Massive X 1.6.1 update (September 2025)!

[digitalboytn]

I would also add that I've changed my tune and am kinda glad MX doesn't do wavetable import. The selection included plus all the modifiers are enough to get basically any sound you want. Most of us probably have other wavetable synths that allow import. I don't need every synth I have to sound the same.

There's more than enough goodness baked into MX to produce world class results...

This is the best of NI's DSP on display here and it is top notch..

I have no problems with the GUI,but the preset handling and the modulation assignment is abysmal ....

But like most things,we learn to work with the idiosyncrasies and accept it for what it is...

One of the very best sounding soft synths on the planet with some serious DSP bubbling away under the hood

[Vortifex]

Not sure I'm getting you, but you can apply the VR (voice random) mod to pan to get stereo voice spread. Although it isn't actually random.

Exactly, it's a weird implementation. Apply the VR to pan and play single notes, it cycles between mono and stereo.

[Teksonik]

I would also add that I've changed my tune and am kinda glad MX doesn't do wavetable import.

Why? If you love the sound of MX why not support it having a wider range of sounds provided by a wider range of waveforms and wavetables to choose from?

The selection included plus all the modifiers are enough to get basically any sound you want.

There is a huge difference between "any sounds you want" and "any sounds everyone could want". Even if user waveform import was added MX couldn't do all the sounds I want....not even close.

I don't need every synth I have to sound the same.

That's like saying every synth that has a saw wave sounds the same. If I loaded the same wavetable into Icarus 3, Hive 2, and DUNE 3 the results would sound very different because of the architecture of each synth, the filters, modulation, FX, etc.

So I say bring on user waveform/wavetable import to MX since it will expand the range of sounds it can make.

One thing that people seem to forget is that wavetables are made up of waveforms so having a vast selection of other waveforms to use when making patches can only help MX be a more powerful synth. Again if one loves the sound of MX (I've seen several people say it's the best sounding synth) then it stands to reason they would want it to also be a more powerful synth.

For those who may suffer from paralysis of choice, they can simply ignore any new features that they have no need for while at the same time not denying those features to those who do need them.

Now let's be realistic, I doubt very much it will ever happen since I'm sure people have asked for user import many times in the past and the feature has not yet been added.

Perhaps if there is a Massive X version 2 the feature will be added but again I don't have much faith that N.I. will create such an update. But hey, they gave MX 1.4 away for free so maybe that means a new version is coming and they're hoping to generate some income from upgrade fees.

But it could also mean they've pretty much given up on MX. I would love for my scepticism to be proven wrong so time will tell. Let's see what the future holds.

[Sinisterbr]

The range of tones Massive X can produce is large enough for me to not care about wavetable import. I think the UI is fine as well. It's clearly and intuitively laid out.

I'd like to see improvements to the browser (single click to select preset PLEASE FFS, this is my number once annoyance), improvements to the LFOs, pannable oscillators, non-unison voice spread, and per-oscillator unison.

I agree on all points.

[EvilDragon]

Why? If you love the sound of MX why not support it having a wider range of sounds provided by a wider range of waveforms and wavetables to choose from?

All factory wavetables have additional metadata which is required for some of the shaper modes. None of the 3rd party wavetables out there would work properly in those modes then.

[swilow11]

I would also add that I've changed my tune and am kinda glad MX doesn't do wavetable import.

Why? If you love the sound of MX why not support it having a wider range of sounds provided by a wider range of waveforms and wavetables to choose from?

The selection included plus all the modifiers are enough to get basically any sound you want.

There is a huge difference between "any sounds you want" and "any sounds everyone could want". Even if user waveform import was added MX couldn't do all the sounds I want....not even close.

I don't need every synth I have to sound the same.

That's like saying every synth that has a saw wave sounds the same. If I loaded the same wavetable into Icarus 3, Hive 2, and DUNE 3 the results would sound very different because of the architecture of each synth, the filters, modulation, FX, etc.

So I say bring on user waveform/wavetable import to MX since it will expand the range of sounds it can make.

It's just my own view. I've got heaps of awesome wavetables and they sound great played through any waveyable oscillator. But it is a bit boring to me. I somewhat appreciate the arbitrary limitation because it pushes me creatively. But I can definitely see a case for user wavetable import. If introduced, I would probably use it. But it's low on my list of priorities with MX.

As mentioned above, the included wavetables contain metadata which afaik is particularly important for warp modes like ART or Formant to function coherently. The included tables are very specific to the synth. So I don't think the "saw is a saw is a saw" analogy necessarily works. Mx can do things to it's included wavetables that cannot be easily done with non included wavetables. But I certainly see your point. Although honestly, neatly every basic sawtooth oscillator does sound the same whatever synth you use.

Maybe a wavetable editor can be included where users can build this metadata into their own wavetables? Okay, I'm expecting a lot from NI now..! One can dream though

[IvyBirds]

One thing that people seem to forget is that wavetables are made up of waveforms so having a vast selection of other waveforms to use when making patches can only help MX be a more powerful synth.

I don't think people forget that at all and that's exactly why I don't think we need wavetable import with Massive X

With MX you get over 170 Wavetables and 10 different ways to shape each one and play each of them back. That represents thousands of different waveforms available to you

Beyond the raw oscillators you then have a deep and complex synth

The developers included a very rich library of Wavetables and added a bunch of meta data to them to enable them to function well with the rest of the instrument

if they offered Wavetable import then what? The rest of the synth engine wouldn't work with them without the meta data

So you would be reduced to using them in the traditional Wavetable way, and why would you want to do that? Doing that removes everything that makes Massive X special

[EvilDragon]

10 different ways, each of them having some sub-options that change things. And that is BEFORE you use the phase mod oscillators on top of everything...

And then you can even stop the internal phase accumulator of the wavetable readout (Int on/off), which makes ANY waveform in the oscillator a waveshaper... And that's a dynamic waveshaper, because the actual curve is your wavetable itself, so the morph parameters all still work!

Really, you have basically endless waveforms right there.

[enCiphered]

Massive X is marketed as a flagship wavetable synth, yet it’s closed off to external content. That fundamentally contradicts the modular and exploratory spirit of wavetable synthesis. Every serious wavetable synth today, even free ones offer WT import. So Teksonik is absolutely right here.

Yes, you get 170+ tables with shaping modifiers, but they're finite. Creative workflows are stifled when you can’t experiment with your own audio sources. The metadata excuse is weak. NI could still allow user import with limited compatibility.

And what about the real deal-breaker. Last time I checked Massive X it still wasn´t able to expose a single parameter to DAW automation or MIDI mapping. Just the few macros. For a serious synth in 2025, that alone is absurd. Did they fix that?

[EvilDragon]

No. When was the last time you really needed to host automate more than 16 parameters simultaneously? I mean REALLY needed, that your life depended on it?

NI could still allow user import with limited compatibility.

If it would produce a less than flattering result in affected modes, that would fly in face of the rest of the DSP that is top-notch quality. So I don't think it's a weak excuse, it's simply the intended design.

[enCiphered]

No. When was the last time you really needed to host automate more than 16 parameters simultaneously? I mean REALLY needed, that your life depended on it?

Yes, I genuinely do need access to more than 16 automatable parameters, not just as a theoretical possibility but as a core part of my daily work. For example, when you create assets for game developers and other industry clients, where automating dozens of parameters is essential for generating variations and procedural audio. I also deliver generative ambient compositions, where entire scenes evolve in real time through complex modulation. 16 parameters simultaneously? You must be kidding. If you’re doing anything complex or generative, 16 parameters is gone in minutes.

[Dalle]

No. When was the last time you really needed to host automate more than 16 parameters simultaneously? I mean REALLY needed, that your life depended on it?

At least half of the sixteen macros are already mapped to things. So to automate multiple parameters, in addition to assigning all of them to macros, you also need to hunt down and remove existing mappings. Automation should also be able to change parameters you can’t assign macros to. It’s a completely ridiculous limitation that slows down workflow.

[wikter]

And what about the real deal-breaker. Last time I checked Massive X it still wasn´t able to expose a single parameter to DAW automation or MIDI mapping. Just the few macros. For a serious synth in 2025, that alone is absurd. Did they fix that?

Weird. Sometimes developers hide parameters, and then users find that a dual BCR2000 with 64 Direct Access parameters is a waste to edit such plug-ins.
Really... We don't need 800 parameters like an AWM2 part, but editing a single element with just 200 is enough.
The fact is that almost any DAW is able to show & capture you the parameters being tweaked, no matter if your plug-in has 6 or 6000 parameters, you can keep focus on the parameters you need to automate.
With a single BCR it's easy to automate 64 parameters, and use only the ones needed, 3, 8, 24...
But the problem is that automation is highly ignored.
VeeSeeVST is a VCV clone that has the most incredible VST automation, add a module and all the controls get exposed to DAW.
In the other side, there's still software relying in a limited block of parameters shown as P1, P2, P3. It seems that VST1.0 is still alive. But hey, we have MPE.

[IvyBirds]

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Yes, you get 170+ tables with shaping modifiers, but they're finite. Creative workflows are stifled when you can’t experiment with your own audio sources. The metadata excuse is weak. NI could still allow user import with limited compatibility.

So once you stop back compatibility as you suggest you may as well import that Wavetable into any other Wavetable synth as the things that make it special and unique are gone so again what is the point

[Sinisterbr]

Massive X is marketed as a flagship wavetable synth, yet it’s closed off to external content. That fundamentally contradicts the modular and exploratory spirit of wavetable synthesis. Every serious wavetable synth today, even free ones offer WT import. So Teksonik is absolutely right here.

WIth all due respect, I don't think it fundamentally contradicts anything. That's just your personnal understanding of what a flagship wavetable synth means.