Will the Massive X synth (not the new player) get an interface update too?

cniv8 · 2025-07-30T02:28:09+00:00

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Just saw Massive X Player. Looks stunning. Completely agree with how it's described on website

"Massive X Player’s streamlined interface is built for fun and flow. Navigate, tweak, and modulate with ease – everything feels intuitive, responsive, and designed to keep your ideas moving."

Can we expect an interface update to the Synth as well?

(Frankly, imho the synth UI currently looks overcomplex and would benefit hugely if it gets a similar interface as that of X Player)

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Vollofi

Updated too 😉

zerocrossing

I wouldn't hold my breath. If it isn't a way to milk their synth engine to sell preset packs, they're generally not interested in further development. In October I'll be two years that they've been selling a controller with polyphonic aftertouch, and yet have not bothered to add it to their instruments.

Win10

What exactly would you change about the interface ?

"imho the synth UI currently looks overcomplex"

Why ? It's all layed out like a lot of other synths do it.

Kymeia

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/46888/will-the-massive-x-synth-not-the-new-player-get-an-interface-update-too

The full version gets the same update adding the Player interface as a new tab

el-bo

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/235763#Comment_235763

Well, it'll need a bit of reorganising just to fit the extra FX slots this beast deserves ;)

Tobias_NI

Would you want an extra page with a dedicated FX rack?

Kymeia

If there was I hope it would still be possible to have all modules and fx in the modular view so FX can be freely routed

Splicer

The UI is fine. It's clear and logically laid out. I don't know why some people find it problematic. It's one of my favourite synths to use because the workflow is so quick and intuitive.

cniv8

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/235800#Comment_235800

The main UI looks beautiful, but it's visually overwhelming. For those of us with ADHD, too many distractions can make it hard to focus. Hiding some of the options and complexities behind a layer would make it feel much more streamlined and approachable.

Kymeia

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/235845#Comment_235845

I find it pretty straightforward too but I get that not everyone does and to be honest I am very pleased that they went with the Player view idea than attempting to dumb down the main EDIT page in some way. This solution works for power users and casual players - and even helps widen accessibility of Massive X to preset only users as they can buy presets packs and use them even in just Player. It's a clever solution.

OhulahanBass

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/235800#Comment_235800

I think it would be cool to drop off each FX to the modular environment with a mix module. That way you could have dry signal blended with a wet send of delay > flange > verb and mix that chain’s out with dry to taste. That would make my already fav VST synth a bit more tasty!

Not sure if anything can be done to make such a complicated beast more intuitive (I think it is intuitive enough personally), but if you wizards figured that out it I’d be in to it. I think switch between simple and complex interfaces is a good compromise.

One interface tweak that would be rad is if modulation movement was more visible. Like if the bars around knobs moved with mod and if the wavetables scanned their modulations visually.

OhulahanBass

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/235852#Comment_235852

Isn’t that what the player view does? I feel like if they hid anymore parameters deep programmers would forget to look. It is already laden with menus and tabs. Not sure adding more menus and tabs would make it less clutter just cluttered in a diff way.

Perhaps making a light version that simplifies the wave table sections and drops some of the more esoteric features would appease those that get overwhelmed…

Win10

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/235852#Comment_235852

The tradeoff would be more tabs and more clicks required to perform the same actions. The Workflow would suffer.

The current UI is good. They should focus their resources on adding functionality instead of fixing what is not broken.

cniv8

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/235900#Comment_235900

Disagree. Tradeoff is between approachable & streamlined UI and more click. I'd much prefer a cleaner gui at the expense of a click.

Lionzinio

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/235763#Comment_235763

I think it's interesting to compare Massive X to synths like Pigments, Serum and Ana. All of them have a similar, very complex system that features multiple oscillators (of multiple types), multiple filters and a host of modulation elements. All of them treat the process of sound creation (oscillator - filter - effects - amp) slightly differently.

Of them, Massive X has by a mile the most disintuitive, un-user friendly interface. Even though, if you think about it, it has exactly the same layout as Pigments. It looks like it has been designed more with a specific, rather nasty design aesthetic in mind rather than being designed to be as user friendly and useful as possible.

Nothing they have done since its launch has been aimed at trying to simplify its interface to make it as easy and enjoyable to use as possible. As such it remains a poorly used plug in without even a standalone version.

Although the Play interface is a great development, it doesn't change this, it just provides users with a way to fumble their way through presets without having any idea of what they are changing in the hope they find a sound they like. It's great and fun because it's simple, but its simplicity means that you're not actually in charge of the synth, or gaining any understanding about how it works. The user has no idea of how to actually create the sound they hear in their head.

It does fit in with the NI paradigm of providing users with pre-calibrated preset packs for them to mess about with rather than creating instruments for people to play. So there's that.

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