NI Maschine, worth the fun factor or gets boring quick?

bulgarianprince

New member
I have been watching the vids and rading up on the Maschine and It looks cool as shit. But, is it a piece of shit or just a toy? I miss my grooveboxes for the quick fun factor I was wondering if this is the same.

If they are cool, Im looking for a used Maschine or Micro on here or ebay or somewhere as cheap as possible. I also have an Alesis Sr 18 that I would dp a partial trade if anyone is interested in horse trading.
 
I like the software. The controller is nice due to its flexible mapping (I use it for a number of other programs and tasks). There is a sale going on that has Maschine and Maschine Mikro going for less than someone will try to sell you a used one for.

Maschine $399
Maschine Mikro $249

Worth $400.... yes. An MPD32 runs $299 by itself.

Maschine | Sweetwater.com
 
Wow, they are coming way down in price, makes me wonder If there is a newer version coming down the pike? Anyone see or hear about a newer model? Not that it make any diff to me, I wouldn't know the the diff anyway.
 
The change in price is likely to compete with the new MP-Controllers coming out soon. Seems more strategic than anything.
 
Yeah, i believe the price change is due to Akai coming with the new MPC's. Amazing how now that the MPC Ren is on the way, all of a sudden Maschine can be sold at $399! On the other hand, Akai is shooting themselves in the foot to a certain extent because they are supposedly releasing the MPC Ren at $1299 and it cannot run standalone. Therefore, it always has to be paired up to a computer and the MPC itself is a controller to control the MPC software. If AKai released it at $750 or so, instead of $1299, it would be game over.
 
Yea. I was expecting the price to be up there but not $1300. You never know though, depending on what it cost them to make it the price could change at any time.
 
Yea. I was expecting the price to be up there but not $1300. You never know though, depending on what it cost them to make it the price could change at any time.

I could understand it being a little more than Maschine because of the additonal midi ins/outs, audio interface, etc. But, at $1299, it is costing as much as a traditional standalone MPC. As a MPC 2500 owner, I would love to see the MPC software available for sale with a OS update that allows you to use your existing MPC...well at least the 2500, 1000, 5000....the ones that have USB ports and such.
 
Im not really even considering an MPC, don't get me wrong they are awesome. But the problem is that used you still have to pay a premium for them so they are always pretty pricy. On the other hand, that is always a good reason to pick one up. If you don't like it or want to get rid of it, you have a pretty good chance of not loosing your ass and that's saying something in the world of electronics.

How is the workaround on an MV8800? Anyone know? I have the opportunity to get one locally with the vid card and monitor for less than $600? They look like they would do the trick but I was looking at the way you work with one and it seems overly complicated at first look. Will the Maschine be better than the MV?
 
Im not really even considering an MPC, don't get me wrong they are awesome. But the problem is that used you still have to pay a premium for them so they are always pretty pricy. On the other hand, that is always a good reason to pick one up. If you don't like it or want to get rid of it, you have a pretty good chance of not loosing your ass and that's saying something in the world of electronics.

How is the workaround on an MV8800? Anyone know? I have the opportunity to get one locally with the vid card and monitor for less than $600? They look like they would do the trick but I was looking at the way you work with one and it seems overly complicated at first look. Will the Maschine be better than the MV?

Really just depends on your current and intended workflow. If you are already sequencing in a DAW the Maschine may be better for you. If you want a hardware sequencer maybe the MV8800. If you already have some sort of sample playback device you don't really need either.
 
I bought Maschine not long after it first came out... Love it! sounds great, great to use and has really changed my sound for the better.
HUGE fan! :p
 
I'd go for the Big Boy! well, I've owned one fro a long time, and have an Axiom controller also thats got loads of pads, faders and knobs, so I didn't gain a lot more control surface when I bought it. It's just how it's put together and the workflow on the Maschine that steals it for me. It really has a very nice feel to the whole thing. Even the construction of the unit itself has a nice solid feel, unlike my Axiom that feels a little bit plasticky.
 
Im not really even considering an MPC, don't get me wrong they are awesome. But the problem is that used you still have to pay a premium for them so they are always pretty pricy. On the other hand, that is always a good reason to pick one up. If you don't like it or want to get rid of it, you have a pretty good chance of not loosing your ass and that's saying something in the world of electronics.

How is the workaround on an MV8800? Anyone know? I have the opportunity to get one locally with the vid card and monitor for less than $600? They look like they would do the trick but I was looking at the way you work with one and it seems overly complicated at first look. Will the Maschine be better than the MV?

Get Maschine, we just sold our mv because of work flow and limits..
 
Yeah, I am really stoked to get a Maschine. I think I would be able to sell the Fantom X and my SR18 and still come out ahead of the curve. I admit I am a Gear Junkie and go through stuff way too often and I can’t stop myself? Can anyone recommend a good music therapist? Or support group? You know, we could call it MEA, music equipment anonymous.

Hi, My Name is Doug and I’m an equipment junkie and I had my last purchase 30 days ago, I am feeling tempted and need an intervention…lofl
 
I really considered getting maschine but the more I thought about it the more I realize I really just want a MPD. I love Kong and do not care a lot about the hands on workflow of Maschine and the samples that come with it are probably dope but that is really all I want from it. I have tons of drum sounds already and I have a decent sample chopping workflow. I get a lot done in Live too. I know people say that Maschine eats Kong alive but if its working for me why switch it up?
 
I really considered getting maschine but the more I thought about it the more I realize I really just want a MPD. I love Kong and do not care a lot about the hands on workflow of Maschine and the samples that come with it are probably dope but that is really all I want from it. I have tons of drum sounds already and I have a decent sample chopping workflow. I get a lot done in Live too. I know people say that Maschine eats Kong alive but if its working for me why switch it up?

Yeah, when Maschine went down in price, i really started thinking about getting one. The samples and plugins it comes with are dope. However, everytime i play with one in Guitar Center, I think it is okay, but the workflow is kind of confusing to me and I didn't think it was that intuitive. I still say that for me, over the years the easiest sequencers to figure out were the MPC's. I went into GC way back in the day and tried out a 2500 vs a MV 8800. The MV had all kinds of capailities, but the 2500 was so easy to walk up to and just start getting down with no manual or anything.

Another consideration for me was that the scene thing wasn't really for me, I preferred my linear style work flow and I found myself at GC trying to figure out how to get maschine to do that instead of using it the way it was designed. I kind of came to the conclusion I would have to either have to embrace the scene style, go with any pad controller and Cubase, or stick with MPC....maybe get the MPC Ren.
 
Yeah, when Maschine went down in price, i really started thinking about getting one. The samples and plugins it comes with are dope. However, everytime i play with one in Guitar Center, I think it is okay, but the workflow is kind of confusing to me and I didn't think it was that intuitive. I still say that for me, over the years the easiest sequencers to figure out were the MPC's. I went into GC way back in the day and tried out a 2500 vs a MV 8800. The MV had all kinds of capailities, but the 2500 was so easy to walk up to and just start getting down with no manual or anything.

Another consideration for me was that the scene thing wasn't really for me, I preferred my linear style work flow and I found myself at GC trying to figure out how to get maschine to do that instead of using it the way it was designed. I kind of came to the conclusion I would have to either have to embrace the scene style, go with any pad controller and Cubase, or stick with MPC....maybe get the MPC Ren.


I used to feel this way about the MPC for a while, but after using Maschine for 3 years now...there are definitely aspects of it's sequencer that I find faster than the MPC. The standalone MPCs still requires a lot of stopping the sequencer to perform operations, which gets annoying once you work in an environment that doesn't require you to stop. I think the MPC is the most tape machine-like of all the hardware sequencers, where as Maschine is much more like and Ableton Style sequencer with a dedicated hardware component. I didn't find the Ableton style sequencer intuitive at all, I definitely had to watch tutorials and read in order to get going. I could imagine that if Maschine is your first sequencing environment, you would have less problems adjusting to its workflow.
 
I used to feel this way about the MPC for a while, but after using Maschine for 3 years now...there are definitely aspects of it's sequencer that I find faster than the MPC. The standalone MPCs still requires a lot of stopping the sequencer to perform operations, which gets annoying once you work in an environment that doesn't require you to stop. I think the MPC is the most tape machine-like of all the hardware sequencers, where as Maschine is much more like and Ableton Style sequencer with a dedicated hardware component. I didn't find the Ableton style sequencer intuitive at all, I definitely had to watch tutorials and read in order to get going. I could imagine that if Maschine is your first sequencing environment, you would have less problems adjusting to its workflow.

Those are pretty much my thoughts. I tried Maschine and I still think about getting one time to time now that the price has dropped. I found the MPC to be the easiest but i agree that it may not always be the fastest. I found the fastest for me was using Cubase to sequence my hardware rack modules/keyboards. The only thing was that when i sequenced my hardware via Cubase, it was easy to lay down a midi 4 bars and cut, copy, paste, etc into a full song, but the feel was kind of off and stiff. Ironically it only felt this way sequencing hardware with Cubase but not using it to sequence plugins. It wasn't really due to latency either, it just had a wierd feel at times and I found myself spending alot of time trying to get the swing right, or manually moving notes in the piano roll.

Eventually, i went back to sequencing via the MPC and just syncing to Cubase to track out and record. At this point, since i have all my hardware still i need something that is able to control it all which is why I have kind of stuck with MPC and Cubase. I really am curious to see the Ren in action when it comes out. I think the software component of it would allow me to speed up a lot of functions but retain the work flow and feel.
 
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