Maschine...

as far as i can tell, so far... MIDI is the only limitation on the Maschine.
i don't really care about the sampling limitations because i mainly use Battery and Kontact..
oh well, it's always something

gertie wrote:hey lotuz...whats the build quality like.....pads ok? those rotary knobs sturdy enough?

It seems good better than my mpd24 which I trade in for this.

Getting more into maschine now day 2 with it and it`s all good. But from some of the questions I see on sequencing and syncing with external gear I`m guessing that it would be the same sequencing a DAW with external gear like Logic and Cubase. A midi interface would be needed for that as well.

However, I thought the purpose and design for maschine was to do virtual sync to a major DAW like within my Logic Studio and a more in the box groove box. The added plus of controller editor it seems would allow us to use the maschine to control our mapping to soft synths and soft samplers yes. And as I`m a Logic user I would use Logic`s sequencer with external instrument like my motif xs and maschine as a controller. Maschine has only one physical midi out, I still don`t know about the virtual midi outs but I guess it may be a challenge to set up for multiple separate virtual midi outputs to external instruments in a DAW unless within Logic at least going into the environment.

Basically I still think of my 4k or mpc for others as the best choice for external instrument control as a midi control center. But I thought the maschine as a DAW integrated groovebox mostly not a midi controller for external gear, but still great for soft instruments within a DAW.

Lotuz wrote:

Blue Haze wrote:I just got maschine yesterday and I haven`t ran through all the program yet, but correct me if I`m wrong with maschine in midi mode out along with Controller Editor I should be able to sequence battery through maschine and I should be able to control battery parameters with the Controller Editor right? Just like we can with Ableton Live?

I have the first version of Battery and I can trigger Battery's samples with the Maschine controller through the Maschine Controller Out MIDI driver and at the same time sequence Battery with Maschine through one of my soundcard's MIDI out drivers (or you can use LoopBe1 or a similar MIDI connection). So if Battery responds to MIDI cc, then you should be able to use the knobs and buttons too. Just remember that Maschine and Battery can't use the same ASIO driver at the same time unless it's multiclient.

It is very informative thanks for the reply. I`m using CoreAudio on a Mac with Logic as my DAW. I`m not sure about the multi client abilities yet. I look before and came across aggregated functions it may be the same with different names. Someone may know more for Macs plus I have a digi 002 sound card.

Wow an plus I can load logic exs, and kontakt`s samples from the bat. I got to research more as far as kits. Battery`s kits are already included it seems.

mjames4208 wrote:as far as i can tell, so far... MIDI is the only limitation on the Maschine.

Yes, there's plenty of room for improvement when you compare Maschine to other sequencers.

Blue Haze wrote:Getting more into maschine now day 2 with it and it`s all good. But from some of the questions I see on sequencing and syncing with external gear I`m guessing that it would be the same sequencing a DAW with external gear like Logic and Cubase. A midi interface would be needed for that as well.

However, I thought the purpose and design for maschine was to do virtual sync to a major DAW like within my Logic Studio and a more in the box groove box. The added plus of controller editor it seems would allow us to use the maschine to control our mapping to soft synths and soft samplers yes. And as I`m a Logic user I would use Logic`s sequencer with external instrument like my motif xs and maschine as a controller. Maschine has only one physical midi out, I still don`t know about the virtual midi outs but I guess it may be a challenge to set up for multiple separate virtual midi outputs to external instruments in a DAW unless within Logic at least going into the environment.

Basically I still think of my 4k or mpc for others as the best choice for external instrument control as a midi control center. But I thought the maschine as a DAW integrated groovebox mostly not a midi controller for external gear, but still great for soft instruments within a DAW.

1. MPC - check
2. Logic Studio - check

Why would someone "need" Maschine when Logic has a superior sampler (which can import numerous formats) and an MPC is the best tool on the market for percussion sequencing?

Maybe because they want to keep everything inside the box with ease and do not have the hassle of skipping thru program files and samples? Maybe because a mpc is not everything you make it to be?

And this comes from a guy who cant imagine life without a mpc.

It's not always about having the most powerful tools. A less powerful tool can be easier and more enjoyable to work with.

64hz wrote:Maybe because they want to keep everything inside the box with ease and do not have the hassle of skipping thru program files and samples? Maybe because a mpc is not everything you make it to be?

And this comes from a guy who cant imagine life without a mpc.

Logic alone will do just fine if that is the case or even using Battery as a plug-in within Logic. If MPCs are not everything...then it is a head scratcher why some many products attempt to duplicate an MPC.

Getting back to Machine...my order will arrive shortly. And I will post my feedback on what I think about the product on this forum and the Native Instrument forum.

If MPCs are not everything...then it is a head scratcher why some many products attempt to duplicate an MPC.

I think you should look at Maschine as an 'improvment' on the MPC concept, instead of seeing it as a duplicated clone. If they never improved on the guitar we would still be listening to an acoustic one without the pallete of sound of the electric one. Maschine is the perfect follow up to a machine like the MPC in this digital day and age, its to bad you need to have ur laptop running wile using or I would have gotten one when it came out.

Day 3 Maschine is a cool groove box with plenty of build in patterns, effects, and it`s own feel. The ease of the maschine for tweaking sounds just using the hardware controls is very nice I like it. I`m still going through the reference manual and yes I wanted to do everything in the box cuz at the time I was sometimes tracking into logic or just sequencing soft instruments in logic from the mpc 4k. I figure it would be a nice change to get rid of the mpd24 and get a groove box plus midi controller that comes with templates for my soft instruments. Still I`m working out the swing on groups resolution and the effect send mode. But the nudge function on the hardware is far easier to do than on logic by mouse. It is nice I can do mostly everything on the hardware with the software power. Once I get the entire thing under grips I`m looking forward to using it as a plugin on logic as my drum machine that can also be used with battery and ultra beat. In fact like ultrabeat I will drag and drop patterns from maschine into logic if I want too. But I can already import the samples from Kontakt, EXS, Ultra beat, Battery, and others like I said before in maschine itself and sequence them. The mpc will sit for awhile still I get up to speed with the whole thing.

It is indeed a cool groove box aka groove machine. More like a my former Korg esx but alot easier and simpler to import sounds and make patterns with for me. I don`t expect it to be a mpc sampler or 4k so no complaints it is just fun to work with.

Now back to learning this new maschine.

So how do you rate the effects so far?

You think it will ever evolve to a standalone unit?

Boomshanka wrote:You think it will ever evolve to a standalone unit?

I don't think it will, that will kinda go against it's main concept. One of the main draws is how it doesn't have the limits of hardware in regards to ram, space, etc. To make it standalone with the same functionality, they would really have to build a computer lol...

I'm not saying they couldn't do it, but then you're right back in the same boat with a standalone product that you then have to find a way to integrate with the rest of your gear

Then of course the price would go up tremendously.

I think it will remain a hybrid product, and I also think other companies will follow. I would also love to see them do something similar for keyboard users, something similar to Maschine but in keyboard form, where you can access their devices from the controller. Sort of a hybrid product based on the keyboard workstation concept. Would be dope, Especially if it integrated with maschine.