In some ways it feels like ages since I last gave NI’s Maschine MKI a try, but it’s been something I’ve been watching mature ever since. I loved the sounds, and the hardware integration felt pretty complete, if a bit long-winded in some cases. At the time though (pre-Maschine v1.5?), there were still too many things you needed to revert to the computer to do. And if I’m honest the basic mono-chromatic displays were a tad on the generic side. It didn’t exactly ooze character and I found it would take me awhile to locate where I was in various menus sometimes.
All-in-all I was impressed, but it wasn’t quite the hardware groovebox replacement I had hoped it would be. After a brief affair, I sold it and set about mastering the Octatrack instead. Well, now the Octatrack has come and gone, and I’m once again interested in Maschine, specifically the new Studio version with it’s fancy displays. With the recent NI price drop during May, along with Guitar Center holiday deals on top, it was a no brainer that now was the time to give it another go.
I won’t go into every function of Maschine in great detail, there’s a ton of reviews out there with that info already. What I want to look at is does it function as a true groovebox now, and how does it compare to something like Push? (a question I see all the time lately)
The hardware itself is the same solid controller body NI has been using for awhile now on things like Maschine MKI and the Traktor controllers. Largely plastic, but with some heft to it that makes it feel a bit more sturdy. Only the lower portion of the faceplate has an aluminum skin, the upper portion is the same fingerprint-attracting gloss plastic that the S4 uses. Grr. Hopefully NI makes some skins for the Studio series, I rather liked the old gun-metal blue one for the first generation.
The pads and buttons all feel nice and responsive, and the knobs are solid and feel like they’ll stand up to a lot of tweaking. The new jog wheel is a little less solid-feeling, but it works well for scrolling in any list, and for moving and editing your recorded notes after the fact. The outer ring lights up to let you know when you’re in a menu or edit function that the jog wheel will be active for, and luckily it’s not too bright even in a dark studio. Ditto the pads and buttons, they looked really bright in some videos I saw online, but in use they’re nicely dim enough to not be annoying. The displays can be independently brightened as well.
One awesome new feature is the fold out legs under the Studio, I was curious about how sturdy it would turn out to be. In use they’re great, very solid feeling and it puts the Studio right at a perfect angle IMO. I use Blue Lounge’s Cool Feet to tilt all my tabletop gear, so having this built in and working so well is a huge plus for me.
On to the main key feature of the Studio though, those new displays. When I first powered it on, I was a bit shocked that my first reaction was “wow, they’re not retina clarity”. Not that I expected them to be, nor should they be necessarily, just that it’s been awhile since I’ve seen LCDs that weren’t, doh! All kidding aside, they new display looks great and NI has done a fantastic job using them to help you navigate and edit your projects as efficiently as possible.
Notice I said “edit”. One of things that sticks out to me the most about the new Studio controller, is that it makes using Maschine feel like you’re working at a dedicated editing station. NI have done such a good job of giving you easy and direct access to all the controls you need to edit your performances after the fact, that it feels like that’s the focus more to me than typical grooveboxes.
Continue Reading: -> http://tarekith.com/maschine-studio-review/
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