Maschine loses the battle against Akai

There are many of us who used Akai MPCs until the first version of Maschine appeared. AND CHANGED THE GAME. Since mk1 came out I have been using Maschine in all my productions. Native was always one step ahead of AKAI but now it is the opposite. You just have to see products like Akai Force and the new MPCs. Compatibility with Ableton, key detector in the sample. New instruments ... but the most important thing: load the audios from the hard disk and not from the RAM.

I love the Maschine workflow but I think it is urgent to update with these features and improve the loading processes from SD. I have an extensive sound library on my SD card and I am desperate to find the sample I want among all the folders. IT'S SUPER SLOW! Maschine PLUS deserves better !!!

MASCHINE 3.0 ALREADY PLEASE! IT'S TIME TO GO AHEAD OF AKAI!

 

I was thinking the same thing yesterday. But my conclusion is : NI and Akai haven't the same target users or NI fail to catch Akai users... But anyway I am not particularly stick to Akai or NI, I thing it is not the point but more generally : Akai, NI, Roland, Behringer or Korg, which have the better Daw in a box that I would enjoy ?
So, I speak about from the hardware perspective.

It is clearly impossible to use Maschine+ as a totaly standalone device, the right term will be "semi-standalone", since :
- all basics things to deal with third-party midi hardware gear have to be prepared with a PC or Mac (macro/presets)
- presets for the majority of onboard plugins have to be prepared with a PC or Mac
- file management centered around NI presets
- too many CPU% are eat by pre-installed presets (even onboard song can't be played correctly)
- when you go somewhere to produce, you have to take your PC or Mac to not be stuck with the onboard presets

Clearly the Maschine+ can't replace a MPC X/LIVE/One, but still have good aspects if we take it as it is : a semi-standalone device, or a Maschine MK3 with extra features, no more !

It is sad that the Maschine+ can't beat MPCs X/LIVE/One. I have the both, and would sell my MPC, but I would keep it due to the lacks of those basics feature (even the old MC-80 can do better...)
Good ideas are put on it, it desserve better (or is it the commercial narrow of NI environment jail that prefend it to be better ?), and updates to compete with MPCs is already lost since Maschine+ can't bear the CPU% of the most of it's own plugins.

The possibility to resample external gear as an expedient for dawless setup, it is a defeat. How a gear (MPCs) with less CPU, memory and plugins can defeat one that have better specs ? Possibles answers :
- not a finished product
- miss of use cases (like dawless setup)
- too many things not optimized -> not finished
- commercial narrow

So my use case with Maschine+ is to create Sampler instrument and (what a pity) use my MPC One to create the sample for Maschine+. I though to use my MPC One to deal with program change and other CC, but it is each time to much work and cables. So I have 2 projects now : a "real" and funny dawless ring around my MPC One, and a semi-dawless box with my Maschine+.

I feel that a day will come when I will sell my Maschine+, in other word : I can replace my Maschine+ but not my MPC One. And ironically, I think buying a MPC Live or a Force to replace my MPC One. So definitively on my point of view : Maschine+ can't replace a MPC and it is forgettable, since the Maschine MK3 do the same thing and better...

 

my workflow was always sample-based. so I can freely create a song from scratch with maschine +. When I had the mk3 I could also create it without using the mouse. I always wanted a standalone where I could do lives, dj sessions and was attentive to the movements of akai and NI to see who of the two would hit first. Akai FORCE came out first and I didn't hesitate to buy it. but I was tremendously disappointed as it was an unfinished product. I have spent a year waiting, without using it, waiting for the midi enhancements, the use of ableton projects, the use of custom macro effects, and the option to load audio from the hard disk.

I was one of the first to buy it and until very very recently these updates did not come out. They were late, as I finally saw my machine, the maschine standalone, which I am used to because of its work flow.

Now I have the feeling that the same thing happens to me and I don't want to sell it because I know that day will come and I will regret it again.

Maschine has more CPU capacity than any MPC. I think that all these improvements can be adapted without problems but they do not do it for business or marketing reasons.

How many years went from maschine 1.0 software to Maschine 2.0?
Maschine mk1 was announced along with its 1.0 software.

Maschine mk2 came out and soon after they announced version 2.0

Maschine mk3 came out in 2017! and even without new software

Statistics say that every 5 years there is a new Maschine model. I do not know if for this 2022 or 2023 they will release a future Maschine together with its totally remodeled software.

If that were so, then if they would adapt the new software with these improvements for maschine plus.

Meanwhile we have to wait and suffer: S

 

I think it is the problem. As user (which pay for it), we have not to "wait and suffer" and I would add : "pray". New firmwares should only add functions to a finished product, and not add functions to finish the product. Akai MPC and Force have their bad side also (they are still not finished also...). I though NI was better than Akai but clearly they play the same (bad) game.

 

You can also use Maschine Kits in MPC by using Kit Maker.
I worked on this app to use Maschine Kits in other Daws, but I do still enjoy the Maschine itself.

 

I am pretty frustrated with my Maschine+ too. Not planning to change to AKAI but if I knew how bad things were I wouldn't have bought it.

 

What are you frustrated with? The RAM loading that the other user mentioned? I just got mine so havent used it much

 

When I saw the pecs of the hardware used before it came out, I saw that coming. It seemed to me like a brand new device made with leftover tech. Also mobile music got very efficient on tablet and phones, but a quad core was obviously sounding already weak with all it was promising. For that price I was expecting an internal nvme drive and a good mobile processor ( there was already plenty out) . Now tech is less affordable than ever. My computer from 2018 still has same value sold second hand as when I bought it new. My neighbour graphic card is X3 what it was worth.... New CPU and mobo are way too expensive. We used to pay same rates for new tech bit one day they decided to price per core and clock frequency . What a mistake!!. The whole thing is drawing in bad greed I stead of shining into real progress... We'll see what it brings but the last 2 years are just a shame . I hope it will all soon go back to normal...good rates, good lives ...simple

 

The cynic in me thinks that Maschine+ is just meant to be used with NI's expansions. A shiny Space Grey aluminum "DAWless" groovebox for the Kool Kids with too much money and no clue..

But then I finish my morning coffee and realize it's not so bad. The user interface and haptics of Maschine are still superb. It's just so undeveloped right now. NI is still figuring out what needs to change with the Mas workflow if it is to be used 100% without being tethered to a computer. I can only hope this aspect will eventually be tackled, at least to a tolerable degree, before the eventual EOL of the product.

If we ever get disk streaming, Full Kontakt compatibility and comprehensive MIDI control (CC automation/Program changes etc), things will already change significantly for the better. I don't see any of these potential enhancements as an impossibility.

But NI as a company is also in flux right now, so how much resources and motivation they have for improving the development of Maschine+ remains to be seen.. I think what we are seeing is a reflection of internal unrest within NI itself. Like what ever happened to Traktor? They are in between a nu gen version which is still super basic, and an old version which will probably not see much updates going forward.. And iOS version of Traktor doesn't even support Files app for christ's sake.

 

I think Akai was right from the start with the approach given to their products. Native Instruments does not.

Now correcting those errors is going to be difficult for Native Instruments.
At a minimum they should implement these features:
- A classic search engine with tag editor to respect what we have already done.
- An editor for midi controls for both in (third-party controllers) and out (control synthesizers)
- An automation editor.

I see this as something essential. Otherwise you can work well with Maschine + and the things that it brings.
I started creating music with Modplug Tracker, something much less powerful than Maschine + and I did everything with samples.

I also want to make it clear that I think like many of you, they are taking too long to hit the table.

 

I bought it early on and there were too many frustrating factors ever since. Freezes, midi issues (still not solved), unable to load some virtual instruments I use with the Mac, poor support (in my opinion), plus a few more annoyances and bugs here and there.

In the end, it's my own fault for falling for the appeal of an unproven product. NI is not unique in this sense, everyone wants to speed up time to market to beat the competition but in the end I do regret buying. Having said that, I still use it quite a lot and it has some pretty cool features. I am not planning to sell and honestly hope they deliver the potential this little box has.

 

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When you create a software program designed to work with both win and mac os and all the different computer hardware out there, (and especially if theres a hardware device integrated into the software product) its not unexpected to have issues after launch.

But when youre creating a standalone product, that runs software on a device that you designed yourslf, there arent many excuses as to why the product doesnt function exactly a intended on day one.