The Mace Professional Compressor - in the shop

[satyr32]

All the functions seems really pro, but sorry the GUI is terrible. Can't get have this on my rack
Hope you will update your graphics...

what´s wrong with the GUI? It´s easy to use

I think what he means is that it looks very immature, too much comic-style. At least that is the reason I will not buy it.
Some developer should value the design more since a bad design brings a lot of losses in sales that should not be underestimated.

This device is GUI-wise good, easy to deal in as you said. But it is not looking professional.

[pjeudy]

All the functions seems really pro, but sorry the GUI is terrible. Can't get have this on my rack
Hope you will update your graphics...

what´s wrong with the GUI? It´s easy to use

I think what he means is that it looks very immature, too much comic-style. At least that is the reason I will not buy it.
Some developer should value the design more since a bad design brings a lot of losses in sales that should not be underestimated.

This device is GUI-wise good, easy to deal in as you said. But it is not looking professional.

I'm really big on UI design...and even Bigger on the quality of a device.
Mace is to my ears is Very important in making your sound fat,full,heavy ! Feature wise I'll compare it to WAVES C4 without the multiband and with way more features! REASON needed a device like this years ago !!

If LABONERECORDINGS decides to make this a multiband device...I will loose my mind as is, it sounds great!

[Shokstar]

1. did you get well sounding results out of this Compressor?
2. would you regret it not to have it in your Rack after your Trial is over?

[xxASMxx]

All the functions seems really pro, but sorry the GUI is terrible. Can't get have this on my rack
Hope you will update your graphics...

what´s wrong with the GUI? It´s easy to use

I think what he means is that it looks very immature, too much comic-style. At least that is the reason I will not buy it.
Some developer should value the design more since a bad design brings a lot of losses in sales that should not be underestimated.

This device is GUI-wise good, easy to deal in as you said. But it is not looking professional.

I'm really big on UI design...and even Bigger on the quality of a device.
Mace is to my ears is Very important in making your sound fat,full,heavy ! Feature wise I'll compare it to WAVES C4 without the multiband and with way more features! REASON needed a device like this years ago !!

If LABONERECORDINGS decides to make this a multiband device...I will loose my mind as is, it sounds great!

Ditto

[Skullture]

1. did you get well sounding results out of this Compressor?
2. would you regret it not to have it in your Rack after your Trial is over?

The two thumb-rules of checking any RE I am going to print this and hang it above my bed now..

[Shokstar]

1. did you get well sounding results out of this Compressor?
2. would you regret it not to have it in your Rack after your Trial is over?

The two thumb-rules of checking any RE I am going to print this and hang it above my bed now..

hehe, good idea

[dvdrtldg]

Yeah it's pretty unappealing to look at. I try to ignore visual aesthetics when it comes to REs but sometimes a device just looks so terrible that you hesitate before using. It's all down to personal taste of course, but I usually find Lab One's REs very ugly. That said, I have a few, and will probably buy this one too because of the synced attack & release.

[MDTerps2015]

Yeah it's pretty unappealing to look at. I try to ignore visual aesthetics when it comes to REs but sometimes a device just looks so terrible that you hesitate before using. It's all down to personal taste of course, but I usually find Lab One's REs very ugly. That said, I have a few, and will probably buy this one too because of the synced attack & release.

I kind of said the same earlier in this thread. I had to buy it because it is what it is and does what it does. I dont know why black isnt the color of choice of most developers with a sprinkle of this color and that color. All of the tiger stripes and skins that make no sense really has me baffled. Just go look at fab filter or waves and there is no gui to disagree with, but some RE's are off the chain with the creativity. I like Red Queen and Black Knight but Mace (even though i bought it) is pretty much the functionality of bought rather than the gui. If i knew anything about coding, i would be a millionaire because im plain jane. Doesnt have to be transparent in color but damn some of the GUI's will color blind you. Im still happy with Reason and its developers including LABONE. Lets clean it up and quit the nasty off brand coloring of RE's. I dont mind the dirt or scratches but there isnt one vst in the world with stripes and six different colors like Blackpole or the other one they made but i get you.

[EnochLight]

I dont mind the dirt or scratches but there isnt one vst in the world with stripes and six different colors like Blackpole or the other one they made but i get you.

Um... I've seen some pretty questionable VST gui in my time.

image.png (294.09 KiB) Viewed 1664 times

image.png (459.02 KiB) Viewed 1664 times

image.jpeg (207.07 KiB) Viewed 1664 times

But I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that...

[MDTerps2015]

I have never seen like that before lol, im talking more in line with waves, fab product line, or even MC DSP. And to tell you the truth, the three examples you used up top Enoch, i wouldnt buy even if it did the job for me. Too bright, too loud, and extremely ugly. I get what you are saying though. I did buy the MACE without hesitation but it doesnt look as bad as the three examples you posted. Either way im happy with it but i cant understand the continual mockery of gui's with the weird colors and off color on/off buttons or led's. Well to each his own.

[pjeudy]

OK ...here's a WAVES Plugin I always thought was hard to look at. I was going to post it all by it self then decided to post it with MACE, and What I have noticed doing that is...the WAVES still looks kinda not too good to me...BUT all the components look really nice, the colors gel together in Harmony. In it's own weird way it look well design and put together, not sure I want to operate this device after long tired hour in a studio. But the soft shadow all around this device and the intricate parts are well modeled or photoshoped. But the overall TONE of the Plugin color looks really professional.

I don't know how many people work at LABONERECORDING , not sure if the same person writing the code is also designing. But LAB ..always have very good devices in the shop and they or he/she seems to respond to request promptly!
With respect I would say to them...maybe look into hiring a second opinion designer (to put it nicely) I say this because really...if memory serves me right...all there devices get a dose of BAD looking UI Feedback upon release...no?

In 2016 paying for out sourcing the UI of at least one device should be explored, you never know, the perception of there product might increase ten-fold...TRY IT.
A couple of pages back of this thread...a UI designer with an eye for this kind of things had already gave LABONE...his feedback.That's what an Artist can bring to the table.

[LABONERECORDINGS]

Just to let you guys know, we did farm out the GUI work for Mace so we had a new approach so we could focus more on the functionality of Mace this time around.

We understand pleasing everyone is a near on impossibility at times, we like to be different too instead of making products that 'conform' to what users would find in the real world, we've also seen a lot worse over the years. We do take this on board, we're a Reason user group ourselves too since Reason 2.5, so having the ability to bring something 'new' to the rack does give us some freedom on the design side of things.

Feel free to design something that you would *personally* like to see in the Rack, maybe if it makes a strong enough following we can apply it. However, remember GUI is a personal preference, one man's trash is another's treasure

[Skullture]

Just to let you guys know, we did farm out the GUI work for Mace so we had a new approach so we could focus more on the functionality of Mace this time around.

We understand pleasing everyone is a near on impossibility at times, we like to be different too instead of making products that 'conform' to what users would find in the real world, we've also seen a lot worse over the years. We do take this on board, we're a Reason user group ourselves too since Reason 2.5, so having the ability to bring something 'new' to the rack does give us some freedom on the design side of things.

Feel free to design something that you would *personally* like to see in the Rack, maybe if it makes a strong enough following we can apply it. However, remember GUI is a personal preference, one man's trash is another's treasure

Maybe you guys should consider taking some user experience lessons. Making a product is something you do with other people in mind. I think a simpler color scheme (with only one color standing out not 3 flashy reds and blues and yellows) and minimizing your logo's can make a world of difference. At this moment it doesn't look appealing because the layout's color scheme, font, and parameter arrangement. Also consider making the UI more user friendly (gain knobs can always be a tad bigger than the others to make them stand out).

[TheMiles]

I like the UI. Its nice IMO!
It fits the name "The Mace" nicely. A little raw, not so much polish, aggressive choice of colors... Just what I would expect from a device named after a medieval Blunt Weapon
Only thing I have to say is its many parameters on little space

[Shokstar]

the best thing IMO is, Propellerhead should make it available for Reason users to add there own design to a Rack Extension in a same way how you can design the Combinator and the/or Kong. With the feature to save the design directly into the RE folder to have the same design for each new Session. And all of these GUI Topic´s would finding an END!!! Write a mail to PH´s Support, if you like to see this feature on Reason 9

[satyr32]

Feel free to design something that you would *personally* like to see in the Rack, maybe if it makes a strong enough following we can apply it. However, remember GUI is a personal preference, one man's trash is another's treasure

A professional (!!!) and educated designer would strongy disagree here. Sure there are personal preferences and in graphic design there are always 100 of valid solutions to a problem, but you can make a lot things wrong which has nothing to do with personal taste since design is a craft. As an example if your letter spacing (kerning) of text is fucked up it is just simply poorly crafted. (I do not refer to your device here, just as example). So my advice would be considering a graphic designer. If you have a water-pipe burst in your house do you consult a professional plumer or do you ask a bunch of amateurs for their *personal* opinion?
But I have also to agree Mace is not that bad and as you said there are devices out there which are way worse. As I already said I think it is visually quite "clear", I dont know how to say it better, the look and colors do not distract me and that is a good thing.

[mojo]

Just to let you guys know, we did farm out the GUI work for Mace so we had a new approach so we could focus more on the functionality of Mace this time around.

We understand pleasing everyone is a near on impossibility at times, we like to be different too instead of making products that 'conform' to what users would find in the real world, we've also seen a lot worse over the years. We do take this on board, we're a Reason user group ourselves too since Reason 2.5, so having the ability to bring something 'new' to the rack does give us some freedom on the design side of things.

Feel free to design something that you would *personally* like to see in the Rack, maybe if it makes a strong enough following we can apply it. However, remember GUI is a personal preference, one man's trash is another's treasure

Clap clap clap.

[LABONERECORDINGS]

A professional (!!!) and educated designer would strongly disagree here

True, but if you have the most well designed unit that excels at what it does you have the best of both. To get the balance can be tricky to get at times, plus ok some may find the colours we use too 'brash', but we go this route to make our mark on things. Not to completely alienate, but to make colours a reference point, ie: with Mace's metering, the colours indicate what is being processed so a user can glance over and know what is happening to their audio, without the need to fully dive in unless they need / want to. Colours can be a lot more intuitive to make the user understand the current audio processing quickly, so they can focus on the more important things

We're interested in what some users thing Mace should look like

[decibel]

a bit of non conformity is a good thing imo, keep doing your thing labone

*i do agree that it would be good to have re-skinning options though for those who like everything to look static, sterile etc

[EnochLight]

I feel Mace's GUI is fine IMHO. The layout's color scheme, font, and parameter arrangement look great. If I had any criticism, it would be the plain brushed metal "wallpaper" as a background. Compare it to how (say) Pulveriser looks. It needs more wear or shading, and a more muted look IMHO.

image.jpeg (79.02 KiB) Viewed 1599 times

[MDTerps2015]

Just to let you guys know, we did farm out the GUI work for Mace so we had a new approach so we could focus more on the functionality of Mace this time around.

We understand pleasing everyone is a near on impossibility at times, we like to be different too instead of making products that 'conform' to what users would find in the real world, we've also seen a lot worse over the years. We do take this on board, we're a Reason user group ourselves too since Reason 2.5, so having the ability to bring something 'new' to the rack does give us some freedom on the design side of things.

Feel free to design something that you would *personally* like to see in the Rack, maybe if it makes a strong enough following we can apply it. However, remember GUI is a personal preference, one man's trash is another's treasure

Maybe you guys should consider taking some user experience lessons. Making a product is something you do with other people in mind. I think a simpler color scheme (with only one color standing out not 3 flashy reds and blues and yellows) and minimizing your logo's can make a world of difference. At this moment it doesn't look appealing because the layout's color scheme, font, and parameter arrangement. Also consider making the UI more user friendly (gain knobs can always be a tad bigger than the others to make them stand out).

Couldnt have been put better. Some are just a little over the top.

[EnochLight]

I'm curious - where would one take a "user experience lesson"? Is this part of a GUI/software design course? I'm assuming a university sanctioned curriculum? Just asking because I'm honestly curious. Never heard of this. I'd be interested to take such a course.

[tt_lab]

I'm curious - where would one take a "user experience lesson"? Is this part of a GUI/software design course? I'm assuming a university sanctioned curriculum? Just asking because I'm honestly curious. Never heard of this. I'd be interested to take such a course.

In every design studies there is a study in that inprint.
For instance, I as an architect have to think on user experience in every step of the design and building processes. As an example, your have to project the walking flows and in that paths where the light switches are better put, how the doors are opened, etc...a whole uiser experience process that is there in every thought. In music it is the same. you don't even have to think about it.Here comes the intro, the listener gets excited, the drop, moving your body for example, here comes the verse, I listen to what the artist is saying, etc.

[Skullture]

I'm curious - where would one take a "user experience lesson"? Is this part of a GUI/software design course? I'm assuming a university sanctioned curriculum? Just asking because I'm honestly curious. Never heard of this. I'd be interested to take such a course.

In every design studies there is a study in that inprint.
For instance, I as an architect have to think on user experience in every step of the design and building processes. As an example, your have to project the walking flows and in that paths where the light switches are better put, how the doors are opened, etc...a whole uiser experience process that is there in every thought. In music it is the same. you don't even have to think about it.Here comes the intro, the listener gets excited, the drop, moving your body for example, here comes the verse, I listen to what the artist is saying, etc.

That's true, people need to be guided. Even professionals need a clear UI, or it takes time to get to know their stuff but in that time they might have felt no longer to need to it and they move on. That's when you lose (potential) customers.

@enochlight:I took these lessons during my IT studies, but there is plenty of readings from people on youtube on this topic to get yourself guided. And you can google and find lots of self study material. If you got an hour to spare, this seems like a good vid to get started.

It regards mostly web pages, but you can get the idea and go through the process of UX for any kind of product.

[Shokstar]

Guys, please stop commenting about the GUI, letz talk about the Sound you can create with the Mace we have many other GUI threads here in this Forum where you can tell us your opinions.