Massive X: Status/Future?

If you use Komplete Kontrol (or Maschine 2 SW) to load MX presets, it is possible to sort it as you describe. Maybe that is the reason, why NI is not so much focused on MX browser. I have never used MX preset browse, there is no reason.....

So, I guess, NI focuses on tasks that have more benefit (in their opinion) to users. And that is Apple Silicon, in my opinion. As EvilDragon writes, porting MX to Apple Silicon is not a simple task because of AVX instructions used in MX.... Use of those instructions is the reason MX does not run on M1 using Rosetta as there is not a simple translation to Apple Silicon code. :-(

 

I´d like to not need a hardware expansion for my software. Not even if NI gifted it to me.

NI seems to be a rarity on that field. We live in the 2020s...

I don´t care about Apple issues. I´m not an Apple user. I care about synth issues. Seems NI backed the wrong horse with AVX, which also is something I don´t want to care abbout.

I don´t care about who does not need the preset browser. I need it. I´m not a guy browsing through presets all day long, but, come on, it makes sense to not omit that, and there are many synths who don´t see a reasonable preset browser as a (not yet defined) future update, but as matter of course. So do I, for practical work reasons.

Having values on knobs, faders etc. (parameter values display; what I have called "readout" in an earlier post) is something NI only brought with update 1.3, meaning about one year after relase. I mean... what? Now we are waiting for a reasonable browser. I don´t dare to guess when "MASSIVE X will grow, adapt, and evolve with regular updates" beyond those basics...

 

Had MX not used AVX, it would be roughly 50% more CPU demanding than it is now. AVX is a good thing.

 

It's not hardware and Komplete Kontrol is free. I would like the browser to be improved too - but in the meantime this is a workaround, although not ideal.

 

Any Mac guys that don't use presets wanna weigh in here?

Incorporating a full-featured patch browser and ensuring compatibility with the new Apple processors are both pressing issues. I kind of hope the latter gets the most attention since a major hardware platform being SOL strikes me as a much bigger deal than one secondary aspect of the synth being kinda half-baked (I'm neither a Mac user nor much of a preset guy, which makes me extra objective ) but as I understand it NI's working on both.

 

Komplete Kontrol is free SW by NI. It has decent browser with features you described you would like to have in MX. OK, it would be better to have better browser in MX, but this is quite well workable workaround.

You may have the desired browsing functionality right now. If using Komplete Kontrol SW.

And if you do not see that porting MX to Apple Silicon (not working at all) is way more important than improving browser (working so, so, but using KK brings very acceptable workaround), than there is not much more to discuss.

And I am on Win, not Mac, so porting MX to M1 brings me nothing... OR Well, it may bring me actually quite a lot. More customers, more users, more money for NI, more money for MX development. So, in the long run, it may be beneficial even for Win users if NI ports MX to Apple Silicon. Things and events are not separate, but densely interconected in various ways.....

 

Ah, I didn´t know about that. I´ll try it, and maybe that´s a workaround for the time being.

I have already spent my money for MX. I don´t want to depend on others´ business to get a full-baked synth (, and especially not if continued improvement was part of the initial marketing, and almost 2 years ago by now).


I find all this pretty annoying. It wasn´t my goal to start a longsome discussion, but I was keen on results, and on receiving a perspective from the manufacturer. Hope that NI manages all (technical) issues, for everyone´s benefit, rather sooner than later. Seems waiting for that is currently my only option (besides working with the synth as is, of course, for the brilliance of its sound and options, as I stated earlier).

I´m out, for the time being...

 

After going through all of the messages in this thread I just wanna say two things:

- I love massive x: the possibilities & sound it delivers to me are superior to other synths. I was happy with the VST more or less since day 1. (I can't speak to the preset browser problem as the only preset I ever use is called INIT.)

- I am happy to hear that porting Massive X to Apple Silicone is done with priority. I really miss using Massive X and I am checking NI Access like once a workday for an update.

 

Massive X is currently my favorite software synthesizer by far. I'm truly impressed with it every time I use it, and even whenever I use another synth. With any other software synth I use or try, after some time playing around, I realize it doesn't come near MX in ways of sound quality, and it's creative potential is a step ahead of any other flagship synth I know of.

Despite this, many people seem to miss how powerful and rich this synth is, for silly reason I can barely understand from the point of view of a musician and sound designer. It mostly seems to be small hurdles in the interface and ux that people are put off by. Which I'd say are easy to overcome as soon as you get acquainted with the actual synth and realize how powerful and rich it is. Nonetheless, NI should take these experiences serious, because it would be a pity if a synth as groundbreaking as MX loses it's full momentum because of an unpolished UX that can easily be improved and fixed in most areas with some extra resources. I therefore really think NI should put all the effort it can in making this synth work the way people expect a modern day synth to work. So more visual feedback, fully functional preset browser (although I mostly use KK, it's clear this is not the go to place for everyone), basic editing functions such as undo and copy/paste etc.

I think it's one of the most underrated synths at this moment, which can be fully attributed to it's hasty release (software development always takes more time than expected, and I believe a couple of months more "delay" would even have paid off, giving people immediately the minimum of what they would expect, instead of a great synth with a clearly unfinished gui - sorry to repeat this, but this was definitely the biggest flaw upon it's release).

It's painful to see people are so easily put off by limitations of a gui, but it's understandable because of what we have gotten used to with modern synthesizers. NI itself has had no small role in these developments. Look at at synths like Razor and TRK01 or even Rounds, which have a far more expressive gui than Massive X. So it should be no surprise people were expecting more from MX - especially when looking at the flagships synths of other companies.

Despite all this, it has become my go-to synth, and no matter how fanciful other synths display their waveforms and animate their automated filter sweeps, nothing can keep my attention for long when it doesn't come close to sound as detailed and rich as MX does.

 

You are right, that it would be better to release MX with more finished user interface and user guide.... But, the thing is, that many people already paid for it (all who bought Komplete bundle) and there had already been several months delay.
Hard decision, whether make the delay even longer (say half year) or release it as is.... Mainly, when you never know, if another delay will do, or no. SW development is tricky.... User interface development even more tricky....

 

Yeah, that was the original mistake of course. It simply should not have been included as a 'coming soon' release in Komplete 12.

In hindsight, maybe Super8 could, for example, have taken the place of Massive X in Komplete 12 to keep it worthwhile enough.

 

There is at least one more feature that is really necessary to add I think: a wavetable editor and browser.

Massive X has an extensive collection of wavetables, but the major problem in the UX design of Massive X in this regard is the opaque method of choosing which wavetable to use. There is no visual preview, and even when selected, you hardly see how the wavetable looks. In the end, it's all about how a wavetable sounds, but with so many options, more elaborate visual representation is crucial in order to memorize and choose from a large collection of possible wavetables.

A wavetable editor in a separate tab that will double as a wavetable browser will solve this problem. The ability to edit wavetables (existing ones, new ones and imported ones) will at the same time help the user understand wavetables better and get a more in depth understanding of the sounds certain waveshapes (and ideally even different waveshape manipulations) produce, making it easier in the long run to choose and make use of the extensive collection of wavetables (and the different ways to manipulate them) that Massive X has to offer.

 

But one cannot please people. Easily. :-( If it was not included in Komplete 12, and the release was on time, three, four months later... People would be angry, that it was not included in Komplete 12 and NI "ripped them off" and only wants their money.....

NI, did it with the best intention, IMHO, but things went its ways. As SW development often goes. Delays may happen in various ways. The key programmer has medical problems, his relatives have medical problems, his partner has left him, he fell in love, he just got lost in whatever,... Psychology, psychology, psychology.... There is many reasons, creativity may become locked and one cannot do anything about it. One sits at the screen and feels like vomitting. :-(((
I am the programmer and know those moments may come. And may take long, long months.
And certain people are hardly replacable. And if yes it takes time....

 

They should never have put themselves in a position where someone was irreplaceable.

I am a bit disappointed that even by the time we get a half decent browser, it'll be over 2 years and that shouldn't really be seen as an upgrade item.

MX has the promise of being a brilliant synth but it's been handled really poorly. NI should really apologise for this as it was the sole reason I bought the update. I'm not a big earner and in my list of financial priorities, software is not in the top ten. I could have put the money towards something much more practical.

Large companies such as those that have financed NI have a habit of seeing customers as cash cows, which may not be such a good thing for us users long term.

 

Everyone is replacable, but it may take time. And also it makes things much more expensive to make people replacable fast.

Yes, the owners want the revenues. One way of doing it may be to cut the expenditures.... It may include human resources.

As I explained it is possible to use preset browser of Komplete Kontrol SW instead of MX native browser....

 

It's great that there's a usable workaround for the browser, although a browser should have been there at its inception.

Somebody mentioned somewhere in these forums, that development has been scaled back. I just wonder what resources they'll use to put MX back in the game. 2 years with nary a hint of progress is a little disheartening.

 

NI is quite probably working on Apple Silicon port. An maybe also on preset browser. For the time being there is useable Komplete Kontrol browser instead.

 

I guess you must have missed this post then: https://www.native-instruments.com/...update-status-massive-x-current-1-3-1.359895/ (expand the spoiler to see the version history)

 

Not sure if 2 scroll bars, a few improvements and bug fixes in 1.3.1 are really anything that amazing. The previous 1.3 update is almost 2 years old.

This is slow progress. Snail stylee.

 

5 updates with dozens of improvements and additions hardly deserve to be called "nary a hint of progression".

I get it though. You're exaggerating to make your point look bigger. The usual.