Simplified interface?

[Motormind]

MMV 2 has an amazing sound. The only thing I find a bit off-putting is its overly complex interface. Perhaps Arturia could make it possible that you can run a simpler interface that uses less graphic resources and uses simple buttons and sliders... right now all the scrolling around drives me nuts.

[FabP]

The MMV is a sound design machine.. An extraordinary sound design machine. But you could use the keyboard only interface to tune only the enveloppes and a few other controlers.

[daveoo]

I personally find the cable interface more intuitive than the matrix patches that you find for example on the back of Arturia's miniMg.  (not a criticism -I love Arturia's implementation of the miniMg). A small thing I would suggest is that a cable changes colour on the mouseover event to help differentiate it from nearby cables.   The cable would revert to its default colour once the mouse cursor was no longer over it.  I think that this might reduce the effort in visually following a cable from its input to output connnection.

The other thing I find deliciously inviting about the cables is the idea that one day I'll be able to plug one instance of the mmv on my PC to another instance Module By Module.  So if I run out of a particular kind of module on one instance, I could use the resources of the other instance to process the signal.

One last thing about the current design of the MMV.  I would like to see even more flexibility with regard to the choices of currently implemented modules.  There already exists the possibility to replace, for example the Chorus with a Phaser.  It seems to me that the only limitation on having both the Phazer and the Chorus available at the same time is the space on the visual interface.  How about rendering the hole sizes as multiples of each other so that you could swap out 2 oscillators on the lower panel to give space for a second phazer(chorus).  Relatedly, I would guess that there is no serious need to limit the MMV to a single Ring Modulator.  If I want to give up a couple of slots for envelope generators and chain 3 ring mods together then I think it is better to offer the possiblity.  If the issue lies with how hard the MMV might hit my PC's CPU in certain configurations, I would settle for a general disclaimer in the manual.  "Warning certain configurations will be CPU intensive"

Finally, with Arturia's high quality sound synthesiser technology, they could, and I hope will produce a modern interface synth of their  own design.

Sorry to have run on a bit, this was meant to be a short post.

Thanks for reading

David

[thermal]

I agree with motormind, the interface could use some improvement. For instance, why not make a computer interface-optimized version with no cables, using popup lists of possible connections at every output and input? Having the option to switch between this and the current interface would be good, as there are bound to be people who think it's important that the synth actually looks like a Mg. Personally I reckon an effective workflow is more important.

A "hide module/section" function would be good too (so you can edit everything you need without scrolling). Being able to hide - not to mention MUTE - specific cables would be fantastic as well. There can be so much going on within a patch that it's easy to lose oneself in the jungle of cables.

We're working on computers here. I don't see why the software should emulate the hardware visually when it results in an ineffective interface!

[MarkM]

I have many synths with the multi layered menu interface.  When it comes to making changes or seeing how a patch is designed the MMV2 interface is by far superior.  Making changes is also easier because at a glance one can see the signal path by following the cables. That is much easier than going through a series of menus or a matrix board.

[max cooper]

You...you...you want....fewer knobs and patches to tweak? :shock:

(thump) falls over.

[max cooper]

MMV 2 has an amazing sound. The only thing I find a bit off-putting is its overly complex interface. Perhaps Arturia could make it possible that you can run a simpler interface that uses less graphic resources and uses simple buttons and sliders... right now all the scrolling around drives me nuts.

Sure, I can see that, but OTOH, the Mg Modular was a monster.  There are other Arturia synths that don't require so much tweaking.  But without the endless possibilities, it wouldn't be a Mg Modular.