MASCHINE+ Development Update: September 2021 and 1.3.2 Release

It might be something in your setup, since we didn't have such cases. The last updates didn't change anything in the sample management. Also the Firmware update only adresses MIDI issues and has no impact over sample management in the software. To clear out all these things and not to overcrowd this post, please get in touch here, our specialists will look into it: http://bit.ly/NIsupport_maschine

 

Same issue appears to several forum users, as I have learned from another thread created earlier.

for instance, Licid Mission expansion, Comone kit, sound 6 and 9 if i remember it correctly. Could you please validate of this issue happen or not on your NI test M+ instances please?

 

Any word on M+ 1.4?

Would be a rad xmas gift to M+ owners....

 

Hello Rico, could you please post links to those topics? I’m experiencing a problem with Maschine+ that could be related to this, but I’m trying to figure that out.

In my case loading loops from expansions result in a one-shot sample on a single pad. Changing the type from oneshot to ADSR doesn’t fix the problem, it still plays only the first note of the loop. All other pads remain empty, too.

Thanks. Regards,
Maik

 

Hi Maik,

My issue was confirmed by NI support. They registered it as a bug and responded that it will land as an update to Lucid Mission expansion on M+. But no time frame was announced. Sometime in future, somehow.

i suggest you writing to Ni support with your issue. There are no guarantees that they will solve it, but at least you will get a confirmation of a bug if they reproduce it. Or you will get a solution. This may take a while (days, weeks).

 

trying to update from 1.3.1.1 and can't update to 1.3.2 an unexpected error occurred xfailed, my firmware is 0.1.9 also can't update Phasis or Raum. any tips?

 

How "soon" is "soon"? We've been waiting 3 months but no details as yet....

 

I'm going to leave my opinion on what NI should do or how your company should have organized right now:

NI has tons of software products (synth and effects plug-ins), heaps of expansions (for Maschine, for Kontak).
Knowing that, I think they should focus all the team's power on improving the Hardware, via new software, taking a giant leap in terms of functionalities in Maschine. Stop releasing Expansions and focus on adding the features that users have been asking for for years.
Improve Maschine's workflow as well as its sometimes confusing audio routing.
Implement full midi support, classic file explorer, automation editing, etc.

I understand that you have to pay employee salaries, but I think they should apply much more energy to the development of the new thing they have created ... Maschine Plus. They should focus on that product more than ever (I think the battle for DJs is already lost to Pionner, don't lose it to AKAI as well).
Although I don't know why I'm writing this, it seems to fall on deaf ears.

 

Thought I'd just add my opinion here for what it's worth.
The Maschine Plus feels like abandonware to me. I understand that NI is a relatively big company but with the chorus of let down users I would expect some more communication surrounding development.
I've listed my Maschine Plus online for over 800 dollars less than I paid for it new and not had any interest in months.
The lack of proper midi implementation, file browsing, automation, sound glitches and lag makes this product unusable in many use cases and especially live.

Anyone who is interested in purchasing a new Maschine only has to look through the number of negatively geared posts on this forum to understand that it's not going to be the best solution in most use cases.
I will moving to an MPC Live II again as soon as I can move my unit on.

 

Uhh... assuming you paid the normal 1400 for it; do you have an ebay link?

 

I absolutely loved my + but I have to say, the wait for 1.4 and the audio glitching are really becoming vexatious. It should be useable live, especially at that price. It’s the most expensive thing I’ve ever owned and I’m not sure anymore that NI has any respect for its customers given the radio silence during these months long waits.

 

I've decided I will wait for one more update, 1.4 to see if Maschine+ development is going in the direction I expected and want it to. If not I too will switch to MPC Live II as I like the positive and regular updates Akai gives its products. I will wait a maximum of 3 more months (until March 2022).

 

I've just packed my unit back to original box to sit there and wait 6-12 months somewhere out of my sight. Reasons are the following:

• It cant be sold for any reasonable amount of money.
• It cant be used without a lot of pain and nerve wrecking as a sequencer to external hardware due to bugs and workflow omissions. There is even no way to edit existing patterns without breaking song/section structure.
• It cant be used as a sampler with large custom user libraries at all (!!!) despite being advertised as sampler - due to inability to navigate custom library with its crippled and extremely sluggish (in case of large library with long filenames) browser.
• It cant slice samples using time signature other than 4/4.
• Other bugs listed here: https://www.native-instruments.com/forum/threads/maschine-1-3-2-3-bugs.461475/

 

I sequence my Roland Fantom all the time, what are you experiencing? Also if you have issues with patterns wait until you use the MPC Live Sequence structure lol. It's really a joke.

I have 10 GB worth of one shots and loops. I've tagged these and flattened the directories. Works really fast. I think the issue comes when you have nested directories. With he tagging system operating on folders is kind of archaic.

 

I have Fantom too, great synth Btw, what is you opinion on Maschine+ MIDI timing with Fantom over USB? With quite busy arrangement (11 MIDI channels) I feel it noticeable less tight than internal Fantoms sequencer and than Reaper on Mac (which is butter-smooth). Its somewhere on par with the Reaper on Raspberry Pi 4.

I totally agree with you regarding MPC Sequence structure - its very illogical to have independent track set for every song section, no overlaps between sections (we have clips), etc. Maschine+ song structure and workflow are much better in many regards.
My main impediment is exactly this one: there is no way to edit existing patterns without breaking song/section structure. Yes, you can do everything regarding sequencing (except CC edit of course), but only until the point when you construct a song from patterns/sections. After that moment if you want to edit some notes in some patterns everything becomes not so straightforward. For example if you want to change lets say a length of some notes, first of all you need to select pattern for editing. And this very moment that selected pattern becomes active in current section of the song. So after selection/editing several patterns, all sections these edited patterns belongs to are changed. And you have to edit all affected sections to revert their active patterns to pre-notes-edit state.
Also due to buggy text editor after every text edit operation you have not to forget to press VOLUME button twice to return 4-D encoder to its default cursor movement mode. Otherwise it will be trying to change volume on rotation.

My library is less than 4GB in size but contains almost 400 folders/subfolders with almost 19000 files. Would you like to tag all of them? Folder operations doesnt look archaic in case you have to spend several months of fulltime work just to assign tags. And assigning tags in Maschine software is not a joy either. I cant use my library at all due to some bug in the browser - navigation inside such library placed into 'User Content' folder is EXTREMELY sluggish.
Maschine+ hardware is outstanding and real joy to use. And of course i would much prefer to use my Maschine+ instead of even MPC X, but unfortunately its impossible for me at least with current 1.3.2.3 firmware. So i reported all found bugs to support and switched to the Reaper on Mac (btw tightest MIDI timing of all SW sequencers i've seen so far) for the near future. And i want to mention NI support is great and very friendly. But will these bugs and omissions ever be fixed - nobody knows unfortunately.

 

I bought it in Australia on Launch so I paid 2200 new.

 

I'm on Roland Fantom 6 and usually have around 5 to 6 instruments. I honestly haven't noticed any different between Maschine+ and MPC Live. In fact doing midi recording without quantizing my stuff is usually more on time with Maschine+. I usually stop at 5 to 6 instruments and record as audio after that. I do love the audio recoding and looping feature in Maschine Plus. Much easier to "stamp" out external synth sounds and edit from there. I don't have issues with the patterns as you do. I come from old FL studio blocks and Cakewalk Project 5 so the workflow is all the same to me. You might want to look into clips and record within the arranger view?

I''m the opposite, I've pretty much given up on the MPC live. The workflow is impossible to actually finish songs, which is ok to some. The keygroups vs 16 levels vs plugins vs clips vs audio tracks is honestly the worst workflow I've ever seen in any program I've ever used. Loading keygroups is hilariously slow especially saving projects. The only thing I wish Maschine had that MPC has is project previews.

It mostly collects dust but I let my 6 year old bang on it because he doesn't know any better.

I wouldn't tag them myself. I let a computer do that for me . I'm close to releasing the program. Maybe next month.

 

Well..., M+ Firmware is round about only 1 year old.
I don't know any other drum machine, groove box, sequencer, tracker etc. that showed it's full potential before a FW 'maturity' of 2 years and older. So there is hope. ;-)

 

Call me crazy but I like to buy things that work as intended. Upgrade it on me, sure, but if I’m going to be making an album with a bit of kit, I wanna know that it is gonna be the same kit at the end of the year as it is at the start.
You would never buy the ingredients to a sandwich for the same price as a sandwich, in the promise that a chef will come arrange them in the optimally tasty way for you at an undisclosed date in the future.

I’m sat here eating pesto from the jar when I purchased and expected to be eating the finest Italian cheese and herb sub.

 

Which works as designed. Unlike on the MPC where a Track is part of a Sequence, a Maschine Pattern does not belong to a Scene but is only referenced by it!

Which means you undo your previous change also in the Scene where you want to keep it.

All Scenes share the same Patterns. Say if you want to have a variation on a Pattern 1 for a certain Scene A, you have to duplicate that Pattern 1 to Pattern 1.1, change it, and use the newly created Pattern 1.1 in Scene A.