What's wrong with Mikro Mk3, four years after release.

FranPiano

Hi to you all, been fascinated with this little, very well-constructed brick, but I still don't know why Native Instruments haven't done a proper update on some basic features FOUR YEARS LATER. Hope you can help me resolve this issues:

On Maschine 2 Standalone software:

1. On PADS 13,14,15,16, the shift function doesn't work, can't semitone -, semitone+, octave-, octave+ (PAD MODE nor KEYBOARD) even when there is an OBVIOUS name on those PADS. ******? 🤬
2. I can't change volume on a sound WITHOUT touching the pad and HEARING the sound, I can't just use the SELECT button to focus on a sound and then use the VOLUME button. Is just goes all the time back to the project volume. ******?? 🤬🤬
3. If I press the PLUG-IN button the software goes to Sound Effects, ok. If I press PLUG-IN and GROUP button it goes to Group Effects, ok. There isn't a way to go to Master Effects. ******??? 🤬🤬🤬

As a VST on Ableton Live 11:

1. The play and stop button doesn't work.
2. I can't stop what I do on Maschine 2 when the loop ends. I can only end it exactly when I press the Ableton Stop button, and that's not very exact for a live performance. If I use the Stop All Clips button on Ableton, Ableton ends on the end of the bar/loop but Maschine keeps playing. ******? 🤬

MY solutions (not Native Instruments solutions 😎):

On Maschine 2 Standalone:

1. On PAD MODE and KEYBOARD, the knob automatically gets on Base Key and Root Note, if I want to change the tune of a whole group, just press GROUP and TEMPO/TUNE at the same time. Is not as good as octave or semitones pads WORKING, but...
2. Change the volume with the mouse on the laptop 😒, I can press the pad VEEEEEERY softly but it always make a sound.
3. Go there with the mouse on the laptop 😒, but that's not ok right? On Ableton I can use the Maschine 2 VST track as a master and put effects and things there.

On Ableton 11:

1. I use the Controller Editor software, Mackie Control Template and check "Host Transport Control". Then I MIDI Map on Ableton play, stop and metronome buttons. (Use MackieControl as Control Surface and Maschine Mikro Mk3 on Input - Output)
2. Maschine 2 can end after a bar if I set the SYNC tab to "1 bar", when I change scenes I can change to a blank/new scene and it ends when I need it to 😒 very strange glitch/fix. But for that Ableton AND Maschine 2 ends at the same time I have to press two things, the stop button (mapped to Stop All Clips on Ableton) and the scene change PAD 🤪🤪🤪

Other way is to play with Ableton's dummy clips and make an envelope for the channel volume so it goes to zero at the end of a bar. 🤪🤪🤪

I think this could be easier on a simple update. C'mon Native Instruments, pay one hour of work for a guy that can make a HUGE update for this still-not-so-great controller.

How do you guys resolve this issues?

Tony Jones

Welcome to the forum. If you spend much time here you'll spot a lot of treads about the lack of updates on numerous products for several years, so I suspect you won't see anything like updates until the huge backlog of GUI / Mac M1 / VST3... has all happened for products not retired

FranPiano

So this is common on Native Instruments forums? Better resell and buy another brand updated brick 🤣🤔😒

awol9000

1. "On PADS 13,14,15,16, the shift function doesn't work, can't semitone -, semitone+, octave-, octave+ (PAD MODE nor KEYBOARD) even when there is an OBVIOUS name on those PADS. *****? 🤬

Sounds defective, not normal behaviour

FranPiano

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/32171#Comment_32171

I think not!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oB9ANAWxmY

FranPiano

And from the manual:

Nico_NI

Hey @FranPiano, did you have the chance to bring those issues to our support already?

Your unit could be faulty, or it could potentially help us identify and fix bugs.

Feel free to reach out to our Maschine team about it: https://bit.ly/n1msc

FranPiano

Thanks @Nico_NI I don't think the unit is faulty because the pads and the knob works with everything, EXCEPT with the points stated above. In top of that, I've found several threads on internet forums (like reddit) talking about the same issues, so in that case maybe there are a lot of faulty units?

In any case, I would reach to the Maschine team and write here again IF I get a solution,

Thanks a lot again!

D-One

IMHO: New stuff will always come to Maschine generally but I doubt changes specific to the Mikro Mk3 will happen after all this time. NI never seemed to never really take the MM3 very seriously, it came out without MIDI support then it took a year or more for controller editor support to come... 🤷‍♂️

1 - Contact support. I saw never that reported before but sounds like wither aa HW issue, or driver issues.

2 - Yeah that's quite odd that it reverts to Master vol, Select+Pad+Encoder should logically change the volume when the Volume button is enabled. Most people never even need to change the Master volume anyway... So, no idea what they were thinking on this decision. There's no way to change the Vol of a Pad without triggering it to select first on the MM3 afaik.

3 - This also affects #2, the inability to change focus from Sound/Group/Master was a complaint from day one, dare I say users mentioned it in the beta even before it was released. If think they just expect users to use the mouse a lot with the MM3. and if you want more advanced control you gotta buy a bigger model.

As a VST on Ableton Live 11:

The play and stop button doesn't work.

I can't stop what I do on Maschine 2 when the loop ends. I can only end it exactly when I press the Ableton Stop button, and that's not very exact for a live performance. If I use the Stop All Clips button on Ableton, Ableton ends on the end of the bar/loop but Maschine keeps playing.

The Mackie script you describe later is the official way to get transport working.

I'm not much of a Session View user but I think the stopping behavior works this way for all plugins that have their own sequencers, at least the ones I own, the Stop All Clips seems to be a function mostly for Live's sequencing. Maschine's Ideas View doesn't have all the fancy sync options Ableton's Session view has, not even close.

FranPiano

Hi @D-One I have seen several posts of your, thanks for your extended reply!

Native Instruments support did answer me after 24 hours and they say that what I'm experiencing is the expected way for Mikro Mk3 to work. I would share then what I know/do now for the issues stated above:

1. The octave and semitones pads (PADS 13,14,15,16) works, but they affect the notes that are already recorded: in PAD MODE affects the whole group/pattern, in KEYBOARD MODE the selected sound, so OK! If I want to alter the octave/semitone of the notes on the PAD MODE/KEYBOARD MODE to play live (not recorded) I have to use the knob, to change the base key and root note respectively, holding shift will change in octaves 😁
2. I think I would not use the FIXED VEL button, so I changed the value of Fixed Velocity to the minimum (1) so I use that button as a SELECT button and the sound I get from the pad is I think the lowest I can, and after I press I can change the volume 😡
3. NOT RESOLVED, would use 100% the time Ableton, so the track on ableton would work as a master. 😡
4. Have to use two buttons if I need to stop exactly after a bar. The STOP button mapped to Ableton's "Stop all clips" and the pad to create a blank scene on the SCENE button (the sync option in the above bar on Maschine 2 set to "1 Bar"). 😁

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/32444#Comment_32444

Hi, no prob.

1 - Oh... I assumed you wanted to do what the shortcuts are designed to do, being transposing recorded material.

2 - Hum... That's an OK workaround I guess.

4 - Have to use two buttons if I need to stop exactly after a bar. The STOP button mapped to Ableton's "Stop all clips" and the pad to create a blank scene on the SCENE button (the sync option in the above bar on Maschine 2 set to "1 Bar"). 😁

I think I can fix that for you by editing the Mackie Script so it also stops all clips when Stop is pressed, it's just one extra line of code, try the attached script, works fine here in Ableton 11.

MackieControl_FranPiano.zip

Put it in the Ableton scripts folder and select it instead of the normal one

This is the modification just in case anyone is curious:

FranPiano

Thanks a lot @D-One you're very kind!