Should I buy Reaktor 6 or stay with Pure Data?

jamcultur
jamcultur Member Posts: 1 Newcomer
in Reaktor

I've been using Pure Data for about a year and a half and I like it, but it is so low-level that I often feel like I'm reinventing the wheel. My impression is that Reaktor 6 has more functionality built into it and that it might be faster to develop synths in Reaktor 6 than Pure Data, and that the synths will look better in Reaktor 6. What do you think? Is there anything that Pure Data can do that Reaktor 6 can't do? Is anyone using Reaktor 6 with Pure Data?

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  • Sunborn
    Sunborn NKS User Library Mod Posts: 3,302 mod
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/39033/should-i-buy-reaktor-6-or-stay-with-pure-data

    To say it simple:

    Comparing Reaktor 6 with Pure Data is like comparing Lord of the Rings Trilogy with a 70's Disney cartoon, where Reaktor is the L.O.T.R. of course… 😊

  • Jean louis P
    Jean louis P Member Posts: 8 Member

    i would say :

    Reaktor :

    more premade tools

    better graphic interface, more practical

    you have an oscilloscope and a spectrum analyzer that you can have on the same interface than the synth

    more flexibility on the data routing

    Some things easy with Reaktor are hard to make with pure data. There is a function for reproduction of something made on Reaktor, i am still searching ….

    you don't have a ton of libraries that you can't access directly, even if some of them are cool, interesting.

    Pure Data :

    it looks that for some specific works works it is better, but not for a classic synth with a cool and practical graphic interface under windows, i would say.

  • PoorFellow
    PoorFellow Moderator Posts: 5,480 mod
    edited November 2024 Answer ✓

    What Sunborn says above !

    To understand Reaktor better then try watching these videos (including partner videos at page bottom)(and check other content by page tabs) , and consult the manuals (some Reaktor 6 documentation is only in some of the version 5 manuals)

    Otherwise then I personally find the Voltage Modular quite a lot more easy to understand and approachable and it doesn't require you to "reinvent the wheel" (unless that you want to). But even if what I understand of Reaktor myself is rather limited yet then I can still tell you that while Reaktor is a lot harder to approach than e.g. V.M. then the reward is also equally great so one should maybe just try another approach to Reaktor with a less steep leaning curve. There are so many Reaktor tutorials that can learn you a lot and it will be a lot easier for you if you try to follow other peoples examples to learn rather than expect that you can do it all yourself right away. Also read this handout from Sunborn to me here and the handout from colB to me here (colB is one of the persons in the forum with most Reaktor knowledge)(don't know if there are others attending anymore)

    Important ! When following older tutorials then they may use Tutorial Ensembles that you then can not find. To be able to find/use those then go to the Reaktor Factory Library disk directory and unzip the content of the "Legacy Library.zip"

    REAKTORPART 1 - Garnish Music Production School

    REAKTORPART 2 - Garnish Music Production School

    REAKTORPART 3 - Garnish Music Production School

    ReaktorPrimary – 1. Building a Synth: Absolute Basics

    ReaktorPrimary – 2. Building a Synth: Adding More Elements

    Reaktor101: Getting Started

    Reaktor102: Developing Our Synth

    AGuide To Building Synths in Native Instruments Reaktor: Part 1

    AGuide To Building Synths in Native Instruments Reaktor: Part 2

    AGuide To Building Synths in Native Instruments Reaktor: Part 3

    AGuide To Building Synths in Native Instruments Reaktor: Part 4

    AGuide To Building Synths in Native Instruments Reaktor: Part 5

    Reaktor Tutorials, ADSR Music Production Tutorials

    You can also get more existing blocks like from ToyBox Audio and Unfiltered Audio

  • Mutis
    Mutis Member Posts: 492 Pro

    Get maxmsp.

  • gentleclockdivider
    gentleclockdivider Member Posts: 243 Helper
    edited January 8
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/193268#Comment_193268

    To say it simple : I don't think you have any idea what the current state of pure data is and what it's capable of

    It 's reincarnated as plugdata , it has features which the reaktor community has been aking for years and never have been implemented .
    -Full vectorized gui

    -Export code as vst ( I don't really care about that )

    -etcc

    There is so much misinformation about pure data , you can create amazing sounding stuff with it , especially for fm stuff .

    Sure it doesn't have the greatest build in filters , but there are new modules coming on a regular basis ( some of which are circuit modelled ) , there is ported code from mutable instruments Braids etc , chow dsp etc..

    While it doesn't have a low level language like core , you can still use do z-1 feedback , use expressions~ on per sample basis etc ..jus a few lines of c-like code in an expression object or you code externals for pure data ( max msp )

    This is a shaping function ported from Robin schmidt funcshaper vst , I've used it my reaktor ensemble Clonetonic .

    This is in core

    1.jpg

    and this the plugdata equivalent , just one line of code in an expr~ object

    2.jpg

    For pure midi sequencing it runs circles around reaktor ,same goes for controlling hardware synths via sysex

    Reaktor is great for pure audio and dsp development and ofcourse the way it handles polyphony , but look at what happened over the past years , the community has literally dried up and development has stopped (which is a shame )

    To o.p . , use both like I do ( and join the plugdata discord server , the community is awesome )
    Reaktor is fantastic for building Synths and effects with the highest possible quality BUT you will have to learn the core language and be familiar with dsp (same goes for max -msp , pure data )
    If you want to do everything in a standalone evironment without anything else,control every bit of hardware that you own , then max-msp /pure data would be my first choice.

    Simply because it has an easy to understand data flow language (bang , messages , $0 arguments etc..), reaktor has no such thing .

    Dsp wise Reaktor core is as low level as you can get , just like max-msp gen`~ and it's the reason why it is still being used today ( Vadim Zavalishin trully is a genius )

    To anyone who doubts the power of puredata I recommend looking up some videos by Acreil ( he 's a genius and a great musician ) and Ewan Bristow who uses Plugdata for some plugs

    Acreil
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4t5B6nPQGg&list=RDEMiQE43ivs2Pn0Gr_tsHg5zQ&index=1

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txoOeLvLI9k

  • gentleclockdivider
    gentleclockdivider Member Posts: 243 Helper

    The gui environment in plugdata is miles ahead of reaktor .

    There is nothing gui wise that plugdata can not do compared to reaktor

  • gentleclockdivider
    gentleclockdivider Member Posts: 243 Helper
    edited January 8

    Sure , pure data is a disney cartoon ….

    https://youtu.be/d4t5B6nPQGg?list=RDEMiQE43ivs2Pn0Gr_tsHg5zQ

  • iNate
    iNate Member Posts: 269 Pro

    Unfortunately, REAKTOR 6 is a dead end at this point.

    Maintenance mode and practically out of development, with a user library full of legacy hobby projects with awful User Interfaces and a community that is drying up.

    If I were doing this, I think I would get Live Suite and develop for Max4Live. Ableton has the user base and reach. You can treat Live much the same as you treat REAKTOR - as a platform. There is more activity there than in the REAKTOR community (it isn't even close, really).

  • gentleclockdivider
    gentleclockdivider Member Posts: 243 Helper

    Not everyone runs ableton , I for one use renoise ..so that rules out using max-mps as a plugin >

    Plugdata is the obvious substitute for max-4-live

  • eight nine
    eight nine Member Posts: 2 Newcomer

    Reactor looks more interesting than puredata and plugdata at the moment. But considering the vector of NI development, I think I will migrate from Reactor to plugdata.

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