Are you happy with your MASCHINE?

Yes I am very happy with The Maschine

The Maschine delivers a work flow and common sense approach to programming that i have asked of Akai products since 1988. I have owned Akai samplers : (S-612) (S-900) (S-950) (S-1000) (S-7000) (mpc 60) (mpc 60 II) (mpc2000xp) (S-700) (MPD-32). After countless suggestions being faithfully ignored for years , it took the forward thinking of a company like Native Instruments to address those issues right out the gate. The quirks i've read from some of the users are nothing compared to where it was 5 short years ago with emu , yamaha and roland. 2 short updates so far with Maschine and I feel like I can move mountains. I can't wait for 6 months from now !

 

Big fat - 1 in my book
Actually I hope hardware makers adopt this idea, akai,roland,roger linn. (the ability to use multiple instances/itb mixdowns vsti support,although with hardware etc..)
Maybe I'm dreaming too far off in the future,(shouldn't be though,they should be plotting this already)but I think they will do it much better.The things I don't like about Maschine are mainly in the workflow,chopping samples should allow the user to freely add slice points via a mouse,they know we wanted it,but instead they will wait for a 2nd version cmon it's software! They could have added that no problems.
REX files (large ones) are incredibly slow to import.(PROGRAM THAT DOES IT WITH EASE SLICEX)
The metronome,record shift plus play is aggravating,just add it in a window,and allow me to set it once and forget it.
I hate the whole abelton clip look,it's actually ugly as sin. Sound Quality is subjective,but BPM's sound engine destroys Maschine,we're talking software,it should sound better,it's thinner without the definition vs. BPM.
No CC'S? Iwon't even begin.
NO MTC,again stupid.
No support for the transport in my daw unless I make Maschine a 600.00 app a standard midi controller and lose all of it's functions in which I bought it for.Groove templates,or the ability to add and choose them at will,not existent.. No support for akai mpc .pgm's, the direct crowd this was potentially targeted for at some point @ corporate to attract has no support for mpc programs. That's just lame,not even a translator for .pgm's into battery and battery into Maschine etc.. LAME
I could go on,I choose not..

 

thanks again everyone. im still kinda on the fence about this one. after originally finding out what it didnt have (sidechaining, beatmasher, REX support, etc) i thought "thats fine, all the things its missing are in logic." but now finding out that DAW intergration is not as good as intended it kind of rules that out. i have been satisfied making music with logic and reason but have always wanted the straight forward performance capabilites that MASCHINE offers.

well i still have a month of saving to do before i can afford the thing so i guess ill just keep my ear to the ground and head in the forums.
---
p.s. i'd still like to hear what the rest of you think

 

When Kore was released a few years ago I instantly got one, and was appalled by the lousy build quality (flimsy and loose buttons). It went back to the store the day after, and I thought I'd never buy NI hardware ever again.

So, when Maschine was announced I was excited by the concept, but held my horses, because of the impression Kore had made on me. But, things have changed...

I bought the Maschine a few days ago and I can say that I'm very happy with it! NI have definitely improved on QC, it feels very solid, and the pads are just great. I'm impressed by the integration with the software, the sounds are great, and it's so more much fun to sculpt beats with hands-on controls instead of fiddling with a mouse!

I've been using GURU as my main beat construction instrument (I also own MOTU:s BPM which sucks badly IMHO), and I now have a hardware version of it.

But, an important lesson that I've learned the hard way over the years: NEVER buy software or hardware because of what it MIGHT do in the future! Buy it for what it can do TODAY. Like that, you won't be frustrated if this or that function never makes it in an update. (Even if the manufacturer promises it will come.)

So with that in mind I decided that Maschine is well worth the price for what it can do for me today. If there are functions added over time, well that's even better!

To sum up: I think Maschine is NI:s best effort so far, I really dig it!

 

wise words , dude ..!

 

Maschine is great

+1

Just understand that whenever you have a new piece of equipment you have to LEARN how to use it. Don't just expect Maschine to work exactly how you think it should in your head, cos it doesn't. But once you learn how to use it you can really rock out. I absolutely LOVE building grooves on this thing in standalone mode, and then once it's rocking I'll open up my sequencer, bring up Maschine as a plug in and lay down some bass and keys. If it's working for me at that point, I'll print the sounds from Maschine to separate audio tracks so I can control them better and then I'll pretty much work in audio files from there. Occasionally I'll bring the plug in back to put some more patterns or sounds in, but I like throwing audio around cos that's how I work.

I find the scene changes using the sequencer a bit painful so I don't use them. I just print and cut.

On the whole, I love this little box, and it is so much FUUUUUUNNNNN!

 

+1 me+maschine=

 

I use exactly the same way... but then still it would be so nice if there were midi out...

 

there is midi out with 1.1

 

I just love mine~"go with the flow" definitely the best way to encapsulate working with Maschine...I find myself spending long periods of time just making beats....adding a bass line, adding some chords, and then soloing over top of it with my keyboard controller....I mean, I hit play...and just "let 'er rip"...once I hit the play button, I rarely, if ever hit stop until my fingers need a break...
Is it perfect? No...am I? No! So, for me it's a good match....I love loading a project I've made into Kore 2 and then really going wild with jammin and coming up with new sounds and splits...

great investment.

 

+1

As been said, integration with the host is not where it could/should be. It has midi out, but it's cumbersome. No flow there.

On the other hand, I love what it does do. The 1.1 beta add some nice features.

Also, another niggle. My LCD displays are not very sharp, even with playing with the contrast and brightness settings. I'd love a display that looks as crisp as in the magazine ads.

Any chance that could be fixed in an update?

 

now it's time for effects (i think it's called cc midi out).


I really like the display. Solid, not too sharp and too flashy. I like it more when it looks a little bit older.

 

+1 I love the Maschine. I am only bothered by one bug but the show goes on. I have one Ableton project for my live show and I change programs in the maschine to call up each song. I think the development for new features has been speedy. I love composing in the Maschine... It's just really fun, and fun is why I play music.

 

Maschine should be moved out of the producer area of the NI portfolio and into the DJ area.

It's a stand alone live device for playing back beats from stock material and tweaking it live at shows. It allows you to sample but is for someone who only does little sampling and does not need to edit the samples. The sequencer is for arranging backing beats for your live set and allows you to freak it on stage. Also cool for having fun messing around at home. It seems by the limitations this is what was in mind when designed.

It doesn't qualify as a production product at the moment. Nice to go along with a DJ set to supplement tracks for a performance. I think there would be less dissatisfied customers if it were marketed at the right type of customer that will find it most useful. More a software Roland SP, not a software MPC. There is a HUGE difference.

 

yeah its very great . my dream of years -

 

I disagree. Its what you do with it that matters. Im managing to produce lots of tracks im happy with in standalone and then cutting up audio bits in my daw. Not a perfect way to work but until full midi integration with my DAW im happy to do this. USed to work with Guru, then BPM and my old MPC. Now mostly maschine with some other plug ins.

 

Wonderful and Beautiful!

 

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
You offend me. I am not a DJ and I DO use the Maschine as a production tool within Ableton Live. If it doesn't do exactly what you want to do, maybe it's not for you, but don't assume that because you can't write a good tune on it it is not a production tool. Get it together.

 

can we keep things calm please

b-righteous, i disagree with you. there are plenty of users who have stopped using their MPCs in favor of Maschine. i personally would like a few more MPC type features implemented, and i agree that at the moment Maschine is better for live playing, but for my production methods, i can get loads out of it even with the current limitations.

sowari

 

yes please stay calm people. i was asking for personal opinions. i dont think anyone wants to offend, just express their own point of view. i know many of you may disagree with each other but the last thing i wanted to do was start another argument.

thanks again and again for everyones input.