What do you get the music synth user who’s got everything? Here’s what: mutation and generation options that actually lead you into more tweaking, not away from it. Plus goodies from the original Massive and PPG, and some of our favorite NI effects. Massive XL feels like the sequel Massive X wanted to be. Here’s a first hands-on — at just the right time, with a $99 intro price.
I’ll be honest: I did not expect to be excited by any new monster soft synth, let alone an “XL” edition of Massive. But this one is just too much fun to play with. And getting this and a new Absynth in the same month? Well, happy Halloween: the ghosts of NI are here with a bucket of treats.
Massive X was a great upgrade — a deep, sprawling wavetable semi-modular capable of lots of hard-edged and evolving sounds. But it has to compete with lots of other instruments that fit the same description, like Serum, Zebra, Pigments, SurgeXT — and the list goes on from there. It couldn’t just be another fancy set of screens-full-o-knobs. X felt a little like a blockbuster sequel between other blockbuster sequels — which is where XL comes in.
In fact, the approach of Massive XL is similar to what Absynth 6 offered late last year. As with the Absynth update, the emphasis is on refinement of the existing architecture, making sonic possibilities more discoverable and offering more chances to spark inspiration.
Before you dismiss that idea, don’t forget that that’s what made Massive such a phenomenal hit in the first place. Wavetables and modulation weren’t groundbreaking. But changing how you assign, visualize, and control modulation helped wire your brain into the sound. And human brains, under duress in today’s world, deserve a little love.
First, there’s a preset generator, which makes patches from an audio reference. I’ll be honest; I haven’t tested this yet — partly because I didn’t feel much need, given all the other discoverability features. But we have seen something like this concept before, in Synplant 2 (2023); I spoke to developer Magnus at the time.
Here’s what I found more addictive:
Mutator and randomizer. These are “guided, similarity-aware” mutations — but what makes them so useful is that they’re module-specific. That lets you quickly shuffle the deck for a specific area of Massive XL at a time, and it’s perfectly suited to the synth’s architecture.
Morphing and animating are improved. (See the flying sparkly X/Y pad above.) Perform, lock, transfer, and reuse across presets. It has that wonderful, evolving, hold-down-your-fist-on-the-keyboard vibe, like you’re in a music store in the early 90s playing a workstation for the first time.
And now the “XL” part of all of this:
- 100+ new wavetables, including the “vintage” OG Massive (above) and PPG.
- Make your own wavetables using imported samples/sample libraries.
- More NI effects, including Raum (below), Replika Shimmer, and Tape Wobble.
It’s also more expressive, with polyphonic aftertouch support. (Here’s where I do really wish Arturia had polyAT on their new MiniFreak 49!)
And most of all, the UI redesign transforms the experience. Massive X had a lot to live up to; Massive arguably influenced modulation assignment in modern synths more than any other plug-in. I don’t want to imply XL is on that level of breakthrough. But it does take all the depth of X and makes it, well, fun again. So everything is easy to discover and play with — drag-and-drop modulation, sidechain routing, envelopes, LFOs, Performers, Trackers, and 16 assignable macros, all in. And in a world where modulation always feels like a clone of Serum, Pigments, or the original Massive, it’s great to see XL come into its own with an immersive visual approach.
Those are just my first impressions, mainly as I got lost in mutating things, though I suspect that’s a good sign. The luscious Chord Morph alone can keep you cosy at night.
Think of Massive XL as Star Trek IV to Massive X’s Star Trek III. After the first sequel had too much to live up to, this one makes everything fun again. (And RIP, Walter Koenig.)
Massive XL is €99 / $99 / £89 through January 3.
Available from Plugin Boutique:
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Here’s my own first play. Listen/watch what happens when you hit mutate (which you can do both at the preset level and control randomization level):
And here’s NI’s own official walkthrough of what’s new:
Above: how it started.