Oh my God, the buggy world of Massive

Hi,

There are 5 very serious bugs in Massive (as a VST plugin in Cubase). Please inform me if you experienced any of them, how do you handle them, etc...
Thank you,
Laccer

THE BUGS:

1. Sometimes when I try to play the Massive plugin, it will go mute (in the moment I hit the keyboard (only a short click-like sound is heard and then silence))

2. Try the following: add two Massive instances,
Massive 1: choose the sound: Donor
Massive 2: choose the sound: Orphelia
Now play Massive 2 (a sustained chord) and change the sound of Massive 1, select Draht Bass and listen to the Orphelia sound, it will change dramatically. Also if you try another sounds you will have a similar effect. I noticed this while playing back a composition, I changed the sound of Massive 1 (bass track) and I noticed (shocked) that the pad is changing its sound on Massive 2.

3. There are some factory sounds (e.g. Beavis, Distress) which went useless (when I hit the keboard there is a silence for some seconds, than a click-like sound and sometimes CPU overdrive). This is "interesting" because I thought that the factory presets are read only and so they cannot be modified in any way. As I figured out I can "repair" these presets by setting voicing from monorotate to monophon. (But I have to do this each time manually when I want to use the sounds.) I note that this was after I was creating some new sounds. Is it possible to restore all factory presets?

4. Massive and FM8 cannot be used simultaneously as VST plugins, the system will freeze if I load a Massive instance if there is an FM8 already in the VST rack (and vica versa). Previously I had this problem with Battery 3 too, but this was resolved in the latest update, but not for FM8 and Massive (I use currently FM8 only in demo mode because I am not shure that I would buy the product if I cannot use it with Massive).

5. If I am changing the sound of a Massive VST plugin, there are sounds that simply do not play (the plugin receives the MIDI event but no sound is generated). When I try another sound, the new sound works, then if I go back to the previous sound it also works sometimes and sometimes not. It is unpredictable (and very annoying).

Based on these observations (and the ones posted by many other disappointed Massive users), it is obvious that there was no serious testing of the Massive VST plugin (neither before the original release and nor before its latest update).

hardware: Athlon XP 2400+, 1GB RAM, M-Audio Audiophile 2496
software: Windows XP SP2, Cubase SE 3, all NI software is the latest update

 

I have had problem 2 (settings changing in multiple instances) and NI have emailed me and told me they are aware of the problem and are working on a fix. I've never had the instrument mute like you mention in 1. I don't have FM8, so I haven't been able to try it with Massive, but I have the FM8 demo. Will try that and check back here...

Number 3 is weird. SOunds to me like your CPU can't handle that particular patch or something. Have you tried setting quality to "ECO"?

 

OK, just tested and I can run FM8 (multiple instances) with multiple instances of Massive, no problem. This is the FM8 demo, mind you, but I don't see that it should be any different to the full version...

 

I've seen problem 2 (and has been said, NI's aware of it), but not any of the others.

ew

 

Hi Blacker,
thanks for your response,
what is your system (op.sys, sequencer)?

Hi Ewistrand,
thanks, that's good news (bug #2), however 3 problems remain. I know that bug #4 (simultaneous use of Massive and FM8) is not only my problem (I read it from multiple users here). And bug #3 is really annoying because you have the feeling that any patch you use in your music can get lost on some day in the future (not to mention the patches created by the user). Not to mention the recently added bug #5.

 

I'm using Logic 5.5.1 on Windows XP SP2, Pentium 4 3.4GHz, 1GB RAM, MOTU 2408 MKII audio interface.

 

As to your bug #5, some of the patches in plugin mode need to be having the host's clock running; they're driven by the stepper. If your transport isn't running, you aren't going to get any sound.

ew

 

Hi,
Thanks for the response again,
As I wrote, there are pathes that sometimes do sound and sometimes do not sound, it is an unpredictable thing. That cannot be explained with the transport running or not.

 

i ever get problem 1 when i use the sync mode of a lfo which modulates the amp of an osc

 

I Have the bugs described under 1, 2, 3 and 5 with Version 1.01. So Massive ist unusuable for me. And I have also the answer from NI that they are working on an update.
I have deinstalled the Version 1.01, so that I can use Massive. But in Version 1.0 the Sounds are changing when I use 2 or more instances of Massive and switching the presets in one Instance (this bug is describe also by other users in this forum).

I am very angry. It is for years the buggyest software I have used.
It is an unbounded cheek to release this peace of **** (sorry).

And it is quaint that in all tests of Massive (Keys, Keyboards in Germany) nobody is talking about this bugs. I can not believe, that the testers do not recognize these mega bugs.

Native Instruments, please don't release beta versions as final versions.

Take a look at Ableton.

Greetz


-----------------------------------------
Live 6 on Athlon XP3000

 

Thanks for your response, Ableton is probably fine (I like the concept) but I need a really good sounding and reliable software synthesizer. Any ideas?

But I did not even report the most unbelieveable thing. After the Cubase plugin crash (bug #4) after rebooting the system it says that my hardware has changed and I have to reactivate Massive... Imagine this!

 

check out:

- ablpro www.audiorealism.se (for maybe all kind of sounds)
- operator requires ableton live (fm synthese and subtractive)
- vanguard www.refx.de (virus style, sounds good but not so good as massive)
- absynth 4 (maybe it has the same bugs as massive??)
- korg lecagy collection

most the time I use operator, but it depends on what style you want to produce.

greetz

 

Thank you for your response. I will check out the sound samples I can find.

 

Maybe because most of us AREN'T seeing the bugs? The preset bug with multiple instances is known, as is stated

I'll make one comment here. I'm a Live user myself (and have been from 1.0), and I've seen my share of bugs in it- it's why I'm still using 4.1.4 as my Live version.

ew


-----------------------------------------
Live 6 on Athlon XP3000[/QUOTE]

 

it's not a bug it's a feature! i can make a video if you don't believe us.

 

I'm experiencing something very similar, but I've fleshed out the problem a bit more.

Patch changing works so long as the master clock is NOT running.

I can freely change and hear all patches, but once I hit "Play" in a sequencer, certain patches lock up, produce NO sound, and render the plugin useless.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time to test ALL patches, but I can give 2 examples of factory patches that cause the problem:
"Acid Bass" & "You Like Curry"

I've tested on a ROCK-solid PC system with Ableton Live 6.x, Tracktion 2.x, energyXT 1.x and energyXT2 beta and I get the same problem across all of the hosts.

Is anyone else experiencing this?
After a few calls to tech support, it appears to be a head-scratcher.

cheers
Len

 

I'm not seeing that with those patches in Live (4.14 here), Sonar, EXT, the XT2 beta or KORE used as a host; they're working fine here. Weird...

ew

 

I just tried it again with Kore as the host.
Same deal.
"Acid Bass" patch runs fine until the Master Clock is started.

I even went back and tried all hosts with a different soundcard.
Still no luck.

This one is a STINKER!

 

Hmm... and I'm still not seeing it.

Is external sync on in Massive's global menu?

ew

 

Indeed, external sync is ON.
If I turn it off, there is no problem.