Does Massive sound dated?

[digitalboytn]

I'm often late to the party and so it was with Massive...

What a fantastic synth it is...

I don't know anything about all th genres that it was supposed to have influenced,but I do know that I use it a lot in the work I do and it's proved itself to be a very versatile workhorse...

Sounds great in the mix too

[ramseysounds]

If I use 3 x Hive 2, do I cube it or add them together, giving me 8 or 6 Hive 2? Might sound Massive then?

what do you need a massive hive for?
how many bees you got?

15

[vurt]

If I use 3 x Hive 2, do I cube it or add them together, giving me 8 or 6 Hive 2? Might sound Massive then?

what do you need a massive hive for?
how many bees you got?

15

thats friggin loads man!!! why so many?????
you looking to take over the world with an army of bees?

[CrystalWizard]

Yes, very much so. It was released all the way back in 2007! Strange though that it is significantly more flexible than my old 12 string Alvarez guitar and my Rickenbacker bass guitar which are both from the dinosaur ages of mid 1970s and yet no one has ever asked me if either of those sound dated.
Corporate marketing pushes novelty. "Oh that's so old, BUY* something new."
* mostly i hear this phrase spoken as "get something new."
Everyone experiences time differently, and obviously one's age is going to be a big factor in what is "dated."
My personal music tastes range from mid 1600s to the now.

[fisherKing]

My personal music tastes range from mid 1600s to the now.

you've made some valid points, and it's true; even some of the synths from the 1600s still sound good today

[ramseysounds]

Except Hive 2

[ghettosynth]

Why do these threads always bring up non-digital instruments of the past? Digital instruments sound dated when they are dependent on older technology where significant improvement has been made.

[CrystalWizard]

Why do these threads always bring up non-digital instruments of the past? Digital instruments sound dated when they are dependent on older technology where significant improvement has been made.

I bring it up because it's a valid analogy in my view (but i do realize that nuance is becoming extinct) . Why would a digital instrument (which by it's nature be incredibly flexible sound dated? If you mean old digital HW with 8,12,14 bit converters and older code then i would say yes, sounds dated as in i can somewhat place in time when it was produced. However if we are talking "dated" meaning it sounds so xxxx more because of the fashion of the times, then i stand by my comments. So, once again, old digi HW yes, i understand. Software played at 24bit and 44.1 or above, no, not dated unless you mean fashion. We were discussing Massive which isn't an old digi HW box.
So No, Massive doesn't sound dated. imo

[CrystalWizard]

My personal music tastes range from mid 1600s to the now.

you've made some valid points, and it's true; even some of the synths from the 1600s still sound good today

Not quite , but the "dated" ones from early 1900s interest me.

[ghettosynth]

Why do these threads always bring up non-digital instruments of the past? Digital instruments sound dated when they are dependent on older technology where significant improvement has been made.

I bring it up because it's a valid analogy in my view (but i do realize that nuance is becoming extinct) . Why would a digital instrument (which by it's nature be incredibly flexible sound dated? If you mean old digital HW with 8,12,14 bit converters and older code then i would say yes, sounds dated as in i can somewhat place in time when it was produced. However if we are talking "dated" meaning it sounds so xxxx more because of the fashion of the times, then i stand by my comments. So, once again, old digi HW yes, i understand. Software played at 24bit and 44.1 or above, no, not dated unless you mean fashion. So No, Massive doesn't sound dated. imo of course~

Many synths from even only a few years ago don't have modern filters and sound bad when you push the filters, especially with fast modulation. I think that we can divide the synths into pre-Diva and post-Diva (After Diva? AD), even though ACE has ZDF filters and core was in Reaktor 5.0.

So, there are plenty of synths from well into the late to mid 2000s that, to me, sound dated because of that. As long as you keep the filters in the tame zone it's ok, and they may have other redeeming qualities, e.g., Tassman comes to mind here.

So "does X sound dated?" well, often yes if you push the filter, and no if you don't. So again, this is the main reason that digital synths sound dated, they are using technology of the time that has not been updated to newer technology. Note, even new synths can sound dated, dated to when their technology was new. Create any synth with the standard SE or Reaktor modules only and it will sound dated. Often described around here as "that plasticy sound."

[_leras]

Some types of sounds from it have been overused, but it's still a really great synth. It can do some types of sound better than almost anything else. It's also a lot more versatile than most people think.

For me, it also has this thing where it's been used so much that it's sound is more of a 'standard' synth sound now than when it came out (a la MS20 type standard).

The GUI is still the best synth GUI I've used. Dual filters with great routing. The Step sequencer/modulator is super easy to use. There are a million presets out there is that's your thing.

It's a shame NI never released a proper version 2.0, more wavetables, new filters types and new fx. I think they missed the boat. I like Massive X sounds, but I think the Massive GUI is still better. They complement each other well.

So, dated - no - though some sounds from it have been over used.

[BONES]

No, sounds great. It's about wokflow and gui, not about sounds.

In that case, I think it scores very poorly on both fronts. It is one of the very few synths I've used in the last 20 years that I actually had to read the manual to work out.

As for sound, it can sound very dated but it doesn't have to. It will depend on what you are trying to do We stopped using it several years ago, as we discovered newer instruments we liked more, but it's still very capable if that's all you have to work with.

[CrystalWizard]

OK, so you are using the term in the technical sense where i say sure all instruments, definitely synthesizers including SW will have a sound correlated with a time period. When the term is used to mean "it's old and no longer artistically relevant" that i disagree.
Yeah ZDF filters opened up more sonic territory in SW, and i'm a huge fan myself but i would never say that for example Absynth sounds dated in the way i would say a Fairlight is dated. (which is also different to how i would classify the sound of a piano, but i know...that's not digital so i won't bring it up). All a matter of degree, all relevant tools for creative expression.

[_leras]

In that case, I think it scores very poorly on both fronts. It is one of the very few synths I've used in the last 20 years that I actually had to read the manual to work out.

I know you don't like complex synths... but you can do a lot without needing much of the 'complex stuff'

and tbh, It's not even that complicated for most things. Once you see how to route an envelope or performer to things you're most of the way there.

There is a lot of slightly hidden stuff that you can use - but it's not needed for everything.

[T-CM11]

Kawai K1, 80s low budget rompler (hardly any sound shaping features):
https://soundcloud.com/tt_cc/k1evolving829
Does this sound dated? (Massive is A LOT more flexible)