Native Instruments Maschine

but will you be able to put a donk on it?

the software looks like a NI skin for ableton live

and yet, it isn't.

So I got mine. Anyone else get one, or plan on getting one?

dunno man. NI is going total street level consumer w/ their shit. Ads? HHmm..

this is why I'm not sold on their approach. They really pander to the lowest denominator, and make fat bloated stuff with bad usability. The new kontakt is better than the last, so there is hope, but it's still not worth $500 or what ever.

I'd rather build some shit myself and have something unique.

anyone use this thing yet?

if so whats it like?

i watched some videos of it that seemed a little underwhelming.

I am way more interested in the Akai controller to be honest. No money to get one though. :(

Yeah i watched some of the vids and thought it was pretty easy to get things going, but i just couldnt get past the fact it is just a fancy midi controller but with the added bonus of being able to have control over a sequence, automation effects etc. The videos on the website tho gives you the impression that either way the software will often be left dormant and vice versa. I can see it being useful in live situations maybe.

i like it.

It's exactly what I wanted: an MPC that is fully integrated with a DAW on a computer.

No issues with onboard memory, and you can run multiple instances as VSTis within any host (i.e. Ableton), which really opens up the possibilities for live performance. I was never satisfied with rewiring Reason in this way. Too many bugs and hiccups.

Another thng that you don't get from any MPD/PadKontrol/etc midi controller, is the midi/visual feedback, similar to monome.

Using this as a pure ableton controller, you can see which clips are playing just by looking at which pads are lit up or flashing. You can even switch control back and forth between host software and Maschine VSTi software just by pressing a button on the device. No more mouse.

Overall, the best thing about this is that you cuold use the Maschine software to create/perform tracks, or use the device to control software, like Ableton... all with no monitor. you get enough visual feedback and control on the device that you can just turn off the monitor or close your laptop.

wow this looks amazing... guitar center caries it for $599... could probably talk them down to $550 out the door... *ponders*

  goffer said:

wow this looks amazing... guitar center caries it for $599... could probably talk them down to $550 out the door... *ponders*

last time i was in there they said they had changed their policy so that they couldn't barter. supposedly they lowered their prices as low as they are willing to go...

but $599 is already $70-80 off list

  blicero said:

i like it.

 

It's exactly what I wanted: an MPC that is fully integrated with a DAW on a computer.

beyond if functioning just like an mpc and being a midi controller, does it have any other notable features?

i remember seeing some beat slicing options on it but i wasn't sure if that real time controllable

  blicero said:

  goffer said:

wow this looks amazing... guitar center caries it for $599... could probably talk them down to $550 out the door... *ponders*

 

last time i was in there they said they had changed their policy so that they couldn't barter. supposedly they lowered their prices as low as they are willing to go...

 

but $599 is already $70-80 off list

hmmm i certainly hope that's not true :( hopefully it's just a location thing.

  Awepittance said:

  blicero said:

i like it.

 

It's exactly what I wanted: an MPC that is fully integrated with a DAW on a computer.

 

beyond if functioning just like an mpc and being a midi controller, does it have any other notable features?

i remember seeing some beat slicing options on it but i wasn't sure if that real time controllable

yes.

you can switch between pad mode (1 sample per pad), keyboard mode (spreads sample across pads chromatically), or step mode... which lights up the pads in sequence when you hit record, like a monome, or a 909/etc.

it is a 2-way device, like the monome, so you get visual feedback from the pads and screens.

you can sample external or internal audio and slice via transients or 1/16 notes across pads, etc...

it has a load of "onboard" fx that can be applied at the sample/pad group/master level

it has a wide range of quantization options... you can nudge notes 100% or 50% quantized, to get notes close to quantized without losing the natural feel of the performance.

you can switch control between multiple hosts/DAW by simply pressing SHIFT+ARROW to toggle through software, the device automatically changes template and feedback (as the video above demonstrates)

If I had to simply describe it, I would say that it is a mix between an MPC and a Monome powered by a kind of simplified Ableton-style app.

There are some features missing, but it's brand new and software/firmware updates are on the way. I expect this thing to be 110% awesome in the next 3+ months.

  goffer said:

  blicero said:

  goffer said:

wow this looks amazing... guitar center caries it for $599... could probably talk them down to $550 out the door... *ponders*

 

last time i was in there they said they had changed their policy so that they couldn't barter. supposedly they lowered their prices as low as they are willing to go...

 

but $599 is already $70-80 off list

hmmm i certainly hope that's not true :( hopefully it's just a location thing.

could be.

but honestly... the price is pretty great. if you compare it to an MPC, it's insanely cheap.

seems pretty cool, i was mainly interested in it for more during live shows so i dont have to lug out my drum machines (machinedrum and korg electribe), and the fact that it has monome style visual feedback is pretty cool makes it seem more like a drum machine than a midi controller. ill have to play with one before i decide to buy on.

I'm fairly certain I'm going to sell my MPD24 and Korg ESX-1 to fund this... i watched all the youtube vids on it... it's amazing. The AKAI one looks pretty cool too... more affordable but the Maschine is more my thing.

went and picked this up :) pics and my thoughts later

Alright here are some pic's and stuff:

[click for higher res]

My mobile set up:

pads:

pads and knobs:

knobs:

i/o :

So far in just toying with ableton I can say I really like it :) They make it very seamless when going from DAW to the Maschine VST... I can control each at the press of a button. I cold very well start and complete an entire track without using my mouse when I master it me thinks. I got it for $550 at guitar center plus tax though :-/ blicero was right they dont haggle any more only price match but somehow I got him to price match a nonexistent retailer.

Anywho... back I go to mess with it!

  Rubin Farr said:

http://forum.watmm.com/index.php?showtopic...amp;hl=Maschine

dude you made an older thread, thats fucking amazing

just played with one of these for a few hours at my friends house.

Pretty cool all around, mostly played with the step/grid mode didnt do much real time recording, but the ability to switch timing grids so easily is extremely fun to use. You can lay down a 16th note bass drum pattern and layer over top of it in seconds a 16th note triplet hi hat rhythm.

the positives:

-very easy to learn, in 2 hours i was feeling very comfortable jamming expressively on it

-the ability to switch back and forth and layer lots of different timings on top of eachother

-random LFO very useful for modulating stuff like velocity and its very easy to setup

-parameter locking like on the machinedrum where one can easily have different parameters for every step (effects, pitch, velocity etc)

-when in step mode you can't even tell there is latency

negatives:

-software seems very unfinished and very very bare & minimalist. its unfortunate these is no ability to load in other NI plugins or have some kind of integration with them upon release.

I hope they plan to at least revamp the shit out of the software because the potential for craziness is huge, but i feel kind of trapped using this dinky little prog

-drum machine sampling engine is significantly weaker than even Battery 2.0, lots of the features i've come to love about NI's sampling line have been completely omitted

-slicing feature is very simplistic compared to NI's other beat slicing tools or any other software beat slicer for that matter, resembles more of a straight forward automatic hardware beat slicer from the 1990s

overall its a cool tool, but i definitly wont be buying one until they ad a lot more to the software. The software portion feels beta right now but with a very solid nice piece of hardware with a shit load of potential.

Friend of mine just go NI Maschine. I should be going over there to play with it tomorrow.

i havent even got to play with mine yet really :(

made a little tune last night to test its slicing feature... did use any of it's sounds or anything just fucked about with some vinyl and my samples.

Found this website that sells the educational version for $448.95 LINK

I printed it out and took it into Guitar Center with hopes of getting a price match (didnt really expect to since it's an "educational version") but after talking to 2 managers, the lead of the store, and threatening to just return it I was able to get them to pricematch it and saved $140 :)