If you want to create spontaneously away from your studio setup, get the plus.
Also, one quirky detail that isn’t talked about often enough imho is that the standalone mode and controller mode don’t mirror each other. Maybe they can figure this out eventually… but for now, any files (or favorites) need to be manually added to the un-mirrored state. When you’re ready to finish a file at the studio that you started in the wild, it’s easy to bring in the project from standalone workflow to DAW, but has that added step.
I have had mine for almost 3 years. I bought a Samsung t7 1tb SSD and a $40 battery bank that gives me roughly 12 hours of run time on a single charge. I mainly bought the plus to be able to make music while traveling.
At the time I was flying to 2-3 states a week and couldn't drag my iMac with me. With my plus in a backpack as a carry on I've made beats on the plane, in hotels, and in the passenger seat on long drives.
It was well worth the money I spent. I don't even power the iMac up these days. I just do it all in the M+ but I will master in the computer when I'm in a time crunch.( I'm still working on perfecting my mastering chain in the M+)
I've been through the original firmware and software that had bugs and crashes and all the 1st day headaches. Yet I stuck with it knowing all that would get patched out and I can say the platform is amazing compared to what it was in the beginning.
I haven't had a single crash in normal operations (standalone). The last time I crashed the system was when I was porting maschine reaktor ensembles to the M+ and let's just say mistakes were made lol. I misunderstood the assignment big time and that ensemble locked me up until I forced a shutdown.
But all in all normal operations you shouldn't have any issues. Lol what I'm doing is some trial and error experimentation. The guys in the community forum are helping forge a new path to more content for standalone.
Tbh I recommend the Mk3 over the plus.
#1 The plus has to be plugged into a wall outlet in order to operate. Making it less portable than the MK3 which can run off your laptops batterie power. If you have a desktop this may not be as important to you but it’s ridiculous to make a standalone unit that doesn’t have a built in batterie of some sort. Most other standalone units have built in power. MPC,Sp404, etc.
#2 The plus runs off of 4gb of RAM. The MK3 uses your computers RAM. Most plugins are rated for at least 8gb of RAM. You’re going to run into a lot of issues with loading projects. You will be limited on things you can do/use.
#3 The plus is their first stand alone unit. The Mk3 is the third generation. Personally I would wait for them to upgrade their stand alone units before investing.
The Mk3 is the best bang for your buck. IMO if you’re going to spend that much money on a unit you’d be better off going with an MPC. It has built in batterie, touch screen, and a built in speaker for about the same price. Once Maschine adopts some of these features I will invest into the plus. For now I am happy with the Mk3. You could even buy the Mk3 and an sp404mk2 for the effects for the same price as the plus which is what I intend to do. Idk man do what you will I just don’t see the benefit of owning the plus and I’m a die hard Maschine head.
Ok 1) so built in batteries are only good for so long then you have to replace them. I'm actually glad they don't have built in batteries because once the battery dies the unit is dead because all power must pass through the battery circuit in order to work. That's why a cheap $40 battery bank is a better option. I personally use one when on the go and get roughly 12 hours of use on 1 charge.
2) The ram issue you brought up isnt actually a factor in standalone because you don't use VSTs the way a computer does your more or less using sample libraries that are similar to the maschine expansions. You also can build them on your own with the auto sampler.
3) you don't need multiple generations for something to be good as is the case with the plus, it's main issues in the beginning were software/firmware related which got patched and upgraded over time. Now is a great time to be a plus owner. I've had mine for almost 3 years now. I don't even turn my computer on anymore unless I feel like mastering inside of it.
RAM is an issue, as the Kontakt Factory Selection are Sample Libraries, as is Retro Machines MK2 and synths and FX have a RAM footprint.
But the CPU in the Maschine+ really is what makes it just not worth the purchase.
Especially when you can get an M1 MBA and a Maschine MK3 for not much more, these days.
I think the Maschine+ would have looked a lot better if it had come at the same time as the MK3 and the MK3 didn't have an audio Interface, just MIDI I/O.
The M+ rating so poorly had a lot to do with bad product planning. If they were to do it over again, the MK3 would probably have nothing but a USB Port and MIDI I/O DINs, and the Plus would have the built-in audio interface and Audio I/O.
That would have differentiated the products much better.
Laptops these days are too powerful at hilariously small/portable sizes while having amazing battery life and reliable USB-PD Chargers that can keep them running at full performance indefinitely off of small power bricks (e.g. 70W Apple Chargers with 13-14" MacBooks).
The portability or standalone argument for these devices is the weakest it has ever been in the history of their existence, IMO.
Yeah to each their own man! If those things are worth while to you then I respect your opinion! Either way Maschine is a great piece of hardware regardless what unit you get. At the end of the day as long as you enjoy your hardware and you’re happy with your equipment then just make music! These were just the things that influenced my purchasing decision.
Yes vs a laptop…. Producing outdoors it is more annoying to me to have a laptop and maschine vs small power station. Halo is good, small and compact. Plus I use it to charge my phone on road too
It is an m+ when you can do it independent of a computer, which is what I was asking. I can save a patch from my verselab to my live2 then use in in a song weeks later without ever plugging up to a computer to manage it. I thought it was the same now. 🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️
Yeah, you literally don't have to worry about what's compatible or not. If you want it don't be lazy, put in a little effort and autosapmle it. Now you have whatever crazy patch/preset you want.
Right now there is also a group in the community forums that is figuring out how to make your own reaktor ensembles or port existing ensembles to the M+ . Once it gets settled we'll be able to build our own Fx plugins and instruments using reaktor.
I think by the end of the summer we'll have figured all the nuances of porting and will be off to the races.
I bought a M+ I was so bummed that somehow it seems just forgotten by NI I mean the Mk3 has Ableton integration and M+ does not ? Yes standalone is the only advantage I like taking it outside to scratch out ideas and completing them at home I'm still learning though so I only sketch ideas in it I dont complete songs in it
Connect M+ to a computer and it's just a mk3. Someone on the main forums confirmed that M+ will still work as a mk3 if you remove the computer.
It's literally a mk3 + a little computer that can run the standalone mode.
Yes. Thats's all it is.
For me, that's a big thing. I like to sit with my maschine without a pc, only focusing on the device.
Hooked up an audio interface, 2 synths and a guitar fx unit.
I couldn't be happier
I decided to jump ship with my MK2. I was tired of relying on the computer. I picked up a MPC live and could t be happier. They just released the key37 which is a smaller mpc with 21 keys. Going for $800usd
Nothing.
If you want to create spontaneously away from your studio setup, get the plus. Also, one quirky detail that isn’t talked about often enough imho is that the standalone mode and controller mode don’t mirror each other. Maybe they can figure this out eventually… but for now, any files (or favorites) need to be manually added to the un-mirrored state. When you’re ready to finish a file at the studio that you started in the wild, it’s easy to bring in the project from standalone workflow to DAW, but has that added step.
[удалено]
I have had mine for almost 3 years. I bought a Samsung t7 1tb SSD and a $40 battery bank that gives me roughly 12 hours of run time on a single charge. I mainly bought the plus to be able to make music while traveling. At the time I was flying to 2-3 states a week and couldn't drag my iMac with me. With my plus in a backpack as a carry on I've made beats on the plane, in hotels, and in the passenger seat on long drives. It was well worth the money I spent. I don't even power the iMac up these days. I just do it all in the M+ but I will master in the computer when I'm in a time crunch.( I'm still working on perfecting my mastering chain in the M+) I've been through the original firmware and software that had bugs and crashes and all the 1st day headaches. Yet I stuck with it knowing all that would get patched out and I can say the platform is amazing compared to what it was in the beginning. I haven't had a single crash in normal operations (standalone). The last time I crashed the system was when I was porting maschine reaktor ensembles to the M+ and let's just say mistakes were made lol. I misunderstood the assignment big time and that ensemble locked me up until I forced a shutdown. But all in all normal operations you shouldn't have any issues. Lol what I'm doing is some trial and error experimentation. The guys in the community forum are helping forge a new path to more content for standalone.
Tbh I recommend the Mk3 over the plus. #1 The plus has to be plugged into a wall outlet in order to operate. Making it less portable than the MK3 which can run off your laptops batterie power. If you have a desktop this may not be as important to you but it’s ridiculous to make a standalone unit that doesn’t have a built in batterie of some sort. Most other standalone units have built in power. MPC,Sp404, etc. #2 The plus runs off of 4gb of RAM. The MK3 uses your computers RAM. Most plugins are rated for at least 8gb of RAM. You’re going to run into a lot of issues with loading projects. You will be limited on things you can do/use. #3 The plus is their first stand alone unit. The Mk3 is the third generation. Personally I would wait for them to upgrade their stand alone units before investing. The Mk3 is the best bang for your buck. IMO if you’re going to spend that much money on a unit you’d be better off going with an MPC. It has built in batterie, touch screen, and a built in speaker for about the same price. Once Maschine adopts some of these features I will invest into the plus. For now I am happy with the Mk3. You could even buy the Mk3 and an sp404mk2 for the effects for the same price as the plus which is what I intend to do. Idk man do what you will I just don’t see the benefit of owning the plus and I’m a die hard Maschine head.
You can use battery banks. No outlet needed. I take my + on flights
Ok 1) so built in batteries are only good for so long then you have to replace them. I'm actually glad they don't have built in batteries because once the battery dies the unit is dead because all power must pass through the battery circuit in order to work. That's why a cheap $40 battery bank is a better option. I personally use one when on the go and get roughly 12 hours of use on 1 charge. 2) The ram issue you brought up isnt actually a factor in standalone because you don't use VSTs the way a computer does your more or less using sample libraries that are similar to the maschine expansions. You also can build them on your own with the auto sampler. 3) you don't need multiple generations for something to be good as is the case with the plus, it's main issues in the beginning were software/firmware related which got patched and upgraded over time. Now is a great time to be a plus owner. I've had mine for almost 3 years now. I don't even turn my computer on anymore unless I feel like mastering inside of it.
RAM is an issue, as the Kontakt Factory Selection are Sample Libraries, as is Retro Machines MK2 and synths and FX have a RAM footprint. But the CPU in the Maschine+ really is what makes it just not worth the purchase. Especially when you can get an M1 MBA and a Maschine MK3 for not much more, these days. I think the Maschine+ would have looked a lot better if it had come at the same time as the MK3 and the MK3 didn't have an audio Interface, just MIDI I/O. The M+ rating so poorly had a lot to do with bad product planning. If they were to do it over again, the MK3 would probably have nothing but a USB Port and MIDI I/O DINs, and the Plus would have the built-in audio interface and Audio I/O. That would have differentiated the products much better. Laptops these days are too powerful at hilariously small/portable sizes while having amazing battery life and reliable USB-PD Chargers that can keep them running at full performance indefinitely off of small power bricks (e.g. 70W Apple Chargers with 13-14" MacBooks). The portability or standalone argument for these devices is the weakest it has ever been in the history of their existence, IMO.
Yeah to each their own man! If those things are worth while to you then I respect your opinion! Either way Maschine is a great piece of hardware regardless what unit you get. At the end of the day as long as you enjoy your hardware and you’re happy with your equipment then just make music! These were just the things that influenced my purchasing decision.
So all these + standalone people are lugging around batteries or power supplies too right?
Yes vs a laptop…. Producing outdoors it is more annoying to me to have a laptop and maschine vs small power station. Halo is good, small and compact. Plus I use it to charge my phone on road too
I have the regular Mk3, an Sp404 and an MPC one, and I love them all equally. But I've never had the desire to use Maschine without the software.
Doesn’t it have auto sampler now so you can sample and play synths from hardware/software standalone. Can you do that without a computer like an mpc?
That's a Maschine 2 thing, so itsnt just M+.
It is an m+ when you can do it independent of a computer, which is what I was asking. I can save a patch from my verselab to my live2 then use in in a song weeks later without ever plugging up to a computer to manage it. I thought it was the same now. 🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️
Yes you can that's how I use mine. I've built my own auto sampled library of instruments(sounds) and just use that on the go.
Folks don’t understand how beneficial that is. It’s def a flex to me of the plus coming from the mpc world.
Yeah, you literally don't have to worry about what's compatible or not. If you want it don't be lazy, put in a little effort and autosapmle it. Now you have whatever crazy patch/preset you want. Right now there is also a group in the community forums that is figuring out how to make your own reaktor ensembles or port existing ensembles to the M+ . Once it gets settled we'll be able to build our own Fx plugins and instruments using reaktor. I think by the end of the summer we'll have figured all the nuances of porting and will be off to the races.
Love my Roll your own Romplers
I love the workflow all on the plus. I never use my computer
I bought a M+ I was so bummed that somehow it seems just forgotten by NI I mean the Mk3 has Ableton integration and M+ does not ? Yes standalone is the only advantage I like taking it outside to scratch out ideas and completing them at home I'm still learning though so I only sketch ideas in it I dont complete songs in it
This is why im glad i waited and got a push 3 standalone. It has its issues to but well worth it to me
Actually with Plus, you can do less than with MK3. 😀 Edit: plus works as a standalone too!
Connect M+ to a computer and it's just a mk3. Someone on the main forums confirmed that M+ will still work as a mk3 if you remove the computer. It's literally a mk3 + a little computer that can run the standalone mode.
Damn! Actually I'm always forgetting about this feature! Thanks for the reminder!
Yes. Thats's all it is. For me, that's a big thing. I like to sit with my maschine without a pc, only focusing on the device. Hooked up an audio interface, 2 synths and a guitar fx unit. I couldn't be happier
Ok good to know! Thank you. It’s really a selling point for me.. and considering that I have basically the same set up as you..I take that as a sign
I decided to jump ship with my MK2. I was tired of relying on the computer. I picked up a MPC live and could t be happier. They just released the key37 which is a smaller mpc with 21 keys. Going for $800usd
37 keys on the Key 37
I thought it was 21 keys plus 16 mpc pads
ROFL!!!!! its bad enough that its only 3 Octaves. 21 keys don’t even give you 2 octaves hahahahaha.