Hi Martin. Oh, I didn't really dig into this question before. According to the specs of the Maschine Plus: - Standalone Mode: Selected instruments, effects, Expansions, samples, and loops - Controller Mode: NKS instruments and effects, Expansions, samples, and loops from Sounds.com, and any 3rd party VST + AU plug-ins So, in conclusion, you can ONLY access 3rd party plugins when using the Maschine Plus in standard controller mode, with a computer. Though you can transfer samples to/from your Maschine plus if you connect it via USB cable (and activate "Storage Mode" on the Maschine). The Maschine SD-Card then appears as an external harddrive source on your computer. Cheers //Mattias 🌞
@@MattiasHolmgren I would love to see a video with a genuine focus on Kontakt libraries of various types being tested. Loopop's video on the M+ made it seem like the M+ comes with Kontakt and lots of Factory Library content to have a sort of "core library" of Kontakt instruments playable on the stock M+ experience. But Loopop didn't mention if they were in controller or standalone mode. Also, Loopop used confusing wording when describing which types of Kontakt libraries (I. e. "locked" and "unlocked" libraries) that can function on Maschine+ at all. I hope to see a video truly testing out a broad handful of Kontakt libraries to see if the general consensus for using Kontakt on M+ is a "reason to purchase" or instead simply "a small feature bonus"
@Connor Carbon thanks for your input and video tip. Yes, we always have to look at this Maschine+ from two points of view. 1. Standalone. 2.Used as controller for the Maschine Software on a second computer. In standalone mode (1) the Kontakt factory selection is VERY limited IMO. It consists of merely 50 instruments. In categories like Strings there's just 1 pach "Bowed Strings". In the category "Plucked strings"...1 patch "Oud". Since sampled instruments are indeed streamed from disc on the Maschine+ standalone I would have liked to see MUCH more Kontakt instrument content since it doesn't use up that much valuable RAM. But it's clear the target audience is sample beat makers, and NOT epic orchestral theme songwriters. ;) Although I did experiment and used some single sample instruments to create a small filmscore cue. I will see if I can prepare a small video showing what I mean with this. In controller mode (2) we can of course use whatever Kontakt libraries we want. But again, in standalone it's VERY limited. And there are NOT third party kontakt libraries available in the standalone mode. Thanks for asking Connor!
I watched the loopop review as well and he seemed to be saying if you saved a 3rd party kontakt sound as a preset then it would load in standalone mode. This kind of makes sense to me as kontakt is ultimately just a sampler with a scripting engine. You'll not get something like Outputs Signal to show as an "instrument" but if an individual sound/preset from that library is saved as a native kontakt patch then he seemed to be saying yes it will play. I could well be wrong and it's possibly not that useful anyway unless you have a small set of library presets you always use.
Keep asking questions in the comments! Check prices here (affiliate links help the channel - thanks!): ► Maschine Plus on Thomann: www.thomann.de/de/native_instruments_maschine_501389.htm?partner_id=82049 ► myVolts Ripcord 15V DC on Thomann: www.thomann.de/se/myvolts_ripcord_15v_dc.htm?partner_id=82049 ► MPC LIVE 2 on Thomann: www.thomann.de/de/akai_mpc_live_ii.htm?partner_id=82049 More workflow videos and livestreams on Maschine: * Maschine live stream - ua-cam.com/video/MKkNXrHhnHU/v-deo.html * Maschine 2.10 update - ua-cam.com/video/L_Q7-Voqguw/v-deo.html * How to record guitars in Maschine - ua-cam.com/video/_O4xmokXOQs/v-deo.html
CONTENTS 00:00 Intro 00:51 Maschine+ vs Maschine mk3 01:37 Standalone Maschine experience 02:12 Specifications - CPU, Storage 02:38 How to make Maschine+ portable with Ripcord 15V 03:08 Inputs / Outputs 04:07 Build Quality 05:23 The Maschine Workflow Explained 08:00 CPU Usage talk 08:34 CPU Usage / Small Project 10:15 CPU Usage / Big Project 13:15 Side Chaining on the Maschine 13:52 Be aware of what plugins you add!!! 14:30 Needs a better CPU? 14:45 Conclusion
Nektar P1 encoders are working after years of extensive use but this are Premium ones and Safety Instructions is mandatory to read because now it's clear that TLC is Must while using. Otherwise M+ is fantastic Standalone device and I can do tracks from start to finish. I can perform live with , playing and improving then I load Track on Muted Pad and do transition to that Pad and a Track now while Track is playing I could do something but I will Solo that Pad and load next Group to countinue with Live Act, it can eat CPU but soon as that happened just made Audio and continue.
I’ve been using all native products around 1 year, awesomel kit. Question is: where did you get the (coloured tops) on the Maschine MK3. Thanks Matthias
Hey, yeah it's a great bundle of plugins and sounds. Oh the coloured stickers I put on top of the Maschine mk3 knobs I got from the Bitwig developers. They sent me a package of "Bitwig stickers" very colorful and useful things to stick to your gear. ;) Thanks for writing Jono! Hope to see you around the channel comments!
Yes, Maschine+ is indeed a great Maschine, solid build, awesome workspace. But I feel the CPU is on the lower side for some serious action. That said, I am having tons of fun with the current version. You just have to learn to work the CPU with light arrangements, instruments and fx. The Maschine mk3 was already an perfect unit. Cheers Travis!
Very smart move. I have my MK3 as well. The Intel Atom Chip in the Plus is rather pathetic except for very basic music. After all it was the chip used in PC mini computers years ago which went out of favor very quickly and were terribly slow.
As a NI user Kontakt owned every Maschine but this falls short! This is under baked it can be compared to the MPC ONE but at 700 7inch multitouch Screen CV gates, 2020 2021 no Touchscreen not that it’s needed but at 1400$ no Sata Drive slot ? I picked up the LiveII 1200$ everything on it is up to date 2 Usb 3 ports Ethernet port WiFi Bluetooth Sata drive slot 16Gigs built in storage’ I for see a better version in the future and this price being dropped by 45% I love NI my Komplete Kontrol S49 MK2 is Top notch Love it! But yea 1400$ for things that are not on the unit and CPU overloads you are better off with with the MK3 NI you guys didn’t have to rush this just because of AKAI” Akai has always been standalone it started that way go back and redo this right and put a 800$ tag on it you will sale them.
@@MattiasHolmgren It is a bit expensive but I think is important to consider that for once it is more expesinve for americans. In Europe is 1250 in thoman right now. For most if not all of the other gear the price is usually the same in Euros which is not really the same. So basically for Europeans the price is as if it was 1250 dolars which I think is a bit of a difference. So for a European we are paying the same as if it was 1250 dollars if you know what I mean.
Hey Mattias, quick question I want to dabble In music production. I’m looking for a new laptop. I’m basically in the native instruments universe for now just starting out. I have the maschine mk3 and the key 61 mk2. I have komplete 14 collectors edition my question is the base model Mac 8gb ram and 256 storage enough I have all my libraries on an 2tb external drive. Is this Mac have enough power to handle this usage.
So interesting review, Mattias, thank you very much! I've also noticed this version of Maschine, as I'm basically quite an old user of Maschine ecosystem, since Maschine mk II actually. Unfortunately, haven't really managed to integrate it in my workflow, except only for live performance scenario, where it really shines for me. But anyway, it's apparently so useful and powerful for certain scenarios like you're demonstrating in the stream. You've actually answered most of the questions I had while watching the video. Indeed, the CPU overload is a question, but kind of expected thing. I think, it's tightly connected with the synths integrated, which are obviously written for x86_64 architecture and not going to be rewritten for one particular product. And this in turn means the lack of battery and quite limited capacity in terms of a number of synth instances. But probably the main focus is still on sampling, I believe, AKAI competitors are also not so much synth-capable, and using samples with light effects hopefully the optimal use case for it. Anyway, I think, it's nice, that such products are released, not everybody feels good having to interact with the computer during the creative process, and now anyone have a broader range of variants to choose. Thanks again for the video! Hope the first days of the year are good and pleasant for you, and you're having a good time :) It's kind of raining now for some reason here in my place, though the snow was expected) But yes, the New Year Eve weather was really fine this year, so I'll just wait for it to return :) Have a nice holidays, Mattias!
Hi ALexey, yeah the Maschine+ is shining when you are just flipping samples. But at some point you want to start adding in effects, doing side chain and all that good stuff. Because all the tools are there. And at that point after doing a few patterns and starting to put the song together you realize the CPU is hitting above 100%. ;( It's a real pity because (like you) I also like the Maschine workflow. And indeed it shines as a performance.machine. You have to be really careful and thoughtful when you map out your song and know what you add. Remove all unneccesary effects, maybe remove some unneeded samples from the pre-defined drumkits you load up etc. But if you keep watch you can produce songs on the Maschine+. I wish the CPU was x2 as powerful. Or that Native Instruments didn't taunt us with including things like Reaktor, Kontakt etc. Kontakt only comes with like 50 instruments on it too. And it's quite limited. It's indeed a "Kontakt Selection" specific to the Maschine+ but....god I wish it had more power. New years eve was superb with my family, Mimmi, son Elliot, daughter Leia. We ate some grilled deer with fried potatoes and sauce + a big sallad. Not much rockets this year though. I bought some boardgames for the family instead and saved the poor ears of Doris and the other animals around the block. ;) We finally have some cold, -4 today and we hope to do some skiing quite soon. Still a bit low on snow though. Hope you get some snow in Russia soon too!
@@MattiasHolmgren Yes, absolutely, I can share your confusion throughout the video about the possibilities given vs. the power available :) Maybe they just rely on those true hardware guys which are more or less used to all the limitations like this) I really admire at how deep and complex are some tips and tricks for e.g. Elektron devices to reach some effects or passages not really available out of the box. So I would be too surprised if someone propose a technique of sequentially play and immediately disable e.g. kick and snare in turn in really quick tempo, haha =) I just hope, it's still possible to use it as a normal Maschine controller, for computer program, in case of the limitations are too strict to be autonomous. Oh, nice Christmas and New Year time there in your place together, I'm so happy for you! My greetings to you all :) I'm also not a big fan of rockets myself, though I like professional fireworks so much, went to several fireworks shows and competitions before the pandemia started, so yes, nice, I like your boardgames idea way more! :) I think, those table games are just close to ideal evening time spending for a big family in the winter, it's really calm and beautiful. Oh yes, and Doris is safe :) Do you allow her to play with you, by the way?) Yes, snow was just good recently, surprisingly enough of it and about -10°C was actually during the last two weeks, but now it's melting a little bit. So yes, hopefully, it would get a little colder and more snow would come )
Yeah the cpu barely makes my arrangements. If you are careful it suffices. But for the price I would have liked 35% more ”headroom” in cpu. Still a solid built beatmaschine! ☀️☕️🎹🥁
I think there are a lot of people waiting for a Maschine+ MKII with more CPU power and RAM. Like you and me. :-) Hopefully NI is not waiting too long to get it out. And they definitely will, I'm absolutely sure about that!
Hi great review thanks. As a non machine user... Can you load more than one project into memory with the aim of building a live set of patterns you can transition between ? Or would that have to happen inside one project and therefore CPU and number of tracks / groups would be a no go? Thanks again
Hi you need to have that in a single project because loading takes a few sec. Due to the limited cpu I would not recommend it for a full set if you plan on having many different drumsets / sounds that vary between the projects. I like the Maschine personally but the CPU is too limited in the current model. Using it with a computer makes it gold though, but the whole point with this new "plus" model is to be standalone. Thanks for asking Rob.
Hi Bruno, maybe, I did try the Akai Force at NAMM 2020 but I wasn't sold on the workflow. The workflow in the Maschine is very easy to grasp, and fast. I guess its personal taste. I know some people prefer the workflow in the MPC. They are quite different in many aspects. But it's always about the amount of time you spend with a unit. It's always like learning a new instrument. 😋🌞
Hey Mattias, is it possible to use the Maschine plus with pro tools without having it installed on the computer? I other words if Maschine is installed on my laptop but not on my studio computer can I use Maschine like an instrument and record the output through my interface? Thanks
Yes, you can indeed record the output from the Maschine Plus like any other instrument into another computer audio interface. Thanks for asking Geezus. 🌞
Thank you for this video. Very helpful. You mentioned Ripcord but I can‘t find the link to it. Maschine+ has higher Power consumption than the MK3. It requires 40W, MK3 only 15W.
I somehow deleted the link. Yeah you need a phat power bank, but it works. 😋 Will update the text with the RipCord link as soon as I get back home. *sunday dinner* 🌞😋 glad u enjoy the video. Thanks!
@@MattiasHolmgren Any chance you could make a quick video on this? Theres a big difference between a 40w psu and a 15w psu. A better power bank might offer more amps on the output but plugging a 15w ripcord into a device which requires 40w sounds a bit dangerous. You could put a lot of minds at ease by demo'ing this in action.
Hey Mattias! Glad to see you git that awesome stuff, i have a question if you used before akai MPCX or Professional version, how do they compare to each other?
Hi I didn't demo the MPCX. But 7 did try the MPC Live 2 at NAMM. Ive also experience producing on iMPC iOS app. The MPCX is a big station and you get the MPC workflow. So if you like that field, I guess it might be suitable for you. I do prefer the workflow of Maschine myself as I feel its a bit closer to a DAW (at least now that we have clips and can freely place them in a song timeline). That said... MPCs has touch displays. Although I felt they are kinda sluggish compared to something like the iPad Pro which I also use in my music production. I need to make more videos on producing with iOS apps. Thanks for writing. Ultimately its totally up to what You prefer. 😀🌞
@@MattiasHolmgren Thanks for the detailed answer, I realized that you had little experience in using Akai. I’m asking you all this why, I’m a big fan of jungle and drum&bass, and I see that many people used Akai to create their wonderful tracks, and at one time I was eager to get Akai like MPC, now I see that Mashchine+ was released on the market to mine a good competitor. Thx for your videos Mattias :-*
Indeed Issie, Maschine mk3 is absolutely great value. I dont regret buying the Maschine+ though as I will both be using it standalone AND as a controller for the Maschine software on my MACs. But the CPU of the Maschine Plus is very much too slow for my typical arrangements, although I dont (cant) use things like Omnisphere 2, epic Kontakt libraries and third party plugins etc on it. Its a bit of disappointment, but I guess Im used to be working with epic powerful Mac Book Pro laptops. 😋 I dont feel my arrangements are too cluttered with instruments either. I always go for less is more. I guess the regular sample beatmaker will be fine. But if you use many Prism, Monark, Reaktor presets its gonna swamp up quickly. If we compare this to something like a Digitakt....which never runs into CPU roof. I know they are totally different devices. But we kinda grow into the thought that the device we work with will not complain on overload so soon. Maschine+ is totally workable. But one have to be careful to not swamp the CPU too quickly. Thanks for writing Issie! 🌞
Hi Mattias. Can you maybe go into detail on how the browser for user samples works? Can you simply browse folders, or do you need to label all your samples in the NI software?
Live looping works nicely on the Maschine software. Today you can basically use Logic Pro, Ableton or Bitwig and hook them up to a hardware controller to do your live-looping performances. To make the most out of it you do some pre-setup to define loop lengths etc. Then fire away and jam. I hope to do a new live looping episode soon and talk about the current status of the daws vs hardware live looping etc.
@@MattiasHolmgren I tried with Ableton -- but with DAW/Hardware - i really want something that can just pedal live looping.... -- idk if I can configure my push and the DAW to help me do that... need more research. Yea - i think that could be a good video! -- if the UA-cam SEO/Googel SEO shows good keyword support and you really crushing it with the content and passion - anything can happen!
I heard that prims is the top offender in terms of cpu. You should try a project where you just not use prisms. From loopops review it seemed to me it had a pretty decent power depending on the plugins used. You definitely need to be aware of whats the cpu hit of every instrument you use as of with most of the hardware. You said you can't use it as you would with your computer, so mpc live is the alternative. Except it doesn't have the maschine workflow neither the sounds so is not comparable imo. Also it's important to know that if you really don't mind being next to a computer then mk3 is obviously much better. The main point is that you don't need a computer.
Yeah if used with samplers and low cpu demanding plugins mainly its working out great. Im glad Massive and FM8 isnt that draining. Ill be posting more vids on the Maschine+ experience soon.
I need a guitar looper I can sequence from my roland fantom. I tried the akai force and it didnt work. I think the only options would be an octatrack or this maschine plus. How is guitar looping with the maschine? I know the octatrack doesnt have an undo feature which is a big bummer.
The undo feature of Maschine is excellent. It's easy to undo stuff if you are not satisfied with a take. I'm gonna do a video on live looping with the Maschine Plus soon. Stay around! 🌞
It doesn't support that plugin by default, Maschine+ has a limited rows of plugin instruments that doesn't tax the built-in CPU that much. But you can always resample the sounds you like from Studio Drummer into Maschine+. ;)
@@MattiasHolmgren Thank you. I've read somewhere here in the comments you said Mac Book Pro Silicon M1 it's great for music production, except software companies have to update their software to work with that new apple tech. As that comment was like one year ago, you have any news about it? I'm full of doubts about getting an M1 because of this, as i'd need a lot of the komplete series and waves plug ins. Thanks for your very useful videos!
@@obulus1 Hi, I have a M1 and my Komplete 12 Ultimate and most of my third party libraries like Arturia, Zero-G and Soundiron etc. work fine on that. In fact I can load many more tracks with Komplete 12 instruments than I could on my old MacBook Pro Intel model. Some of the browsing functions are slow on some 3rd party libraries but the NI stuff works fine. Not sure about Waves since I don't use those.
Paolo, most major apps and plugins are now either fully arm64 (M1) compatible or works great through Rosetta 2 translation. ☀️🥳 still I am a bit in the dark regarding Waves since I don’t use, nor investigate their plugins anymore.
Why set the ram at 4GB? That's why your peaking at 80 to 100. They should've allowed access to expand the amount of Ram to allow for more plug-ins. 4GB at $1399??
Yeah, we can probably break the Mashcine+ apart and upgrade. But I don't have time to investigate. and do the procedure. With NI just gave us the opportunity to upgrade it...or just ship it with a stronger CPU and RAM. Or have alternate models.
Onboard effects are very good. Especiaoly the granular delay its outstanding for my work. They also incouded Raum reverb but its a bit cpu intense so use sparingly. ☀️
Hi Martin. I jist insert it on a track and make all the work in Maschine. Then when needed drag / export stems into the DAW. But like I explained many times. I do mostly use Maschine standalone because its very fast (a bit limited as DAW), but fast. 🌞
Hey thanks. Nope, but you can make use of send effects. And also Bounce down to audio files (resample) from one sound to another sound slot to get rid of heavy loading cpu instrument / Plugin setups. But its not yet a very convenient procedure. You have to manually set it up and resample.
Hi Shadowhenge. It really depends on how you use it. For pure sample flipping and basic reverb, filter, eq it's working fine. But with VST instruments it gets clogged up pretty quickly. I'm a bit surprised the other reviews of the Maschine+ did not talk about the CPU limit more!? I will make an updated review in a few weeks and talk more about how it's held up against my typical songs & performances. But so far, I have to plan how to build my projects more carefully than working on a solid computer. Even though it ships with a basic set of "not too demanding" synths like Massive, FM8 etc. I did notice that if I stick to those two (and basic sample players), it's easier to keep the CPU in check.
Honestly I suspected as much and held off on buying. No reviews talked about CPU either, and you just got to ask yourself how many of those reviewers actually know how to produce in the modern era, let alone know what they're doing. What the Machine+ needs is M1 chip xD.
Hi Artur. Hehe, yeah, but we eat CPU for breakfast. 😋 Gonna fetch the new Apple Mac Book Pro Silicon M1 and see how superb it performs with Logic Pro X. Apperantly its a sick processor. Too bad every company have to update their software to work with this new tech.
@@MattiasHolmgren Looking forward to seeing your review! There's way too few laptop reviews for music producers! Regarding M+, I still hope Akai steps up and finally adds a proper sequencer for MPC and throws in few wmore synths in the mix (Hype from Force at least, but I'd love some FM too), so that I can stick to my MPC One :)
@@MattiasHolmgren I am more than happy with my Ryzen 3900x and custom stripped down version of Windows 10. Together with my Quantum 2626, I have all the processing and low latency I need. More than I actually need at the time being.
Yeah, laptops for music production videos coming up. 😋 Do you like the workflow of the MPC compared to the Maschine software? I actually created some full game music for Aqua Moto Racing Utopia on the MPC for iPad app. 😀 The synths on the MPC alive seems to be a tad bleak in features, but they probably don't demand that much cpu. Whats your impression Artur? FM8 in Maschine is sick obviously.
The Maschine+ is a bit underpowered IMO. That said there are tons of possibilities with this Maschine enviroment and its very quick to work with. And you can always hook it up to the regular software. But in my opinion it should equip a more powerful cpu indeed. 😉 Because its an awesome experience standalone. Just look at the Digitakt, not really comparable what they can do. But its designed to never say "cpu overload". Thats so 1990s. Lol... I remember my Yamaha EX5 going cpu overload ever so frequently when sound sculpting. And Elektron just added a second LFO and extra filter per TRACK. But the Maschine runs regular plugins and synths so its not comparable. But anyways, it should not hit the roof so soon if they decide to really make it a standalone experience. Or at least give us the possibility to swap cpu. I would easily spend a buck to double the cpu on it to really be able to work it with more synths and plugins.
@@MattiasHolmgren I think it should be quite easy to crack it open and swap out the atom cpu with something beefier that's compatible with the motherboard they've chosen. By the way, I've had a 5 year break from making music. I used to use ableton live together with a yamaha cp33 stage piano + ableton push. I like the idea of having something that doesn't need a computer, preferably portable, with keys or midi in (because I like composing/jamming rather than triggering samples), pads for making the beats, and mic/audio in. I was looking at the Roland Verselab for it's full song compositing workflow, coupled with a yamaha reface. Do you think you could recommend anything better for a similar budget? I don't have a particular genre.
Yeah Maschine mk3 is an awesome machine. Much lighter than the Maschine+ obviously. But the chassi and knobs on the + is super sleek and quality. But, price is steep compared to the CPU you get in it. Though it let you work standalone which can be nice.
Hey Mattias, do you know if any third-party Kontakt libraries are supported (like the Output's libraries)?
Hi Martin. Oh, I didn't really dig into this question before. According to the specs of the Maschine Plus:
- Standalone Mode:
Selected instruments, effects, Expansions, samples, and loops
- Controller Mode:
NKS instruments and effects, Expansions, samples, and loops from Sounds.com, and any 3rd party VST + AU plug-ins
So, in conclusion, you can ONLY access 3rd party plugins when using the Maschine Plus in standard controller mode, with a computer. Though you can transfer samples to/from your Maschine plus if you connect it via USB cable (and activate "Storage Mode" on the Maschine). The Maschine SD-Card then appears as an external harddrive source on your computer.
Cheers //Mattias 🌞
@@MattiasHolmgren thanks. I read somewhere that the only way that it reads your own samples is if you tag them first.
@@MattiasHolmgren I would love to see a video with a genuine focus on Kontakt libraries of various types being tested. Loopop's video on the M+ made it seem like the M+ comes with Kontakt and lots of Factory Library content to have a sort of "core library" of Kontakt instruments playable on the stock M+ experience. But Loopop didn't mention if they were in controller or standalone mode. Also, Loopop used confusing wording when describing which types of Kontakt libraries (I. e. "locked" and "unlocked" libraries) that can function on Maschine+ at all. I hope to see a video truly testing out a broad handful of Kontakt libraries to see if the general consensus for using Kontakt on M+ is a "reason to purchase" or instead simply "a small feature bonus"
@Connor Carbon thanks for your input and video tip. Yes, we always have to look at this Maschine+ from two points of view. 1. Standalone. 2.Used as controller for the Maschine Software on a second computer. In standalone mode (1) the Kontakt factory selection is VERY limited IMO. It consists of merely 50 instruments. In categories like Strings there's just 1 pach "Bowed Strings". In the category "Plucked strings"...1 patch "Oud". Since sampled instruments are indeed streamed from disc on the Maschine+ standalone I would have liked to see MUCH more Kontakt instrument content since it doesn't use up that much valuable RAM.
But it's clear the target audience is sample beat makers, and NOT epic orchestral theme songwriters. ;)
Although I did experiment and used some single sample instruments to create a small filmscore cue. I will see if I can prepare a small video showing what I mean with this. In controller mode (2) we can of course use whatever Kontakt libraries we want. But again, in standalone it's VERY limited. And there are NOT third party kontakt libraries available in the standalone mode. Thanks for asking Connor!
I watched the loopop review as well and he seemed to be saying if you saved a 3rd party kontakt sound as a preset then it would load in standalone mode. This kind of makes sense to me as kontakt is ultimately just a sampler with a scripting engine. You'll not get something like Outputs Signal to show as an "instrument" but if an individual sound/preset from that library is saved as a native kontakt patch then he seemed to be saying yes it will play. I could well be wrong and it's possibly not that useful anyway unless you have a small set of library presets you always use.
Keep asking questions in the comments! Check prices here (affiliate links help the channel - thanks!):
► Maschine Plus on Thomann: www.thomann.de/de/native_instruments_maschine_501389.htm?partner_id=82049
► myVolts Ripcord 15V DC on Thomann:
www.thomann.de/se/myvolts_ripcord_15v_dc.htm?partner_id=82049
► MPC LIVE 2 on Thomann:
www.thomann.de/de/akai_mpc_live_ii.htm?partner_id=82049
More workflow videos and livestreams on Maschine:
* Maschine live stream - ua-cam.com/video/MKkNXrHhnHU/v-deo.html
* Maschine 2.10 update - ua-cam.com/video/L_Q7-Voqguw/v-deo.html
* How to record guitars in Maschine - ua-cam.com/video/_O4xmokXOQs/v-deo.html
CONTENTS
00:00 Intro
00:51 Maschine+ vs Maschine mk3
01:37 Standalone Maschine experience
02:12 Specifications - CPU, Storage
02:38 How to make Maschine+ portable with Ripcord 15V
03:08 Inputs / Outputs
04:07 Build Quality
05:23 The Maschine Workflow Explained
08:00 CPU Usage talk
08:34 CPU Usage / Small Project
10:15 CPU Usage / Big Project
13:15 Side Chaining on the Maschine
13:52 Be aware of what plugins you add!!!
14:30 Needs a better CPU?
14:45 Conclusion
Nektar P1 encoders are working after years of extensive use but this are Premium ones and Safety Instructions is mandatory to read because now it's clear that TLC is Must while using. Otherwise M+ is fantastic Standalone device and I can do tracks from start to finish. I can perform live with , playing and improving then I load Track on Muted Pad and do transition to that Pad and a Track now while Track is playing I could do something but I will Solo that Pad and load next Group to countinue with Live Act, it can eat CPU but soon as that happened just made Audio and continue.
And Placing the Lock States on Time Line accurately is almost like Automation/MIDI Modulation.
I’ve been using all native products around 1 year, awesomel kit. Question is: where did you get the (coloured tops) on the Maschine MK3. Thanks Matthias
Hey, yeah it's a great bundle of plugins and sounds. Oh the coloured stickers I put on top of the Maschine mk3 knobs I got from the Bitwig developers. They sent me a package of "Bitwig stickers" very colorful and useful things to stick to your gear. ;) Thanks for writing Jono! Hope to see you around the channel comments!
Well i got it but....if i turned off...the Machine+ is always in standby mode? With the red circle flashing? It never completely power off? Thanks
Yes the power button will flash in red while it's turned off. To show you where to push if you want to activate it again. ;)
Thank you. After seeing this I've decided to stick with traditional maschine/computer set up - at least until they upgrade the CPU
Yes, Maschine+ is indeed a great Maschine, solid build, awesome workspace. But I feel the CPU is on the lower side for some serious action. That said, I am having tons of fun with the current version. You just have to learn to work the CPU with light arrangements, instruments and fx. The Maschine mk3 was already an perfect unit. Cheers Travis!
Very smart move. I have my MK3 as well. The Intel Atom Chip in the Plus is rather pathetic except for very basic music. After all it was the chip used in PC mini computers years ago which went out of favor
very quickly and were terribly slow.
As a NI user Kontakt owned every Maschine but this falls short! This is under baked it can be compared to the MPC ONE but at 700 7inch multitouch Screen CV gates, 2020 2021 no Touchscreen not that it’s needed but at 1400$ no Sata Drive slot ? I picked up the LiveII 1200$ everything on it is up to date 2 Usb 3 ports Ethernet port WiFi Bluetooth Sata drive slot 16Gigs built in storage’ I for see a better version in the future and this price being dropped by 45% I love NI my Komplete Kontrol S49 MK2 is Top notch Love it! But yea 1400$ for things that are not on the unit and CPU overloads you are better off with with the MK3 NI you guys didn’t have to rush this just because of AKAI” Akai has always been standalone it started that way go back and redo this right and put a 800$ tag on it you will sale them.
Totally agree on the price tag of the Maschine+. It's not in par with the CPU performance.
@@MattiasHolmgren It is a bit expensive but I think is important to consider that for once it is more expesinve for americans. In Europe is 1250 in thoman right now. For most if not all of the other gear the price is usually the same in Euros which is not really the same. So basically for Europeans the price is as if it was 1250 dolars which I think is a bit of a difference. So for a European we are paying the same as if it was 1250 dollars if you know what I mean.
Hey Mattias, quick question I want to dabble In music production. I’m looking for a new laptop. I’m basically in the native instruments universe for now just starting out. I have the maschine mk3 and the key 61 mk2. I have komplete 14 collectors edition my question is the base model Mac 8gb ram and 256 storage enough I have all my libraries on an 2tb external drive. Is this Mac have enough power to handle this usage.
Absolutely. But for future capability I would look into 16GB RAM and maybe M1 Pro / Max. I still use the M1 Max its insane! 👌🥳
So interesting review, Mattias, thank you very much! I've also noticed this version of Maschine, as I'm basically quite an old user of Maschine ecosystem, since Maschine mk II actually. Unfortunately, haven't really managed to integrate it in my workflow, except only for live performance scenario, where it really shines for me. But anyway, it's apparently so useful and powerful for certain scenarios like you're demonstrating in the stream.
You've actually answered most of the questions I had while watching the video. Indeed, the CPU overload is a question, but kind of expected thing. I think, it's tightly connected with the synths integrated, which are obviously written for x86_64 architecture and not going to be rewritten for one particular product. And this in turn means the lack of battery and quite limited capacity in terms of a number of synth instances. But probably the main focus is still on sampling, I believe, AKAI competitors are also not so much synth-capable, and using samples with light effects hopefully the optimal use case for it.
Anyway, I think, it's nice, that such products are released, not everybody feels good having to interact with the computer during the creative process, and now anyone have a broader range of variants to choose.
Thanks again for the video! Hope the first days of the year are good and pleasant for you, and you're having a good time :) It's kind of raining now for some reason here in my place, though the snow was expected) But yes, the New Year Eve weather was really fine this year, so I'll just wait for it to return :) Have a nice holidays, Mattias!
Hi ALexey, yeah the Maschine+ is shining when you are just flipping samples. But at some point you want to start adding in effects, doing side chain and all that good stuff. Because all the tools are there. And at that point after doing a few patterns and starting to put the song together you realize the CPU is hitting above 100%. ;(
It's a real pity because (like you) I also like the Maschine workflow. And indeed it shines as a performance.machine.
You have to be really careful and thoughtful when you map out your song and know what you add. Remove all unneccesary effects, maybe remove some unneeded samples from the pre-defined drumkits you load up etc. But if you keep watch you can produce songs on the Maschine+.
I wish the CPU was x2 as powerful. Or that Native Instruments didn't taunt us with including things like Reaktor, Kontakt etc. Kontakt only comes with like 50 instruments on it too. And it's quite limited. It's indeed a "Kontakt Selection" specific to the Maschine+ but....god I wish it had more power.
New years eve was superb with my family, Mimmi, son Elliot, daughter Leia. We ate some grilled deer with fried potatoes and sauce + a big sallad. Not much rockets this year though. I bought some boardgames for the family instead and saved the poor ears of Doris and the other animals around the block. ;)
We finally have some cold, -4 today and we hope to do some skiing quite soon. Still a bit low on snow though. Hope you get some snow in Russia soon too!
@@MattiasHolmgren Yes, absolutely, I can share your confusion throughout the video about the possibilities given vs. the power available :) Maybe they just rely on those true hardware guys which are more or less used to all the limitations like this) I really admire at how deep and complex are some tips and tricks for e.g. Elektron devices to reach some effects or passages not really available out of the box. So I would be too surprised if someone propose a technique of sequentially play and immediately disable e.g. kick and snare in turn in really quick tempo, haha =) I just hope, it's still possible to use it as a normal Maschine controller, for computer program, in case of the limitations are too strict to be autonomous.
Oh, nice Christmas and New Year time there in your place together, I'm so happy for you! My greetings to you all :) I'm also not a big fan of rockets myself, though I like professional fireworks so much, went to several fireworks shows and competitions before the pandemia started, so yes, nice, I like your boardgames idea way more! :) I think, those table games are just close to ideal evening time spending for a big family in the winter, it's really calm and beautiful. Oh yes, and Doris is safe :) Do you allow her to play with you, by the way?)
Yes, snow was just good recently, surprisingly enough of it and about -10°C was actually during the last two weeks, but now it's melting a little bit. So yes, hopefully, it would get a little colder and more snow would come )
The only dealbreaker is the dull CPU and ram size, else i would buy it. I love the environment
Yeah the cpu barely makes my arrangements. If you are careful it suffices. But for the price I would have liked 35% more ”headroom” in cpu. Still a solid built beatmaschine! ☀️☕️🎹🥁
I think there are a lot of people waiting for a Maschine+ MKII with more CPU power and RAM. Like you and me. :-) Hopefully NI is not waiting too long to get it out. And they definitely will, I'm absolutely sure about that!
Why put main volume knob and input gain on the back? Makes no sense to me.
A bit fiddly to reach sometimes, yes. They didn't want to spoil the sleek interface with yet another knob I gues. ;)
Hi great review thanks. As a non machine user... Can you load more than one project into memory with the aim of building a live set of patterns you can transition between ? Or would that have to happen inside one project and therefore CPU and number of tracks / groups would be a no go? Thanks again
Hi you need to have that in a single project because loading takes a few sec. Due to the limited cpu I would not recommend it for a full set if you plan on having many different drumsets / sounds that vary between the projects. I like the Maschine personally but the CPU is too limited in the current model. Using it with a computer makes it gold though, but the whole point with this new "plus" model is to be standalone. Thanks for asking Rob.
Sincerely, seems behind the Akai Force in every single aspect except for the included sound banks.
Hi Bruno, maybe, I did try the Akai Force at NAMM 2020 but I wasn't sold on the workflow. The workflow in the Maschine is very easy to grasp, and fast. I guess its personal taste. I know some people prefer the workflow in the MPC. They are quite different in many aspects. But it's always about the amount of time you spend with a unit. It's always like learning a new instrument. 😋🌞
Sounds in Force are low profile. 3 interna est but very boring. I've the Force but the machine lose much value for this.
Off topic) Hi Mattias. Do you have any video where you talk about audio mode Elastique Pro. There is option "Resolution" what it mean?
Hmm dunno if we talked about it in Bitwig Basics episode 11 here ua-cam.com/video/-W7IlppSVqs/v-deo.html
Hey Mattias, is it possible to use the Maschine plus with pro tools without having it installed on the computer? I other words if Maschine is installed on my laptop but not on my studio computer can I use Maschine like an instrument and record the output through my interface?
Thanks
Yes, you can indeed record the output from the Maschine Plus like any other instrument into another computer audio interface. Thanks for asking Geezus. 🌞
Thank you for this video. Very helpful. You mentioned Ripcord but I can‘t find the link to it. Maschine+ has higher Power consumption than the MK3. It requires 40W, MK3 only 15W.
I somehow deleted the link. Yeah you need a phat power bank, but it works. 😋 Will update the text with the RipCord link as soon as I get back home. *sunday dinner* 🌞😋 glad u enjoy the video. Thanks!
@@MattiasHolmgren Any chance you could make a quick video on this? Theres a big difference between a 40w psu and a 15w psu. A better power bank might offer more amps on the output but plugging a 15w ripcord into a device which requires 40w sounds a bit dangerous. You could put a lot of minds at ease by demo'ing this in action.
Hey Mattias! Glad to see you git that awesome stuff, i have a question if you used before akai MPCX or Professional version, how do they compare to each other?
Hi I didn't demo the MPCX. But 7 did try the MPC Live 2 at NAMM. Ive also experience producing on iMPC iOS app. The MPCX is a big station and you get the MPC workflow. So if you like that field, I guess it might be suitable for you. I do prefer the workflow of Maschine myself as I feel its a bit closer to a DAW (at least now that we have clips and can freely place them in a song timeline). That said... MPCs has touch displays. Although I felt they are kinda sluggish compared to something like the iPad Pro which I also use in my music production. I need to make more videos on producing with iOS apps. Thanks for writing. Ultimately its totally up to what You prefer. 😀🌞
@@MattiasHolmgren Thanks for the detailed answer, I realized that you had little experience in using Akai. I’m asking you all this why, I’m a big fan of jungle and drum&bass, and I see that many people used Akai to create their wonderful tracks, and at one time I was eager to get Akai like MPC, now I see that Mashchine+ was released on the market to mine a good competitor.
Thx for your videos Mattias :-*
this is why MK3 is great value and unlimited in teams of dependency on my powerful pc
Indeed Issie, Maschine mk3 is absolutely great value. I dont regret buying the Maschine+ though as I will both be using it standalone AND as a controller for the Maschine software on my MACs. But the CPU of the Maschine Plus is very much too slow for my typical arrangements, although I dont (cant) use things like Omnisphere 2, epic Kontakt libraries and third party plugins etc on it. Its a bit of disappointment, but I guess Im used to be working with epic powerful Mac Book Pro laptops. 😋 I dont feel my arrangements are too cluttered with instruments either. I always go for less is more. I guess the regular sample beatmaker will be fine. But if you use many Prism, Monark, Reaktor presets its gonna swamp up quickly.
If we compare this to something like a Digitakt....which never runs into CPU roof. I know they are totally different devices. But we kinda grow into the thought that the device we work with will not complain on overload so soon. Maschine+ is totally workable. But one have to be careful to not swamp the CPU too quickly. Thanks for writing Issie! 🌞
I’m pretty sure NATIVE INSTRUMENTS will have a Firmware update for the CPU overload.
Hi Mattias. Can you maybe go into detail on how the browser for user samples works? Can you simply browse folders, or do you need to label all your samples in the NI software?
What are your thoughts for live looping with software vs hardware in 2021... thinking to get more into music!!!
Live looping works nicely on the Maschine software. Today you can basically use Logic Pro, Ableton or Bitwig and hook them up to a hardware controller to do your live-looping performances. To make the most out of it you do some pre-setup to define loop lengths etc. Then fire away and jam. I hope to do a new live looping episode soon and talk about the current status of the daws vs hardware live looping etc.
@@MattiasHolmgren I tried with Ableton -- but with DAW/Hardware - i really want something that can just pedal live looping.... -- idk if I can configure my push and the DAW to help me do that... need more research.
Yea - i think that could be a good video! -- if the UA-cam SEO/Googel SEO shows good keyword support and you really crushing it with the content and passion - anything can happen!
I heard that prims is the top offender in terms of cpu. You should try a project where you just not use prisms. From loopops review it seemed to me it had a pretty decent power depending on the plugins used. You definitely need to be aware of whats the cpu hit of every instrument you use as of with most of the hardware. You said you can't use it as you would with your computer, so mpc live is the alternative. Except it doesn't have the maschine workflow neither the sounds so is not comparable imo. Also it's important to know that if you really don't mind being next to a computer then mk3 is obviously much better. The main point is that you don't need a computer.
Yeah if used with samplers and low cpu demanding plugins mainly its working out great. Im glad Massive and FM8 isnt that draining. Ill be posting more vids on the Maschine+ experience soon.
@@MattiasHolmgren Looking forward for more of your videos and thoughts. Great tunes you were working on! Cheers!
I need a guitar looper I can sequence from my roland fantom. I tried the akai force and it didnt work. I think the only options would be an octatrack or this maschine plus. How is guitar looping with the maschine? I know the octatrack doesnt have an undo feature which is a big bummer.
The undo feature of Maschine is excellent. It's easy to undo stuff if you are not satisfied with a take. I'm gonna do a video on live looping with the Maschine Plus soon. Stay around! 🌞
Awesome thanks for the reply!
Anyone knows if it's possible to put Studio drummer into the Maschine +?
It doesn't support that plugin by default, Maschine+ has a limited rows of plugin instruments that doesn't tax the built-in CPU that much. But you can always resample the sounds you like from Studio Drummer into Maschine+. ;)
@@MattiasHolmgren Thank you. I've read somewhere here in the comments you said Mac Book Pro Silicon M1 it's great for music production, except software companies have to update their software to work with that new apple tech. As that comment was like one year ago, you have any news about it? I'm full of doubts about getting an M1 because of this, as i'd need a lot of the komplete series and waves plug ins. Thanks for your very useful videos!
@@obulus1 Hi, I have a M1 and my Komplete 12 Ultimate and most of my third party libraries like Arturia, Zero-G and Soundiron etc. work fine on that. In fact I can load many more tracks with Komplete 12 instruments than I could on my old MacBook Pro Intel model. Some of the browsing functions are slow on some 3rd party libraries but the NI stuff works fine. Not sure about Waves since I don't use those.
Paolo, most major apps and plugins are now either fully arm64 (M1) compatible or works great through Rosetta 2 translation. ☀️🥳 still I am a bit in the dark regarding Waves since I don’t use, nor investigate their plugins anymore.
Why set the ram at 4GB? That's why your peaking at 80 to 100. They should've allowed access to expand the amount of Ram to allow for more plug-ins. 4GB at $1399??
Yeah, we can probably break the Mashcine+ apart and upgrade. But I don't have time to investigate. and do the procedure. With NI just gave us the opportunity to upgrade it...or just ship it with a stronger CPU and RAM. Or have alternate models.
Can you record guitars and vocals directly onto this machine? If so how does the CPU handle that? Thanks.
Hi Clive! Yes, you can record audio directly into the Maschine+, it works just fine. 🍿
@@MattiasHolmgren thank you for your response, I forgot to ask, what are the onboard effects like? Any good? Thanks again.
Onboard effects are very good. Especiaoly the granular delay its outstanding for my work. They also incouded Raum reverb but its a bit cpu intense so use sparingly. ☀️
@@MattiasHolmgren thanks again, your help is much appreciated.
Hi mattias. how do you use/setup maschine mk3 in studio one 5?
Hi Martin. I jist insert it on a track and make all the work in Maschine. Then when needed drag / export stems into the DAW. But like I explained many times. I do mostly use Maschine standalone because its very fast (a bit limited as DAW), but fast. 🌞
Thanks so much for the review it was very helpful! Question to save CPU is there a way you can freeze track like you can in logic?
Hey thanks. Nope, but you can make use of send effects. And also Bounce down to audio files (resample) from one sound to another sound slot to get rid of heavy loading cpu instrument / Plugin setups. But its not yet a very convenient procedure. You have to manually set it up and resample.
I can show this internal resampling in a future Maschine plus video.
@@MattiasHolmgren That's a shame but yeah would be awesome to see internal resampling in a future video :)
@@ktech4246 I'll add it to the todo! Happy to share walkthroughs. ;)
NI should release the Linux OS so we can use better hardware with maschine mk3 without windows or osx, would love a dedicated Linux Maschine rig👊
I think you can go up to 350% before the cpu chokes.
Hey. Not on my Maschine+. It chokes when you go around 100%. 🙃🥳
You recommend the ripcord but it will NOT power the Maschine plus because it requires 32watt and the ripcord can only provide 12 watt
Ripcord 15V, with a powerful enough powerbank (I tested 10.000mAh 5V 3A) worked just fine. 🌞🥳
is this comparable to the toraiz sp-16?
Maschine is probably more versatile with its instrument suite. But I don’t have the SP-16 so I can’t compare.
Like it, yess
Yes indeed Thorleif! ;)
Its too limited without a pc it's just not worth it.
Hi Shadowhenge. It really depends on how you use it. For pure sample flipping and basic reverb, filter, eq it's working fine. But with VST instruments it gets clogged up pretty quickly. I'm a bit surprised the other reviews of the Maschine+ did not talk about the CPU limit more!? I will make an updated review in a few weeks and talk more about how it's held up against my typical songs & performances. But so far, I have to plan how to build my projects more carefully than working on a solid computer. Even though it ships with a basic set of "not too demanding" synths like Massive, FM8 etc. I did notice that if I stick to those two (and basic sample players), it's easier to keep the CPU in check.
Depends on use case. For music production, you are right. But as extention to for instance a DJ gig it is great. Used it already a couple of times.
Honestly I suspected as much and held off on buying. No reviews talked about CPU either, and you just got to ask yourself how many of those reviewers actually know how to produce in the modern era, let alone know what they're doing. What the Machine+ needs is M1 chip xD.
Maschine "I wanted to save CPU" + :)
Hi Artur. Hehe, yeah, but we eat CPU for breakfast. 😋 Gonna fetch the new Apple Mac Book Pro Silicon M1 and see how superb it performs with Logic Pro X. Apperantly its a sick processor. Too bad every company have to update their software to work with this new tech.
@@MattiasHolmgren Looking forward to seeing your review! There's way too few laptop reviews for music producers!
Regarding M+, I still hope Akai steps up and finally adds a proper sequencer for MPC and throws in few wmore synths in the mix (Hype from Force at least, but I'd love some FM too), so that I can stick to my MPC One :)
@@MattiasHolmgren I am more than happy with my Ryzen 3900x and custom stripped down version of Windows 10. Together with my Quantum 2626, I have all the processing and low latency I need. More than I actually need at the time being.
Yeah great spec. Chinaboi. We live in a good time in that sense. Spoiled with computer speed. 😋
Yeah, laptops for music production videos coming up. 😋 Do you like the workflow of the MPC compared to the Maschine software? I actually created some full game music for Aqua Moto Racing Utopia on the MPC for iPad app. 😀 The synths on the MPC alive seems to be a tad bleak in features, but they probably don't demand that much cpu. Whats your impression Artur? FM8 in Maschine is sick obviously.
You seem to be spending a lot of time worrying about the cpu. That’s enough of a reason not to buy in my opinion.
The Maschine+ is a bit underpowered IMO. That said there are tons of possibilities with this Maschine enviroment and its very quick to work with. And you can always hook it up to the regular software. But in my opinion it should equip a more powerful cpu indeed. 😉 Because its an awesome experience standalone.
Just look at the Digitakt, not really comparable what they can do. But its designed to never say "cpu overload". Thats so 1990s. Lol... I remember my Yamaha EX5 going cpu overload ever so frequently when sound sculpting. And Elektron just added a second LFO and extra filter per TRACK.
But the Maschine runs regular plugins and synths so its not comparable. But anyways, it should not hit the roof so soon if they decide to really make it a standalone experience. Or at least give us the possibility to swap cpu. I would easily spend a buck to double the cpu on it to really be able to work it with more synths and plugins.
@@MattiasHolmgren I think it should be quite easy to crack it open and swap out the atom cpu with something beefier that's compatible with the motherboard they've chosen.
By the way, I've had a 5 year break from making music. I used to use ableton live together with a yamaha cp33 stage piano + ableton push. I like the idea of having something that doesn't need a computer, preferably portable, with keys or midi in (because I like composing/jamming rather than triggering samples), pads for making the beats, and mic/audio in. I was looking at the Roland Verselab for it's full song compositing workflow, coupled with a yamaha reface.
Do you think you could recommend anything better for a similar budget? I don't have a particular genre.
I’d rather stay with my maschine mk3 ....
Yeah Maschine mk3 is an awesome machine. Much lighter than the Maschine+ obviously. But the chassi and knobs on the + is super sleek and quality. But, price is steep compared to the CPU you get in it. Though it let you work standalone which can be nice.
Maschine + not for Russian people now, like a dream...
Not available in Russia?
@@MattiasHolmgren For some reason Putin doesn’t allow it in mother Russia
Bcs it is too much expensive in Russia
Review: It's really great and then the CPU is done again, SMH