An ideas and beats factory!

So... I have been holding off on writing this for a while because I wanted to actually use this and put it through its paces before sharing thoughts. When I first got it, I was split on whether I'd keep it or send it back based on the workflow and digital nature of the VSTs, etc. The grid also took a while to get used to, because I had previously only used keyboards for laying down melodies, pads, etc. But I decided to dive in to some tutorials and learn how to use the workflow, and I'm glad I did.

My Experience In short, this device is great as a sketchpad for melodies and ideas to lay down quickly, and I've been incredibly creative with it in the time it's been on my desk. At first, it was all about just recorded several looped patterns to capture melodies in my head. Then, I started using it for joke pop songs for friends' birthdays, and added vocals in Logic Pro afterwards.

After these "light" uses, I had the opportunity to make some instrumental tracks for a remote conference, to play paired with bumper videos before the speakers began their presentations. I only had a few weeks to create 4 finished tracks for the videos, and decided to use the Maschine exclusively. It was so much fun, and the tricks you can use within this workflow are so powerful!

Workflow I'm a musician who loves writing with a basic chord structure but just using my ears to find melodies on top of them, so setting chord structure on the grid and playing around feels great. Laying out drums is super fast and feels amazing. I've messed around with the touch strip and it works surprisingly well. Adding sounds and then effects on top is super fast, works great, and mixing sounds using the screens is fantastic.

Hardware The build quality is excellent. Pads are responsive and feel great to play. The encoders are awesome to manipulate and interact with, they feel nice and sturdy. I love the screens, they make sound editing and browsing way simple. The buttons are nice and clicky and not mushy, with just the right amount of give. I love this hardware! It's an inspiring thing to keep on my desk. I haven't integrated my hardware synths into the Maschine workflow yet, but it's something I'm interested in exploring.

Software and "Lock in" I've seen people criticize the fact that Maschine doesn't play super well with DAWs. And that's probably true, but not something I know about as I've just been using the Maschine software to get my ideas and tracks made. I can't speak to that frustration, but I do know that for instrumental electronic music, the Maschine software works well in regards to loops and building up scenes. This is tailored to loop-based track building and performance, so if you don't want to work in that style of flow or type of software this probably isn't for you. If you want something that plays perfectly with Ableton... get a Push! They're awesome and also beautiful, well-made, and suited for that use case.

Conclusion This device makes my life easier when it comes to melody creation, electronic sketches, beats and grooves. The integration with Native Instrument software is magical. I love playing with chord mode and locking the keyboard to specific keys as I experiment. I'm getting better at knowing shortcuts and using the hardware. It's the kind of device where you could, theoretically, do absolutely everything in one place. That's pretty amazing. It's a drum machine. It's a sampler. It's a beautiful software controller. It's a sketchpad. For the price, what you get is pretty phenomenal.

Awesome great to get started, used by countless musicians live on the biggest of festivals

Overall though it is amazing, and allow you to extend a lower cost channel limited version of a daw with a 2nd host which can handle rhythmic synths freeing vst slot limitations on the main DAW.

The pads are the best I've ever used the responsiveness to rapid double finger taps on each pad is not matched by Arturia or the Novation Impulse 49

It integrates really well it just requires deeper knowledge of the daw its connected to and the manual for midi channel routing and what it controls, patterns, pads, goups, in the automation

The audio interface is not really intended for more advanced setups, but its there for portability and an all in one portable way to explore ideas with a mini keyboard.

Some software works with it but doesn't always integrate perfectly, such as presets not playing a preview sound from the controller, or missing in the graphics library, meaning the menu is needed.

This thing is wondeful.

The hardware-software integration is very deep and straight forward which allows for getting ideas from your head to the computer to be quick and thorough. The build quality is also amazing. The buttons and knobs are very reactive which allows for fine adjustments of any parameter that is selected. The chord banks are also unique compared to other software I have used which can be used to help spark creativity.

Beat monster

Probably THE drum composer at the moment. Programming beats is so easy on this.

If there are any complaints, it's that the pads are somewhat difficult to program with and get consistent dynamics and really explore the dynamic range it's capable of...mostly you'll end up hitting beats at 127 velocity. They could have been better.

And it's not that intuitive to use...definitely needs a good study of the manual.

Otherwise, bang on. A huge selection of kits and patterns that is constantly being expanded. Sounds great. Easy to program. It's my go to beat maker.

From Gear Setup

Best piece of hardware I own

The MK3 is a joy to have. I previously owned the MK2 and I was extremely happy with it but ever since I've started working with the MK3 it just makes my workflow faster, sampling a tad bit easier, composing is amazing, and it makes finger drumming a lot easier as well. The performance strip is a Godsend purposed for performers and finger drummers. I highly advise anyone that is looking for a piece of hardware to get the Maschine MK3. You won't be disappointed.

Sounds Amazing!

I needed some drum pads to compliment my Komplete Kontrol S49 keyboard and this looked like the best option. I am still learning (steep learning curve and not exactly 100% intuitive like the keyboards) but slowly every day I fall more in love with this machine. My only complaint is that it doesn't integrate well with Reason, at least yet. (works ok as a VST but no transport control or deeper integration. I hope this will change

This is a lot more than a drum machine.

At first I was leery of the price tag, the overwhelmingly positive reviews got me to dig further and watch tutorials and dig into what exactly this thing is. It's a recording interface that is extremely user friendly, it is a midi controller, it is an extensive tool for creating music.

Created some minimalistic electronic music with this as well as extremely complex and aggressive drum beats, its flexibility and the sound library provided for use has tons of depth. Beef up your PC if you want to create powerful layered beats, I'm running 16 gigs of ram and no outside software but when I have 4 drum kits loaded and pounding away with samples and tweaked settings it will lag.

A good alternative to the Ableton Push, at 1/2 the cost

I was torn between this and the Push, until I looked at the total cost to get it up and running. Maschine Mk3 comes with a generous selection of sounds with Komplete 12 Select. The upgrade to the full version went on sale shortly after I bought the unit. Another $259 and now so much to pick from. Sounds, drum loops, orchestration, piano...you name it, it’s there. Not totally intuitive software and workflow but worth the effort.

Great sandbox with many limitations

Started cutting my teeth again with this groovebox. While editing a final track was daunting the workflow was really great. Eventually I bought a DAW and incorpeated this into my new workflow. Has been great for live jamming but still frustrating at times, with the limited software, for composition with a DAW.

Great

The design is great It's easy to use It comes with amazing software And it's overall a great and recommended product