Spectrasonics Stylus RMX Xpanded Realtime Groove Module Virtual Instrument Software

Got it fast and right in the middle of the Thanksgiving/Black Friday rush. Spectrasonics products are legendary. I will be incorporating this into Ableton's Push, but have not received Push yet. So can't wait to see how I get on with it using it with that device.

Great instrument in Spectrasonics style. The ability to import Rex files a major plus. At the heart of this program is the ability to manipulate sounds to your hearts content. Also, you can change tempo without the pitch of the sample changing.

Just arrived... WOW! ... looking forward to dig into it deeper... Great!

As magnificent as this product is receiving support or having your product authorized again when you upgrade your studio's computer or operating system is non existent. The only way you can receive any kind of help is through a third party yahoo group that you have to join or some random music bulletin board that's so obscure I can't even remember the name of it. There is no support forum on the company website at all in 2011 the time of this review. If you email them for help you will never get a response, PERIOD! You have to call them long distance and leave a message and sometime within the next 2 weeks they either call back or blow you off. I've had my software in a commercial studio down as long as 6 weeks with several voice mails left on the support line (no one has ever answered). I've asked the owner a man named Eric Persing who is nothing short of a complete genius at NAMM and in the Yahoo group publicly (as many others have) about the support and the technologies they are using. The people around him become outright hostile at the inquiry this online, ask him at NAMM face to face and boy watch out! It's like having a lawn gnome threaten you with a whooping. It's the Emperor's new clothes I've never seen anything like it. A software company without support in this day and age on the company website? They're a software company! Spectrasonics Makes some of the most cutting edge products in the industry but without proper technical support how can the software with any longevity be of any use? I hold a BSc CIS and have 20 years experience in information systems pertaining to digital media, Multi Media and am both Logic and Pro Tools certified. I've never seen anything like it. If your name isn't Quincy Jones or Baby Face Edmonds you're wasting your money, these people could care less about you. I want this review to be completely honest and is respect to spectrasonics defense they have done some really nice things for their customers. They have taken their $500 sample library and offered it to customers for $100. My opinion is that at the price they weren't selling a lot of them and the sounds should have been included in the software at purchase but still that's a very nice thing to do. They have also given upgrades for RMX for free for several years. One so significant it should have been a paid upgrade. Their Trilogy Bass emulator software is nothing short of genius and their Omnisphere Synth blows everything out of the water in the industry hands down. But again I say what good is it if you can't receive tech support for software you've paid for if it doesn't work? Bottom line as a studio owner RMX has cost me money in canceled sessions because they refuse to answer email and wont return phone calls if any for weeks. What are you supposed to tell a video game company or a movie studio when you can't make your deadline? Uhhh we're waiting for spectrasonics to authorize our software? I say it again the Emperor's new clothes, it's ludicrous. I cannot in good conscious recommend Spectrasonics software to anyone.

Don't get me wrong! I love Spectrasonics and I have loved using Stylus. But it's now 2015 and Stylus' grooves, sounds, and sonic quality are not top notch anymore. I still will use it from time to time to fill in the gaps with perc loops, etc. but we NEED an update on this thing!!

About 18 years after purchasing Stylus, Spectrasonics Fully updated It to include ALL of the Expanders and the newer Core library. That’s free of charge :)

I felt I had to write a review for this product in particular (and for Spectrasonics overall). I originally purchased RMX locally almost ten years ago. During a move a few years back, I misplaced my discs. Getting back into music production recently, I thought it would be nice to start using RMX again, but I saw they didn't offer a download option. However, there was no problem - customer service gladly offered to send me replacement discs (for the latest version) for a very meager shipping fee! (one of the very few times that I've found it beneficial to me, the customer, to register a product, vs. simply providing the manufacturer with customer data) Spectrasonics customer service is terrific (and they were back then also, with general questions I had). Regarding RMX as a product - I myself wasn't completely understanding of what it was when I bought it. I thought it was capable of acting as a drum sample playback module, like Redrum and others (it is not), so this had me disappointed at first, because I thought then that it was basically just a multisample library with some playback controls hooked in. However, it is neither of these extremes - it truly is a 'rhythm module', playable like an instrument. The controls that it offers are very powerful, and yes, you can generate very specific parts with it. For example, if you just want a unique hi hat sound with panning and effects, it can do it (and it can probably get you to a more finished designed sound faster than you could do from scratch anyway). So, today, I am glad that it doesn't try to be a generic drum module. It fits a very wide range of uses very well, which is the most anyone could ask of any tool or software instrument.