What's the point of maschine mk3?
Hi all I'm looking at getting a groove box of some kind. At the moment it's between maschine mk3 and mpc one. I read that the maschine mk3 needs a computer with the machine software to work and it got me wondering. Why buy the machine mk3 for over £400 when you could get the mikro for less than half the price? You have to use them both with a computer so why does the machine mk3 even have screens on it? Mpc one is stand alone but I had an maschine mikro before and I'm starting to miss how good the pads felt and how easy it is to drop midi and audio into logic.
Am I missing something here? I know the maschine has some physical knobs on you can turn but is that the only benefit? If I'm honest I would only get the machine mk3 because it looks cool and I was used to the mikro.
Also I think the mk3 is pretty old now. Am I in danger of buying one and then next month the mk4 comes out? 😂
Any of your thoughts would be appreciated.
Cheers.
Answers
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im one to look at hardware as simply controllers...
as the groove box is only a groovebox becos of the software that runs in the background
each software tied to the hardware is fine and well, but
at the point you want to expand your controller to work with other software/DAW's, you really need to consider the editor aspect of your hardware controller to change the functionality of the controller
these are things i look for in a controller editor:
how well does it handle the following
CC/Note/Program/Channel/pressure values
buttons: toggle/momentary/trigger/trigger on release etc
Midi feedback: can it react to input from another controller
Leds: how many colours, can it be programmed?
Banks & buttons: how many have coloured LEDs? how many have 2 LED states?
Pad/button Layout: 8x8 6x8 4x4 8x1 8x2
Encoders&touchstrips: do they have relative/incremental/decremental/absolute
Templates: how many midi templates can i have? can i swap midi templates on the fly?
Can the controller operate without a computer!
i do believe when one understands the value of some of these aspects of a controller & weighs everything according to personal requirement.
Its my view the more flexibility a controller editor has, the more options you have concerning customisation going forward
at the end of the day.... MPC & Maschine software do what they do... and thats it, the Hardware on the other hand, can be midi programmed to behave the way you want, based on how much control a editor gives you
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Great points mate. I think I'll keep watching reviews and go from there. Another point is that the moc one looks better quality, i think the case is a metal so a plus point for that. If only there was a music shop with like 5 of the most popular ones set up so you could play around with the hardware and software of a free different ones.
I'll have to watch more reviews and accumulate info on them
Cheers for the reply
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Modern MPCs are standalone music making boxes. They function without the computer. NI's equivalent to them would be the Maschine+, which also works standalone.
Regarding the Maschine controllers, mikro is cheaper because it has a more limited user interface. On the Maschine MK3, you are paying premium for an improved user interface. You would really need to use them both before you can grasp how significant the differences in UI between them are. I personally would not use a mikro, ever, the user interface is lacking, I'd be staring at the computer screen constantly.
If you cannot test these products in store, buy them from a vendor which offers some sort of return policy. That way, you have a bit of time (usually a week or two) to test them in your studio, and if you then decide they are not what you wanted, you can return them for a refund
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Good plan. I'll do that. The maschine mk3 looks like it's the best value for money. I've also heard people say that you can't change pitch without changing the tempo on the mk3. But I've seen some videos where people manage to do it. Have you guys had any experience in that? Apparently the mpc one doesn't struggle with this at all.
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That type of functionality has nothing to do with the hardware/controller. It's part of the software.
Maschine will stretch audio loops to tempo while maintaining pitch. Maschine won't allow you to place a sound on a pad, play it on a different key/pad and keep the tempo.
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The mk3 has a layout that fits nicely with Maschine workflow.
You can create patterns, create and manage groups, browse sounds, adjust levels, set fx, etc only with the controller.
The screens give you a useful and versatile feedback.If you like the worklow its very efficient.
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I see. thanks for all the replies. New idea... would anyone recommend buying a used Maschine plus? seems to do pretty much everything that the Mpc one and Maschine mk3 will do. but they are £530 for an grade A used one. it says on the description that it is without software though. It looks like I still have the Maschine 2 software on my laptop. would this mean I could buy the used one and as long as the serial was deactivated (which I will check) I can register it and it would work as normal as if it were new?
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No. The current MPCs blow the Maschine out of the water. I have the Maschine MK3 and Mikro as well and use the Mikro way more because as you said I end up working in the computer screen mostly.
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A Mikro and a full MK3 are millions of light years apart, the Mikro is a toy compared to its big brother, the difference is so huge I wouldn't even know where to start if I had to explain it.
AS for MPC VS Maschine, it's 90% a matter of taste of what workflow and details you like best, they're super similar. For me the MPC workflow with it's tons of types of Pads/Tracks is way more complicated and outdated, hard to say if this graph is 100% accurate but should give you a idea:
but on other details like customization MPC is way better for example. It really depends on the details that you value the most. Blezz has the best objective comparison I've seen online, it's not perfect as these things never are and we are all a biased towards our preferences but should give you an idea... It's more than 1 hour long tho, here.
You can.
Maschine does not have realtime Time-Stretch on it's Sampler, but it has destructive time stretch, this only matters if you use slices/chops and such and then decide to change the tempo, for the most part....
If it's about Loops then Maschine does have RT Timestrech in the form of a built-in Audio-Plugin and you can freely change the tempo.
No, never buy a M+ without software, there's zero reason for a user to sell it without it because he can keep his license aswell as the new buyer. An M+ won't even start without an account with valid licenses.
A used MK3 without software could be worth it at the right price, but to use it you would have to buy the SW from NI at around 75$ I believe.
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I had the Mikro first. Then got the MK3 after a couple of years. The difference is light and day. So many things you can't do on Mikro. I was struggling to do simple things, with no choice but to use the software to achieve it. Whereas you can achieve so much directly on the MK3.
You can get some really good deals for 2nd hand MK3 at the moment. Personally, I'm so glad I got the MK3 and my mikro is used if I'm on the road and can't bring the MK3 with me.
If you are happy plugging into a computer MK3 is the way to go. If you really want standalone then its the M+.
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As long as you can get a used Maschine+ activated in your Native Access account, buying it second hand will save you a lot of money. I'd ask the seller to work with you on the licence transfer
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