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

[P. Casso]

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.

[Rusak]

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!

[bulgarianprince]

Wow, everyone seems to love the Maschine. I am planning on eliminating some equip that I have and replace it with either a MIkro or its big brother. I just don't know If I loose much with the Mikro?

[Rusak]

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.

[troublemaker$]

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..

[bulgarianprince]

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

[Xabiton]

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?

[youngjboy]

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.

[Focused]

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.

[youngjboy]

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.