Maschine Mikro controller!?!?!

[Sucio]

I like you you said 2. 1st drum "maschine" (you are being lulled in...buahahaha!)

Yes the NI forums are littered with requests for improvements.

Mine actually 3. replaced FL Studio



There are a lot of improvements that NI should have addressed before making it work better with Komplete 8. Of course that was done so people could cop Komplete 8...so it was a move towards making more money on that rather than satisfying the needs of it's current users. I like Komplete 8....would I get it because of the better integration? No. I would take a time stretch or midi import function over a Komplete integration any day. I would take a unit hardware upgrade....since mine has been replaced numerous times, already. (1st for a short in one of the knobs...the other 2 times for left LCD issues...luckily the one I have works great). I do love it, regardless of it's flaws.. I find it extremely easy to use and I think I enjoy the freedom of going in on the pads a lot more.

I could've done without the 1.7 update because it does nothing for me and possibly about 95+% of it's users who won't pick up komplete.

You add the time stretch function and your sales would greatly increase JUST for that...if they offered the upgrade for $100 to add the time stretch and midi import function, I'm sure most people would buy it in a hearbeat......I would buy it the same day it's released, without question...because that's something that I would use on a daily basis.....same thing with the 1.6 update with VST capabilities. That was a needed update, and should've been available at initial launch.....

NI has done satisfactory in my opinion on hearing the cries of it's Maschine users.. This big update announcement was one of those updates that were like to put it out there for the sake of putting it out there. You don't really need that kind of komplete integration......

What I will say is that the program works pretty flawlessly so far...so the quality of their software is top notch to say the least. I seldom crash (I can count on one hand) and latency is really not an issue and I use a ton of RAM hogging VST instruments (Nexus, Kontakt, etc) on a 4GB iMac running standalone.

I think the software and it's stability is the biggest praise I have for Maschine, because the unit is cool, but needs a lot of improvements in terms of it's quality.

 

[Cold Truth]

The Mikro is and was actually a great idea.

I get those who say "I would just wait and buy the full Maschine". That's all good and well, but that's, you know.... you.
Here's the problem with that line of thinking: you're obviously not the target market, and listening to you is a terrible business move. It's also terrible for all those people who ARE the target market.

The first segment of that market are those who are simply on a budget. Sure, it's "only" a difference of $250, but for some that's a sizable difference in price.

The second segment of that market is for those who don't need the complete control of the larger model. Many of these people are simply going to incorporate Maschine into their setup as opposed to basing their setup around it/

The third is those who want something that's more portable. I'm sure plenty of people fit this bill to a T.

The fourth, and probably smallest, is composed of those who want *more* Maschine to further compartmentalize their setup. I'd pay to simply dedicate the Mikro for nothing but, say, drums.

That isn't to say that the Maschine product itself couldn't use improvements. Many of those improvements have since been made, but to say that they shouldn't do A because they haven't done B is short sighted; they not only did A, they wound up doing B in the end anyways. This is really just the beginning of this type of product. It's never been done before.

Someone noted that the Komplete integration isn't a big deal, but it is. It's huge, actually. Within two years we'll see much more of this sort of deeply ingrained integration being offered by other companies. For the first time, hardware and software are virtually one in the same. To not even have to look at the computer screen while you navigate an awesome arsenal of sounds and effects from a hardware box is revolutionary for the software side of things. It feels just like working on an MPC and a Motif rolled into one. It's not only deep integration from hardware/software, but it gives a significantly tighter and efficient workflow than you get in the major keyboard workstations. Imagine running your Fantom from your MPC with this sort of ease? This sort of deep integration hasn't really been accomplished on the hardware side of things.

Personally, a Mikro will make more sense for me in certain configurations. I haven't yet determined what I prefer, but it's certainly appealing because that $250 difference may well go toward another purchase, giving me the most rounded setup as opposed to the majority of my setup funds going toward the larger Maschine. Some of us do have to take such things into consideration, and we're the target audience, not those would don't.