Q&A with Maschine/Maschine Plus team?
Comments
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To be honest: although not perfect, it is in my experience quite stable and performing.
But…
You are doing a good thing in researching all the infos you can have to make an informed decision.
Even if in any case a valid product, Maschine+ is a limited one. It does what it does (and frankly we are all starting to think it is better not to expect anything more than this for the future), but its limitations (hardware and software wise) means that you have to stick exactly to its capabilities in order to not encounter any hiccups.
In my opinion (and based on what I own) there are other solutions that are as valid (if not more) than Maschine+. MPC Live 2, or even better the way to underestimated Akai Force are maybe a better choice (depending on what you want to do). At my eyes and for many aspects probably even more feature packed. And surely they have seen better improvements and more love showed for them by their developers. Easily put, they don’t seem abandonware as much as M+ does
And don’t put too much emphasis on the sounds. Think at the device for what IT can do. They are “containers”, you can put in them what you want (there’s even an easy program that can transform all NI expansions in ready to use packs for Akai’s devices…and their devices had an auto sampler before Maschine, therefore you can easily create instruments to use in them). The thing that you have to chose is the device and its workflow, not what you can put in it, since all can be filled with what you like.
Which leads to my next point…my problem is I love and learned the Maschine workflow way more. If it wasn’t for this, I would have 0 problems in clearly stating that Force is way superior than Maschine+ as standalone device. And even not owning it and seeing that it’s not hassle free, I suspect even Push 3 is (but we are also talking about a different price point here).
If you are “free” from this unconditional love for Maschine, think well if what the other players in the game offer isn’t a better solution for your needs.
If it will be M+, I second that going for a used model could be the best choice. Even because if, as we think, Maschine+ life will not be as long as we wish, you will regret a little less your decision in few years
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In the beginning I had audio hiccups and midi send/receive issues and some spikes, but since last update it’s been very solid imho. If I use loops I just resample them and use the loop in the sampler instead of audio module, I’m not changing bpms in that particular track, so that’s a no-issue. And some of the fm8 or prism synths I autosample to the tracks needs so I don’t have heavy synths loaded, the poly synth is surprisingly fun to tweak and shape, and the drumsynths are superbe!! I say as others, try and see what fits you best, what attracts your creativity the most. No matter the brand. I think people are way too hard on the + in terms of what it’s lacking vs what it offers vs what are REAL problems (stability-it’s very stable now) vs what are subjective problems to an individual rather than true issues with the unit itself. I’ve tried the akai and I own several expensive units and there’s a reason I don’t want the akai workflow., or should I call it workunflow.
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Loopop chose it as the centerpiece of his live rig. I've heard Fred Again also uses one in his live sets, but I haven't checked that out.
I don't play live, but I also don't have many problems with mine, thankfully
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Sure works great if you know exactly what you’re doing and fine tuned your projects for performance or it is just like this…
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This is huge, thank you for your candor!
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This is great, thank you! I did see one get used, live, which was really inspiring and why I’ve been researching more. However, I’ve seen someone with a controller connected to a laptop that had a total failure, resulting in no show.
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Ok, thank you - that is the exact situation I need to avoid. If the solution to avoid a crash is that I have to delete every single sound and effect I’m not using in my set, then this is just not a viable solution for me.
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I sold my M+ for a force, my learning of the workflow on the Akai was slower than on the excellent workflow of M+, but I am starting to exceed the capabilities that I had with the M+ and in certain areas of course , I completely surpass them (automation, for that alone, is day and night...).
I think the decision to sell M+ and no longer wait for Ni to improve certain functions and change to Force was difficult but ultimately beneficial for me, and Akai continually improves the possibilities. However, before M+ I had a One, which I didn't like at all, but the Force is really complete and offers a lot of possibilities.
I also kept and converted my Ni expansions to Force
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Does Akai have a good tutorial/edu system for Force?
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There is Force Facebook group with lot of power users and some of them are recording own tutorials.
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I keep looking at the Force. I have a love hate thing with Akai though. The company was my first real entry into finished music making, then I later moved into old school MPCs, but I still hate the workflow. I hate the chunky frames of their gear too, but I love the history and that a lot of groups and artists I respect used them. Despite the backlash and hatred they got from their fanbase a few years back due to early iterations of it's os when they returned to standalone, they turned things around.
Has anyone tried using a Force on their lap? I've tried my One a few times, but it's just horrible aesthetically and through the process involved. No doubt a Force is heavier, but it's larger too, so maybe it's more comfortable? Used prices have gone up here from what they were 6 months or so ago too, but i'm still hankering to try one.
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I was looking for clip launching machine to complete my hybrid dj setup - readed a lot comments about Force. Both positive and negative but decided to stay with Ableton, hardware controller and M1 laptop. Force looks still interesting but:
- It's unit from 2019 - probably mk2 is on the way
- It's mimics Ableton and trying be good but it's not. OS is getting better and better - but hey Ableton is over 20 years old. This is a lot of time to keep maintance and develop software.
- I don't like quality of unit - seriously - clunky gain knobs inside over 1000euro hardware? Crazy.
- Those pads are from Push 1. I remember them - too hard and not so friendly. Maschine pads are much nicer.
- Spending another months to lear and master new unit/new hardware is waste of time when i know basic and even more of Ableton. Also learning curve is much nicer because there is so much learning tutorials about Ableton than Force.
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I have a Push 2 that I sometimes get out to use with Ableton, I say sometimes, because really I've shifted from working in my home studio, to working mainly sat on the couch in the living room, mainly and therefore having a laptop and controller together is a bit clunky, compared to say a M+, Blackbox, MC-707, SP-16, Tracker, or whatever on my lap. That's my preferred working method and makes me a bit more sociable too. It's my future method, so for me, the size, weight, aesthetics and workflow are what I look for these days. That said, the Blackbox is light and small, but too small for sitting properly on my lap.
I can do a lot in Ableton when I get into that frame of mind of getting it out for a jam, but I think grooveboxes are my thing, not controllers.
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Wish to have more memory inside MC-707 :((( Perfect device for me but after importing couple of loops i saw "Memory full" warning so many times.
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You can find many good Force tutorials on YouTube
There’s even a channel of a guy called Pink Buddha that is mainly focused on Force (with his series Akai Force Fridays)
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