I think Maschine is really interesting. I find it to be similar to Reaktor in the since that it offers a different outlet to making music in a standalone fashion. Yet the thing with Maschine is it has a lot of parts inspired by Ableton. Coming from a pretty strict Ableton rig, it's ultra enticing especially with features like automation recording.
I am always contemplating building a Reaktor only rig. I thought this even more so with Maschine and Reaktor combined. When thinking of 'performance' only, that combination is really attractive, mainly because you can customize Reaktor in a way that seems a wee bit more unique than the customization of an Ableton Rig.
However over the years I guess I have just gotten addicted to Live and it's hard to give it up, especially when you notice the little things in comparison to others. At times I am still amazed that Live has been so innovative and that I have somewhat forgotten that. A good example would be the upcoming Traktor, its partly modeled after Ableton's original idea, yet it has the best midi editor out there. Maschine innovates in someways the Abes have not, yet the things about Maschine that are sort of like Live, really expose the immaturity of Maschine, in comparison.
I have high hopes and confidence in Live 9, and my gear lust for software and controllers has been curbed quite a bit. I feel like I can wait to see what Live 9 will be, and if I dont like where it goes, then I can rethink everything. Which these days is more about wanting Tempest to replace Ableton.