FWIW the TouchScreen on the MPC line is a joke once you’re accustomed to an iPad or iPhone. The touch drivers feel like circa 2010 ATM at times. They really need to work on their TouchUI frameworks.
Every time i move from my iPad to the ONE i feel like I’m entering my PIN Code to withdraw money from an ATM that misses my key presses 45% of the time. But i power on since i need to make what i want to make with the One. A sort of love hate relationship.
All totally valid points/perspectives. I guess if I used my MPC more as the hub of all my music making, I might see these limitations more and/or see the value in the more expensive Maschine with better design/UI. I sequence hardware from a variety of different sources, MPC being only one and primarily used as a beatmaker/sampler maybe sending master clock. The screen can be annoying for, say, moving notes on a grid or finely sculpting samples, but honestly I don’t find it that bad and nearly all editing functions can be performed with Q-links, making those hassles kind of irrelevant.
I’m fully willing to grant that there are people for whom a certain kind of workflow that the Maschine does better makes a huge difference. Like I could play a $1200 Martin and a $4000 dollar Martin and not feel much difference, but for sure someone else could. And I wouldn’t expect to produce a whole track with it on its own.
Maybe, in fact, this sidetrack might help the OP: clearly it matters what your expectations/needs are. If sequencing a basic synth setup, sampling and looping and playing one-shots and multisamples, laying on some decent fx, and maybe using the virtual synths occasionally for some light duty are what you need, then I think MPC is a no-brainer because of cost. But if you want an honest-to-god DAW replacement, because that’s the workflow you gel with, it sounds like the M+ is your ticket.
I used to have a Maschine MK3 and went for the MPC Live for several reasons. Mainly because the Maschine software is only a no brainer as long as you use it standalone but as a plugin within a DAW is a major headdache and I prefer OTB because I spend a lot of time in front of a computer at work. Last point is adressed with the Maschine+, at least to a certain point. Editing on the piano roll seems easier on the touch screen (even though it’s not on par with an iPad) instead of button combos. And with pad shortcuts and the Q-links you can do a lot without relying on the screen all the time on the MPC.
The company behind is also a factor that shouldn’t be overlooked. I don’t have much experience with Akai but they have delivered substantial updates for the new MPC line since release. I used to be a heavy NI user and now only have the M32 keyboard left for some occasional ITB noodling. They built a reputation for not keeping promises and after their massive lay offs and cancellations of some great product ideas (I was part of a group that collected ideas for a follow up hardware mixer for the Z2) NI tastes very sour to me. It‘s still not clear to me where they are headed with their new management and their possible switch to a subscription model. But that is just a personal opinion of course and something bad can be said about a lot companies. But since we‘d like to use the products we buy for a long time it’s not a bad idea to have a look on the update history.
The pads are definitely better on the Maschine even though Akai basically invented the pad game. The only thing I really miss about the Maschine since they feel nice and are very responsive so you can play more gently instead of having to hit the pads quite hard on the MPC (even with various settings of the pad sensitivity).
I was also a heavy ni user. Used it for djing at home at clubs each weekend. Had the first maschine and used it for production and remixing. Also bought the first komplete keyboard when it came out.
Maschine was replaced by mk2 which I bought then came the studio, then the jam and a mk3. Seemed like they were constantly pushing new hardware without developing the software. Got annoyed with software and stuck with ableton using maschine inside occasionally. I love their software synths though and use them regularly.
Traktor also was not developed and I quickly moved to serato for all my gigs and now rekordbox. Traktor showed so much potential for bridging the gap between djing and live but seemed to be abandoned.
Ni make so many products it sometimes seems they can’t juggle all the balls. My fear is if they update the hardware controllers they’d also update the standalone making more products to support.
Saying that having reaktor in a standalone box and able to use all the community made synths fx and sequencers has always been top of my wish list.
This product looks great and I hope it becomes their flagship product
Maschine + is beautiful! NI hardware is generally excellent.
Anyway MPC VS Maschine workflow/structure is very different.
I find Maschine very limited and counterintuitive.
It seems like a software made from different programmers assembled in an illogical way.
Whit MPC you can make 3 sequences and from them make an entire song just muting pads, live or with automation. Easy.
With Maschine while it is feasible I found it very impractical. If you mute a group, the group will be muted on every scene, the same if you mute a sound.
Also consider editing a pattern with the Maschine knobs is a pain, almost impossible, it is better to clean and re-record the pattern or make modifications on with the mouse.
With MPC touchscreen is a breeze. Same for automations, velocity, etc.
If you have modular, CV control is powerful.
MIDI management on MPC is very powerful, maschine is a pain.
Software instruments: maschine blows MPC away on this regard, but who’s going to do sound design on a maschine MK3? So you will probably use only the presets or you will create sounds on the computer and save the preset on the maschine + eventually.
On the MPC you can use any VSTs included NI’s instruments on the MPC software and save as audio tracks or autosample in keygroups. It’s not the same I agree but it mostly depends on the style of music you make.
Anyway for me is more important the software than the hardware.
If you are a softsynth guy and you like the maschine software/workflow then maschine is your way.
If you use external hardware/soft synths and you like the MPC workflow, then MPC is your friend.
I’ve only had the maschine 1 day, but I have the exact opposite opinion so far, the mpc had been here for 6 months and I hate using it. Everything just feels clunky and unintuitive to me like I need the manual At all times.
I actually find the knobs on machine way easier and precise then the touchscreen, the mpc you have to switch between the different tools, zoom in and out on the piano roll, what a pain, I would rather use a mouse than a clunky touchscreen. Also the finger print smudges, ew.
I also think the instruments and effects on mpc don’t sound good at all except the new drum machine they added is decent (but pretty simple)
I guess you just need to have a different brain then me, I just don’t enjoy using the mpc, sucks that you gotta spend so much money just to figure out if something ‘feels’ right.
agreed, i have the same experience. I guess just like left and right brained people, there are MPC and Maschine brained people…oh, and Push brained people
I had been using NI Maschine MK2 , and i liked its workflow - unfortunately my laptop wasn’t up for the task - i had to endlessly troubleshoot it to get DPC latency down, when it was working - sometimes the playhead jumped unpredictably -i really liked the workflow, the sound of the NI synth was usable.
But the midi implementation sucks, there is a registry fix for that - sometimes midi wasn’t sending without any reason - you had to turn off midi time code for that. It had the option to midi lock different scenes and to interpolate between those which is great, and cant be done on the mpc.
2015-2016 ? I dont know exactly when - i beta tested their software - they had the overlay done allowing for automation overlapping your patterns. I thought YES - thats it - and then they didn’t bring it to their release software. I got disappointed over time.
I was up for something new - but waited till MPC had their midi implementation fixed - which it is current state. For my usage - sampling and sequencing external synth its just enough to work with. I can do a basic arrangement, resample layered drums, do automation over a longer period of time, when i convert sequences as single sequence. As i was already fluent with Maschine, the MPC workflow clicked very intuitively. I think its cool that Akai did force NI to compete on this market, and hope that we will get fully working dedicated grooveboxes for the next years. All those consumer computers are not build for realtime applications anyway.
Unfortunately no - for me at least that beta was stable on my desktop computer. I could not understand it - a lot of users were requesting that function. (even before the beta.) Its allowing to stay longer within the Machine eco system - not exporting, then automate in the DAW.
Make a pattern in maschine, then begin to edit the pattern with the knobs.
Then try this on MPC (with touchscreen, etc).
If you ever tried, you know.
This is enough for me to go with MPC.
MPC is a sampler first, sample editing, layering, etc. Instruments are a bonus. For me they are not so bad. Not comparable with kontakt or reaktor insturment of course. But I don’t need an MPC if I want kontakt or reaktor.
Probably! MPC workflow was conceived by Roger Linn in 1988, since then countless people made epic beats on the MPC, it is a staple in the music history.
Maschine is a German reinterpretation of the MPC, very nice, but in my opinion Maschine is an MPC without the MPC soul
I tried to love maschine for 2 years, I come to the conclusion it was better to use ableton live, it makes the same things, but it is a complete daw.
I added an MPC Live for “on the field” duties. I’m fine with this setup.
I still use kontakt and reaktor, I hope one day NI witll make Maschine better, I am ready to jump on it again.
If you want to rush in learning MPC I recommend the MPC bible, you will be ready to rock in 3/4 days.
Also its possible to move events without the touchscreen, if you really wanted to you can nudge things, select things with the q links. (Also zoom screen etc.) I use the mpc one, which has more controls, so the user experience is different between all 3 variants. I have dedicated knobs for switching between sampling, sequencing, program edit, mixing. I think that is quiet fast to work this way.
With auto sampler you can also sample your VST patch you would like to use in standalone mode - load the plugin, let auto sampler create the keygroup program. Memory is limited, but you can set the steps or note range where you want to play that program, so you dont waste your memory on this. (Sample only bass notes for your bass, pads only in the octaves played etc.) I think that alone is a very nifty and well thought out feature.
Make a pattern in maschine, then begin to edit the pattern with the knobs.
Then try this on MPC (with touchscreen, etc).
If you ever tried, you know.
This is enough for me to go with MPC.
You say that, but then I have actually made that comparison and I really didn’t enjoy editing patterns on the touchscreen at all.
I can say I spent many hours my first day on the mpc live and didn’t make a single thing resembling music.
I’ve had the maschine for couple days now and I basically immediately understood the workflow without reading manual and just messing around for a bit. Making way more enjoyable music and that’s what it’s all about.
