my Melda experience

[goldglob]

The things mentioned in the OP seem to be either:

1/ Things being fixed and refined as we speak.
2/ Things that have been explained by the developer (the installer, 32 bit, 64 bit etc).
3/ Workflow things and misunderstandings inevitable with the complexity available.
4/ Things that could be better but are not a priority (E.G. the manuals).
5/ Personal cosmetic preference.
6/ Perhaps a little bug or two that the developer would usually be grateful to hear about and quick to address.

Fairly insignificant stuff really, nothing to be upset about.
I'd recommend just buying the complete bundle and having years of fun.

[StroboMarc]

Thanks for responding guys! While I agree with some of you, I strongly disagree with others. Reading all of the posts I think: had I written "I love Meldaproduction, but" as the first sentence or put my experiences in 10 small topics as bug reports saying "I'm about to buy plugin xy, but have these issues", it would have been better, but just not true.
I understand a list of issues seems too much for some, on the other hand I'd like to ask when was the last time you actually tested more than the few workhorse plugins you use all the time and were not like "annoying but it is how it is"? If there was only a MCharacter installer, I would probably not have tested the others at all and came to different results I'm still glad I did because curiosity is a good thing and now I got my own experiences to share too when discussions come up again, and they will.

I used the time and have been testing more and could write another couple posts about the turbo series, MAGC, the Drum stuff or regarding audible artefacts. Even about MBitFun which actually worked well and was as interesting as expected. But point #2, #3 and #4 from goldglob's post were on spot because they confirmed again, it obviously is just not my ballpark then. And that's a fair point. If you're used to other paradigms or an other way of issues getting treated, it's like running against a wall.

As it just seems too controversial for some, my probably final words are (and you might not like them): the uninstaller doesn't work correct as well and leaves files behind Just to name some: AppData/Roaming/MeldaProduction folder with all presets and settings, Audio Plugins 14 folder in the selected install path with files like redistributables_install.bat, vcredist_x64.exe and such, a folder in the start menu, ...

All the best, Marc

[Held]

You know, in the beginning, when I was looking at the free bundle, I was annoyed too with having a single installer, and it made me actually abort the installation because I thought it was another management software like iZotope or Kontakt.

I only went back because I was amazed by Chandler's MSoundFactory videos. Now, that I have more plugins, I'm happy that I only have to download one file for an update.

And yes, an uninstaller leaving files behind sucks. But I'm probably never going to delete them, so again it's not an issue for me. (Yes, it should be fixed, but while it's being fixed, no new features are developed. Also, Installers leaving stuff behind is a common issue on Windows, so it's apparently not an easy problem to solve.)

Like I said in the beginning, different stuff is suited for different people, and I think it's wonderful that there are so many choices available.

Also, thanks for being straight forward about your intentions and not lying. I don't think that would have been better. I appreciate honesty, even if I don't agree with that person.

Edit: Chandler just published a video which showcases a lot of the stuff I love about Melda, but I also totally understand how most people don't want to deal with that kind of stuff.

[MeldaProduction]

Hey folks, so first thank you for your positive comments, and thanks to the OP for the negative comments as well. Unfortunately most of the stuff is really just a personal opinion or misunderstanding, but it's appreciated anyways. If any of you have "problems" per se, it's better to use the contact form, so we can work on it directly.

At the end the reality is, that Melda plugins are DIFFERENT from anything else on the market. Melda plugins are focusing on "power users", who are willing to spend some time learning the system and are rewarded by extreme versatility. Of course, there will always be tendency to make things "easy to use", but it's always some kind of compromise. And as it was said, Melda is definitely not a company for everyone . People looking for simple tools with a few knobs have the entire rest of the market to look for

[StroboMarc]

Hi Held & MeldaProduction, much appreciated response and actually like I imagened it. And I agree with what's being said

[Faiky]

Ok, maybe we should write some warnings on the packaging.
Melda plugins is not for people...

- Who don't have an F1 key
- who cannot live without an exquisite graphic interface
- who cannot cope with the combination of simple surface and complex interface
- for whom too many possibilities are too many
- who do not have 10min time to download the downloader
- Who do not want further development of a huge number of Plugins

Yes I also had starting difficulties, I guess many people are deterred by the first impression.

What many may not know at the beginning, behind this project is probably the fastest and most user-oriented developer out there.

It is also important, if you compare plugins, you should also compare the price. I guess those who are looking for the best value for money will always have a good choice with Melda. The plugins should be tried out.
Spectral functions can quickly sound nasty. Just like pitchfollower. Often you have to lower your expectations, because it is already possible, but that something like that sounds good, there is more to it.

Most commercial developers do something for the first impression. Melda on the other hand is a hidden treasure.
Why the PopUp's? Because the plugins often simply do more than the simple ones out there. It quickly becomes too small and confusing on a surface. You have to get used to it a bit.

As a user I would like it to stay that way, so that not everyone discovers what a secret weapon the plugins are .

[goldglob]

^^^
"As a user I would like it to stay that way, so that not everyone discovers what a secret weapon the plugins are ."
HaHa, there is that!!

[Tricky-Loops]

Can't relate.. Been using Melda for years and it's good. Everything is good. That "review" is like playing with a rock, then switching to a cone and then whining that cone is different than a rock.

+1

I think sometimes certain software does not fit with the lifestyle, workflow or attitude of a certain user. I have had a very positive experience with Melda, but I am used to fiddling with lots of controls as I come from a technology background. People are different from each other after all.

That's my impression that happy Melda users mostly have a technological, computer programming, mathematical or scientific background. Designers and visual oriented people might be less happy or even frustrated with them whilst people who want to have as many parameters as possible and have much time for experimentation (it's easier to make it sound bad than good) often like them!

But only 2 days to test all these plugins is not enough. Others need YEARS for it! I have more than 40 Melda plugins (including CreativeFX bundle) since 7 years and still not tested all of them because of not enough time!

[kingsinger]

I know this is an old thread but let me just say that if there were more videos like Chandler's, helping average users understand the possibilities of these plug-in, I suspect more people would be using them and buying them. I know the UI puts some people off, but as you use more of the plug-ins, you definitely start to appreciate its consistency from plug-in to plug-in. But as an average user, the thing that feels most missing is more plain-language, concrete explanations of what you can do with the plug-ins. I also wish the stock pre-set names were more helpful in giving the user some sense of what they do.

I've owned SpectralDynamics for a few years now. It's taken me a long time to really understand how it works. And I probably still don't fully understand it. I didn't find Chandler's videos about MSD until a year or so after buying it (my bad I guess). To the extent that Chandler gets paid to make his videos, I wish there was more budget applied to having him make more of them. For example, all of the different sidechain option in MSD would really benefit from an in-depth video, helping people see how those options affect what the plug-in does. Maybe it's just my ignorance, but the description in the manual doesn't really make this topic concrete in the way that a video with audio examples would.

The same is no doubt true of many of the other plug-ins as well. I'm not afraid to dig into to a plug-in to learn how it works. But sometimes it feels like the Melda plug-ins assume a level of user knowledge coming in that may not be there for many of us. If a bit more effort was made to build a bridge to these users, I bet more of them would come to appreciate these plug-ins.

Turbo Delay seems so cool. But it's a little overwhelming knowing where to start, the pre-sets don't give you much direction, other than "just listen to them," which honestly is quite time consuming and likely enough to turn certain users off right away. Obviously, Melda has been in business for quite some time now, so it has a following, and I can respect having a tune you want to play and playing it, even if everybody doesn't relate to it. Just sometimes think that if a bit more effort was made to build bridges, even more people would grok these plug-ins, Melda could sell more of them, and it wouldn't have to compromise the complexity. The complexity isn't inherently the issue, IMHO. The issue is how you help people understand how to navigate the complexity.

[Frankie.T]

I know this is an old thread but let me just say that if there were more videos like Chandler's, helping average users understand the possibilities of these plug-in, I suspect more people would be using them and buying them. I know the UI puts some people off, but as you use more of the plug-ins, you definitely start to appreciate its consistency from plug-in to plug-in. But as an average user, the thing that feels most missing is more plain-language, concrete explanations of what you can do with the plug-ins. I also wish the stock pre-set names were more helpful in giving the user some sense of what they do.

I've owned SpectralDynamics for a few years now. It's taken me a long time to really understand how it works. And I probably still don't fully understand it. I didn't find Chandler's videos about MSD until a year or so after buying it (my bad I guess). To the extent that Chandler gets paid to make his videos, I wish there was more budget applied to having him make more of them. For example, all of the different sidechain option in MSD would really benefit from an in-depth video, helping people see how those options affect what the plug-in does. Maybe it's just my ignorance, but the description in the manual doesn't really make this topic concrete in the way that a video with audio examples would.

The same is no doubt true of many of the other plug-ins as well. I'm not afraid to dig into to a plug-in to learn how it works. But sometimes it feels like the Melda plug-ins assume a level of user knowledge coming in that may not be there for many of us. If a bit more effort was made to build a bridge to these users, I bet more of them would come to appreciate these plug-ins.

Turbo Delay seems so cool. But it's a little overwhelming knowing where to start, the pre-sets don't give you much direction, other than "just listen to them," which honestly is quite time consuming and likely enough to turn certain users off right away. Obviously, Melda has been in business for quite some time now, so it has a following, and I can respect having a tune you want to play and playing it, even if everybody doesn't relate to it. Just sometimes think that if a bit more effort was made to build bridges, even more people would grok these plug-ins, Melda could sell more of them, and it wouldn't have to compromise the complexity. The complexity isn't inherently the issue, IMHO. The issue is how you help people understand how to navigate the complexity.

I made some videos too about Melda plugins you can find in my channel, with the purpose to highlight my favs and explaining them

[Nspace]

I agree very much with your angle here @Kingsinger.

Thinking aloud, it would be advisable to get together a dedicated diffusion strategy following the line you propose. Something more complex than just have the great Chandler carry all the weight in this side, sometimes helped by user videos like yours mentioned Frankie T and also some Discogs Melda user groups naturally sprouting every once and then.

Lets take in account that at the more massive (plugin) markets, just like at many other areas, influencers seem to have a great impact. They do charge or work with some affiliation compensations in various schemes.

At Melda's case though, this broad way could work very well in its advantage, since once a reputed reviewer has gone through a Melda plugin learning curve (which at 2024 it is less steep and much more streamlined, to a degree that it could more aptly now be called familiarity gap instead)... Having gone through that, it could very much peak his/her interest to then cover a wider sample of MeldaProduction plugins or to incorporate those into their comparisons, output, etc. Aim that - if realized- would multiply within their audiences, so follower strategies of various kinds could be devised/prototyped in advance/when the moment comes.

In this vein, gathering the contacts and creating following strategies for those reviewers (and even users!) that have in the past published their Melda experiences in various media could become of relevance too. Because of the same familiarity gap reason mentioned above...

[Starship Krupa]

@kingsinger, many of us have a similar experience.

I (affectionately) feel that using MeldaProduction plug-ins (and I have all of them) sometimes feels as if I had found an artifact of obvious alien origin. Enough of the controls correlate to devices I'm familiar with that I can get great results, but then there are many more controls, under panels, whose function is a mystery.

No problem, the device does at least as much as the fanciest Earth counterpart, but I can't shake the nagging feeling that if I were only clued in to what it all does I could do SO much more with it.

The hype on the website talks about how unique and powerful these tools are, but I feel like I'm not making use of as much of that "power" as I could.

To be fair, for some of the newer products that have come out, they've listened and included more information, but it's still not there for some of the earlier things. Some of the MFreeFX bundle items could do with more documentation, but I understand that it wouldn't be as much of a priority.

One of the things that could best help people get full use out of these tools, especially the more esoteric ones, are application notes. Similar to semiconductor manufacturers' datasheets that always come with sample circuits and suggestions how to make use of the devices. Many software vendors include this in their documentation. Not all do.

I get that it's not Vojtech's job to teach me what to do with a compressor, but for the unusual functions, the plug-ins advertised as totally unique, it would be nice to know what source material it's intended for, what situations, etc. Preset names along the lines of "vocal smoothing" or "drum bus punch" or even "space monster" are more helpful than randomly generated ones like "thoughtful avocado" or whatever.

I've advocated for a repository of some kind for user-written tutorials. Melda have the most engaged user base I've seen in the plug-in field. This forum is proof we just love to talk about them and help others.

Wrote a tutorial myself, for MVocoder. I couldn't find in its documentation how to set it up, which track to put it on, carrier or modulator. Once I sorted it and got it working well (which included some tricks I happened upon, like using MCompressor and MAutoPitch on the modulator), I wrote it and put it here on the forum, where it has long since scrolled away. Yes, people can use the search function, but that requires knowing about the forum and then finding the search bar, etc. What if there were a link from the MeldaProduction site to a place to read/download tutorials? I'd write more, just to help the community.

Chandler's stuff is great, no doubt the guy is a genius with this stuff, but it comes from a single viewpoint focusing on the production styles that he's familiar with and it's in video form. Not everyone is good with video tutorials. I'm much better with written documentation and tutorials.

[zedeloc]

Maybe we can get a user run Wiki going for Melda stuff, much like Fractal Audio's Axe Fx wiki?