NI sold to InMusic.
Yes, I still have some old and newer MPCs because of it history after seeing De La Soul working with an MPC 60 in my youth. I’m not dissing the brand and equipment, it’s just I can do most of the same shit and more on an M+ these days.
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Hot weather and lots of mountain biking has put me out of the loop so I had no idea about this. It’s a bit sad, but hopefully they see some worth in continuing the Maschine line.
It was just announced today, so don’t worry, you aren’t that out of the loop 
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The + seems very capable, we will see in the future
It’s pretty crazy that one company now owns two of the most respected groovebox platforms on the market.
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Elektron looking over shoulder
Still not sure what to make of the acquisition, but I keep reminding myself that about 5 companies make the 27 kinds of shampoo available at the store, so maybe both platforms will be maintained… 
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That de la soul footage, was that from a doco? I think that was my first exposure too. One of the members shows sampling into the s950 or something and then they have the mpc on top sequencing it.
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It can go 2 ways,
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Inmusic will invest to make amazing new hardware, like maschine+ mk2 or even a whole new thing based on the great foundation of the maschine software/hardware.
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Inmusic let the hardware side bleed out and focus only on the software part. Making new plugins and update older ones.
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InMusic owns many brands, so I’m not worried about Maschine + updates in the future. Maybe we’ll see more direct compatibility between Maschine + and MPC sample libraries, and official integration between MPC Software and Maschine series.
I’d imagine the InMusic acquisition of NI aligns more with their DJ portfolio than Music Tech gear, given the size of Traktor compared to Maschine, but it’s interesting.
I thought it was weird seeing NI software being ported to MPC, but that kind of makes sense now.
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Well this happens in the world we live in, which I don’t quite always feel convinced to be honest.
In my observation, Inmusic is a typical modern capitalistic company who has been successfully expanding its business, focusing on capital efficiency.
They have been acquiring many musical brands those were struggling somehow, then sustaining to produce hardwares to be consumed, i.e. renewal cycle relatively fast, and also often there are more variants (Symbolically MPC Live, X, One, Keys 37/61 etc).
Bad thing for NI ?
May be no, because otherwise it could have gone out of the business.
Also, now we might see Maschine++, Maschine Keys or whatever.
However, for me, still the best would have been that NI could manage to stand on its own.
I wish for smaller companies, including Elektron, to keep up well.
InMusic seems to centralise on single hardware-platforms (SoC’s) so they can leverage economies of scale. Personally i think they mainly bought NI for their Kontakt ecosystem, and Traktor DJ sofware. They see a way to make money from the NI Konktakt soundpacks and expansions, and will probably let the Maschine die off because they already have MPC. Maybe Maschine sw will become compatible with MPC hardware, and/or the other way around (Maschine hardware being able to drive MPC software). But I don’t see a future where they will start developing a new MK4 version of Maschine tbh, unless it was already in the making.
Traktor as dj software still has a good life span, especially in techno circles. But it requires new/better harware, so the integration with InMusic DJ hardware like Rane, Denon and Numark makes sense.
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Elektron was recently acquired by venture capital, no?
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Yes, that is actually correct.
The major difference is that Elektron was not at the risk of insolvency.
Also the buyer has nothing to do with music.
Hopefully, this is just a Swedish collaboration and Elektron can maintain its tradition, but only time will tell.
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Im back to Maschine. Bought one last week. And its a blast. I recently noticed that finally automation is in maschine software. So, im back in.
Great stuff, great workflow.
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Even as I love and intend to keep my Maschine+ so much, I think it is going to be sunset days (hope to be wrong though). Akai will just take over the sound expansions/instruments and those nice soft maschine pads before bidding farewell to Maschine. The Maschine software is also not a proper DAW and cannot compete on its own. NI sold Maschine hardware to get more people to use the software. Same story with Traktor. NI is primarily a software company.
As the new parent of NI, what could be your vested interest in such a takeover?
Funnily enough I have JUST discovered the joy of Traktor Pro 4 - it’s AMAZING for mangling loops. Been piping out the audio to Ableton Live for chopping up and composing. Been controlling Traktor with an X1 Mk3 I picked up dirt cheap. Gonna grab another one to control decks C and D, and a Z1 Mk2 for mixer duties.
Makes me realise just how forward-thinking Native Instruments were as a company, and the sheer variety of their software. The X1 also makes me appreciate their hardware design, because it’s a beast. And they’ve been making stuff of this quality for ages - the beloved F1 controller was released in 2012 and not only still works, but can also function as a decent MIDI controller for other stuff like Ableton Live.
I originally got the X1 Mk3 to sit alongside the M+ so I could have hands-on sequencing of samples while Traktor-ing.
Oh yeah and I almost forgot - Traktor has the lovely Mulholland distortion algorithm that I first used on the M+! I love this distortion, it’s proper guitar-y with feedback that burbles up during lulls in the waveform. Absolutely awesome.
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Yeah NI have made some great stuff. Really tempted to buy a MKIII Keyboard controller now you can make MIDI templates onboard as the specs fit what I need. I think strategically NI just became to convoluted with their Plugins and Expansion packs instead of focussing on the core stuff. Just reading the Komplete specs really shows how bloated the NI Machine became and kind off feels like they devalued themselves.
Long live Machine - my first piece of music making hardware!
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