ReFx Nexus 3 (N3) Finally here!

[steve.lindqvist]

gotcha, thanks for the clarification.

For consideration, with the ongoing Black Friday deals you can get Avenger for the price of two Nexus expansions. So just look at it as two new expansion and you're good to go.

[msvs]

we get it, you're simply scared of other sound designers,

well, this nails it, but differently than you might think. I am talking about all the crap which comes out then. In Avenger we had seen 3rd party soundsets for sale, which were THAT bad, they would have never made it through our quality check. Not even 1 preset of them. Even our reseller PB one time bundled VPS Avenger with some really bad soundpacks from 3rd party, until we told them to stop this, since users mailed us, how bad Avenger "expansions" sound, they really thought this were our official XPs. We just send them a real official XP for free and they were surprised. You see how sounds can affect how you feel a synth. Sp especially in Nexus since its a preset machine, we want to have control over the quality. Only certified designers get an editor version. And each released XP goes over my desk for the final quality check.

[Caine123]

Layering? Add?
As far as not allowing users to add layers, this just seems like the dev's are fearful of what other sound designers can do with the content. I can only understand this logic as they want to sell expansions, but what they don't understand is the more you open the layering system up, the more they would sell.
It's cool. I'm not going to cry about it, but I think that's where these dev;s are wrong.
Spectrasonics and Native Instruments, are just two other pretty large companies that grew from opening up their content to end users, and they've done great with it. reFX seems closed minded when it comes to allowing users to become more creative with Nexus.

It's the equivalent of Korg or Yamaha or Roland disabling multitimbral support on a workstation, but it's cool reFX, we get it, you're simply scared of other sound designers, and for that, you'll never truly wear the crown. I love N3 by the way,but YES it could be better, if the fear factor was gone.

I do think there is a need for them to differentiate between Nexus and Avenger. I've been quite surprised in this thread about the number of people who save their own Nexus presets. I do tweak them of coruse, get under the hood, but I've never seen it as a sound design tool, and don't think Nexus will ever go down that road. All I see Nexus as is a preset machine made by genre specialists. Tweak to taste, that's it. You will sound great, but likely not original.

Avenger is I think much more suited to many people here. If reFX opened up adding layers and access to oscillators, it would be a bottomless pit that leads to... Avenger. So they won't do it, and I don't blame them. I think its far more reasonable to expect some improvements in the areas where we do have access - the tags, the mixer etc.

Adding layers etc has nothing to do with synthesis.... these are samples for users which cannot be altered in their synthesis
Avenger can. So it is different
Why not giving the option to layer so you save instances. Cause i could make 4 instances and have it like 4 layers i could have in nexus.

The update is nice but nothing ground breaking. Also there is no option to solo layers? Do i have to click 8 layers off to have the one on i want?

It is a rompler and no synth. But layers dont gibe you any synth advantages. They just male workflow easier before adding more instances. If not prove me im wrong and i accept and learn otherwise it is just bs.

[steve.lindqvist]

we get it, you're simply scared of other sound designers,

well, this nails it, but differently than you might think. I am talking about all the crap which comes out then. In Avenger we had seen 3rd party soundsets for sale, which were THAT bad, they would have never made it through our quality check. Not even 1 preset of them. Even our reseller PB one time bundled VPS Avenger with some really bad soundpacks from 3rd party, until we told them to stop this, since users mailed us, how bad Avenger "expansions" sound, they really thought this were our official XPs. We just send them a real official XP for free and they were surprised. You see how sounds can affect how you feel a synth. Sp especially in Nexus since its a preset machine, we want to have control over the quality. Only certified designers get an editor version. And each released XP goes over my desk for the final quality check.

This hits the nail on the head! I had recently the same experience when buying two 3rd party expansions for Rapid (so no Mirko Ruta was involved). Just hilarious, absolutely terrible! Not usable at all.
Not that there are other capable sound designers out there, of course there are. But it's just another level that Vengeance provides for its customer. As a Nexus user, I also pay for exactly for that consequent quality assurance.
And to be honest, there are self-proclaimed sound designers in here shooting at Nexus, but the sound banks they offer are very often just amateurish or just useless. At least I have no clue who the hell could ever use such bad sounding stuff. Yeah, tastes are different, but I'm looking at it from a commercial perspective (film, games, broadcast, music releases).
My personal opinion about these expansion packs, especially for Nexus, is: there are absolutely no fillers in it. Nearly every single sound is usable in an instant. Thanks for that.
On the other hand I also wished to exchange single layers in-between different presets, just that no tweaking the OSCs under the hood, just swapping layers.

[trusampler]

I get the q.c. part, but that's simple,don't buy anything from anyone other then trusted sound designers. Nexus is a closed system for samples,I get that and respect that part, but I would like to build Multi's,it's just easier to do it in one rompler.
I'm a workstation guy,who's owned Motif's,Kronos etc.. The idea, that we can't create a multi, using the sounds we paid for is pretty ridiculous.
Common sense will eventually enlighten those buying shitty soundpacks. The quality reFX uses with their own content is great, but to hinder your customers, is not a good idea imo.

I'm currently on the hunt for a Vst host that I can use N3 with to build Multi's, which kind of sucks. I've tried Akai's VIP, they dropped the ball with it, no more Kore 2 support, thanks NI.. Komplete Kontrol would be the obvious, since I own the MK2 ,but again no Multi-timbral support yet..
Personally, I'd rather just stack sounds in N3,which is what I hoped for.
Parawave's Rapid is a great example of layering, and if it's not Mirko content, I don't even look at it.

[msvs]

On the other hand I also wished to exchange single layers in-between different presets, just that (no tweaking the OSCs under the hood, just swapping layers.

yes this would be nice. But this is absolutely impossible due to the architecture. A layer can have several oscs routet into it. You cant copy one layer into another preset, since these oscs would not be there, or the osc slots are occupied by other samples and other routings. + tons of other problems. A complete mess. It cant work at all.

[SciFiArtMan]

I've felt for years if Nexus' next upgrade (meaning this one) didn't include much more control over sound design they're opening the door to this soon becoming a dead system - an over-priced rompler with many very similar sounding expansions, IMO. So the real fear should be that users will start leaving the closed system, for greener soundscapes elsewhere.

Nexus2 is good and beautiful sounding, but all the other synths of the world are rapidly developing and growing past it, and honestly leaving it in the dust in almost every way. Being a stagnant rompler can only go so far, in my eyes. And Nexus2 has that well-covered. Just a new grill and paint job, with prettier dials and improved mileage isn't enough, for many. We want more sonic horsepower!

Even people who weren't sound designer types began exploring the tiny bit of sound manipulation in Nexus2, and now want more - layering, stacking, adding, importing, a more robust synth section, a sense of an expanding universe, not just a shined-up version of a dead-end closed system.

I'm beyond disappointed. Of course I knew Nexus 3 would never be a proper synth or sound design system, but it needs SOME growth beyond cosmetics. The new arp seems interesting, and that's good. But a little more in the sound manipulation area is sorely needed, IMO. Instead we get mostly the same ol' thing, sound wise - and Nexus2 already had 85% of that covered!

Maybe in the next upgrade - if it makes it that far...

[trusampler]

Is it bad now that I want every developer to build their own browsers now to match Nexus 3, all other browsers seem counter intuitive to me now..

[msvs]

yes the browser is great

@SciFi Art man: you speak for yourself, and maybe for some others. But the vast majority of Nexus' customers are happy with its simplicity and quick and fast workflow. They use it for exactl this reasons. They dont want to do sound design at all. Some quick edits and done. They want to make music, fast and inspiring. And they want the best presets you can get for their genre. Nexus always was designed to be exactly that. Not more not less. It never wanted to be a synth. So you cant be disappointed, that Nexus stays to its roots.

[SciFiArtMan]

But adding, for example a more robust synth section, wouldn't stop anyone from using Nexus as you describe, it just adds more depth for those who care to explore. And I say MOST users eventually try to go a little deeper. Adding a little more options doesn't make the user's experience more complicated, unless they choose to take that approach, IMO. But then, the hands-off rompler, just play and go, is well-covered by N2. But it all comes down to what each user expected/hoped for in the upgrade. It is what it is. But I do see a downward path for the future of Nexus, with so little growth in such upgrades.

I guess my point is, this is still Nexus2 with a few changes that should have been addressed in the past (resizeable UI & improved browser) as simple free updates, as the need became known. When I see what other devs provide in their major upgrades Nexus looks beyond pale in my eyes. But this is an indication of Nexus' path for the future - bits and pieces, and not much more, for a hefty sum. And that, unfortunately, spells a dead-end system, to me.

[m-ac]

Is it bad now that I want every developer to build their own browsers now to match Nexus 3, all other browsers seem counter intuitive to me now..

Ok, the fact there's an extra column is an improvement, but calm down, have you used omnisphere, arturia, massive, u-he, or alchemy's browser? The list of synths with way better browsers goes on and on!

I like the extra column, but its the bare minimum (you cant order or change what category type it shows), so I just felt we needed a bit of perspective here

[maximoog]

What about a trial version? Is there anything coming?

I asked ReFx and the said they are working on it.

Thank you. Thats sounds nice.

[m-ac]

Double post

[trusampler]

Is it bad now that I want every developer to build their own browsers now to match Nexus 3, all other browsers seem counter intuitive to me now..

Ok, the fact there's an extra column is an improvement, but calm down, have you used omnisphere, arturia, massive, u-he, or alchemy's browser? The list of synths with way better browsers goes on and on!

I like the extra column, but its the bare minimum (you cant order or change what category type it shows), so I just felt we needed a bit of perspective here

I've used all of those, and own them all, they don't even come close to N3 in terms of being able to create new folders on the fly, drag n drop presets for specific project etc.. I'm not big on things like a dev creating generic genre specific titles etc.., I'd rather create my own, and this is the absolute first Browser with speed that does it.( With the exception of u-he ). So no it's not just a third row.

[Reefius]

I have a lot of non-working presets from the 'TV Movie Game' expansion, they all play the default SAW Init preset.
Uninstalling and re-installing the expansion does not fix it.