Maschine or Akai MPC

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by Berni

I have 2 DAW's, Pro tools & ableton live & VC has never worked reliably enough in either of them for me to use it but it runs like a champ in the Maschine stand alone software! No sync issues, pops, clicks or just plain crashing on me. It works great & I'm not even sure access support the Maschine platform yet so I am very happy with this thing.

Jeez now you're making me want a Virus to go with my Maschine The VC plugin worked well enough for me in FLStudio (wasn't using Logic yet at that time so didn't try it), it was just that the latency and overall impact on the workflow was detrimental. I don't remember crashes and such, just that I was going to dealing with bouncing down a lot if I kept it, sort of defeating the purpose I bought it for (realtime knob tweaking). However as painless as Maschine makes sampling, I might be able to do some cool things if I added a Snow. Polyphony/complexity/CPU of the Virus (which I was woefully unimpressed with and I was using a TI2 desktop) would become less of a sticking point then.

Do you do much sampling from VC into Maschine? I don't think it would really satisfy the need I originally bought the Virus for, but it might be a cool toy (especially if I snagged a used Snow for this purpose for example). Then again, using it like that I'm not sure I'd get much benefit from the Virus versus Massive or any other VST going through Maschine.

[TweakHead]

That's amazing that it works better inside Maschine then it does on the DAWS you own... I'm with logic here, is it better or worse? I mean, for getting the extra oscilators and fx only, without using the VC it would be a whole lot of money down the window, for sure... Do you actually think it's worth it? Considering I have a Virus C? Yeah, no doubt you support my wish to get Maschine, NI should pay you as you've convinced me more then their website...

And while I'm at it, how does it work with Maschine? You sample phrases as you go along? Does it run well in midi? I actually think it must me heaven to work that way... chop chop, stretch, etc, gooooooo... is it like that?

[Timo]

I do admit that price of the Virus has been placed out of the limits of a lot of people, myself included. The Indigo2 (Virus C engine) used to be £1,150 - now its direct successor the Polar TI2 is £1,820 - that's a wallet busting increase, particularly in this economic climate. The same amount could stand to get you a top end computer with dual-quad cores for 16 threads and stacks of RAM.

That said, the TI is a hell of a unique professional sounding synth. I'm really interested to see where the Virus line goes next. Access have seemingly been relaxed in adding updates the last year or so, makes me wonder if there's something else waiting in the wings that is taking up their manpower. I just hope they're not resting on their laurels and being content for software VSTs to surpass them.

[Berni]

Originally Posted by MBTC

Jeez now you're making me want a Virus to go with my Maschine The VC plugin worked well enough for me in FLStudio (wasn't using Logic yet at that time so didn't try it), it was just that the latency and overall impact on the workflow was detrimental. I don't remember crashes and such, just that I was going to dealing with bouncing down a lot if I kept it, sort of defeating the purpose I bought it for (realtime knob tweaking). However as painless as Maschine makes sampling, I might be able to do some cool things if I added a Snow. Polyphony/complexity/CPU of the Virus (which I was woefully unimpressed with and I was using a TI2 desktop) would become less of a sticking point then.

Do you do much sampling from VC into Maschine? I don't think it would really satisfy the need I originally bought the Virus for, but it might be a cool toy (especially if I snagged a used Snow for this purpose for example). Then again, using it like that I'm not sure I'd get much benefit from the Virus versus Massive or any other VST going through Maschine.

Hey you started it, Lol. If you already have Massive then I dont think you need the virus unless you absolutely have to have the virus sound & the cash to blow, Massive does more than a good enough job. TBH I only got done RTFM tonight so I haven't really got into the sampling side of it so much. I like the fact you can 're-cycle' samples with it though but since I have pro tools & live & Kontakt I dont know if I really need it. Maybe when I get more into using it stand alone who knows, but its there.

[Berni]

Originally Posted by TweakHead

That's amazing that it works better inside Maschine then it does on the DAWS you own... I'm with logic here, is it better or worse? I mean, for getting the extra oscilators and fx only, without using the VC it would be a whole lot of money down the window, for sure... Do you actually think it's worth it? Considering I have a Virus C? Yeah, no doubt you support my wish to get Maschine, NI should pay you as you've convinced me more then their website...

And while I'm at it, how does it work with Maschine? You sample phrases as you go along? Does it run well in midi? I actually think it must me heaven to work that way... chop chop, stretch, etc, gooooooo... is it like that?

Yeah those NI mofo's should be getiing one of those new ones coming out next month over to me for free ; ) Plug ins work the same in Maschine as in any other DAW, VST or AU. If your familiar with the MPC pattern based sequencing then this is what it is based on. Build up groups of sounds, create patterns with them then build them into a track.

[Berni]

Originally Posted by Timo

I do admit that price of the Virus has been placed out of the limits of a lot of people, myself included. The Indigo2 (Virus C engine) used to be £1,150 - now its direct successor the Polar TI2 is £1,820 - that's a wallet busting increase, particularly in this economic climate. The same amount could stand to get you a top end computer with dual-quad cores for 16 threads and stacks of RAM.

That said, the TI is a hell of a unique professional sounding synth. I'm really interested to see where the Virus line goes next. Access have seemingly been relaxed in adding updates the last year or so, makes me wonder if there's something else waiting in the wings that is taking up their manpower. I just hope they're not resting on their laurels and being content for software VSTs to surpass them.

Agreed, who has $3000 + to blow on a synth nowadays? And yes access have done very little other than a face lift & a few extra features to the TI range since it came out 7 years ago...including not sorting out there buggy software. The small cash incentive being offered to existing owners to buy a new virus is either a sign of something new on the horizon or they are going out of business. The fact is they are going to have to pull something really special out of the hat to survive in todays market place.

[TweakHead]

Originally Posted by Berni

Agreed, who has $3000 + to blow on a synth nowadays? And yes access have done very little other than a face lift & a few extra features to the TI range since it came out 7 years ago...including not sorting out there buggy software. The small cash incentive being offered to existing owners to buy a new virus is either a sign of something new on the horizon or they are going out of business. The fact is they are going to have to pull something really special out of the hat to survive in todays market place.

Yeah, and they'd better be up to it right now... I mean, there's a lot of people here who own the previous editions, wouldn't really mind upgrading but even with the incentive, it's still a very long stretch to get there, it's just to much money right now... So it's not like their products don't seduce people anymore, because of plug-ins or whatever, it's the price range... Even the Snow goes for more then a Nord Lead or a couple of Blofelds, or UltraNova, Roland Gaia, MiniBrute, the announced Pulse2, etc, it's not like it's a bargain...

[FSTZ]

Originally Posted by MBTC

From the website it sounds like the 1.8 software update will give Massive to all Maschine users -- quite a good deal for those who didn't already have it, especially for those who bought the first gen at the big discount prices.

I didn't know this was going to happen

I just might buy a second hand Maschine from someone who decided to upgrade.

[Berni]

Maschine 1.8 out now, includes Massive, free for all Maschine owners! Nice ; )

[pixie]

Right now, I think Maschine and a free Massive copy, is the best deal around. But IMO the MPC 1000 with JJ OS firmware is the best piece of kit you can buy to support a virus.
My studio has finally reduced to a minimalist setup.
My Virus KC is hooked to an MPC 1000, a pair of midi cables and audio jacks, and you don't even need a mixer since the output signal runs directly through the MPC.
The MPC brings everything a virus need without turning on a computer:
Solid pattern based sequencing with graphic edition
A real sampler, with editing and record
Huge sample libraries stored on CF
16 PADs to bang the drums, launch sequence, and real time track muting.
What else ?
a handy compression and EQ tool,fx , audio bounce, good audio converters. A drum machine with endless sounds.

And the best thing of all, like someone said a few posts back, is curling up in the sofa making some music and feel like playing a real instrument instead of clicking madly on a grid.
I was an ableton and reason user, and somehow I really enjoyed these softwares. But now I really feel they are history to me. The virus being the real backbone of my sound, I'm going hardware, and not going back.