Massive 2

[Jace-BeOS]

So long as they keep the existing products, and keep maintaining them (keeping current with OS support), I'm happy.

[aMUSEd]

And i always thought it was actually one of the, if not THE, most popular synths from NI. What do you think?

I wonder if success can sometimes be an inhibiting factor? Sylenth seems equally stuck in a rut - it has updates for Mac and 64 bit but the actual sound engine seems the same. When there are a gazillion soundsets for a plugin the last thing a dev would want to do is alienate the fanbase by introducing changes that make those soundsets sound different - I can think of several plugins that did this and in each case it certainly impacted on my motivation to use them (e.g. Iris 2, XILS3, Modelonia) because you put so much hard work into creating sounds (or money into buying them) only for them no longer to work or sound radically different due to an update, it's very disheartening when that happens.

[4damind]

Massive 2 is already out.. but it's called "Serum"

Absynth 6 would be also fine...

[loachm]

Massive 2 is already out.. but it's called "Serum"

...Serum is a good synth, but while a lot of its features would have been great additions to Massive, I'm inclined to say "No way, Jose". Of course, I can't tell if there'll be a Massive 2, but being NI's biggest synth success, it wouldn't be smart not to do a successor. And if there will be - about next year would be a nice opportunity with NI's 20th and Massive 10th anniversary (I think) - I don't know how Serum would look then. NI certainly don't seem to be rushed (as ever). Before Massive there were a lot of great synths coming out and people were looking at NI asking what takes them so long. Then Massive came, made a lot of people become silent, became probably the most successful softsynth (though because of Zebra, Sylenth and Diva I can't be too sure) and it's still very relevant in its ninth year, despite Serum. I'd call that very impressive.

[2ZrgE]

Massive 2 is already out.. but it's called "Serum"

Absynth 6 would be also fine...

If anything Serum is around Massive 1,5.

I mean, a fancy GUI, two OSCs, some more FXs, WT import and editing ok, but I would expect much more from a VST titan like NI.

[recursive one]

And i always thought it was actually one of the, if not THE, most popular synths from NI. What do you think?

I wonder if success can sometimes be an inhibiting factor? Sylenth seems equally stuck in a rut - it has updates for Mac and 64 bit but the actual sound engine seems the same. When there are a gazillion soundsets for a plugin the last thing a dev would want to do is alienate the fanbase by introducing changes that make those soundsets sound different - I can think of several plugins that did this and in each case it certainly impacted on my motivation to use them (e.g. Iris 2, XILS3, Modelonia) because you put so much hard work into creating sounds (or money into buying them) only for them no longer to work or sound radically different due to an update, it's very disheartening when that happens.

They could add some new features, like. e.g., new filter types and unison algos, while keeping all the old stuff for backwards compatibility. I see no probelm with that, many other devs do this.

[Robmobius]

Massive 2 is already out.. but it's called "Serum"

...Serum is a good synth, but while a lot of its features would have been great additions to Massive, I'm inclined to say "No way, Jose".

I'm inclined to say... Serum smashes Massive. Will it smash M2? Dunno...

But I'm sure Serum 3 will!

[chk071]

And i always thought it was actually one of the, if not THE, most popular synths from NI. What do you think?

I wonder if success can sometimes be an inhibiting factor? Sylenth seems equally stuck in a rut - it has updates for Mac and 64 bit but the actual sound engine seems the same. When there are a gazillion soundsets for a plugin the last thing a dev would want to do is alienate the fanbase by introducing changes that make those soundsets sound different - I can think of several plugins that did this and in each case it certainly impacted on my motivation to use them (e.g. Iris 2, XILS3, Modelonia) because you put so much hard work into creating sounds (or money into buying them) only for them no longer to work or sound radically different due to an update, it's very disheartening when that happens.

They could add some new features, like. e.g., new filter types and unison algos, while keeping all the old stuff for backwards compatibility. I see no probelm with that, many other devs do this.

Tbh, i'd expect them to do a new sound engine though. Frankly, i believe Massive is a bit long in the tooth now. Not only the filters are not up to the par to the latest generation of high quality VSTi's, but also the overall sound is a bit harsh and hollow. I'd also expect them to add more wavetables, and decrease the CPU consumption.

I don't feel like broken compatibility to version 1 is such a hindering factor either. What would be understandable for me would be the lack of need for a new version, if version 1 is still selling decently, and there's a lot of new soundsets still coming out for it. I don't think there's still too much of a boom about it though. As has been said, i guess Serum took the spot for a lot of people by now.

And i still don't understand how wavetable synths like Massive and Serum can become such a big thing for EDM.

[loachm]

I'm inclined to say... Serum smashes Massive. Will it smash M2? Dunno...

But I'm sure Serum 3 will!

...yeah, probably when both their third versions will come out in the next decade. Does it smash Massive - for a lot of people, obviously. And I agree somewhat, that I'm really annoyed every now and then wondering if I might need Serum. It's a good package (with both improvements and setbacks in comparison to Massive), but up to now the answer is still "No"...

[loachm]

And i still don't understand how wavetable synths like Massive and Serum can become such a big thing for EDM.

...because with wavetables you don't need to have the faintest about synthesis and you'll still get good sounds...

[BDeep]

I'm starting to lose faith that NI will ever put their focus back on their standalone synths. They seem to be putting all new development into Reaktor, Kontakt libraries, and Maschine. I guess that's where the money is for them these days.

Well, that's what we thought about Battery, then all of a sudden, they released Battery 4. So I'm still hopeful!

[aMUSEd]

And i always thought it was actually one of the, if not THE, most popular synths from NI. What do you think?

I wonder if success can sometimes be an inhibiting factor? Sylenth seems equally stuck in a rut - it has updates for Mac and 64 bit but the actual sound engine seems the same. When there are a gazillion soundsets for a plugin the last thing a dev would want to do is alienate the fanbase by introducing changes that make those soundsets sound different - I can think of several plugins that did this and in each case it certainly impacted on my motivation to use them (e.g. Iris 2, XILS3, Modelonia) because you put so much hard work into creating sounds (or money into buying them) only for them no longer to work or sound radically different due to an update, it's very disheartening when that happens.

They could add some new features, like. e.g., new filter types and unison algos, while keeping all the old stuff for backwards compatibility. I see no probelm with that, many other devs do this.

Tbh, i'd expect them to do a new sound engine though. Frankly, i believe Massive is a bit long in the tooth now. Not only the filters are not up to the par to the latest generation of high quality VSTi's, but also the overall sound is a bit harsh and hollow. I'd also expect them to add more wavetables, and decrease the CPU consumption.

I don't feel like broken compatibility to version 1 is such a hindering factor either. What would be understandable for me would be the lack of need for a new version, if version 1 is still selling decently, and there's a lot of new soundsets still coming out for it. I don't think there's still too much of a boom about it though. As has been said, i guess Serum took the spot for a lot of people by now.

I think Serum has some advantages but in terms of sound design Massive still has far better soundsets made for it and great soundsets are still being created with it despite its age, again one advantage of staying the same is that it has enabled some sound designers to completely master it and that shows in the quality of releases.

I'm not a fan of the argument that a if new version breaks preset compatibility you can continue to use it alongside the old version. Time after time when that has happened all we see is the new version getting developments and the old version getting nothing - has there been a single development for Dune 1, Iris 1, XILS3 1 etc since the v2s came out? Eventually they will die and people will have lost the ability to play stuff they invested lots of money and time into creating and buying. I think Urs got it right when he updated the sound engine for Zebra 1.5 but included the old sound engine too. Either that or create a new version but keep developing the old as a separate product but developers should stop pretending that the old version will continue to work alongside the new one and that we should see them as separate products when they have no intention of actually maintaining the old one as a separate product.

[EsmileZ]

I m sure that lot s of people have massive.At least all complete users and all Maschine users. It would make sense for NI to make a 2.0 upgrade.I would absolutely pay for a Filter update!!!

[Kalamata Kid]

I'm inclined to say... Serum smashes Massive. Will it smash M2? Dunno...

But I'm sure Serum 3 will!

...yeah, probably when both their third versions will come out in the next decade. Does it smash Massive - for a lot of people, obviously. And I agree somewhat, that I'm really annoyed every now and then wondering if I might need Serum. It's a good package (with both improvements and setbacks in comparison to Massive), but up to now the answer is still "No"...

I may die waiting "but up to now the answer is still "No"... " here also.
Komplete is such a good package and the upgrade price is reasonable
so whatever happens with K11 will be fine whether Massive 2, Kontakt 6
or Absynth 6 is included.

But on the other hand if you want to donate $$ to my Serum account send me a PM.
I will reconsider all that I have said.

[Vectorman]

I quit holding my breath for a Massive 2.0 quite a while ago. The list of good feature requests on the NI forum is long indeed, but I guess unlikely to ever be implemented.

I admit I didn't spend a whole lot of time with Serum after buying it last year (I'll get back to it eventually), but it didn't really strike me as a Massive replacement, despite the conceptual similarities - even with some Massive waves loaded into Serum, Massive has a particular sound that Serum doesn't really reproduce. Massive has become sort of a classic in the software realm, like the Virus or Nord 2x in hardware - even though technology like virtual filter coding has moved beyond it with newer synths, it still has a character that has its own appeal sometimes. When I'm looking for sounds that are kind of glossy and ethereal, it usually delivers.