By goryhallows
Sun Feb 16, 2025 7:50 pm
To make a really long story short, my PC is in storage while I build out a new studio. My PC is a custom machine I built and I don't have room for that 45 lb case and all the equipment until the studio is done. I was really wanting to continue working on music and wanted to branch out and try something standalone. I spent a couple of weeks researching the MPC options and the Maschine+. I ended up going with the Live 2 for several reasons. My plan was to have something to write on and to create sketches, but also to perform with. Performance was 80% of the reason the Akai won. Well...
One of the make or break options was time signature. When I got this device 4 days ago there was an option to change the time signature when you add a bar, just like in the video I saw about it on YouTube when deciding to go with the Live. I kept getting the nag screen that there were updates, and I was aware that 3 existed, but being new I didn't know how dramatically different it was going to be.
To my utter dismay the time signature option vanished once 3 was loaded on the machine. What? I have songs in 4/4, 6/8, 3/4, 7/8 and a couple of songs that use a few of those throughout the song. The videos I watched had people changing both time signature and tempo when creating a new sequence. That was exactly what I needed. Half of that is just... gone?
Now I am torn. I was disappointed at the amount of content I own from NI that didn't work on the Maschine+ and I wanted to expand my ecosystem to add some different spices to my writing. I also wanted to get deeper into hardware sampling. I can't now. Should I return this and get the Maschine+? Is this something they plan on fixing now, not eventually, but Q2 2025 sorta thing?? There is no way, that I can find, to reach out to Akai and ask them, which is also super disappointing. As a software developer of 35 years that has been involved with major upgrades I am shocked that they would remove and neglect such a fundamental feature that is also an important part of song writing. This is a red flag for me because I know how important User Experience is.
I can use math on some of my stuff and figure out how many measures of 4/4 I need to get the same 6/8 pattern, but 7/8 isn't that easy. Not to mention the box this forces creativity to go into. What is even more disappointing is I am really impressed with the rest of this hardware. It is a solid device and the sounds are so much fun. I do hope they will commit to fixing this, and soon, otherwise I feel I need to return it.
One of the make or break options was time signature. When I got this device 4 days ago there was an option to change the time signature when you add a bar, just like in the video I saw about it on YouTube when deciding to go with the Live. I kept getting the nag screen that there were updates, and I was aware that 3 existed, but being new I didn't know how dramatically different it was going to be.
To my utter dismay the time signature option vanished once 3 was loaded on the machine. What? I have songs in 4/4, 6/8, 3/4, 7/8 and a couple of songs that use a few of those throughout the song. The videos I watched had people changing both time signature and tempo when creating a new sequence. That was exactly what I needed. Half of that is just... gone?
Now I am torn. I was disappointed at the amount of content I own from NI that didn't work on the Maschine+ and I wanted to expand my ecosystem to add some different spices to my writing. I also wanted to get deeper into hardware sampling. I can't now. Should I return this and get the Maschine+? Is this something they plan on fixing now, not eventually, but Q2 2025 sorta thing?? There is no way, that I can find, to reach out to Akai and ask them, which is also super disappointing. As a software developer of 35 years that has been involved with major upgrades I am shocked that they would remove and neglect such a fundamental feature that is also an important part of song writing. This is a red flag for me because I know how important User Experience is.
I can use math on some of my stuff and figure out how many measures of 4/4 I need to get the same 6/8 pattern, but 7/8 isn't that easy. Not to mention the box this forces creativity to go into. What is even more disappointing is I am really impressed with the rest of this hardware. It is a solid device and the sounds are so much fun. I do hope they will commit to fixing this, and soon, otherwise I feel I need to return it.
