The New Maschine Studio: NI just BODIED the Renaissance.....

MPC-Tutor wrote:

Upright wrote:I hate to say it but this sounds about accurate. I never bought any of the new Mpc's so it doesn't concern me either way but for the homey's that did it's tough, my only hope is that Akai don't throw in the towel on the Ren and Studio at this point.

Akai must now realise that they cannot keep up with NI, not like-for-like. Assuming they actually had a long term plan, they should stick with that rather than suddenly change everything each time someone comes out with something more new and shiny.

Carve out their own niche and stick with it.

However I do think Akai could learn a lot from the way NI market their products.

I agree Tutor. You'll always loose when you hitch onto someone elses niche. Akai can very well get back to their niche and be the big fish in their own pond but you have to wonder tho... how can they serve their niche and align themselves with the technological advances without taking a backseat?

Ultimately I think MPC heads are MPC heads and Maschine dudes are Maschines dudes. Different workflows will appeal to different folks. I mean I have maschineI, 5000 and studio. Still use what I'm use to most of the time. And although I love these little WWE spats between these companies I am not compelled to buy (even though the new maschine studio is sexy )

Beautiful controller, to be honest. I still haven't looked into the details yet but purely based on aesthetics it looks great. Metal chassis or not, it visually shames Akai's Ren concept that, to me, always seemed still based on antiquated designs from the beige era of computers—industrial design wise, that is. I believe Tutor said a similar thing and I agree.

I had a few gripes and reservations about the original Maschine software—far less than I had with my experience with the MPC Software—but this looks impressive enough that I'll definitely be looking into what changes have been made.

I do find it hilarious though that via their marketing and design decisions…

NI essentially wrote:

MaZe wrote:Maybe we can throw them a bone on the 500. People seem to like that one a lot.

Its the only MPC by Nukai that the Akai OS is stable and buttons don't break as often.

I'm hardware to the head but the new Maschine is enticing. Too bad its not an audio interface, I wanted to connect my turntable in it.

$999 is not bad at all considering that the software is 2.0 which has been in development since the first Maschine so you know its stable. Dual color screens. Man, it is truly bananas.

I think the price will get reduced quick to $799 by Christmas.

^^^^^New multicore support is the most important feature I have been waiting on. My projects tend to be fx heavy. My 8 core PC has been waiting. This thing look amazing (not asthetically but feature wise).......akai is on life support....I would like to know (as I have an MK1) how the older generation units will integrate with the 2.0 software......at $799...id probably cop this. We'll see, but $99 for software upgrade is cool.

I said it before all of this started when it was just Maschine. If Akai gets in this they will lose. They are a hardware company trying to go at a primarily software company in what has now become a software battle. New controllers are cool but from now on it's mostly about how the hardware helps you use the software. NI will always be one step ahead of them.

And about the new Maschine, I won't be getting one. I'm fine w/ my MKII . To me it's like the 4000 or 5000 and the MKII is the trusty 2000xl. All the extra sh!t is cool but as long as they make the new features easy to use on my MKII, I'm good on a new controller.

sick!! i cant wait for the update!! im just planning on rocking my old mikro 1 for now, that new one looks dope though and i def want it, but funds are tight at the moment.. i like the idea of that jog wheel being able to be quantized, **** genius!!!

hey jah, and akai

The Ren is going to suffer on this round. Akai can't respond on the hardware front and they too cheap to commit it's resources to make the software competitive. by the time Akai is up to sped on this situation Maschine 3.0 will be rolling out.

Adding more piss to the pond- Akai limited software activation policy will eventually make the Ren worthless both as a new or used purchase.

Talk about getting caught in a sh-itstorm without an umbrella.

** You can only go to the "iconic workflow well" so many times before it runs dry and it seems to be at its muddy bottom.

When's the shipping date for the Maschine Studio? As we all know, they advertise as if they are ready to ship, but the reality is that they probably won't ship until January.

looks like NI came for both Akai and Arturia. The drum synth with its various engines and sound manipulation abilities is a lot like Arturia's SparkLE drum synth abilities. I think one thing is very clear here... NI pays attention to user needs no matter what the user's preferred product and then they execute. As for the midi implementation... if it is a bit lite right now its only a matter of time.

moyphee wrote:The Ren is going to suffer on this round. Akai can't respond on the hardware front and they too cheap to commit it's resources to make the software competitive. by the time Akai is up to sped on this situation Maschine 3.0 will be rolling out.

Akai's software development prowess pales in comparison to NI's. Even if they tried, right now it's clear that they do not have the same echelon of software engineers and software development experience in their ranks. It will be interesting to see how Akai responds.

monogee wrote:When's the shipping date for the Maschine Studio? As we all know, they advertise as if they are ready to ship, but the reality is that they probably won't ship until January.

It's slated for a 1st of November release.

It would probably also be in AKAI's best interest to spill the beans on some of their future plans in the near future. Some people will consider/actually start to jump ship when the Maschine Studio comes out... and even before it does start heading in that direction financially and mentally.

They could keep some of those people around if they were to say hey...
We will be releasing Multicore support in version 1.6 along with sidechaining capabilities etc...

Seriously this isn't the time to try and build suspense it's time to say hey we got this stuff coming just be a little more patient.

[youtube][/youtube]I can pretty much guarantee at some point Native Instruments are going to add audio tracks and then release a few keyboards ranging in size...and introduce whole Maschine family as a DAW. It just seems like that's the direction this is going to progress.

this new maschine studio might actually be a good investment for me down the line... since i use a mackie onyx mixer as my interface [via firewire], but that is lacking MIDI... so for MIDI control with software i was always just using one of those USB MIDI cables... this new maschine would be perfect with the MIDI in/outs and no unnecessary audio interface [in my case]... now i just need to see what the workflow of the new software is like.

Airyck wrote:It would probably also be in AKAI's best interest to spill the beans on some of their future plans in the near future. Some people will consider/actually start to jump ship when the Maschine Studio comes out... and even before it does start heading in that direction financially and mentally.

They could keep some of those people around if they were to say hey...
We will be releasing Multicore support in version 1.6 along with sidechaining capabilities etc...

Seriously this isn't the time to try and build suspense it's time to say hey we got this stuff coming just be a little more patient.

Really good point Airyck...

and on a side note... these damn things are coming out so rapidly (both NI and Akai and whatever else) I cant see anyone truly mastering and maximizing anything (re: their gear) at this point. Too many choices. Too much feature lusting. Competition is great but i hope cats arent just jumping ship every 6 months just because Akai and NI are in a bloody dual to the death.

Airyck wrote:It would probably also be in AKAI's best interest to spill the beans on some of their future plans in the near future.

Watch what you ask for. Remember what they did to us last time .