Maschine Jam without Maschine - which additional controller ?

Folks,

hi all and glad to be here, just joined the Maschine crowd last week and try to get my head around things.

As I don´t have any MPC background and certainly prefer grid programming over fingerdrumming, I decided to get Maschine Jam instead of Maschine mk2 or Studio. Also I hope Jam will give me better access to arrange building blocks live or in a jam session (pun intended). Probably that´s my C-Lab creator past, I´m a pattern oriented person .

However, I miss a bit of direct access to parameters for morphing the sounds of drumsynths, sweeping filters, dial in fx parameters etc. Yes, there are touchstrips, but I´d stil like a bunch of rotary knobs, preferably endless type with LED positioning.

The box should be able to run standalone and in a perfect world I could assign MIDI channel, CC value etc. per button/encoder, so I can build setups were knobs 1-4 control sound and level of the 808 BD coming out of machine where 5-8 control the sound of a softsynth running in ableton (or a hardware rack synth whatever).

Any recommendations ? Something that has the NI look and feel would be great, as it will be sitting next to the Jam and S8.

 

Apologies if this is stating the obvious (and I know you chose Jam over it), but have you considered a Maschine Mk2? It seems to tick all the boxes and more.

 

Maybe look into something like the midi fighter twister. I know the others can be used with maschine on some level and it will give you all the knobs you need if mapped correctly.

Keep in mind I don't use this so I could be wrong but worth a look.

But might be good especially if you're just looking some extra knobs to twist live.

 

Makes no sense to look to a generic Maschine controller to control Maschine. A Studo or MK2 is the best way by far. Either will work with Jam simultaneously.

 

Yeah well when buying my ticket into NI Maschine world, I wondered which of the three I should get. Since I never touched the MPC and never made much use of my Korg padKontrol, I decided I didn´t exactly need the pads. That´s why passed mk2 and studio, as there is limited space on the desktop

Also no fingerdrumming, more of an x0X grid programmer here. Plus the higher number of buttons for scene management plus nicer step sequencer layout (16 steps as 8by2 instead of 4by4) made me opt for the Jam.

The only thing missing are the encoders, so my options are to either get machine mk2/studio, but then have pads i don´t use and less encoders than I want .... OR go for a separate controller.

The MIDI Fighter seems to be promising, but there may be others I don´t know about. It´s been a while since I last made music (200x), I missed a lot of things.

Oh, that controller I´m looking for is not ONLY for maschine, if that was the case, I would for sure look into a mk2 or even studio. I´m looking for something that has tons of knobs and buttons, some of which would be assigned to maschine, while others would give me access to things outside maschine, like that knobless synth hardware filter cutoff or that FX parameter from a standalone software etc. Kind of a meta controller, that can be used for many things.

 

Having lots of knobs and buttons means nothing if it does not interact with the software in an intuitive way. Maschine's dedicated controllers are on a different level and can't be compared to a generic controller. A big part of the workflow is the screens that give feedback of what you are tweaking, dedicated labeled buttons etc. You don't have to setup some map ahead of time for each thing you are trying to do, they just show you what you are tweaking with access to all the parameters without prior setup for each specific scope. Also, the pads on the controllers are not just for finger drumming. They are also used to control the sequencer and slicer and the screens give feedback to what pads are assigned to the given task. The MK2 or Studio will give you a much more intuitive experience.

 

I know nothing about Jam but if you have the maschine software now just look for a used maschine, provided you have the machine software already you should be able to grab a maschine unit without software for a nice price. Jam does come with the maschine software right?

 

That's a really good point. You can get a used MK2 for like $350 on Reverb.com or at Guitar Center. And I wouldn't worry too much about having idle pads. Those pads can be used for more than just finger drumming and you never know when pads will just make sense.

 

Ok, ok, you guys talked me into it

Yes, maschine jam has the full software, so I will see if someone sells a mk2 or a studio without the software (most offers include it, but it won´t be a dramatic difference). And nothing stops me from adding a MIDI Fighter next to it.

And now I have to dwell again, mk2 or studio, studio or mk2... but I guess there is a ton of threads about this, let me read a it first.

 

Mo2 or studio, ask yourself will you travel with it and do you need or want the extra control as far as I understand it the studio doesn't do anything mk2 can't do but it does make some things easier or more accessible to do. I have mk2 and it travels with me on occasion or at least it did a year or so ago. I haven't had it out in quite awhile. Not because it is a bad unit but it currently isn't the tool I need or care to work around.

 

Yeah well, travel may be an option here and there, but that is business travel and I could bring my personal laptop and maschine for jam sessions in the hotel in the evening etc... But tbh, that never happened in the last two years so it´s likely I won´t move it that often. So most of the time the thing will sit at home, occasionally be moved to places for party but that´s about it. Function wise I go for studio, size wise for mk2. Guess THIS has been discussed a few times before . Also, the mk2 displays look odd next to the S8 xD. So that points to studio or a mk3, if that ever is released.

 

Get an MK2 without software and you'll be good.

 

Aaaaand... i got a used maschine studio, really like it ! Not so happy with the jam due to the LED brightness issue, but I´m just getting started. So just playing around with the included material is giving me a good start, but soon I will need to dive into the manual to get some things sorted out.

 

If space is an issue get a Mikro... other option would be Komplete Kontrol Keys

 

You can absolutely use jam by itself but I would add the kontrol s keyboard.

 

Congrats on the studio!

 

Oh I love it. Whereas I start having seconds thoughts about the jam (pad contrast). But that issue aside, I really really appreciate NI and Maschine, as it let´s me dive right into things I want to explore and also have fun while doing so. The box came with the greyforge extension - I can just play around and learn a few things, so it´s instant access, playful learning - great experience, as this extension hits exactly one of my favourite styles. I´m not a fan of sampling packs etc, but this may now change, as I found this really useful and flexible, also great to peek into the details and learn a few tricks.

It will be time to dive into the manual soon, a lot dryer of course, but there is a few things I need to find out.