Thinking of getting a Maschine Mikro. Does it suck?

Should I? Is it suitable for someone who's used to an MPC? I try using Ableton with a trigger finger, but it's just not my thing. Is it any good or should I just get a full sized one? Is the Mikro less fun? The main things that are important for me is sample chopping on the Mikro screen.

Taking into account I need all the space I can get, I use a laptop and I have an mpc2500 and I move a lot.

Can't seem to find one on display in my area. How small is the screen compared?

The Mikro's single screen is maybe a little bigger than half of one of the two larger LCD's on the Mikro.

Less fun is subjective (although I get what you mean totally) but most would agree Mikro is definitely more tedious to use. Specifically the sample chopping situation you mentioned is where a Mikro might drive me insane. As you can maybe guess looking at the thing you have to use the one knob for everything so it's a huge amount of function toggle/switching.

On the full size units the 8 dynamically auto mapped macro knobs are what makes it so easy to use, especially on sampling. The 8 buttons above the LCD are also nice on the full size ones. Essentially 8 "F" keys for various stuff.

So in a sample chopping situation you have 16 buttons/knobs for rec/edit/truncate/select slice (use pad to select too on either unit), bring up the key mapper, the knobs to zoom/navigate the waveform...

So personally sampling editing is something I'd prefer a full size Maschine for. Aside from the generalities Maschine isn't really that much like an MPC OS although you can do almost all the same things on either. It doesn't bother me but I can see someone wanting it to adhere more to an MPC style as a matter of preference. I suppose the Mikro isn't any worse than many older hardware boxes with limited input controls, but I think a Mikro would just make you want the bigger one more.

Regular Maschine is like twice the size of the Mikro. It's really not that big, roughly the same size as the Trigger Finger and not much heavier. It could be sturdier, but it's very light to carry.

I have not used a Mikro so I cant speak to that but as a former Maschine MK2 owner, I can speak to some of your other concerns.

First, the Maschine system is, IMO, amazing. The integration between software and hardware is seamless and the possibilities are endless. Now, with that being said, as an MPC user yourself, and myself, you may find yourself frustrated, as I did, and as you may have with the Ableton/Trigger finger combo, because the Maschine is not an MPC. That IS NOT saying anything about the quality of the hardware/soft at all. What it is saying is that it is an almost completely different workflow than the MPC. While you will be able to do everything that an MPC can, and more, with the Maschine, you will basically have to create a completely new workflow and figure out ways to accomplish what you did on the MPC, on the Maschine. Can it be done, of course. It all depends on your willingness to do so. There are certain things though, like Step Edit, and some of the sample chopping options (I personally didnt like chopping samples on Maschine) that the Maschine does not have. Also, the sequencer on the Maschine, while good, is just completely different and will take time to get used to. I had the Maschine for a couple of weeks and like I said, I thought it was amazing but for me personally, having worked on MPCs for years, just really wasn't feeling comfortable with it so I returned it. I personally could not get my ideas onto it the way I can with an MPC. Now if I spent months, or even years, on the Maschine I could definitely get it to where it needed to be but I personally didnt think that was necessary with an MPC, that I know like the back of my hand, sitting right next to it. So, that's really what it comes down to. If you are comfortable, fast, and locked in on your MPC, the Maschine, Mikro or otherwise, may not be for you. If you are looking for something almost completley new and really want to put the time into, then it's a great pick up. Although, I'd cop the full size joint. 2 pennies for you.

I have a Mikro & an MPC1000, so can tell what I think...

I don't use the Mikro at all now... to be honest you start off in good faith setting it up connecting it to your laptop, boot the laptop, start maschine, load the song, after a while I wasn't really feeling it, its a great system, but the MPC1000 with JJOS I can just turn on and be straight into the samples, also it forces you to bounce your tracks to wav or sample them in to make some variations, depending on how you work.

I will keep mine as I want to wait to see what NI do next, but if I was going to look at anything now, it would be 'Push' but its all cost and the marketting machine will always make a controller looks like it can do everything, but to be honest, if you happy using mouse and keyboard then use it... all depends on what you can afford

I think it's terrible compared to the regular Mashine. The shortcuts and workarounds they had to implement to size it down made it a pain to use IMO. Spend the extra $$ for the regular one, used MK1's are going for cheap on eBay right now too.

**** maschine, seriously. it's built really nice & looks cool n has great drums but the software **** sucks

if you want software, ableton + push is the best option

In the last few days I tried out the new Reason 7 demo, even this would be a better investment

gonche wrote:In the last few days I tried out the new Reason 7 demo, even this would be a better investment

Reason was already beast, it's gone Godzilla now. Hey at least the Mikro is a nice set of pads for Kong if you keep it.

The Mikro is gathering dust to be honest, I have a Korg PadKontrol which I purchased first, then I bought a MPC1000 which I really can get into, and seeing the new OS3 I cannot wait, but I now need to invest in a DAW which I can use for sound design, just knowing when to make the leap and put it on the credit card

gonche wrote:The Mikro is gathering dust to be honest, I have a Korg PadKontrol which I purchased first, then I bought a MPC1000 which I really can get into, and seeing the new OS3 I cannot wait, but I now need to invest in a DAW which I can use for sound design, just knowing when to make the leap and put it on the credit card

Ableton is that DAW my friend. Rewired to Reason with both having 64 bit and multi core/multi theading support is heaven. Some day soon I'm gonna see just how many Combinators you can load into 24GB.

I feel you on the padKONTROL. Those pads are so responsive and I actually got used to the lower profile pads compared to an MPC pad almost immediately. Prior to pad upgrading my 1000 I played the 1000 with the Korg 90% of the time.

gonche wrote:The Mikro is gathering dust to be honest, I have a Korg PadKontrol which I purchased first, then I bought a MPC1000 which I really can get into, and seeing the new OS3 I cannot wait, but I now need to invest in a DAW which I can use for sound design, just knowing when to make the leap and put it on the credit card

Ive never used it, but I hear great things about Reaper. I use Logic.

IMO, getting back to the OP's point, and other posts I've read in here, I PERSONALLY don't see the point of getting a Maschine/Ren if you are really good and comfortable with what you have hardware wise. If you want to incorporate a DAW/computer, get a good interface with midi and keep your hardware. I bought the Maschine and Ren and only ended up wasting time and getting frustrated because neither ended up doing anything better than my current set up. I wish I hadn't wasted that time. At least I didn't end up wasting any money. Lesson learned.

I heard it sucks.

I heard that removing one of the screens and all the knobs defeats the purpose of using a maschine.

That the workflow is gone.

A normal maschine is only a few inches taller and still smaller then a 25.

Not sure why anybody would want the mikro (I've heard that few if any do) instead of a normal maschine unless they had all the extra time in the world that a hobbled workflow didn't matter and had to fit that exact footprint.

Like maybe in the dash of their car or something.