Open Letter to iMaschine Staff

Hello,

I wanted to write a long drawn out letter to express my feelings about this app and a wish list of items I wanted and that this community has begged for for YEARS but I decided against that and decided to reflect on what this app has been through and my thoughts. Please correct me if I'm wrong in The below reflection.

iMaschine

Aug. 17 2011
Launched

Oct. 5 2011
Pattern Length fix

Dec. 6 2011
Big Fixes

May 4 2012
Performance improvements.

May 22 2012
Fixed export to Maschine (after performance improvements??)

May 22 2014 (2 YEARS TO THE DATE AND 3 YEARS AFTER LAUNCH)
iPad optimization
iTunes sampling
GUI facelift
Etc.

Dec 11 2014
Audiobus Integration

Then a number of BUG FIXES and Expansion Packs until.....

Nov. 12 2015
iMaschine 2

Which provided "Colors" (really??), LIMITED sequencing and arranging, export to Soundcloud, Smart Keyboard (actually useful).

In between all of this, there have been ~42 expansion packs released in the range of $0.99 - $1.50 each (dependent on your location). So, for the enthusiasts of mobile music making who believes in this product you have probably spent in the range of $45-$70 for both apps and all of the expansions that have been released.

In the 5 years that this (and the follow up) app have been out, from the first to the most recent iteration, it has done very little to improve upon its functionality and has cost more than most music making apps that offer studio quality music making ability. Most of the apps I speak of, no names required, do not have the convenience of a community of users who have already spent hundreds of dollars on their companies other products (hardware & software) but are usually small office setups (sometimes just a handful of programmers) who have taken their love of music making and provided a QUALITY PRODUCT that does not require fleecing their customer base in order to "make a buck".

I would say I'm disappointed in Native Instruments, but that would be foolish. You, like the rest of the world, are in the business of making money. As an example, based on my perception of where I thought the company was going with the iPad, I bought both the Traktor app and Traktor S4 MK2. Without so much as a word out of NI, I just figured "they must be going that route for iMaschine!!"

No, I'm not disappointed with NI. I am pissed with myself.

Pissed for being duped.

I just wanted to inform you all, that you have lost a customer. I decided that for my mobile workflow, the MPC Element and iMPC Pro (or even my QuNeo and Beatmaker2) were a more cost EFFECTIVE solution for my needs and allow me to do more with "grooves and sketches" than your app has ever offered.

Thank you for your time.

Cess

 

Bro, are you really complaining about spending like $50 on an app and a bunch of expansions?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yes, Yes I am.

Not necessarily the cost but the lack of value. Strictly in comparison to the other offerings in the App Store that offer just as much, or in most cases, more capabilities, sounds and functionality.

I expect more from NI and, as I have stated before, own several of their other products. So it's not just "$50" it's actually in and around $1,500-$2,000 of products.

As a CUSTOMER I am entitled to voice my distaste with a product purchased. Just voicing MY OPINION and advising that they should step their "iGame" up.

If you have issues with me feeling a certain way, then that is exactly what it is.

Your Issue.

Have a great weekend.

 

What other products offer more value

 

The only other apps I've used GarageBand ,and Yamaha sequencer they offer way more value (they were free ) and they're both way better. Personally just use maschine ,I don't really touch Imaschine anymore it's to limited

 

There you have it.

It's not really about which apps offer more value, because to be honest, there are way too many to name in here and easy to find if you just take a look in the App Store.

At the end of the day, this is a mediocre app from a company who has done some pretty remarkable things on the hardware/software side of things.

I can only speak for myself here, but I've been using an iPad for music production more and more over the past couple of years and it is slowly becoming popular amongst a lot of other producers/writers that I have worked with and have happened to meet. For one, any user can buy a synthesizer keyboard app for a FRACTION of the cost of any software or hardware synth sold in music stores, plug in a MIDI controller and you're good to go.

You can't even plug in ANY controller for iMaschine?!?!!!

Silly, really.

 

Another point I'd like to mention is that iMaschine was originally designed as "a groove sketch pad" for the iPhone which is all well and good. But in the four years in between the release of iMaschine to iMaschine 2 the best they could give us was colours???

That and the addition of a Smart Keyboard that you cannot connect to a MIDI controller?!?!!

WEAK.

To me that's a huge waste and missed opportunity to create a Pro version for iPad users.

 

Oh, I have.

You can see my set up in my profile pic for any work I need to do while traveling. I'm actually beta testing for an app right now, and that one is going to change iOS music production. (Don't ask, I ain't gonna tell you. #NDA)

I posted the open letter after I saw that NI posted a open letter (finally appearing in this forum) and decided to write one for the iMaschine users.

I've been left this app behind. Just letting them know they missed an opportunity.

Haven't bought any expansions, or any NI products in over a year now. Again, not here to bash. Would gladly like to be "all in" with NI but the limitations that I have come across (not just iMaschine) and other users have pointed have caused me to step away.

Hopefully, not for good. Just for now. Wouldn't have even posted anything had I not been bored when I wrote the letter. It's a day off Saturday for me today, so I'm just killing time. But tomorrow when I step foot in my lab, believe that I will be working off my iPad.

 

I have a Maschine Mikro for my Mac and iMaschine 2 on my phone. I use iMaschine easily 10x more often. I love its simplicity and immediacy.

I'd love to see USB midi keyboard support and also Ableton Link in the metronome though, and would buy the app again to get it.

 

I am also disapointed, and would not spend a dime on any "mobile" NI Products anymore.
Traktor DJ was a HUGE step forward back then
iMaschine was a HUGE step forward back then.
Nothing happened since then, and it suxxx!!!!!111

Tell me, why other companies like Korg or Arturia do amazing stuff and NI is stuck right here?

Bye the way, I wiped TDJ and iMaschine (and I paid the full price back then) off my iPad, since it just occupies valuble space. Thanks NI

 

If they added a key editor , and let u use more than 4 patterns, it would be so much better ,

 

You're comparing the five dollar im2 app to korg's forty dollar app?

 

I think he's also including the cost of all the expansions.

But if you look at apps like DM1, Beatmaker2, Nanostudio, Music Studio and even Garage Band. There are a number of offerings that are around the cost of iMaschine that offer the user more capabilities/functionality.

In my opinion, if you make an app that doesn't do or offer more than GarageBand (which is free to Apple users anyway) what is the point of even making an app other than to fleece your user base.

Essentially,

"Here's something mediocre, but it has our name on it. So you should buy it".

"We won't make any significant upgrades to it but we will continue to add expansions for you to spend more money".

"It's only a $1 for an expansion, who can't afford that??? But in order for you to use it on your home studio you need to buy the full expansion as well. But what's another $50??"

Said it before and I'll say it again...

WEAK

 

GarageBand ios cost me 5 dollars it isn't free for apple owners. It's free on macintoshes but not iPhones.

For the money i am very happy with iMaschine 2. Ios GarageBand I rarely use.

I don't have any problem using the samples from iMaschine expansions (which in bought as a cheap bundle) on myncomouter in the Maschine sosftware or elsewhere.

And lol at including the cost of all the expansions in a comparison anyways. And speaking of expansions and samples, pretty much everyone agrees iMaschine has the best sounding ones by far and best variety.

 

Nope, I am comparing TDJ for wich I paid 15€, and another 5,99 for the iPhone, and Maschine for wich I also paid 15€ and also a couple of Bucks for separate content.

Soooooo, I've spend more than I have spend on the Korg Gadget (wich was by the way 19,99).
Instead of promising and not fulfilling features, or even killing wonderful features like the Dropbox metasync, I would love to hear a lame excuse from NI. And if Apple is to blame, plz, tell me.

 

All of you commenting on what some one should do about how they feel about an app is ludicrous... Did you pay for it or are you gonna refund his money or can you give back the time he waisted? All of you acting like you have to be the defenders of NI, while you actually just end up complaining about someone who's complaining. No one came to the thread saying "hey you with your head in the sand, you need to complain with me" then I might could understand why you guys are so eager to shut down anything that has criticism towards NI, but I still don't see the need to try and regulate another mans pockets or opinion nor what he should do with what he bought. If you love it then continue to love it but reality is the app needs work just like the Maschine needs and needed work for serval years period... And when you just continue to buy NI products without any feedback you get treated accordingly. And to the moderators this passive aggressive behavior should be forbidden because all it does is antagonize people who are already frustrated and came here to get answer or voice opinions not start an argument.

 

Very well said.

 

I like Imaschine 2 for what it does. I like using imaschine 2 on my iphone plus and ipad pro. Great workflow. Did you buy all the expansions for imaschine? I like them. I would like more instruments though.

 

Engrossing...

 

Imaschine will continue to grow, but still good enough to knock out some bangers