KVR Audio

polyslax · Post by **polyslax** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 10:18 am

John Vulich wrote:
polyslax wrote:Massive didn't really grab me, fine synth and all but I much prefer FM8. Absynth 4, while not an all-rounder, is NI's best synth imo.
Don't forget Reaktor!

Why not? I actually sold my R5... great tool box, but doesn't suit my working style.

jivamukti · Post by **jivamukti** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 10:25 am

Aural Chaos wrote:I love Massive myself, but really, how much weight are you going to give to a review from a dealer's site??

+1

HunterKiller · Post by **HunterKiller** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 10:41 am

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 10:49 am

I'm a Komplete 4 owner. As far as I'm concerned, Native Instruments have really shot themselves in the foot... even if Massive is a nice synth, there is no way in hell I'm going to buy it individually when it will most likely get bundled into the Komplete 5 upgrade.

Aural Chaos · Post by **Aural Chaos** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 3:23 pm

I don't know why people can't stop bitching about the CPU use. I've been using the demo since it came out, with a 1.7G P4. Maybe it's cause I'm used to having to bounce and freeze already, but I like the sounds enough that I dont care how much CPU it takes. And in medium quality, which still sounds great, I can easily use 3 or 4 voices in realtime and along with other lighter synths, with no problem.

sounddesigner · Post by **sounddesigner** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 3:59 pm

Aural Chaos wrote:I love Massive myself, but really, how much weight are you going to give to a review from a dealer's site??

Or, for something with such a generous demo, ANY review other than one's own...

Actually i don't put a heck of alot of trust into any review usually, even if its from a magazine or well known engineer. In this case i just agreed with much of what the writer wrote, after weighing it with what i already knew about Massive. And i agee with you the demo is too generous for anyone to make a decision solely on a review. Demoing is always best. 'BUT' also keep in mind that i did also ask for yours and everyone elses here review aswell, out of interest on what many think about it. It seems alot of people here don't care for Massive, i still greatly appreciate the mostly constructive reviews tho, i know all musicians won't have the same taste. But all in all i agree with you!

xmuzik · Post by **xmuzik** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 1:30 am

I own all of Native Instruments software & I have to say Massive is their best overall product. Now that's a personal choice most definitely, & I can see why other people would prefer NI's other products over Massive, but like I said Massive is my favorite.

Topiness · Post by **Topiness** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 1:53 am

Aural Chaos wrote:I don't know why people can't stop bitching about the CPU use. I've been using the demo since it came out, with a 1.7G P4. Maybe it's cause I'm used to having to bounce and freeze already, but I like the sounds enough that I dont care how much CPU it takes. And in medium quality, which still sounds great, I can easily use 3 or 4 voices in realtime and along with other lighter synths, with no problem.

so you can't easily play a 9th chord? potentially a limitation, wouldn't you say?

Of course with a synth like massive, you can do a lot of interesting things with one note. but there are lots of fun things that you can do with any synth that may need dozens of voices and a number of instances. and of course it's always nice to have a workflow where you DON'T have to constantly freeze.

It's just worth pointing out that unless you have a recent machine, there's things you can't do with Massive that you might expect to be able to if you're used to less hungry beasts.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 2:38 am

Just tried the Massive demo.........fairly unimpressed and I'm a Big N.I. fan (Pro 53 FM7/8 Absynth 3). Some nice sounds but ehhhhh. I'm afraid we've hit market saturation. It's so hard to come up with something really new and innovative. The thing that really susprises me is how Un-MASSIVE it sounds. I was expecting HUGE analog sounds but really didn't find anything. However I didn't try every preset. It would be fun to tweak and sound quality is high at the aforementioned cost of CPU demand. Download the demo, the light restrictions make it a joy to demo (no sound bursts, no dropouts,etc).

EDIT: OK after creating my own patch from scratch Massive is indeed capable of MASSIVE sounds but *whew* the cpu sweats bullets.

kl3in · Post by **kl3in** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 2:51 am

The overall kvraudio feedback on Massive has been mediocre for various reasons. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but for me, it's the #1 VSTi out there. You say it sounds "Un-Massive". Buy yourself a Waldorf Pulse for a rusty coin and ride the genuine wave of sonic obesity. The level of grit and bite Massive offers is truly priceless. I haven't been this excited about a VSTi since impOSCar, but impOscar - despite it's wicked filters and feeling of solidity and I-just-fucken-work - doesn't come close to the muscular flex and bite of Massive. Hack and slaughter all you will, my friends, but I'll be leaning *heavily* on Massive for ad and media projects with exposure in the tens of millions throughout the U.S. and Europe. (Cocksucker comment inevitably going to make me seem like a shithead. (Father, forgive him, for he does not know what he is are doing.)) I fucken' love it.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:02 am

kl3in wrote:The overall kvraudio feedback on Massive has been mediocre for various reasons. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but for me, it's the #1 VSTi out there. You say it sounds "Un-Massive". Buy yourself a Waldorf Pulse for a rusty coin and ride the genuine wave of sonic obesity. The level of grit and bite Massive offers is truly priceless. I haven't been this excited about a VSTi since impOSCar, but impOscar - despite it's wicked filters and feeling of solidity and I-just-fucken-work - doesn't come close to the muscular flex and bite of Massive. Hack and slaughter all you will, my friends, but I'll be leaning *heavily* on Massive for ad and media projects with exposure in the tens of millions throughout the U.S. and Europe. (Cocksucker comment inevitably going to make me seem like a shithead. (Father, forgive him, for he does not know what he is are doing.)) I fucken' love it.

Well that does it then. Tens of Millions can't be wrong.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:04 am

Did you read my edit? One problem is that the demo presets don't do any justice to Massive. Still nothing to get me excited.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:15 am

kl3in wrote: (Cocksucker comment inevitably going to make me seem like a shithead.

No just makes you sound silly.

kl3in · Post by **kl3in** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 12:07 pm

Teksonik wrote:
kl3in wrote: (Cocksucker comment inevitably going to make me seem like a shithead.
No just makes you sound silly.

But I am. Silly. Or was. Yesterday's drunken post, which I take great pride in and would not rephrase if I had the opportunity to, was more intended as general purpose feedback on what seems to be lukewarm response to Massive, in more camps than one.

Massive is extremely useful for that Crystal Method kind of sound, and TCM is one of the most licensed band in the U.S.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 12:42 pm

Ok fair enough. I never said Massive was a BAD synth it's just that I have so many other synths that it's hard to impress me anymore. I haven't heard a sound-yet-out of Massive that I couldn't do with one or more of my other synths alone or in combination. I'm really suprised and disappointed because as I said before I'm a Big Fan of N.I. instruments. Massive certainly has the N.I. quality but it just left me.....Luke Warm. I think once some of the big name sound designers get a hold of Massive then we'll see what she can really do. After only a few minutes even I was able to get the Phat as Phuk sound out of her but the Cpu demand was off the scale.

Latest Native Instruments Massive review