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Hi guys

Can anyone tell me before I shell out the cash for Massive, is it vastly better than the Operator synth in Ableton, bare in mind I'm only a part time hobby producer! Have a listen to my latest effort if you like, may help answer the question!

Thanks!
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If it were me, I would purchase another synth or spend the money on plugins. Just seems like everyone uses Massive and it has a very distinctive sound. And for the tunes you're making (atleast from the one I heard in your sig), you wouldn't have such a stereotypical sound if you didn't use Massive. Maybe look into some of Rob Papen's synths? Or a good plugin bundle? You could also get a lot of good practice from using Operator and then resampling it till you get a unique sound.

But again this is completely my opinion. I don't think Massive is worth so much money, but hey, if you like the sound it makes, go for it.

Don't even think you're going to be able to make a decent synth using operator, all the vsts in ableton are meant for making backing tracks since its whole premise is based live music and was originally designed to facilitate shows rather than create them. Think of the lone (narcissistic) 'singer/songwriter' with no-one to play with, all they'd need to do is fuck about a bit and they've got a band that doesn't argue with them and does exactly what it's told! It has good sequencer capabilities but crap studio features, synths and VST effects

lol i think ableton is dating test recording's ex. this should be on the production forum but whaever...Operator isn't quite as bad as test recording is making it out to be, but yes its not as good as rapture/z3ta or the papen synths. the waveforms are not fantastic and the filters are just ok. the ableton people i think had in mind that you 'rack' them and use a bunch at the same time, but in my experience thats a huge pain in the ass and its better just to use a professional vst like massive. on massive, yes its overused, but theres a reason: the waveforms are fantastic and its really flexible. if you want to have a new exotic synth, buy Razor, its cheap and new and uncharted territory. any of the above plus the built in amp and saturation plugs in ableton is a good starting point

SoDank wrote:If it were me, I would purchase another synth or spend the money on plugins. Just seems like everyone uses Massive and it has a very distinctive sound. And for the tunes you're making (atleast from the one I heard in your sig), you wouldn't have such a stereotypical sound if you didn't use Massive. Maybe look into some of Rob Papen's synths? Or a good plugin bundle? You could also get a lot of good practice from using Operator and then resampling it till you get a unique sound.

But again this is completely my opinion. I don't think Massive is worth so much money, but hey, if you like the sound it makes, go for it.

I'd have to disagree. Although Massive does have very distinctive and recognizeable sounds, there's so much stuff you can do with it. In the right hands you can make some pretty amazing sounds. Yes there's the classic "yoi" sound we all know by now, and a few others, but you can make an infinite ammount of sounds using Massive. The key is to find "YOUR" sound That's pretty much how you become known.

test recordings wrote: but crap studio features, synths and VST effects

bullshit, operator is as good as you make it. the rest of the fx and synths are decent enough. i don't often use the other synths but use most of the native ableton fx for most stuff. they might not be stunning but most of the time can do the job.

stack a few of them together in an instrument rack and it's even more beastly.

personally i'd learn the stuff in ableton first before splashing out.

our best presets come from operator ....

But i'm not really using other ableton's plugs exept delays ...

hmmm interesting thread.

operator is a pretty good synth but I would go with a more advanced synth. Thats what I was told when I started and im glad I did, lot more options and flexibility with massive (which is what im using). Its going to take awhile to get used to a new interface and everything, but in the end I think its worth it.

I know people can get good shit out of Operator but its well too complicated for me

Anyone know any good beginner tutorials for it ?

Operator is perfectly capable in the right hands. Add some effects and the skys the limit.

I agree tho that massive is a much better synth - lots more ways to control your sound.

i exclusively used operator for the basses in my songs for like a year. i started using massive for a few months, and my production suffered.. as stated numerous times on this forum: i started to notice that massive is very harsh, digital, and thin sounding synth.

operator > massive.

if you want something else get camel alchemy or fm8. heard that zebra 2 is very good as well. there are a few others, but i would really stop thinking about massive. overused, overestimated.

don't buy massive. buy zebra 2

wtf? operator is way better than massive imo

Pull down a demo and play with it. A synth only sounds as good as you do. A synth that sounds good only does it because whomever was using it at the time could squeese through the synth and come out with something pleasing. A good sound is the combination of the synth and YOU. Operator and massive will only go where you take them, some synths sound good in some peoples hand, some synths sound bad in some peoples hands.

I would say get the demo, try it, and see if it's worth the money for you.

It's impossible to say synth1 > synth2. It's all subjective.

Absynth is like Operator on crack with a slew of other features including granular synthesis, fm synthesis, comb filters amongst many other filters, waveshaping with any waveform, you can use the waveforms you create for anything even LFOs(!), and it's the same price as Massive. Get Absynth. More difficult to learn, but well more worth it.

So many synth discussions comparisons/discussions..imo what it comes down to is the person doing the programming. Find one you feel comfortable with and master that shit. The ever expanding universe will become the limit.

Fm8>operator>massive. If you know operator, buy fm8. They are both FM synthesis. Massive is subtractive. And massive is also Spottable from a mile way and is becoming a bit dated for dubstep wobbles. But itsgreat for pads, keys , atmospheres etc