so limiting. I make trance primarily which is typically known for its repetitiveness when it comes to the percussion, but even here it's nigh impossible to write any kind of transitions or meaningful variations with only 8 beats to work with.
Are there any other drum sequencers that have XO's intuitiveness but let you make 32 bar patterns?

[JiggSaw]

I wish XO's sequencer would let you work with more than 2 bars. I love how quick it is to put things down in it, but I haven't actually used it because the length is so limiting. I make trance primarily which is typically known for its repetitiveness when it comes to the percussion, but even here it's nigh impossible to write any kind of transitions or meaningful variations with only 8 beats to work with.
Are there any other drum sequencers that have XO's intuitiveness but let you make 32 bar patterns?

I know your frustration. You can see my comments in this thread. I own Algonaut Atlas and the sequencer is not as limiting. So you can try that and see if it works for you. However, imo it's not as intuitive as XO to me. I can work with XO extremely fast. My workaround with XO has been to drag the midi out as soon as I complete 2 bars, clear the sequencer in XO, and then do another 2 bars.

Edit: Actually, I just went and played with Atlas due to your post since it's been so long since I've used it. They've made huge strides. I'm going to retire XO and move forward with Atlas.

[skarvika]

I wish XO's sequencer would let you work with more than 2 bars. I love how quick it is to put things down in it, but I haven't actually used it because the length is so limiting. I make trance primarily which is typically known for its repetitiveness when it comes to the percussion, but even here it's nigh impossible to write any kind of transitions or meaningful variations with only 8 beats to work with.
Are there any other drum sequencers that have XO's intuitiveness but let you make 32 bar patterns?

I know your frustration. You can see my comments in this thread. I own Algonaut Atlas and the sequencer is not as limiting. So you can try that and see if it works for you. However, imo it's not as intuitive as XO to me. I can work with XO extremely fast. My workaround with XO has been to drag the midi out as soon as I complete 2 bars, clear the sequencer in XO, and then do another 2 bars.

Edit: Actually, I just went and played with Atlas due to your post since it's been so long since I've used it. They've made huge strides. I'm going to retire XO and move forward with Atlas.

Right now my solution has been (thank goodness I never switched from FL) to drag and drop the processed samples (which XO does very well) onto the step sequencer and program the hits in manually there. Not as quick as using XO but it's getting the job done. If Atlas is as good as you say, then I'll have to try the demo!

Edit: Just based on the 20 or so minutes I played around with it last night, I've got to admit Atlas is pretty great. 16 pads over XO's 8 is nice, I found myself having to use multiple instances of XO at times. The sequencer has some nice quality of life features, such as highlighting the selected pad's track so you don't need to do any guesswork. It automatically fills the excess when going from 4 to 8 beats and so on, which will save time particularly on 4/4 style patterns. For the sample browser, list view is a welcome return to simplicity over XO's browser which can become a confusing mess when you've got a load of samples like I've got. Preview on hover is also nice and makes sure I won't be developing arthritis because of this thing. And the resizable UI comes in handy especially for browsing in galaxy mode. XO still has a much better built-in transient shaper, so maybe Algonaut can improve on that in future updates, but all in all Atlas feels very thought out.

[nerdbeere]

I stopped using XO because of the 4/4 and bar length limitations. Exporting Midi does not help, it just kills the the groove and vibe of XOs internal "humanizing" engine which is really magic for me with its additional Accentuator, so unique.
The exported Midi Files doesnt help they are just dead in comparison.
4/4 only and no individual step length in 2023??
Does anyone know if there will be a major update soon?
I got no response from XO

[SLiC]

I'm going to retire XO and move forward with Atlas.

I think this is what most people did

[LFO8]

Another thing I would like to see in an update is a larger section for the Sample Folder section in the 'search & filter' section. I have a lot of individual folders added (per sample pack) so that I have the flexibility to audition different drum kits that are built using samples from a particular sample pack only. But the way it is laid out now (a tiny section one has to scroll through) makes it quite painful to use.

XO Filter Folder Section.png

Edit: I've also submitted this to XLN Audio as a feature request for XO.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Good luck with that, I think most of us who bought XO because we were excited about where it was going have now given up hope it will get there.

[esaruoho]

XO is at 1.4.2 now. I hope we will see a decent feature update in the form of 1.5 next year.

any word on updates? which version are we on right now?

[LFO8]

XO is at 1.4.2 now. I hope we will see a decent feature update in the form of 1.5 next year.

any word on updates? which version are we on right now?

XO is currently at version 1.5.8

[zvenx]

oooh.. mine says "1.5.1 build 220818" and their updater says this is the latest one.
rsp

[esaruoho]

XO is at 1.4.2 now. I hope we will see a decent feature update in the form of 1.5 next year.

any word on updates? which version are we on right now?

XO is currently at version 1.5.8

So.. was there a decent 1.5 update? Anything of interest?

[kraster]

XLN are such an odd company.

They have arguably one of the best line ups of plugins around.

Addictive Drums and Keys, RC-20 and XO are all hugely popular and in some instances considered the standard or at least highly thought of.

DS-10 is also no slouch (can't comment on Addictive Trigger since I've never used it.)

But they seem to rest on their laurels a lot. There are definitely improvements that could be made to XO and that would only help sales but they're surprisingly quiet about updates.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Swedes are pretty laid back in my experience so that may be part of it.

If IzoTope owned XO it would be on version 5 by now. It probably wouldn't offer a whole lot more functionality, but they'd have tried to grab that upgrade cash.

[kraster]

Swedes are pretty laid back in my experience so that may be part of it.

If IzoTope owned XO it would be on version 5 by now. It probably wouldn't offer a whole lot more functionality, but they'd have tried to grab that upgrade cash.

XO Standard. Just Kicks

XO Advanced. Kicks and Snares

XO Advanced Plus. Kicks, Snare, Hats and Sequencer.

XO complete. Kicks, Snares, Hats, Toms and Sequencer plus 50% off in app purchases for cymbals and percussion modules.