is maschine innovation a concern for our DAW?

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nyfinestgully
nyfinestgully Member Posts: 3 Newcomer
in Maschine

Hey guys — first off, I just want to say this isn’t a rant or me trying to be negative. I love native instruments products and my MK3 and I genuinely love Maschine. I've invested so much money and time into this platform because I believe in it, and that’s exactly why I care so deeply. But am I the only one who feels like we’re getting left in the dust compared to what other DAWs are doing?

When are we finally going to see real innovation in Maschine? Where’s the A.I. tools? Where’s the integration with platforms like Splice and other services that are pushing creativity forward? FL Studio has a whole cloud system where you can access unlimited samples and loops directly inside the DAW — and now they even have A.I. assistance built in. That’s next-level stuff! 🔥

Meanwhile, we’re still stuck doing some of the most basic tasks in a frustratingly clunky way. It’s 2025, and we still can’t even cut or split audio freely in song view after arranging a beat. We’re forced to trim audio by dragging the edges of the clips in song view only. Other DAWs let you slice anything, anywhere, any time. Yet here we are, still only able to cut MIDI in the piano roll like it's 2010. That’s just not acceptable anymore. i like how we recived a small boost in the piano roll with been able to see what key your in with the colors but man.... thats been around for decades in other daws. our piano roll is still outdated in comparison to the other daws still but majority of people already understand this.

And another thing — the VST integration. Maschine 3 takes forever to launch sometimes. I’m not even joking — you can literally make dinner and come back, and it’ll still be stuck on the loading screen. Maschine 1 and 2 never gave me that kind of issue. On top of that, a lot of third-party plugins don’t even load properly. Either they won’t populate, or they load so oversized that they're unusable. It’s a constant struggle, and I pray Native Instruments can develop better tech around plugin handling soon.

Again, I say all this with love. I’m passionate about Maschine. I love my MK3. That’s why this is so frustrating 😩. I want to stay loyal, but every time I see what other DAWs are doing, it’s like they’re calling my name louder and louder…

Please, Native Instruments — don’t let us fall behind. It’s time to evolve.

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Answers

  • Dubalab
    Dubalab Member Posts: 29 Member

    Maschine isn't and never will be a DAW.

    Aside that, it's a bit outdated in some terms trying to catch the wave but…

  • carvingcode
    carvingcode Member Posts: 2 Member

    I like the focused design of Maschine/MK3. I would not if it had to fit the feature bloat of most DAWs.

  • ozon
    ozon Member Posts: 2,079 Expert

    @nyfinestgully wrote

    Yet here we are, still only able to cut MIDI in the piano roll like it's 2010.

    IIRC then the piano roll was introduced by Cubase 2.0 in 1990. That makes this workflow another 20 years older. And it would indeed be nice if Maschine could be brushhed up to give more of a 21st century feel.

  • cal
    cal Member Posts: 38 Helper
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/233883#Comment_233883

    Uhhhm…why would you need to do that to implement software improvements? Are you thinking of the Maschine+? I dont think he's talking about that, just the software itself.

  • chk071
    chk071 Member Posts: 626 Pro
    edited July 12

    I wouldn't mind Maschine becoming a simple DAW. There are only feature bloated DAWs on the market these days. with 90% of those features being merely comfort features.

    That said, I don't know if that is realistic. I doubt NI wants to go that way. Wishful thinking often collides with reality.

  • Vocalpoint
    Vocalpoint Member Posts: 4,069 Expert
    edited July 12
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/233911#Comment_233911

    Hmm…let's see….

    Ai Tools?

    Cloud Services (like FL Studio)?

    Full Splice integration?

    Full VST integration? (Wow)

    Slicing and manipulating audio - like say - I do within Studio One?

    Do you really think the circa 2017-2019 CPU that is in your Maschine right now - could ever deal with any of this?

    If you want "next level" software improvements and functionality - when it comes to this device - that starts (and ends) with current (but probably more like bleeding edge) next level hardware.

    Finally - to the OP's question:

    'But am I the only one who feels like we’re getting left in the dust compared to what other DAWs are doing?"

    Yes - the reality is - you were left in the dust long ago by any of the major DAW's - mainly because Maschine was never intended to be a DAW. Simple software updates won't change this fact.

    VP

  • cal
    cal Member Posts: 38 Helper
    edited July 12
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/233914#Comment_233914

    Well, yes. We are talking about the software, why wouldnt it handle it? FL Studio does all that and its software only so why would we need to update the hardware? Cloud services would be handled by software, again FL Studio has that and its software only. Slicing and manipulating audio? Again thats all done via software, do you think that happening inside Maschine hardware? You mention Studio One, thats software only so how do you think its handling it? Thats right, its the Studio One software. Do you think the stem separation that Maschine does is done inside the hardware? Its all software, the Maschine is basically a glorified MIDI controller that streamlines interaction with the software so no, there is zero need to update the hardware , all of it is reliant on the PC/Mac specifications running the software lol

    I really think you might be getting confused between Maschine MK3 and Maschine Plus.

  • 6xes
    6xes Member Posts: 949 Guru

    Well, yes. We are talking about the software, why wouldnt it handle it? FL Studio does all that and its software only so why would we need to update the hardware? Cloud services would be handled by software, again FL Studio has that and its software only

    the simplest solution to your problem is buy FL studio… you'll have everything you want…

    why wait for NI??

  • Ed M
    Ed M Member Posts: 153 Advisor

    I use my Maschine for what it's good at: easy, fast and hands on idea creation. Start in Maschine, get your basic idea/loop into a DAW and finish the song there.
    Maschine isn't a DAW and NI doesn't claim it is one neither. Until Maschine does become a "real DAW" and I don't know if that is ever going to happen, exploit its benefits and accept its limitations.

  • Vocalpoint
    Vocalpoint Member Posts: 4,069 Expert

    "I really think you might be getting confused between Maschine MK3 and Maschine Plus."

    I think you are getting confused with enhancement requests that require a whole lot more horsepower than any Maschine currently available. If you think "stem separation" or "Ai" is all software - you need to study this a bit more.

    "Updating" the software does not mean the device is magically now able to handle Ai (for example)

    Maschine does it's baseline functions very well - stick with those. If that's not enough - as others have mentioned - get FL Studio and be done with it.

    VP

  • cal
    cal Member Posts: 38 Helper
    edited July 12
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/233933#Comment_233933

    I still think youre very confused. Maschine has stem separation in the software so yes it can already do that, its just software lol

    Maschine doesnt have any horsepower, its a midi controller for the software. It does nothing but send commands to the software, all the horsepower comes from the computer you are running the software on.

    Also yes, if the software to be updated to implement AI then yes, Maschine could handle it because, again, Maschine is a midi controller, it doesnt handle any of those things internally. I dont really care about any of those things btw because we wont get them, it would mean rebuillding the software from the ground up and NI wont do that.I would be happy just with better automation editing tbh!

    I really do think you are getting Maschine Mk3 ( a midi controller) mixed up with Maschine Plus ( standalone unit that has a cpu and memory)

  • Vocalpoint
    Vocalpoint Member Posts: 4,069 Expert
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/233936#Comment_233936

    Fair enough - thought the OP was talking Maschine+.

    And agreed - the Maschine software is limited in scope - but that is by design as well.

    I would not be waiting around for the Maschine 3 (software) to suddenly become a DAW.

    VP

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