2007-08-26 #1

F U N E M N X? - The MOTU MX4

The virtual synthesiser rig is about to get a little bit bigger, with the pending arrival of a MOTU MX4 to accompany the Korg Analog and Digital Legacy collections and the PPG Wave. I'm currently working with the time-limited demo (and hence without a manual, which doesn't seem to be too much of a hindrance).

As with most of MOTU's instruments, the MX4 looks like something straight out of Myst. The architecture is respectable for a semimodular (having a fixed component configuration but strong modulation features): it has hard sync, FM, multimode filters, PPG-style wavetables, step sequencers, and lots of things which respond to host sync. The ergonomics are fair: everything is clearly laid out, but some controls are inexplicably small and fiddly.

The sound of the MX4 is thin and clean, which is actually what you want for a powerful modulation architecture, especially when it has to work in a mix. It doesn't sound as rich as the Korg analog emulations, nor as edgy as the PPG, so it should fit in well.

This will probably be it for the softsynth collection for a while. I don't feel a big urge to "go native" with a modular system like Reaktor or Reason - if I need that degree of power and flexibility, I'll build my own instruments in Pluggo. I would quite like a softsynth version of the old, original Nord Modular, though.

My only problem now is learning to use the MX4 without thinking of The Two Ronnies.