New Maschine from Native Instruments!
 

http://www.native-instruments.com/en...schine-studio/



just keeps getting better and better... :cool:

Looks like they're really moving toward Maschine being a replacement for DAW and computer with the new displays. I wonder if they will put DSP/CPU in future models and make it pure standalone hardware? Not sure I'd have a use for that, but will be interesting to see where the product line goes.

I don't think they will go down that route at all. I think their strategy is very similar to what's been done with Ableton's Push. The idea is that a computer is running things in the background, but this new devices offer the chance of having a workflow that is similar to working with hardware, they feel like real instruments instead of just computer work.

I see them as one of the companies that really put faith on the software side of things, but are now trying to feel the gap between physical interface and the software with this new insightful devices. In other words, the emphasys is now on the interaction between the packages of software and the user at the physical level and accessibility in terms of design.

It's funny how they are all related: Ableton with Native Instruments for example, they've worked together on a number of projects and share a very similar approach. And Akai - that's helped with many controllers for Ableton and also Push, and perhaps Novation whose phylosophy with generic controllers and Live suited ones...

But would not be surprised to see a full featured DAW arrive some day by Native Instruments at all... more komplete then that is impossible

Yeah looks cool, kinda like the big old Akai MPC's like the 4000/5 series which I guess is the inspiration for the whole maschine concept. What to me is really disappointing is still no soundcard in it. At a $1000 it really should have audio outs/ins so it could really function without having to buy a seperate interface for real sampling/playback. My S4 controller has these ins/outs so why not this? I would love to be able to hook up a turntable/CD player/mic etc. & do some real sampling with it. For me thats the deal breaker, so I'll stick with my first generation one for now. I'll probably spring the $99 for the software update though as it has lots of cool features that have been lacking in the latest OS even if it's just to be able to import midi...how did that feature get left out soooo long?

Yeah, the 1000$ price range is very high, considering that a i7 PC costs less!
I have Ableton Push that is great, and 500$ are a better value, even if it's a little high priced.

I understand the uniqueness of these controllers, but without the computer they are unusable...

Push and Maschine are somewhat similar concepts! They can't live without a computer behind the scenes, but they feel like an instrument non the less, making use of the extensive software libraries from Ableton and Komplete respectively. These people are very closely related, they are friends, they've shared some projects and the other player that keeps getting mentioned here, Akai, is also on the friends list! Push has been developed with the help of the know how from Akai, whose recently placed some MPC stuff on the market that runs on software as well. With fast and cheap processors out there, doesn't make much sense to use DSP, let alone from the likes of Native Instruments whose focus has always been on the software side.

I think the level of integration with both Push and Maschine is spot on! When you're using software and it feels like you're just playing an instrument, something snaps and the process becomes more intuitive! thing they're up to something very cool if you ask me!

This is why I think part of their strategy may be to get folks hooked on using the Maschine software as their primary sequencer/DAW, then the next step is put the CPU on Maschine itself (as well as the audio interface etc as Berni said). Hopefully if they do that, they will continue offering the lower-end less integrated Maschines, because not all of us want more size or tons of features piled onto the existing units. I'd be happy knowing I can buy same again if mine ever dies.

So the fully integrated approach is not necessarily what everyone wants, but there are a lot of Maschine users who would really like it to be a true standalone workstation, and as the price increases and features get added, it begins to approach that. For Native-Instruments, becoming one of the major DAWs overnight, completely independent of PC or Mac, would be a hugely powerful situation to find themselves in.

Personally I love my $400 original Maschine (bought right before introduction of MKII for 1/3 off the price). I wouldn't use the displays or standalone behaviors if it had them, I need big screens for my sequencing work.

I guess they could be heading in that direction. I think many people, specially those who have grown using the MPC as their main machine would welcome a standalone Maschine with sampling abilities included.

I think that, in present times such a feature (AD converters and pre-amps) would be kind of redundant, since most of those wanting to buy this probably have an audio interface already in their studio.

And I think Native Instruments is one of the companies who have struggled a lot to prove that software instruments can have great quality, both in terms of sound and features, that it would be surprising to see them hit the market with a standalone hardware machine. I think it's much more likely for them to present a DAW somewhere in the future, so they'd really be on top of their game, providing everything one needs to produce music. But then again, with them having such good relationship with Ableton - no coincidence Maschine works so well under that environment - it would also be a bit redundant, so I expect them to keep developing their Maschine software instead - bringing more features and better performance to the table, AND quite possibly extend this to better performance features as well for live usage.

Not really when you factor in the price of the Live software. The Maschine already comes with the software included in the price & of course everything like this nowadays needs a computer to run including all the latest Akai MPC range.

But Live and Push are separeted, one can buy a Launchpad instead, just for price-scaring of Push alone. It depends on what you play and your workflow.

I would not see a new controller every year (like NI do), because that 'Apple-like-approach' is too aggressive for me.
A new maschine every year is like a new iPhone every year; I really cross fingers for not to see a new Push in the next 4 years!

What good would your push controller be without Live??????? Or launchpad for that matter :confused:
The push controller is a relatively new concept & I guarantee there will be a new version out very soon.

Bare in mind that the new Maschine does not - in any way - render the previous useless or outdated. The new one is intended to be their flagship model, with better interface and screens, but it's also the bigger one, hence it's name "Maschine Studio", as they (and pretty much anyone) can foresee this as a unit more suited for studio work then live performance where size does indeed matter!

Not only it doesn't entirely replace or make the previous models feel old, you can actually see the previous getting better with the software updates - and god knows that matters for keeping things interesting!

I think the idea behind Push and Maschine is way to similar! Both - like Berni said - can't live without their dedicated software behind them. There are tradeoffs to this approach as compared to a totally stand alone unit like the classic MPC, but there are also advantages and I think they're doing a tremendous job at making them stand out! You can turn your ideas into great sounding music with no sync or recording issues at all while having fun with an interface and that's half the job done btw! I think we will see more and more products like this!

I mean that in terms of high price one can have just Live without Push. While you can't split Maschine studio to pay less and have just the software, you have to pay 1000$.
Of course i know they're not standalone controllers! :D

These are great controllers tho, and TweakHead is right, MS it's a flagship for studios that can afford it. And yes, they're the future of music creation.

You can get the Maschine mikro with the same software as the others for $350 which is about half the price of a push controller or the standard version of Live 9. :p

anyone updated yet to the new software?

Not yet here, but I'm planning to upgrade just to get the drum synthesizer (the newest version of FLStudio came with a kick drum synth that's very useful, so I'm really interested in the Maschine offering here).

I've got some voucher credit that will bring the price down for the upgrade too. Just too overwhelmed with many other things right now (other toys -- work, etc... in that order hehe)

I'm pretty sure its not out yet. Will probably happen when the new studio version is released.

I haven't had much need to look at the MS Surface tablets, because I've got my iPad for everything I'd use a tablet for, and "real computers" for everything else. However, over the last couple of months, two of my friends picked up Surface Pro's and both are gushing about them, and how useful it is to have a "real computer" in a tablet form. Both of these guys are primarily Apple fans (one is a confirmed MS hater). Remember the Surface Pro is not the same as Surface RT, it's more like the equivalent of having an iPad that can run either iOS or OS X on the same tablet, albeit at the speed of a Mac Book Pro! Meaning use a real mouse/keyboard/monitor with it if you want, otherwise use it like a tablet.

Then I saw this vid, and realized what a nice solution this might be for someone that was highly dependent on Maschine workflow and/or wants to use it like a standalone piece of gear. Not where I personally am headed with Maschine, but a nice setup for some:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=cMdvdBr9OOo

just downloaded the new Maschine 2.0 software...lots of new stuff to explore this weekend :D

How's the drum synth? Anything else stand out as a must-have?

I was actually going to download this last night, then I realized the e-voucher I had reserved for this purpose was only valid with an expansion pack. So I'm still going to do it but it dropped on my priority list a bit :)

Drum synth is pretty cool & is utilized in the latest D&B Maschine expansion pack. The sidechaining is also a nice feature & the ability to import midi. The newly revamped interface with the mixer, plug in strip etc is also a big improvement on the old one so all in all $99 well spent. You really can't go wrong for the price if you already own an older Maschine.

I upgraded to 2.0 a few days after posting that and forgot to come back to update. I'm liking the new software and as you said the drum synth is quite useful. I've always got this aversion to using anything out of the box like drum loops for example (it's just sort of like an originality obsession I guess), but one of the nice things about the drum synth is that to get a track off the ground quickly, you can reach for a kit that's close to what you want, then modify the patterns a little, then (here's the cool part) replace some or all of the samples with drum synth counterparts and tweak to your liking. The end result will definitely be unique and not sound anything like the out of the box kits.

All in all I agree, a worthwhile upgrade.

Yeah it has totally replaced battery which I used to use for my drums/percs. It is so flexible, use it stand alone or as a plug in & the new features make it even better. I'll probably upgrade to the studio when the next gen comes out in a year or two, but for now this upgrade rocks.

As much as I praise their software, I have give them a neg for something too: the one area I wish NI would improve is their update process. This is not really a Maschine issue per se, as updates are fewer and far between, but once you have Maschine + Komplete Ultimate, the idea of going into service center to see what needs to be updated becomes something you dread. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't require you to download and apply each update as a separate installer, but go a few months without updating anything, and you return to "update hell", something like half a day job of attending installation routines for a gazillion different plug ins and packs, each of which need to be extracted separately and installed. It's probably not too bad if you're making music every day and staying on top of it, but I don't do that.

They need to have just a unified update service that allows you to grab what you need and install them unattended in one fell swoop, otherwise the problem just gets worse every time they add a new instrument to their line up.

I agree there updates are a PITA & time consuming.
On a Maschine note I'm no longer seeing the Maschine 1 projects in the Maschine 2 library. I understand you have to convert them to the new M2 format but have no idea where they reside on my HD OR how to convert them...any ideas? I sent a tech support request off last night but thought I'd ask as I know you have one.

Hmm, I haven't installed Maschine on my Mac but on Windows (at least on my installation) they are under Users/Public/Public Documents, and there is a Maschine Library folder and also a Maschine 2 Library. Initially I was surprised to open Cubase to find my templates still opened the old 1.8 plug-in (I had to update them to use the 2.0 version). I don't think there is anything about the 2.0 installation that modifies or removes the 1.8 software, probably for the very reason you're inquiring about.

I haven't tried converting any projects yet, because I never use the Maschine software standalone, it's always just a plugin in the DAW for me, or I put together the percussion, then pull it into the DAW as audio clips (i.e. kind of using the Maschine as a drum loop composer).

If one of these days I get back into serious track creation (something that has been missing from my schedule lately), I would probably be more diligent about saving Maschine projects so that I can get back to them and edit it, but right now I just rely on the DAW for that.

(update: when I say DAW above I mean Cubase in my case, I keep forgetting Maschine itself is becoming a DAW and an increasingly elaborate one.. but I do 90% of my Maschine stuff with VST only).

Ok, I didn't see this before because I was running the plug-in inside Cubase (option might be there too but is less apparent).

Running the stand alone software, under the File menu there is an option to import 1.x Maschine projects, that should do it.

Yup got that far but cannot find the files anywhere!

If I had an easy way to look into it on the Mac I would, but maybe this helps?:

"If you do not define a custom library path during the initial installation process, the library folders will be installed in these default locations:

Mac OS: Mac HD > Users > Shared

Windows: C: > Users > Public > PublicDocuments"

https://www.native-instruments.com/k... +computer%3F

Hey thanks man that helped. The things that where throwing me where my library is on a seperate HD to my system drive because it's way too big, also I had to manually redirect the M2 stuff to the seperate HD & then rescan the old Mashine directory in M2 & then all the old Maschine projects show up in the user library not the NI one. What a PITA but finally got it all working properly...still waiting for tech support to get back to me Lol.

Right on, glad you got it worked out.

My music purchases this holiday were quite modest -- having already added hardware and software earlier in the year to my setup, I realized that I have all the instruments I need for now, and ergonomic issues were more in the way of my music making than anything else.

Specifically I got the (overpriced, but awesome) Maschine stand and mounted it on a Roland PDS-10 stand. This gets the unit off my table, freeing up plenty of space for (ahem) maybe a future piece of gear just to the left of my primary MIDI controller (where I would want the knobs to be), and puts it at an angle that is an ergonomic game changer. You don't realize how much the angle really matters until this is done. One of the original reasons I got Maschine was to satisfy my percussive lust as a former drummer, unfortunately I found myself not physically "playing" Maschine as often as I should because of space crowding and the angle of the unit. Now, it is much easier to work the pads, knobs, and to see the display screens, too. I started playing it differently and more naturally instantly after setting it up.

Great purchase and highly recommended unless you already have ergonomic bliss with your Maschine via some other method already.

I'm actually embarrassed to admit I've owned this Machine MK 1 for years now, but never bothered to learn such important features as how to choke pads. It's not that the choke option wasn't sitting there, in my face, a gazillion times. It's that I end up having too much fun with the damn thing and pissing away time instead of focusing on valuable workflow items. And, I also only recently started using it as a primary sampler, one of it's strong points. At the moment using it mostly as an FX plugin on audio tracks, capturing sounds from hardware synths, slicing them up, etc.

To circle back to the Maschine stand + Roland PDS-10 I mentioned above in message #32 (hard to believe that was over a year ago -- how time flies!) This turned out to be one of the best purchases I could have made, would have done it much sooner had I realized the impact. I've learned a great deal about the importance of ergonomic flexibility. Instrument placement is of course a matter of personal preference, but putting this thing on it's own percussion stand was a game changer for me.

Despite all this, I still do most functions with the plugin+mouse. It's just easier that navigating things using knob and mini-menus. The one exception to that is when I'm auditioning particular samples. For example looking for a specific type of kick or snare sound. Using the hardware knob to quickly cycle through them is a big time saver.

The newer more expensive Maschine studio would be nice for people who like using the Maschine hardware to control things more than a mouse and decent sized monitor, but for me I can't see any purpose it would serve -- more buttons/knobs and screens to go unused with my particular workflow. Sometimes I do wish my MK I had multicolored pads so I could make all kick variations one color, snares another, etc. but that sole feature isn't worth spending more when my current one still works great.