Well If I were to ever get another maschine I would not skimp and get another mk2... I would get the studio as I have seen it in person at dubspot and its integration with the 2.0 software is much better than the mk2 which has a bunch of workarounds to get the same things done. Plus I do not play live so portability is not something I care about. I also just finished the maschine course at dubspot so to jump on another DAW after I just spent much time learning the ins and outs of maschine is going to be difficult. But, maschine is not quite there yet in terms of being an interface that I do not need to leave to get my beats ready for the radio and online... There are still some basic things that they neglected that I am sure will be in another update that costs more money. Sure it has a mixer now but so do most drum maschines... and that does not justify spending more than twice what most leading DAW's cost that can do much more. Sure maschine will be even more awesome in the future... I love making beats with it and will not be able to easily go back to clicking the mouse as opposed to hitting the pads, but after this crap they just pulled with not releasing the 1.9 update and going straight into a new controller and 2.0 after many of us had just bought the mk2 this year is an inconsiderate move. Now anyone who buys the mk2 currently will get the 2.0 update... but if you bought it even a month or two ago you would have to pay 99 bucks for 2.0. I feel like if I shell out the cash for the studio than in a year or two who is to say they don't release another controller that is "a game changer, yada yada." My options right now are as follows... Use FL for a few months until I can get the cash for the studio (Also waiting for an update or two to make sure I made the right decision), go with reason 7 and buy a midi keyboard controller which will still be a few hundo less than the studio, or start fresh and learn a more professional DAW like studio one, Cubase, or Sonar. I did hear that the stock sounds in the earlier maschine trumped the stock reason sounds... And the new 2.0 update has insane new sounds. The drum synth pretty much guarantees you do not need anymore drum sounds ever.
Don't get it twisted though... I am not a mixing engineer who would like the ability to make beats... I am a beat maker/producer first. So I am not as concerned about the advanced mixing features that Cubase, Pro tools, Studio One, etc. offers because it may be overkill for me. I just want an interface that allows me to quickly get my ideas out with great stock sounds and effects so that I am not VST hunting just to make a decent track. would then like an area where it is easy to record my guitar into. I have a dedicated mixing engineer who records my artists for me and mixes and masters the final track. But as far as putting my beats up for display online and getting people to notice them... I need a nice mixing area in the DAW that will allow me to get good quality mixes without my brain hurting from having to do 3 months of tutorials to learn how to slide a fader.I have a PC by the way, which stops me from looking at Logic, which is a shame... Demoed Cubase and studio one- they look better for guys recording multiple instruments and making more rock and things like that than for a guy who uses midi instruments to make hip hop. Might be more than I need as I want a beat making environment first and a good mixer (Does not have to be world class) second. I hear many good things about reason but at the same time I would hate to learn another DAW after learning maschine and FL and then the in a year the maschine is on par with all DAWS and has even better workflow... (Because let's be honest... if maschine eventually contains all of the features of a full fledged DAW, which it almost does as is, the fact that the workflow already kills most DAW's will make it a no brainer for hip hop and EDM guys. The possibility of making and mixing a competitive beat (Easily) using only maschine in standalone is pretty much what producers who use maschine have been waiting for. this way they do not have to bounce out to another DAW and then reset the way they think to compensate for the pointing and clicking annoyances that ensue.) Sorry for the rant guys... Just about to spend a decent amount of money and do not want to make a mistake.