MPC vs Maschine vs Other options

Wontu

New member
Dear Future Producers,
I've been making beats on FL studio 10 for the past few or so months and I really enjoy it and would love to keep making them.
I want to move on and past FL Studio, though and I have done some research and such.
I am stuck between an MPC 2000XL and a Native Instruments Maschine.
I want to make hip hop music that includes sampling and jazzy instruments and such. I also play guitar and keyboard.
My favorite producer would have to be Exile, definitely the work he's done with Blu.

Can someone help me with my decision?
I'm open for other options as well
thank you..

-Wontu

---------- Post added at 06:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:20 PM ----------

and is the MPC4000 worth an extra 100-200?
 
I started on FL then went to Maschine then to an MPC 2000XL along with an ASR 10. Then I sold everything, traveled for awhile then came back got re-geared and am now back on FL. I also want a Maschine though, and I think with Studio One it would be an awesome pair.
 
The maschine would definitely be better then the 2000xl, the 2000xl is slow as hell, though I would rather have a 2500 w/jjos/5000/Ren over the maschine because they are all faster then the maschine, just the maschine comes with a lot of good sounds and has more effects, if you're good with Fruity loops then why dont u stick with that and get better?
 
I would rather have a 2500 w/jjos/5000/Ren over the maschine because they are all faster then the maschine
No, they're not. Just because you're more used to one thing doesn't mean it has a better/faster workflow. Hardware MPC's slow ass process for tracking out to computer makes it so much slower than Maschine.
 
I've never used an MPC, or Maschine. I've got an MV8800 & it's alright. I'm slowly learning how to use it as generally go straight to the computer. Record/sample bits & pieces, copy & paste.

I recently had to go on a trip & decided to take the MV with me & learn how to use it. First issue, you need a huge suitcase to stick this thing in. Any of the MPCs would have fit into a regular sized suitcase much easier.

I learned how to record patterns in the MV, then play those patterns from the pads & record in real time. That's a pretty cool way to work. I think you can do the same thing on an MPC. Also looks like you can do the same with Live & a Live controller....... I think I may be going that way.

One thing I do not like about the MV & I think it's the same way with an MPC, is that it is a lot of work, very time consuming, to take a construction kit type CD chop it up into loops & properly name each loop. This is much easier/faster in ProTools & Sonar & I would imagine other software DAWs as well.
 
I've always been a fan of the MPC for the sound & the interraction more than anything, The maschine is good & quick, I just feel like its a little unstable program wise though. My mate has one & I don't know why but it crash often when you use the programs vsts, I mean it may just be the macbook but I've heard of the same issue before, sucks because there has been times where we lost projects cause the program crashs. IMO u should wait till the MPC renaissance comes out though.
 
Im feeling the same way, Ive been looking hard at some MPCs but now looking at pre ordering a maschine.

I keep reading how much faster and better the maschine is but still something keeps drawing me to the MPC. Im 50/50 right now. Maschine seems like the best of both worlds to be honest and looks to have a way better workflow.
 
K ▲ L Y Y U G ▲;49479083 said:
I've always been a fan of the MPC for the sound & the interraction more than anything, The maschine is good & quick, I just feel like its a little unstable program wise though. My mate has one & I don't know why but it crash often when you use the programs vsts, I mean it may just be the macbook but I've heard of the same issue before, sucks because there has been times where we lost projects cause the program crashs. IMO u should wait till the MPC renaissance comes out though.


That sucks. I've run maschine on a cheap windows laptop, macbookpro, custom windows maschine... no issues..
I'm interested in the new mpc reminds me of my Mpc 3000 (build wise)
 
That sucks. I've run maschine on a cheap windows laptop, macbookpro, custom windows maschine... no issues..
I'm interested in the new mpc reminds me of my Mpc 3000 (build wise)

True! I'm thinking it may just be an issue with thier laptops. I like the maschine, great programing and hardware. I'm very interested in Akai's programing, it's the only thing that has let them down in the past with lpd8, etc...
 
It's obvious the "MPC" Ren doesn't come anywhere close to Maschine:

- the Ren still requires you to use the mouse for a lot of things. It's nowhere near Maschine in terms of Maschine's hands-on workflow from just the hardware. It's hard to do anything but the most basic functions with the Ren controller's built in screen alone. I can do just about anything on Maschine's hardware with my laptop closed. You can't even nudge notes from the Ren's hardware and you can't open/close instrument plugin windows from the hardware (Maschine can open/close any plugin window just from the hardware)

- you have to stop the Ren's sequencer to do things like loading samples/files

- no 64bit support

- it doesn't receive MIDI clock or MTC in standalone mode

- no RTAS support (for anyone using Pro Tools)

- Ren doesn't have independent swing (Maschine has it per sound/group/master) and it doesn't work in realtime

- you can't manually add/remove slices

- Ren's software will not run without the Ren controller being attached

- the Renaissance controller is not usb bus-powered and requires an ac adapter

- the Ren doesn't have a fast pad duplicate feature like Maschine and even if you copy samples to different pads in the Ren, editing a pad will affect all pads instead of each pad having its own setting like Maschine

- it doesn't even support all of Akai's own legacy MPC file formats (doesn't read .ALL or .APS and ignores things like "Effects, Q Link slider events, Mute groups/mute targets, velocity sensitive parameters (V > Att etc), LFO, sequence track assignments, song files, any JJOSXL specific feature (e.g. NDC related data etc")

- there's a growing list of bugs that the beta testers missed. Simplest things makes it crash (Copying sequences, Clearing programs, Duplicating Inst Program...etc.)
and other bugs like notes getting stuck, screen problems...etc.

and it obviously doesn't have Komplete 8 integration that Maschine has where all presets from Komplete 8 can be browsed and loaded just from the hardware.
 
Buy a Roland SP404-SX. You got nice effects and beatcreating functions.

The problem with Maschine is that you depend on the computer software, so the quality is less than a MPC (or my Roland SP404-SX).
If you can, go to a store and let the seller tell you everything you want to know, try different products maybe you fall in love with another Sampler.
 
Buy a Roland SP404-SX. You got nice effects and beatcreating functions.

The problem with Maschine is that you depend on the computer software, so the quality is less than a MPC (or my Roland SP404-SX).
If you can, go to a store and let the seller tell you everything you want to know, try different products maybe you fall in love with another Sampler.
i like the boss/roland sps, about as much as i like my mpc 1000 (more fun but less practical.) but for most people it's not a good choice IMO, it's kind of hard to learn.

---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:52 PM ----------

also the 404sx is ridiculously priced IMO, should be 300 at most. new they're 500, used they're around 375, better off getting a used 303 for 175-200 to decide if you can even mess with the 303-404 concept of a sampler, it's not like an mpc, mv, maschine or whatnot at all.
 
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It's obvious the "MPC" Ren doesn't come anywhere close to Maschine:

- the Ren still requires you to use the mouse for a lot of things. It's nowhere near Maschine in terms of Maschine's hands-on workflow from just the hardware. It's hard to do anything but the most basic functions with the Ren controller's built in screen alone. I can do just about anything on Maschine's hardware with my laptop closed. You can't even nudge notes from the Ren's hardware and you can't open/close instrument plugin windows from the hardware (Maschine can open/close any plugin window just from the hardware)

- you have to stop the Ren's sequencer to do things like loading samples/files

- no 64bit support

- it doesn't receive MIDI clock or MTC in standalone mode

- no RTAS support (for anyone using Pro Tools)

- Ren doesn't have independent swing (Maschine has it per sound/group/master) and it doesn't work in realtime

- you can't manually add/remove slices

- Ren's software will not run without the Ren controller being attached

- the Renaissance controller is not usb bus-powered and requires an ac adapter

- the Ren doesn't have a fast pad duplicate feature like Maschine and even if you copy samples to different pads in the Ren, editing a pad will affect all pads instead of each pad having its own setting like Maschine

- it doesn't even support all of Akai's own legacy MPC file formats (doesn't read .ALL or .APS and ignores things like "Effects, Q Link slider events, Mute groups/mute targets, velocity sensitive parameters (V > Att etc), LFO, sequence track assignments, song files, any JJOSXL specific feature (e.g. NDC related data etc")

- there's a growing list of bugs that the beta testers missed. Simplest things makes it crash (Copying sequences, Clearing programs, Duplicating Inst Program...etc.)
and other bugs like notes getting stuck, screen problems...etc.

and it obviously doesn't have Komplete 8 integration that Maschine has where all presets from Komplete 8 can be browsed and loaded just from the hardware.
Disregard the Machine 1.8 bug thread: Ok 1.8 is great but let's talk bugs - NI User Forums


1. Maschine doesn't have dedicated buttons for a lot of things on both the hardware and in the sequencer. It has numerous Shift + functions or tabs that you have to press the cursor button to toggle through available options. In the software, it displays its sound editing params on 6 separate pages; all these params are displayed on one MPC Ren page in the software.

2. Maschine was built as a groove box. So it doesn't have the traditional multi-track sequencer that every other workstation on the market has. So you can't import MIDI files from other applications.

3. Maschine supports 64 bit. But when loaded with the same number plugins as the Ren, your computers memory is max'd out just the same. Maschine DOES NOT load more plugins than the Ren.

4. Maschine doesn't send or receive MTC (MIDI Time Code) sync

5. Maschine's swing is a shadow of what the Ren and any MPC can do. MPC Ren's Time Correct Menu has params for Time Division, Swing, Strength, Shift timing, and Window. These params can be applied to an entire track, individual sounds/notes, or a specified range. This can be done during recording or after recording even when the sequencer is playing.

6. You can not click on the sample waveform to add or remove slices in Maschine.

7. Maschine doesn't have a fast non-destructive chopping feature like the Ren. Maschine can not have 128 independent slices mapped across a group. Maschine' Split Region editing is limited to fixed increments.

8. Maschine doesn't output MIDI like a traditional MIDI sequencer (which it obviously isn't). While the Ren gives you 64 independent MIDI channels, Maschine only gives you 16. If you have multiple MIDI devices connected, it will send the same information to all MIDI devices.

9. Maschine doesn't have a sound or group mixer of any sort. You can't create complex mixes with automation like the Ren can. You can't conveniently mix plugin and MIDI instruments having a fully automated mixer with faders and knobs.

10. Maschine sample edit processes overwrites samples and undo them in nearly the same fashion has the Ren. But unlike Maschine, these commands are not buried in some drop down menu. Maschine doesn't have dedicate buttons for sample editing processes. Maschine's Fade In/Out doesn't give you options to select the type of fade you want to apply like the Ren does. Maschines doesn't have an adjustable bit reduce or Stereo to Mono converter in Sample Edit Mode like the Ren.

11. Maschine doesn't have a fast and intuitive way to quickly assign samples to a pad from the hardware. You can't load up a bunch of samples and then quickly assign these samples to any sound across any group with the speed of the Ren. You don't get global program editing on the level of the Ren. Not only can you edit globally on the Ren, you can select two or more pads and simultaneously edit their params at one time; Maschine doesn't have anything related to this.

12. Maschine doesn't not match the level of control or speed of the Ren's hardware. There is no number pad to quickly punch in values. There is no dedicated record replace button.There is no dedicated/programmable locate button. No dedicated Full Level and 16 level buttons. No dedicate vintage mode buttons. Maschine's software has far exceeded what the hardware was built for. Yet the software is still primitive when looking at some basic functions such as MIDI,

13. Um...Maschine's software does not display all available params on one screen. Nearly every page you have to use a drop down menu or tab to access basic things. This is tedious and completely ruins the experience.

14. The Ren can drag-n-drop a folder containing 1000+ samples to load into RAM. Maschine doesn't have anywhere close to this power. You can load up as many programs as your computer allows when using the Ren. And then freely choose which program you want to use on a particular track. Maschine is certainly not on the same level.

15. There is no drum machine or workstation on the market that supports legacy MPC formats like the Ren does. The Ren is the only solution to accomplish this.

***UPDATES COMING***
NI releases updates to give Maschine more MPC features (time stretch, pitch shifting, improved sequence editing, save groups with samples, choke all notes, auditioning from the hardware, etc). 1.8 is a complete joke for MPC users that have always had these features. :lol:

Akai is releasing updates to include features that Maschine and no other MPC has. Without completing overhauling Maschine, each update would mean that are only trying to catch up.
 
Akai has already stopped producing what they were best known for (hardware MPCs) after they got left behind with the advent of Maschine. Now they're trying to milk what they can out of the fanboys by having rushed to put out an extremely buggy beta software with a glorified MPD controller and rebadging it as "MPC".

MPC Ren doesn't even have tagging in the browser and can't even detect tempo of samples.
 
Get an MPC to learn on. I think it will make you more efficient at making beats. The problem w/ DAW + Software is the ability to go off on tangents w/ infinite VST's and features, etc.

I've owned Maschine, MPC2KXL for most of my career, SP-1200, use Reason 6.5 for 90% of my work and plan on copping the MPC Renaissance.

They all have their strengths and weaknesses. But I think moving from a limited enviroment (older drum machine) to a DAW, Maschine, or Renaissance will make you appreciate workflow and help creativity.

At the end of the day it all achieves the same result... the creative process is why we do this! So that has to BE FUN! and FEEL RIGHT!
 
i like the boss/roland sps, about as much as i like my mpc 1000 (more fun but less practical.) but for most people it's not a good choice IMO, it's kind of hard to learn.

I've never EVER seen nor heard anyone say the Roland SP's are hard to learn. LMAO you lookin kinda crazy for that one.
 
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