Q&A with Maschine/Maschine Plus team?

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

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

This is huge, thank you for your candor!

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.

Does Akai have a good tutorial/edu system for Force?

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.

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.

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)