It walks that balance between complexity under the hood and legibility inside a coherent interface. Bigger on the inside than it is on the outsideīasically, the latest MASSIVE gives you this: it makes an argument for a semi-modular design by packing the oscillators with features, and then giving you ways of playing and modulating and inter-connecting all that depth easily. But unlike a full-blown modular, that doesn’t stop you from creating sounds (and even modularity) straight away – and your sound design remains within a consistent interface and architecture. So is there a place for MASSIVE X? You’ll hear plenty of talk from Native Instruments and reviewers alike, but let’s boil this story down.ĭeep routing lets you path when you want to. Well… if you read message forums, which I try not to. And like any spoiled child, little wonder there are bunches of those people whining and crying and rolling around on the floor like a toddler who ate too much candy. I mean, basically, those of us who love synths are all really spoiled. There are Eurorack modulars in pricey hardware racks that require a screwdriver and modeled in software so you just need a laptop. There are semi-modular synths – heck, Moog alone has three just in one line. There are plenty of other wavetable synths, plenty of semi-modular plug-ins. Even inside NI, you’ve got REAKTOR and BLOCKS. In 2019, MASSIVE X enters a world that’s not only been shaped by the first Massive, but is also far more comfortable with digital sounds and modularity, the staples of the original.

(Presumably they might have asked someone important not only as a nerd, otherwise.) But what that tells you is, initially they thought they were making something for nerds, not what would become EDM mainstages. I was actually the very first press member scheduled to see Massive, back in the day. But the original team behind Massive are back with a sequel to one of the most influential software synths ever made. But MASSIVE X returns to the original vision: make it easier to get deep with wavetables and modularity and go wild with sound.

The last time Native Instruments released a synth called Massive, they accidentally helped define genres (EDM, dubstep).

Fm8 vs massive