NI Massive

[Logic Circuit]

Good Evening Everyone,

Has anyone tried Native Instruments new soft synth called Massive?

The reason I ask is that it keeps getting compared to the Virus or hailed as a software equivalent to it.

I like NI stuff and think it sounds quite good but it is supposed to be quite resource intensive.

I'm not thinking of buying it I am just curious.

Thank you in advance,

Dave.

[Juho L]

Up...

I was browsing through NI site and noticed this software. By the mother of all thats holy! INSANE VST VA! It seems to been available for quite a time now, but I hadn't noticed it until today.

I can gladly say that the sounds I can create with it pleases me even more than the ones I created with Virus. Although it kills CPU rather fast, but it's worth it. Must have!

[Logic Circuit]

Hi,

I'm glad you have had a go at using it.

I have Komplete 4 and can upgrade to Komplete 5, which includes Massive, for a very reasonable £138.

I think I will treat myself for Christmas.

Cheers,

Dave.

[Juho L]

I had never actually liked any NI's VA plugins until now. This is really great and the layout reminds me of Virus, although with much more flexibility, so the programming is really easy. Probably the first soft synth that's truely enjoyable to program.

I really have to buy this software and get a new PC to run this thing properly.

[Logic Circuit]

Hi,

As soon as I had finished my post last night I went to the NI site and upgraded to Komplete 5, which should arrive in a few days.

I can't wait to try Massive now.


Dave.

[tangotanya]

just did the read up....looks interesting. Ive been after a soft synth and Im liking the look of this.

[Logic Circuit]

Hi,

I have been playing with Massive for about a week and it is fantastic.

Very flexible, easy to use and sounds great. Quite hard on your CPU though.

Slightly OT but last night my friend brought around his Thingamagoop, which you may want to Google!

It is a small analogue synth that has a light sensitive cell that modulates the sound. It is really good fun! We were shining a Maglite on it and routing it through the Virus C filters, Reaktor 5 FX, Spectral Delay etc. Fantastic!!

Dave.

[EoN]

Quite hard on your CPU though.

Agreed - VERY Heavy on the CPU! I find that some sounds just holding a single note will redline the CPU under a second. Let alone more than one note.

[Hollowcell]

You know, I took a listen to the MP3s they have online for it, and I wasn't overly impressed. If any of you have a demo of it that I can install and really check out, I would very much appreciate it.

[Logic Circuit]

If any of you have a demo of it that I can install and really check out, I would very much appreciate it.

There used to be a demo on the NI website, I'll have a look later.

Remember it's only £200 so it is good for the money but it's nowhere near as good as a Virus C etc.

Dave.

[Doc Jones]

Hey Dave, just saw this post. Was thinking about adding Massive to my bag of goodies. Couple of questions -

1. now that you have had it for a couple of months, what are your overall thoughts of the sound compared to the virus? Are they different enough to purchase it in addition to the TI?

2. a couple of people have said that massive is a cpu hog, do you have any average statistics on what it is doing to your setup (and what your daws specs are)? I currently have a core 2 duo with cpus oc'd to 3.2ghz each and barely push them to 40% on larger projects.

thanks.

[Logic Circuit]

Hi,

I do like it a lot but it doesn't compare to a Virus, I have a Virus C so I can't compare to the wonderful TI.

I am contemplating getting a Sherman Filterbank 2 to run the output of soft synths, like Massive, through it.

The thing that I like is the endless modulation possibilities. Apply an envelope to a parameter you can then 'side-chain' modulate the envelope with an LFO etc etc.

It is a CPU hog but there are settings to change this at the expense of quality, which would be sound dependant. I have just started with the bare minimum and pressed a key and it jumped to 7% CPU usage.

My DAW is at least 3 years old so it is nowhere near cutting edge. It is an AMD Athlon XP 3200+, Abit NF-7S v2 motherboard, 1.5GB of Corsair memory and 2 x 160GB SATA drives.

For me it is the oscillators on the Virus that are fantastic. Oscillator sync, proper PWM just instantly more powerful but Massive is very cheap in comparison to a Virus and is really enjoyable to use because of the modulation choices and how visual and easy it is to use.

If I get a chance I will do some simple sound file comparisons and put them somewhere for download. For example, a simple waveform on both synths with a filter sweep to compare and contrast.

Dave.

[Doc Jones]

If I get a chance I will do some simple sound file comparisons and put them somewhere for download. For example, a simple waveform on both synths with a filter sweep to compare and contrast.

sounds good. thanks.

[Khazul]

Tried the demo and just couldnt get into it - I think probably because it a soft synth rather than a hardware box with knobs on it and no latency and no computer reuqired.

[Doc Jones]

man, Khazul, I just took a look at the pics on your site.
that is one hell of a studio !!

[Hollowcell]

man, Khazul, I just took a look at the pics on your site.
that is one hell of a studio !!

I'll say! I didn't know you ended up with a Charisma 8 as well!

[Logic Circuit]

man, Khazul, I just took a look at the pics on your site.
that is one hell of a studio !!

You're not kidding!

It looks really comfortable to work in, everything is within easy reach.

Dave.