Synth / Native Instruments
Massive X
8.1Great
Massive X is Native Instruments' polyphonic wavetable synthesizer plug-in built around two wavetable oscillators and a modular routing engine.
Plugin comparison
Massive X vs Spire
Specs, price and the Dubspot Score, side by side — with our verdict on which synth to buy.
Independent score / workflow fit / buying signal
Contenders
The side-by-side
Synth / Reveal Sound
Spire
8.1Great
Spire by Reveal Sound is a polyphonic software synthesizer combining four multimode oscillators with a unison engine, filters, and built-in effects.
Technical matrix
Specs compared
| Signal | Massive X | Spire |
|---|---|---|
| Price | — | — |
| Dubspot Score | 8.1 | 8.1 |
| Formats | VST, VST3, AU, AAX | VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, CLAP |
| Wavetables | Over 170 wavetables | — |
| Oscillators | Two wavetable oscillators plus two phase modulation oscillators | 4x multimode polymorphing oscillators (Classic, Noise, FM, AMSync, SawPWM, HardFM, Vowel) |
| Oscillator modes | 10 oscillator modes, each with their own sub-modes | — |
| Filters | Eight filters with multiple modes (low/high/band-pass, comb, parallel and serial dual filters) | 2x multimode filters with analogue and digital types (Perfecto, Infecto, Acido, Scorpio, Combo, Shaper) |
| Effects | Up to three insert effects in series or parallel, plus output Stereo FX | — |
| Standalone | Plug-in only; does not run in standalone mode | — |
| System requirements | Intel processor with AVX or Apple Silicon; 64-bit only | macOS 10.15+ (Intel/Apple M1) or Windows (64-bit and 32-bit); legacy builds for macOS 10.8-10.14 |
| Unison | — | 9x unison voices per oscillator (supersaw/hypersaw capable, spread by chords and octaves) |
| Built-in FX | — | Shaper/Decimator, Phaser/Vowel, Chorus/Flanger, Delay, Reverb, plus X-Comp multiband compressor and 3-band EQ |
| Modulation | — | 4x Macros, 4x Envelopes, 4x LFOs with morphing shapes, 15x matrix slots (2 sources + 4 targets each), 2x Steppers, Arpeggiator |
| Factory presets | — | Over 1000 factory presets (arpeggios, basses, leads, pads, plucks, drums, FX) |
| Current version | — | 1.5.19 |
See the full plugin database for more comparisons.