Upright wrote:Yo Explicit
I bought Maschine about 3 weeks ago. I also had a Mpc 2500 for about 5 years. Maschine is dope, quick access to sounds, it chops far faster/better than the stock Mpc 2500 OS and actually for me it's the fastest way I've ever chopped samples on any device or software...period. The VST support is as awesome as you're probably imagining it to be ...it's like being able to pull up any VST or VSTi right in your 2500....yup, dope stuff. There are a ton of things I like about Maschine but I want to be clear with you about what I think is the most important thing to consider if you plan on buying Maschine- THE WORKFLOW AND MENU LAYOUT IS NOTHING LIKE AN MPC. This isn't necessarily a bad thing...it's just different and like any piece of gear you have to spend time reading the manual and experimenting while reading. If you aren't prepared to do this you may end up discouraged by Maschine. The hardest thing for me to wrap my head around was the way Maschine uses Scenes, Patterns, Groups....honestly, the way these 3 elements work together takes some real getting use to. Again, it's not a bad thing it's just different. I'm starting to get comfortable with Scenes, Patterns and Groups so I'm still a bit slow when composing in Maschine.....once I get it locked in tight (like my man Metatron
) I can see my self flying around Maschine without giving it a second thought but these first few weeks have been a mind workout for me. I don't know if other Maschine users feel this way... this is just my 2 cents 
I would always go with the JJ OS for the MPC 2.5K/1K for chopping speed. No other product on the market can do it faster (as fast..but not faster IMHO). Now you say Maschine can chop faster than the Akai OS for the 2500? How so? Because from me experience, chopping with the Akai OS was pretty instant. Also, to chop in equally sized regions, Maschine only gives you the option of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc chops where using an MPC you simplay dial in any number you want (2, 3, 7, 18, 31, etc).
I do like the idea of having VST support within a drum Machine. But doesn't Maschine have a limit of 4 VST slots shared by instruments and effects or something along those lines? Your DAW can support VST effects/instruments galore and with an MPC, MV, etc. you can pull up any VST and sequence it just as fast as Maschine.
I have participated in numerous threads regarding Maschine. I even purchased it to see for myself. I am curious to know specifically what you like about it. I know about VST support, and the fact it is not limited by RAM...samples load much faster than hardware. But what else? Because I still find the sampler to be sub par and the sequencer just adequate.