Pre-Purchase Decisions

[bsantoro]

Hello,

I am currently a DP45 user with a Yamaha Motif7 keyboard/workstation. The Motif is great for many conventional sounds (piano, electric pianos, etc.); but is lacking in quantity and quality the presets for electronic sounds, unless you program sounds yourself or buy some commercially available ones.

I am interested in electronic sounds and various forms of electronica along with tradtional jazz and classical musical forms (see my website for download samples below).

Would the MX4 be a good addition to my setup?

Are the presets good? A good variety? How many of them are there? What is it lacking?

Does the host sequencer automatically take a snapshot of the loaded MX4 set-up when used as a plug-in (DP4.5); and does it instantly recall the whole set-up when opening that DP4.5 sequence at a later time?

I wish there were more samples online like some other (unamed) software synthesizers. How about a DVD demo, MOTU, from your trade show demos?

Can we hear a few samples from current users?

bsantoro
http://homepage.mac.com/bob_santoro/my_music.html

[chrispick]

Not addressing your question directly, however: If you haven't already, check out Propellerhead's Reason.

As a ReWire client, it works in DP like the usual VI, so it's simple to integrate. And it ships with great subtractive, granular and sample-based synths -- as well as percussion loops and drum machine sounds that are well-suited for asundry dance, electronica or pop.

Costs a little more than MX4, but is more versatile

Highly recommend it. I think it's one of those "can't lose" purchases.

<small>[ February 16, 2005, 03:38 PM: Message edited by: chrispick ]</small>

[ElectroLuddite]

personally - I would not have spent the money on MX4 ---- I have reason and absynth and reaktor - though reaktor is useless in many cases---- too much cpusage on many ensembles when running DP....

[thracks]

I love MX4. It's very flexible, and will probably do what you want. Yes, every instance of MX4 will be saved with your DP project, as will any soft synth (Reason will not, it's a separate program). If all you are looking for is a good solid synth for use in DP, you can't go wrong with MX4. And the soon to be released version 2 adds a lot to the already awesome feature set. Sorry, I don't have any additional sound samples.

[bsantoro]

There are a few things I would like to know about MX4 before purchasing; I am sure many others also would like to know:

1. The range of sonic possibilities?

2. The ease of use?

3. iLok usage?

1. Would the presets satisfy someone to explore many different sounds, instruments and effects? Or is it limited to very raw sounding, early synthesizers? Is there a good collection of pads, spacy strings, rythym effects and leads to start from, as presets?

The short MP3 demos on MOTU's website only give a small taste of some of the sounds. I need a lot of good presets. How does MX4 compare to other softsynths on the market with the number of quality presets?

2. Is it easy to edit sounds..to start with a preset and rapidily change the quality and scope of the sound? I had purchased Unity Sessions (not loaded anymore) and I was dissapointed in the presets and the editing environment. I tried changing oscillators, filters and envelopes and could not come up with anything that changed enough to my liking. I have a basic understanding of analog synths and how they are programmed, in theory. Does MX4 offer techniques that are innovative for editing sounds? Enough to make it stand out over other softsynths?

3. Is the iLok a USB dongle? Once it it is registered online...can be used even if you are not connected to the internet, on the road? Does it costs extra to register and operate, over the cost of the MX4 package?

Sorry for all the questions. I am intrigued with MX4. The interface looks great. I want to learn more about its sonic possibilities and ease of editing.

bsantoro

[thracks]

Originally posted by Bob Santoro:
There are a few things I would like to know about MX4 before purchasing; I am sure many others also would like to know:

1. The range of sonic possibilities?

2. The ease of use?

3. iLok usage?

1. Would the presets satisfy someone to explore many different sounds, instruments and effects? Or is it limited to very raw sounding, early synthesizers? Is there a good collection of pads, spacy strings, rythym effects and leads to start from, as presets?

The short MP3 demos on MOTU's website only give a small taste of some of the sounds. I need a lot of good presets. How does MX4 compare to other softsynths on the market with the number of quality presets?

2. Is it easy to edit sounds..to start with a preset and rapidily change the quality and scope of the sound? I had purchased Unity Sessions (not loaded anymore) and I was dissapointed in the presets and the editing environment. I tried changing oscillators, filters and envelopes and could not come up with anything that changed enough to my liking. I have a basic understanding of analog synths and how they are programmed, in theory. Does MX4 offer techniques that are innovative for editing sounds? Enough to make it stand out over other softsynths?

3. Is the iLok a USB dongle? Once it it is registered online...can be used even if you are not connected to the internet, on the road? Does it costs extra to register and operate, over the cost of the MX4 package?

Sorry for all the questions. I am intrigued with MX4. The interface looks great. I want to learn more about its sonic possibilities and ease of editing.

bsantoro

I don't know exactly how many presets it comes with off hand, I'd have to look into it. I can say it's a lot. When I first installed MX4 it took me several hours to explore the presets, I don't think I got through them all. The sound is quite vast, not limited to old analog synth sounds. It has three oscillators, which can use standard analog waveforms or any of the multitude of wavetables included. It is a true synthesizer. It does synthetic sounds. It won't replace a sampler. It's not designed for that.

I find it very easy to use, once you get used to the interface. Like all synths there is a learning curve, but once you get passed that it gets very easy to use and navigate around all the many parameters.

The iLock is a USB dongle. To run MX4 it must be connected to your computer. You do not need to be connected to the internet to run MX4 with the iLock. It is included in the MX4 package and does not cost extra to register online.

[bsantoro]

Thank you all for your helpful information.

If you run across any more MP3 samples on the internet for the MX4; or would like to attach a few to this thread, it would be greatly appreciated.

bsantoro

[bsantoro]

Just one more question (for now):

Which mode works the best as a plug-in with DP 4.5?

- MAS

- RTAS

- Audio Units

Is there any advantages to using one over the other with DP?

bsantoro

[bsantoro]

I have taken the plunge and purchased MX4. At first I wasn't impressed with the sounds. I was getting all kinds of gurgling, distortion and pops.

I found out I had the buffer size in DP4.52 set to 1024. When I lowered it to 512, it got rid of most of the problems. Still getting a little distortion on a few voices.

I am impressed with the sonic quality, so far; I have just begun to audition the voices. I will try to post a MP3 when I get something thrown together.

I am looking forward to the MX4 update which adds more voices an effects.

[ElectroLuddite]

Bob,I havbe gotten a number of serious distortions and sounds on all the time and also plain crud on some of the patches.... it is very discouraging esp. when I really needed to use the particular sounds - I found at times after playing maybe 3-4 notes only - severe distortion occurred. you have a faster better machine than me so obviously it is not just my machine I have heard manay others have said problem too - I contcated tech multpile times and they had no answer and didn't seem to want to admit that that was an isue! so go figure. just my 2 1/2 cents worth.