TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Production Studio
-- V-Station or Massive?

V-Station or Massive?

Whats better?
I've always heard people talking about V-Station and I never got it working on computer till today.
It sounds ridiculous! Destroys Z3ta imo. Obviously will be my new favorite for a long time.

I'm curious about Massive though and if people think its better. I'm gonna give some of the demos a listen but for anyone who owns both which do you like better?
Thanks!

Massive can make a huger variety of sounds, V-Station doesn come close imo.

V-station is my fav softsynth. Massive is great too, but IMO a real CPU killer.......

i think most things sound better than z3ta. z3ta is more of a quantity (features) > quality thing.

anyways! yes, massive is much better than v-station. it's not as quick and easy to use though.

Massive is pretty easy to use IMO... I like its setup of more envelopes and being able to assign them clearly rather than just have one mod envelope like V station. V station is very simple and pleasant to work with though, its got its own character. I really like Z3ta's presets and massive number of oscillators, envelopes and LFOs though, so I guess all three have their advantages.
Check out Absynth too, thats another really nice synth. FM8's great too, but FM synthesis is bloody hard work...

Massive has a lot more modulation capabilities, a pretty ingenious modulation scheme, more filters and filter types, more oscillators, better envelope capabilities, etc. There's really no comparison in terms of features - Massive wins hands-down. The only feature that I can think of offhad that V-Station has over Massive is the inclusion of an arpeggiator.

In terms of performance, Massive is a CPU hog as already mentioned, whereas V-Station is pretty easy going on the processor.

In terms of sound, Massive sounds bigger and has more sonic capabilities due to its additional features and modulation capabilities, but V-Station sounds pretty damn good as well and has a pretty sweet sounding filter, IMO.

Wow, I guess that settles that.
As impressed as I am with V-Station I think theres no doubt I'll be taking the Massive plunge soon.

I can understand the CPU issue but since I upgraded my PC that won't really be that big an issue for me.

G/damn can't wait to try it.

i thought absynth was my favorite synth until i tried massive... building sounds is quick and easy, envolopes are easy to use... really makes it quite fun

but if ur gonna get more than 1 Native synth, might as well buy komplete synths.

massive.... hands down...

but... i like fm8 a touch more... and i just don't see the difficulty of use thing, the matrix makes perfect sense to me, and if it doesn't theres a window called "easy" for simple tweaks to presets.

i've had fm7 forever though, maybe thats why fm8 was so easy for me

absynth 4... eh... its nice for pads and textures, but for that "type" of sound, i actually prefer linplug crono x ... absynth's interface is annoying, imo

david

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Massive has a lot more modulation capabilities, a pretty ingenious modulation scheme, more filters and filter types, more oscillators, better envelope capabilities, etc. There's really no comparison in terms of features - Massive wins hands-down. The only feature that I can think of offhad that V-Station has over Massive is the inclusion of an arpeggiator. In terms of performance, Massive is a CPU hog as already mentioned, whereas V-Station is pretty easy going on the processor. In terms of sound, Massive sounds bigger and has more sonic capabilities due to its additional features and modulation capabilities, but V-Station sounds pretty damn good as well and has a pretty sweet sounding filter, IMO.

Actually, Massive has a great arpegiator, I think you need to use it more to work out how it works

CPU isn't so much of an issue with massive now. It was when it first came out, but a couple of months after they added an economy mode, so its not a problem. It got a reputation in those first few months though, which it still hasn't shaken off.

quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips Actually, Massive has a great arpegiator, I think you need to use it more to work out how it works

I assume that you're referring to the step generator or performer (or whatever NI calls it). I'm quite familiar with it, thanks, but that's not an arpeggiator, per se. True, it's more powerful than an arp and it can be programmed to achieve the same results, but V-Station has a true arp that works with the click of a button. I guess for some reason, I was under the unfounded assumption that the OP was fairly new to synthesis and wouldn't want to be bothered with trying to figure out how make it work like an arp or with knowing the distinction. But, yes, you raise a very valid point - Massive's step generator is another check in the 'plus' feature column.

quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips CPU isn't so much of an issue with massive now. It was when it first came out, but a couple of months after they added an economy mode, so its not a problem. It got a reputation in those first few months though, which it still hasn't shaken off.

You're probably right here as well. TBH, I can't remember the last time I ran more than 2 instances of Massive in a project, but I've never noticed a real CPU hit, with or without Economy mode selected (I'm on a Core2Duo). But, the fact that people continue to say that Massive is a CPU hog is due to either (1) people are still noticing a substantial CPU hit for whatever reason or (2) the reputation hasn't shaken off, as you mention.

Ah OK, glad you know about the step generator, its pretty great IMOI like it better than a normal arp.
Yeah Core2duo is great for massive, its got something to do with the instruction sets (which I don't undestand). I noticed a huge change when I moved from old school centrino to Core2duo.

I haven't had any problems with CPU usage in Massive. Now, admittedly, I have a Mac Pro Quad core with 2 dual core Xeon 5150 processors, so I have plenty of CPU cycles to spare, but my last track had 7 or 8 instances of Massive and it didn't seem to have a huge detrimental effect on my CPU usage. Logic Space Designer was more of a CPU hog than Massive.

Never used Massive, but there is a pretty significant price difference, right? I just picked up V-Station for about $80, but Massive is more than double that everywhere I can see. If not, may pick that up, too.

I have a core 2 duo 3.0ghz with 4gb ram (3.5 accessible... damn 32bit)

Massive uses more CPU than most other synths, which I think is where the argument comes from. I can never get good sounds out of it either, they sound really damp and the presets are pretty horrid IMO. But, I'm sure someone can get something decent out of it, and i'm sure that I could if i worked at it hard enough.

I say try both out, see what you like!

can't make good sounds with massive?

wow

presets crap?

wow

david

quote:

Originally posted by davidbuhau can't make good sounds with massive? wow presets crap? wow david

Yeah I couldn't understand that position either. I mean that's a totally personal opinion and all, but Massive sounds, well, Massive to my ears. One of my favorite softsynths at the moment.

to someone who isn't familiar with the interface, it can be daunting at first, the way the modulation works is effin amazing though...

the other product that i'm very impressed with by NI is reaktor.

mind you, i'm not gonna spend 15 hours building an ensamble, cuz i write music, i'm not a sound designer... but it's nice to be able to play with the signal path of other peoples' ensambles to fit your needs, and the ability to craft sounds in this particular program is virtually limitless... uber complicated tho

david

quote:

Originally posted by Eric J I have a Mac Pro Quad core with 2 dual core Xeon 5150 processors....

Dude, your making me drool over here

quote:

Originally posted by Ray_Chappell Never used Massive, but there is a pretty significant price difference, right? I just picked up V-Station for about $80, but Massive is more than double that everywhere I can see. If not, may pick that up, too.

Yeah I think Massie was actually $200... But I'd just buy Komplete to be honest, I think its most economical and you'll need all of those plugins at some stage.

I love NI Massive, seeing as it's both simple and highly advanced at the same time. It offers you loads of oscillators and filter-routings, but it's still highly usable as a "ordinary" subtractive synth.

I don't consider myself to be a very good sound designer, but making presets in NI Massive is a breeze, and it's flexible modulation-scheme is both powerful and easy to get used to. No pesky matrix!

Here's some sounds I've made with this wonderful synth with no external effects:



http://files.oneplace.no/massive/ambientsynth3.mp3

http://files.oneplace.no/massive/mymassive.mp3

http://files.oneplace.no/massive/trancepluck.mp3

quote:

http://files.oneplace.no/massive/trancepluck.mp3

nice one

i love massive... it's amazing... i have vstation, but comared to massive or fm8, i never use it

david

Right now... I'd rather buy a massive computer to accommodate a massive synth...

V-Station is one of my most used synths. It it was hardware, it would surely display some wear...

Massive looks good... maybe I'll trump it when I have time to make music again -- and the money to trash this current dinosaur of a box.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.