Maschine compatible third party plugins

WonkyFresh
WonkyFresh Member Posts: 12 Member
edited October 2024 in Maschine

Is there any site or list that tells if a certain plugin is compatible with Maschine? I don't want to make a mistake again and pay for a plugin that has a delay or other issues with Maschine program. I'd like to also know if there's any news if Native Instruments is going to do something about the plugin delay compensation in the future? Right now I'm trying to get some better tools for sidechaining, as I've not succeeded to get even a decent sounding sidechain to happen with Maschine's own tools. Does Kickstart 2 work on Maschine? What "affordable" plugins would you recommend for a good sidechain? My friend uses LFOTool on FL Studio, is it good?

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  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 3,756 mod
    edited February 2023

    No, there's no list because supposedly everything is compatible for the most part, except for plugins that rely on MIDI Out from the plugin itself, things like Scaler 2.

    The best course of action before buying is to try the demo... Kickstart 2 you mentioned has a trial, try it. It should work fine.

    Sometimes brands have issues within certain Hosts, this is normal and not exclusive to Maschine, usually, those issues are addressed by either or both companies in an update but IMO the most important thing to watch out for is that some companies only fix bugs in newer paid upgrades versions, Waves comes to mind. I'd avoid companies with such monetization strategies.

    People have asked for PDC a lot, for years, I wouldn't count on it happening soon or on any confirmation on NI's side, they tend to only comment on such things if it's actually about to happen soon. PDC is tricky in something like MAS due to it being so reliant on having responsive HW controllers.

    Maschine's built-in compressor had a very strange (long) release last time I tested so I personally use FabFilter's Pro-C 2 for sidechain comp, it's very expensive tho... For cheap / free options you have for example Melda's MCompressor for example, works fine here. If you really need a point-based shaper then go for either Kickstart2 or VolumeShaper, the latter is a bit more expensive but also does a lot more stuff.

  • Ed M
    Ed M Member Posts: 152 Advisor
    edited February 2023

    @D-One Scaler2 just works fine in Maschine, only the midi routing features of the plugin won't work because there are indeed not supported in the Maschine software, as you mentioned.

    Kickstart 2 is somewhat the same, the plugin in itself works. Put it on a track, and by selecting one of the build in waveforms you'll have the ducking effect right away. You can also select any sound from a group as audio for the ducking trigger, but also here you can not use the midi option, because that is not possible in Maschine.

    Most 3rd party virtual instruments and effects will work on Maschine (for Macs in Native mode only VST3 versions). When a plugin relies 100% on midi routing to or from other tracks, it won't work in Maschine.

    I don't know if Kickstart 2 is the best sidechain plugin, I think it is one of the easiest to use, and it is pretty cheap as well.

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 3,756 mod

    @Ed M said: Kickstart 2 is somewhat the same, the plugin in itself works. Put it on a track, and by selecting one of the build in waveforms you'll have the ducking effect right away. You can also select any sound from a group as audio for the ducking trigger, but also here you can not use the midi option, because that is not possible in Maschine.

    Actually, that's not true. I just tried the demo and it works fine including MIDI triggering, you just have to select the Virtual MIDI Port (not sure what the name is for windows) and make sure the trigger Pad is also sending MIDI to that Port. Why "Direct Input from DAW" doesn't work I don't know. (It might be because MAS does not send MIDI to insert fx plugs, only to the main instrument / 1# in the chain)

    What doesn't work in MAS is VST-Output from plugins, Kickstart 2 only needs Input.

  • WonkyFresh
    WonkyFresh Member Posts: 12 Member

    Thank you D-One and Ed M for the help! I've been using Kickstart 2 now for a while as I only need some simple sidechaining. Had no problems using it, but now I tried it with Sylenth and it gave a terrible delay that totally ruins the song. 😣

  • WonkyFresh
    WonkyFresh Member Posts: 12 Member
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/51731#Comment_51731

    So FabFilter's Pro-C 2 works fine? I would definitely pay for a good sidechain plugin, but it's weird that Kickstart 2 still has the delay.

    The plugin has 3 options:

    Sync (this works fine because it's an automatic effect, but only with given time signatures)

    MIDI (can't get this to work at all, even though I have chosed sidechain input)

    Audio (works, but has a delay)

    Am I doing something wrong? Do I have to make some routing etc.? Kickstart 2 seems to be ok if I want that four on the floor house sidechain, but if I want anything else it won't work.

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 3,756 mod
    edited April 2023

    I don't understand how you have delay sometimes and others don't. A plugin either induces latency or it doesn't (in the case of something simple like Kickstart)... If Kickstart works fine with some stuff but then does not with Sylenth then the issue is in Sylenth IMO.

    Yes Pro-C works fine for me but so does Kickstart-2.

    @WonkyFresh

    MIDI (can't get this to work at all, even though I have chosed sidechain input)

    MIDI has nothing to do with the sidechain audio input, it uses the midi notes of the instrument to trigger the volume modulation of the plugin, it's a fake sidechain comp for lack of a better term.


    Am I doing something wrong? Do I have to make some routing etc.?

    For MIDI Mode yes, you have to tell the plugin to use the right MIDI port and channel and make sure the Pad you want to affect is also sending MIDI to that port, so they can both communicate.

    1 - Set your kick pad SOUND>OUTPUT MIDI to send MIDI to your virtual MIDI Port, on a mac it's as the picture below, on windows idk what's the name but should be similar.

    Screenshot 2023-04-30 at 14.30.33.png

    2 - In KickStart - load it after your Bass or whatever you're trying to affect, press the prefs icon on the top-right and select "Show MIDI Setup", select the same MIDI Port and Channel as the previous step and your kick Pad MIDI will trigger the volume modulation.

    Screenshot 2023-04-30 at 14.26.57.png
  • WonkyFresh
    WonkyFresh Member Posts: 12 Member


    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/67908#Comment_67908

    There's "Maschine Mikro MK2 Out" on MIDI Output, but when I select that, it is not available on Kickstart MIDI ports. There's only "Maschine Mikro MK2 In". So Audio and Sync are only possible for me. 🤔

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 3,756 mod
    edited May 2023
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/71457#Comment_71457

    Hummm.... I just tried it on Windows and also had many problems, including crashing Windows and "MIDI Port cannot be opened" errors inside Kick2 if the inputs are enabled in the Maschine Preferences; I think I have some sort of issue where only one app can have access to MAS MIDI ports, even MIDI monitoring apps cant access the Ports but since I am a Mac user I have no idea why this is happening... I never had any of these issues on Mac.

    You should have a Maschine Virtual MIDI Port of some sort, unless you uninstalled "Bome" manually (It's in charge of Maschine's virtual driver), if you did then reinstall Maschine.

    Anyway, I got it to work by installing LoopBe1 virtual midi:

    1. Make sure LoopBe1 is only enabled for the MIDI Output in MAS prefs.
    2. On your Kick Pad, send to MIDI Out to LoopBe1.
    3. In Kick-2 select the "LoopBe Internal MIDI" Port.

    Works fine here despite the issues above.

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