NI Maschine Sale!!!

[23kon]

I never ever made the jump and got myself Maschine, even after lots of consideration and debates about it.
However, with their current sale on them (£199 Mikro / £329 Maschine) it is VERY tempting.

One thing is holding me back though ... The forthcoming Akai Renaissance.
Will they do it better than NI?

And also ... is the Maschine Sale just to get rid of old box stock stickered with software version 1.7 to make way for boxes stickered with 1.8 (and maybe a timestretch feature?)?
Or is it to make way for a NEW controller from Native Instruments to work with the software?
Or is it simply a marketing ploy to grab an even larger proportion of the market before Akai release their new series?

My quandary is ... do I jump at the bargain price Maschine now? the problem is, if i wait until the new akais are out to have a play before buying the maschines might be back up at their original price.

If NI end up releasing a NEW controller then thats gonna throw up a whole different problem! Haha!

Anyone else in the same position?

[JuanSOLO]

I'm thinking they are not releasing a new controller. At least not a new Maschine.

I'd get a Maschine controller again if I found one dirt cheap.
Dont care much for the software.

[starving student]

Just get one from someplace that offers a 30-45 day return policy, don't open it or break the seal, and wait for the aka is to come out

[23kon]

It's the software unfamiliarity (personal preference) and restrictions (widely known) that put me off Maschine.
Now, I know it's not a DAW but it really should have some basic DAW features and better sequencing.
It looks like the Akai's have a better grasp on sequencing with it's more of a timeline based thing - coupled with their pads with assignable colours it looks like itd be a lot easier to gauge what's "going on" at a glance.

The wait to play with Renaissance is killing me! lol

Good idea btw Starving Student

[toxictobi]

Get Maschine, while it´s cheap.
NI stated, that they will support the old controllers, even if there will be a new one, but I think thre won´t be a new one until the Ren drops...
The 2000XL was my first piece of equipment back in 1998, so I was also looking forward to the AKAI Ren,
but the delay in delivery and things like the Ren has to attached to the PC/MAC in order to use the SW,
made me love Maschine even more. Also the Integration of Komplete 8 is very nice in Maschine.

[JuanSOLO]

NI stated, that they will support the old controllers, even if there will be a new one

Maybe they said that, but thats not what they did with Kore, a lot of Kore users felt screwed.

[toxictobi]

You think AKAI is more trustworthy?

That´s the main problem with not being a standalone unit:
at some point both controllers (NIs&AKAI) will be nothing more than doorstoppers.

[JuanSOLO]

You think AKAI is more trustworthy?

never gave it much thought really.
The only AKAI product I ever owned has been an APC40, and the lack of documentation and/or editor dont give me much to hope for.

[HeadrickProductions]

You think AKAI is more trustworthy?

never gave it much thought really.
The only AKAI product I ever owned has been an APC40, and the lack of documentation and/or editor dont give me much to hope for.

It's no secret tat akai is going to have to really step up with the Ren as far as software support goes. Since they've dropped the ball and forced third party folks to step in on past occasions, I would wait a long time before buying the ren unless you got money to burn and just want to be part of the "beta test." Also who the hell wants a usb 2.0 controller when 3.0 will be main stream within a year +.

As far as machine sale I would think that they are getting close to coming out with a new controller. They've got to start getting rid of old inventory. When I say close I mean next year.

[toxictobi]

I think the good thing about the APC40 is, that it doesn´t need any SW to run except live of course.
Hardwarewise I like both APC & Maschine, though I like the APC-Encoders more.
And another benefit of AKAI Products is, if something is broken (Butons, Pads, etc) you can order spare parts (e.g. from mpcstuff) & repair it yourself.
It´s a shame that NI doesn´t offer spare parts, though the maschine controller is quite reliable, got mine since 2 years w.o. any problems.
APC40+Maschine+live ftw

[fishmonkey]

Also who the hell wants a usb 2.0 controller when 3.0 will be main stream within a year +.

the bandwidth of USB 3.0 would be completely wasted on a MIDI controller, what would be the point?

[scrondle]

Also who the hell wants a usb 2.0 controller when 3.0 will be main stream within a year +.

the bandwidth of USB 3.0 would be completely wasted on a MIDI controller, what would be the point?

USB 3.0
USB 3.0
USB 3.0

It has to be better than 2.0, it's had ten 0.1s added to it.

[23kon]

I reckon that Akai are aware of their shortfalls in the past and don't want to let down the fanboys so this is why it's taken so long for this promised line of products to get to market.
They'll have been working on this product long before NAMM and will have been finishing it off and thoroughly beta testing since (i hope!) so that when the product is released it'll be a goodun'.

[darkenedsoul]

Wow, I just checked on pricing for the Akai, $1999 but savings of $700 dropped it down to $1299....WTH! And it's pre-order (due out 8/24 according to musiciansfriend website). Still that's a LOT of dough for that IMHO, unless I was a) doing DJ type stuff for gigs and b) making money off said gigs to offset the cost that's one thing or c) had money to burn for a toy I'd consider it but it isn't my type of equipment (nor is Maschine although I like the latter and the K8 tie-in with 1.7 update including the preset accessibility) but Maschine is a bit better on the old wallet.

[Zero B]

Until they sort the "only addressing a single processor" issue then Maschine is a lame duck for me, it won't run more than two instances of Massive on my brand new MacBook Pro without maxing out. Forget about razor, forget about the Waves Plug-ins, it won't handle them.

I bought Maschine to programme a live set, I can't get it to run past 35mins without it crumbling and that's playing only samples and a few effects. It's basically useless as a live sequencer for anything longer than a couple of tracks. The software leaves a lot to be desired too, the piano roll editor is hideous.

I basically just had to reinvest in Ableton and the APC 40 and couldn't be happier. Although I will admit Maschine is shit hot for programming beats that can be then bounced and thrown into Ableton.