MASSIVE X browser is so bad the synth isn't getting used

Why would this be something that takes months to solve... Why would anyone, with the vast number of instruments available, fumble and fuss with such a terrible preset browser. I cant organize anything, i cant tag anything.... Even the way the factory content is divided up as if I wouldnt ever want to add something to say, "plucked string" of my own... Why o why can you not dedicate the time and effort to solving this rather then putting out some other device.... Make massive X the incredible successor to massive that it should be. Its almost there... I appreciate the hard work NI but please sort this. Make it function. Let me make folders or banks or whatever you want to call it. Just dont leave the USER as some nightmare slow scrolling window with no categories.

 

Yes i do agree, the browser is awful and seems to have been an afterthought, which is ironic because MassiveX is growing on me, i like it very much. Way better than Massive which i never used much anyway. I didn't think that browser was great either. I think browsers are a weak point at NI, if you look across the spectrum of products. Kontakt, Reaktor, and a few others are quite basic in the Browser section.

An excellent browser in my opinion is Hive 2. Very easy to search, multi tags etc..

 

My User folder is a mess because all my presets and third party presets are all lumped together. It needs to support subfolders at least 2 levels deep- one for bank and one for category eg bass, pad etc. A tagging system would be handy as well, but support for subfolders is the minimum NI could do for basic functionality.

 

The synth could be incredible..... Its success shouldn't be marred by the misinformed folks who were saying it aliases early after its launch or by this complete oversight of an important part of an instrument.

Unbelievably bad. There would be a world of love coming NI's way for this product if they solve this.... I just saw this in some other forum section supposedly dedicated to massive x /////

Chris @ NIMay 13, 2020 13:52
Hello Benjamin & Justin,

Apologies for the delayed response. Currently, the Massive X User folder is hard-coded to the User Documents folder on both Mac and Windows. User-definable folders have been requested by several other Massive X users. I am unable to say if this will be added by the Massive X team, but the request has been noted.

If this is the case... MASSIVE waste of money.

Would like it to be known that I'm grateful for NI and the continued innovation and inspiration they provide but this thing, that i imagine cannot be difficult to fix, maybe timely but not hard, is beyond annoying and makes me wonder how I'm going to trust spending money going forward.

 

Yeah, the browser isn't great, but it's better than one long list of presets. I never understand how a complaint about a feature on a piece of software turns into "Don't put this on the USER!" or "WASTE OF MONEY!" because A, the user isn't being forced to buy the software, and B, a bad preset browser doesn't invalidate everything else. Communicate to a dev what you want changed, yeah, but don't act like you're entitled to an update for everything you dislike.

 

Yep. Plus you can always use MX within KK for better preset browsing.

 

Yes agreed the browser is a pain in the derriere, but it isnt an obstacle nor makes me not want to use it.

 

NI should just slap the Kore browser into it

 

My biggest annoyance at the moment is that the browser resets to the first item in the list once you've selected a patch. This seems to be a problem throughout NI software eg if I load a tune in Traktor from my track collection it resets the focus which wastes valuable time trying to find the next one.

 

Hm. While the browser for massiveX is minimal, lacks tagging, has hard coded structures, etc, I find those limitations nearly unnoticeable in my regular use of the instrument. I used Massive many years ago and took a nearly 10 year break from music production, and now Ive come back to find MassiveX is instantly one of my favorite software instruments of all time. I find it can fulfill almost any role I can imagine it in.

Yeah -- I do notice how the browser sometimes resets back to "all types", forcing you to go back to the filter you were using. That *is* annoying, and I would love to see NI improve that. I couldnt fathom not using the synth until they do, lol, but I hear you.

 

I fully concur that the preset manager is making this instrument basically unusable. KK is not an option. Would someone from NI comment on the status of this please?

 

Not an option?

 

The patch browser needs to be fully functional on the instrument. Using another tool to work around an alpha quality patch browser is not what I need to be doing. I would not have purchased it if I would have known that it would be in this state for so long.

 

Yeah it is just one long list of presets for those in the User folder - including third party ones - no organisation whatsoever, not even the possibility of using tags. And while it doesn't stop people using it, any serious user like myself will be producing patches which means they get lost in an increasingly long list of presets, spread over several 'pages' that reset to the first one whenever you load one. I have hundreds now. It's not a deal breaker but it is a pain in the ass and NI have no excuse for not addressing this long ago given their history of producing some of the best browsers in their plugins, this is a frustrating and, on the face of it, very odd omission. But I think there is an explanation. Thing is, the 'difficulty to code' excuse is obviously not true because clearly it is already possible for their in-house sound design teams to create both subfolders within the browser and add tags, which suggests there is a version being used for this that has those capabilities already enabled, but only if you are signed up to some contract with NI. This really makes it look like NI want to control who creates patches for this plugin as much as possible and encourage sound designers to come to them to develop them under contract rather than encourage a thriving third party market, which is a pity because ultimately I think that does not facilitate creativity, nor does it make me think such an approach is in the long term sustainable. They are shooting themselves in the foot over this.

 

This is definitely a negative point with MX and finding suitable patches of my own is a cumbersome effort as i've made quite a lot. I've deleted all other people's presets too because that makes it even worse.

What's even more annoying is that when NI eventually sort this out, they'll try and sell it as a new feature, instead of apologising for not getting it right from the outset.

Another tedious thing is that whenever I fire up my DAW and load MX, MX has to reload its database, which takes a good minute or two. Does anyone know if there's a way of getting MX to remember everything or is this also something we're having to wait for? There's always the fear of it not being fixed in the next update.

 

Not sure why your MX is reloading each time you fire up your DAW. On cubase 10.5 this does not happen to me. What is the install path for your MX? Has that path changed recently, or is it on a removable drive? Windows or mac?

Mind you, the patch browser for MX isnt very good, but the apocalyptic comments about making the whole thing unusable, are apocalyptic. That's silly. The annoying manner in which the browser resets its position isnt the only annoyance -- have you tried setting up a custom MIDI remote to navigate forward/backward in MX on cubase? If you do this, you will notice it works about 75% of the time, and the rest of the time it also resets the list back to the first patch. Quite annoying.

So annoying that I have fallen back to <gasp> manually clicking next/previous in the interface. Sometimes I even navigate a few pages with the mouse, then click into a sound. I know -- that sounds horrible, and as if the entire synth... is almost useless... because of those navigation challenges.

 

I have a different workflow than you that requires organization with folders and proper ordering.

 

Ableton Live 9.7.7, Windows 10. Install path never changes. Everything on the internal drive.

It's not the end of the world but it is annoying.

 

No, I understand. I occasionally have to use the notepad inside cubase to notate instruments/tracks so that I remember something that I liked. It isnt the most convenient thing at all. I would prefer the browser be better.

 

I got a response on the question from NI: