There are semi-modular synths — heck, Moog alone has three just in one line. There are Eurorack modulars in pricey hardware racks that require a screwdriver and modeled in software so you just need a laptop. I mean, basically, those of us who love synths are all really spoiled. And like any spoiled child, little wonder there are bunches of those people whining and crying and rolling around on the floor like a toddler who ate too much candy.
Well… if you read message forums, which I try not to. Deep routing lets you path when you want to. Basically, the latest MASSIVE gives you this: it makes an argument for a semi-modular design by packing the oscillators with features, and then giving you ways of playing and modulating and inter-connecting all that depth easily. It walks that balance between complexity under the hood and legibility inside a coherent interface.
So while other people might easily dismiss adding another semi-modular plug-in when you could just patch, there is a fundamentally different method to constructing sounds based on this architecture:. All about those oscillators. Get weird without even patching. The graphical face-lift changes the entire plug-in to white, and everything has moved around to make it an easier instrument to use and program. Like Absynth 4 , the inclusion of the Sound Browser sees the end of the old standard front panel.
As with FM7 , the Easy page collects certain important controls that influence what is happening 'under the hood', in a similar way to the new Master Envelope controls on Absynth 4.
Kore users will find most of these controls on the two standard FM8 Easy Access pages. FM8 allows you to drop four sounds in the X-Y controller and morph between them. Four complete FM8 presets can be stored in each corner of the X-Y panel and morphed between by dragging a marker around. It's important to note that this is not loading four patches and crossfading between them, it's actually moving every parameter between the positions they occupy in each patch.
Reaktor users will be familiar with how fantastic and unpredictable this can be with just a two-way morph function. There are different ways of utilising the Morph function. One is to load four random patches, then experiment with morphing until you get an entirely new patch to play with.
Alternatively, you can create new sounds that evolve using modulators and envelopes to move the morph position. The X-Y control can also be used as a controller for changing just a few parameters during a performance.
For example, you could save different versions of the same patch with the filter and resonance at low and high settings in different corners. One of the nicest ideas is the random factor that can be added to the morph position. By dragging what look like two scroll bars along the x and y axes, you can introduce randomness to the morph position.
This is shown as scattered dots spreading out from the central position marker. Within a few minutes of playing with the morph features I created a couple of sounds that were more interesting than anything I ever got out of FM7.
Another key enhancement compared to FM7 is a comprehensive effects section. FM7 had only a delay effect, while FM8 has a dedicated effects 'rack' with 12 modules that can be added and used simultaneously. Effects configurations can be stored and recalled, and there's a generous list of preset racks. The other new module gained by FM8 is a powerful and comprehensive arpeggiator, with a step pattern editor and template library.
FM8 makes it easier to get your hands dirty and program your own sounds. The Expert pages are all laid out in a more comprehensible fashion, and there's a useful Ops page that displays the FM Matrix along with the key parameters from every operator.
It's still a steep learning curve, however, and the morph controller is a much more fun way of generating new sounds. Anyway, the Browser makes a huge number of sounds instantly accessible. FM7 sounds loaded into FM8 sound better and clearer than they did before.
A new High Resolution setting also gives the sound quality a noticeable boost, by using higher internal sample rates at various stages. By this point you'll see that Massive earns its name in terms of the scope of its sound generation, routing, and modulation abilities, but what about the sound itself? What we know is that NI decided to prioritise audio quality over CPU efficiency, and run everything at high sample rates.
Like MP3s compared to CDs, virtual instruments are usually a compromise, with any corner that can be cut being cut. So how much difference does Massive 's uncompromising approach make? I won't keep you hanging, Massive sounds good. Really good. Just flicking through the presets to the stand-out sounds the preset library varies a lot in quality reveals a clarity and depth you just aren't used to hearing from a soft synth.
There's a shiny, smooth, dynamic quality to the sound, even the grungy bass sounds, and the oscillators are smooth over a wider pitch range. I did a number of listening tests with Massive alongside FM8 and Absynth 4.
To my ears, both these synths sound fantastic. It's as though the colour and focus of Massive is turned up a notch compared to what you're accustomed to. I also experimented with Massive 's quality settings.
Eco mode seems to reduce the CPU load by about 30 to 50 percent. In Eco mode it sounded comparable to Absynth ie. However, switch to Ultra mode, and the sound separates out and becomes spacious, with a kind of 'lacquered' quality. This sound quality, of course, comes at a price: high processing demands. The published system requirements are a 1. I tested Massive on a G5 Dual 2.
On the G5, I usually use Ableton Live with the buffer at samples, but Massive stuttered and refused to play properly. It was perfectly smooth at Live 's default sample buffer, however.
In both Live and stand-alone modes most patches reported about 20 to 30 percent CPU usage during normal playing. This was for presets using one to six voices, which is actually enough for most patches as the sounds are so, well, massive. Pads and decaying sounds that use more voices eat further into CPU resources. By default, Massive is limited to 16 voices, and using all at once generally had the processor of my G5 pushing 70 percent.
This is pretty high even compared to heavy Reaktor synths. Very roughly speaking, it's about twice as CPU intensive as Absynth 4 , or FM8 in high quality mode, and a bit heavier than Arturia's analogue emulations, like the Minimoog V, voice-for-voice. From what I've seen, the trend is away from multitrack MIDI recording and towards recording and manipulating audio, and also towards simple and less restrictive freeze functions in modern hosts.
Massive is a soft synth that is going after the big boys of the modern hardware synth world, such as the Access Virus and Nord Lead families.
Massive 's aspiration is to be seen in the same light as these synths: a first port of call for solid basses, searing leads, glittering pads and textures, and 'signature sounds', all of which it does very well.
However, though capable of it, it is not trying to be an analogue modelling synth in the way these synths are. It has some of the flavour of the Virus, but its kinship is more with the modern-sounding hybrid synths from Reaktor , such as the brilliant Photone.
Massive has its own character: descriptions that come to mind are solid, deep, shifting, sometimes glossy, sometimes dirty and chaotic.
For me, what makes it 'massive' is that it feels as though you have a huge amount of internal headroom to play with. You can keep winding up the intensity, resonance, ring and phase modulation and the sound just keeps getting richer and denser, instead of breaking up into grunge. Combine the sonic results with a clever and deceptively simple user interface and the hugely customisable envelopes and other modulators, and you get a synth that sets the new benchmark for virtual instruments.
The new heavyweight in NI's line-up is a distinctive and finely crafted synth in all respects: concept, audio engine and user interface. Massive harnesses the raw power of modern computers to achieve hardware-quality sound. The only downside is that a large interface and small text can make things seem weirdly spacious, especially when comparing to Serum. Or, if you own Komplete 12, you can Massive X included and you can download it right away. At the end of the day, while price is a factor, focus on how the synth works for you.
Even if you get the more expensive option, it will be worth it for you if it works in the long run. Both contenders have 2 main oscillators , even though the previous version of Massive had 3.
There are no imperfections in the waveforms and they are produced exactly how they are supposed to. In other words, Serum is not your synth to go-to for analogue emulation. Whereas Massive X prides itself on the richer, analogue-drift in the oscillators, giving it more of an analogue edge. When Serum was released, everyone went nuts over the endless possibilities that using custom wavetables gave you. Not only could you import endless third-party ones, or import audio to create them, but you could actually hand-draw them yourself.
There was nothing that was commercially viable on the plugin market that did this at the time, and nobody still quite does it like Steve Duda. Now, not to discount the selection of wavetables available with Massive X. They sound great and very usable, but the lack of custom wavetables is a killer.
Everyone thought it was a confirmed feature when Native Instruments announced its release, but people were left disappointed. Both synths have quite similar warping abilities, Massive having the added benefit of a dedicated FM section with 2 modulation oscillators. Not only that but even though Massive X has fewer warp modes, you can customise them a lot more with different controls and settings, basically giving you the same possibilities plus more as the Serum warp modes.
Plus with a dedicated FM section, you can warp and modulate at the same time, something Serum is yet to allow. With Serum, you get a large high-resolution display in both a 2D and 3D mode, allowing you to see everything you need to know about your wavetables. This can help you quickly skip wavetables that have too much harmonic content, understand why things sound the way they do, and it just looks damn cool, making it fun to use.
The speed of the glide can be adjusted here, and its mode can be switched from Equal to Rate. Equal means it will get from one note to the next at an equal rate irrespective of the keyboard range between the two notes. Rate means that if the notes are closer together, the glide will happen quickly.
If the notes are further apart, more time will be taken. The phase for each oscillator can be adjusted by dragging the phase sliders to the left or right. I am used to seeing the waveform on the screen to adjust the phase, but just as in the oscillator section, no waveform is displayed for reference. On the far right is an internal envelope that can be used in addition to other sources of modulation for simple assignments with its easy to use attack and decay sliders.
You can assign modulation with a simple drag-and-drop. Some have one slot you can use, and others have up to three available. One handy feature you can use is this: hold the shift key while clicking on a series of destination slots to assign more than one target at a time.
You may notice that one of the modulation slots has SC as a label beneath it. This is an optional sidechain setting you can use to affect it in a different way. Once you click on it, it is activated and can be used as a multiplier for the other two slots.
It will then change the range of those other two slots. The next two tabs in this section are assigned to keytracking for the oscillator and filter. The oscillator keytracking can be switched off for designing non-tuned percussive sounds. It also has standard linear or user controlled settings for each of the oscillators. The filter keytracking works in a similar way, but instead of working with the pitch, they affect the filter cutoff. There are two user definable responses, and you can set these for either or both of the two filters.
They can also be disabled, just like with the oscillator keytracking. The trigger settings will change the way the sources for modulation act. They can be set to restart the mod source with each note, or you can set it to use one of the two legato modes legato and legato trill.
The unison settings include spread controls for pitch cutoff, wavetable position and pan position. Each of those three unison settings can be switched on or off, and they can all be enabled at once if needed for a particular type of sound. The Routing section has some useful features built-in.
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