Why are people so AFRAID of MELDA plugins?

[Tyrs]

Accurate?

[MirkoVanHauten]

Annoyed, not afraid.

[Held]

There are other plugins which will help you get a great sound much faster than Melda plugins. And there a lot of sounds I still haven't figured out how to reproduce with Melda plugins, especially when it comes to analog emulated saturation/filters. Maybe you can get the same sound from Melda, but I don't know how. And the preset designers don't know either or don't care.

The Plugin Alliance, for example, stuff just sounds great out of the box and after turning a few knobs, I can make it sound even better. The devices are supposed to do the same for Melda, but I don't get the same sounds from them. So for mixing, I barely use Melda anymore.

When I want to get more creative with sound design and modulation, I still use them, especially when I'm producing in Cubase. When I'm in Bitwig, I tend prefer to use the built-in modulators.

As for the GUI, I really like the normal GUI, but the easy screen GUI sucks. The images are usually ugly and don't improve the usability in any way. The only plugin where I leave them on is MSoundFactory, because most Instruments are easier to figure out with the custom layout. Compared to Reaktor or Halion, they still are terrible.

MDrumStrip looks like a step in the right direction, GUI-wise, so I hope we'll get more of that in the MMixingRevolution

In conclusion, I don't think people are afraid of MeldaPlugins, they just have other tools that help them get a good result faster.

[Scotty]

I started with Melda Free, upgraded it. Bought Melda Creative Bundle on KVR about 8 years ago and then MMixing Bundle (second hand) and then the occasional purchase. I don't know how many additional plugins were added free to the libraries in the interim but it has to have been at least a dozen. I have about 108 of their plugins; obviously there is overlap.

I recommend the free bundle and upgrade to anyone who will listen. I don't really want them to change too much. I can think of a few Melda plugins that I stopped using due to less than optimal workflow but most of it is more than usable. I bought Tantra (1&2) to replace MRhythmizer and Waves Brauer Motion for additional panning capacities. I don't use MGuitarArchitect as I prefer the workflow of IK Amplitube and Guitar Rig. I wish more people uploaded their presets to their servers. I uploaded about 20 (mostly for Mxxx Core) and I always look for others. Melda could promote that a bit more. The Melda SoundFactory LE was amazing value and I picked that up over the holidays.

I have never had a problem with licensing when hard drives got swapped out or a new OS was installed or the more frequent than average new PC builds. I have them installed on my Macs as well. Their development and update cycle is insanely fast and the plugins are compact. I think if you get to know about 5 plugins that are in different categories you'll have things sorted out across their catalog.

If Melda came up with enhanced and robust skinning support, they might inspire a third party cottage industry. I'm happy with what I have. They are so efficient. I don't need the bloat associated with pretty and I wouldn't want to slow the developer down. They don't need to be all things to all people.

[SirkusPi]

I’m not going to spend 20+ minutes watching a video just to respond to an annoying click-bait question, but I will comment that the question itself is extraordinarily annoying and smug. It is perfectly possible to not like a plugin line, not because I am (or others are) “afraid” of it, but because it does nothing to inspire us and we get better results elsewhere. I realize you (or the video creator) are probably just trying to provoke a reaction, and I'm falling into your trap (although I did decline to watch the video), but that doesn't make the phrasing any less obnoxious.

[Benedict]

I just don't meld (hihi) with them because they are so tech greebly. I don't want 3,000 ways toe modify the GUI. Shouldn't even need any if the workflow is suited in the first place.

So I am not frightened of them - altho I understand why many would be - I just have better options that let me do my do with out struggling with interfaces.

[gullfo]

i installed the free version not long ago, but have not used them because the GUI (from the instructions document) is giving me nightmares about the Melda coming into my bedroom and "getting me". i am so afraid. i don't even want to uninstall them for fear they'll come back from the bitbucket and attack me while i sleep. be afraid. very, very afraid.

[starflakeprj]

For me it was..

1. GUI
2. Second hand value, which is completely rubbish. Since I have left the ship I'm not sure if they still do 50% off on certain plugins every other week.

[zerocrossing]

Melda plugins are like LEGOs. If you’re looking for a Harry Potter Hogwarts themed play set, Hasbro probably has something ready-made that you can pop out of a box and instantly start playing with… well, after you undo 74 of those really annoying ties. Melda is the same thing, but a LEGO set that takes building.

If you like to build and customize, you can’t do much better than Melda. If you’re looking for something that has fixed functionality and is ready to go, there are better options. Neither option is better, just cater to different styles of work. I probably want the “LEGO” choice about 20% of the time.

[Tyrs]

I’m not going to spend 20+ minutes watching a video just to respond to an annoying click-bait question, but I will comment that the question itself is extraordinarily annoying and smug. It is perfectly possible to not like a plugin line, not because I am (or others are) “afraid” of it, but because it does nothing to inspire us and we get better results elsewhere. I realize you (or the video creator) are probably just trying to provoke a reaction, and I'm falling into your trap (although I did decline to watch the video), but that doesn't make the phrasing any less obnoxious.

No, video not mine. I found it by accident and enjoyed it a lot. The creator shows his love for Melda plugins. E.g. MAutoDynamicEQ is in his opinion the most versatile EQ on the market. His conclusion was mainly, that the GUI scares people off. I would not fully agree. If anything, then it's probably the complexity. If you want to get great results with Melda, you need to dive into the plugins / sound theory. If you're the guy, then it'sl worth it. If you require instant results, then you'll choose plugins, which deliver those.

[Nspace]

Bad publicity is still publicity, which brings attention. So many acts thrive on controversy, that some of it wouldn't hurt, will it? Some, that is.
More so when our main developer here touts them as "The best plugins in the world "

[Frankie.T]

It's not a secret that i like Melda plugins. They make up about 90% or even more of my mixing plugins i use in my projects, and somewhere between 50% and 80% of my used mastering tools.
However, for those who know me, i'm not the kind of fan who defends something regardless, so i want to share my thoughts on this topic here.

When we say "people" things gets already confusing, what people means? Are we talking about people who work in the industry? Or people who write on forums that mostly do it as passion?

Because i think these 2 kind of "people" are very different.

The first, just needs the job done as fast as possible, time=money. So they use whatever they think is better/faster. Usually they also comes with more knowledge and don't care about GUI, i mean if something is fast to use is good, otherwise is not, while hobbists, think is good something that looks shiny and "real vintage" cause eyes plays a bigger role.

The existence of lots of vst eq's is a great example.
When i need an eq, 99,9999999% of the time i use MAD EQ, i don't need fancy GUIs neither fixed curves, because when i ear sounds i need to eq, i know what frequencies and shapes i need to reach my needs. And it takes like 2 seconds to shape that curve with this eq.
While probably other less experienced have no clue, so they load let's say a pultec for something, an api for something else and so on, having maybe 10-20 different eq's just for that reason.

I test plugins and i tried i think almost any of them, and i never found any eq that is really superior because math is math guys, while marketing is... well you know.
Sure some may comes with saturation, so in that case is different, but guess what, MAD EQ comes with saturation too.

I think appearance trigger just hobbists, like good visual games is important for gamers. And there is nothing wrong with that, using beautiful plugins can be part of the fun, that's totally fine.

This means every Melda plugin is just perfect and the best out there? Ofc not. I mean many of them IMO are currently the best, while others not so much.

I.e. i'm not satisfied by saturation. I find Saturn 2 to be into another league in both workflow, sound and names! Using tape, tube and so one, is way better for me, cause i know what kind of sound and dynamic responce i get out of them, while i have no clue about different saturations with Melda, and everytime i try it, i think they should sit with real hardware and few experts to design a proper tape, tube and so on.
This doesn't means current Melda saturations are bad, i.e. i like a lot the one included with MAD EQ and MTC, i find them very useful, but a different dedicated plugin that is not trained by machine learning, neither AI, but experts, is what i really miss.

So i'm talking here about sound, not GUI. I think once you get rid of the expectation of some scratched vintage UI with screws and such, and you work with your ears, you can find Melda plugins to be way better.
Most of plugins are still released without a proper autogain compensation, and this is so damn stupid, while all Melda comes with it, and it's a workflow saver.

So when you think/feel some other plugins just bring you the right sound, are you really sure isn't because you are adding volume? Because most likely that's the reason.

I think Melda GUI is good as it is, no frills but you got everything you need right there, and the workflow is almost perfect.

Also CPU consumption is very good, i tried plugins from other companies where just one instance in an empty project hits cpu more than a complete project of mine full of Melda (but not only) plugins.

So is Melda perfect? Ofc nothing is, i'd love to see some more creative and well designed plugins such Arturia Efx Refract, Output Movement, Portal and Thermal, just to name few. Because i think they lack of some creative tools. I named that ones, because they are easy to use and comes with interesting sounds with no so much efforts.
I know you can build some monster with MXXX, but then it start what is one of the strenght and weakness of them. You can achieve almost whatever but you need to spend time to build it, and you also needs to know what you are doing and what you need.

I built some very cool stuff on MXXX i'm very proud of, but i don't have the time to build everything, and also some stuff needs more tools to be achieved, and ofc having something made from scratch by them is better, because they can fill with the code what it miss.

It's a really difficult discussion to do in a forum, or just in a written form.
If we stick about the GUI topic, i don't even think there is a "right" or "wrong" thought, i mean there is nothing wrong with the will to work with an "Acustica/PA/Waves..."-like tool, but i prefer to load something build to be a workhorse that do the job in no time, and just the autogain stuff is something mandatory for me.

[baseJC]

I think the GUI puts off a lot of people, me included - after some persistence though you can get a good sound out of them

[Frantz]

This weekend I decided to give MDrummer another try. I bought it a long time ago but shelved it after getting frustrated with it. I finally had a breakthough where I understand most of it now and am getting results but it was an uphill struggle.

For example, consider the MDrummer Rhythm Generator screen. It has an unlabeled file browser section for loading what it calls the "base rhythm." According to the context sensitive help "a base rhythm is a normal rhythm that contains typically only background percussion, e.g. hi-hats and cymbals." So why not refer to and label this as background percussion instead of a base rhythm??

Then they have a button called "Generate loops" which "generates the breaks, intros and outros" but does not affect the main rhythm loop.

With a plugin this deep and complex, the learning curve is increased unnecessarily by choosing confusing names for key bits of functionality. Even though I understand it now, in 6 months I will probably forget these details.

The issue with Melda is more serious than just ugly UIs. It seems like the developer is building stuff that makes sense to him but is not getting feedback from beta testers. If you want to get the most out of Melda stuff, you have to really focus on it to understand it and that means putting aside the music while you immerse yourself in Meldaology.

[GusGranite]

I got into Melda plugins when I saw Luca Pretolesi rocking MAutoDynamicEQ in his session. Soon after, Melda gave away their MSpectralDelay new release which is still one of the best delays in my toolbox. That pretty much won me over.