'Round these parts, you gan get MKI Maschines for ~$200 USD. Not a lot of diff between MKI & II, IMO. Certainly not worth the upcharge. Now the studio model… that’s an upgrade! Take care.
After further thought, I’ve realised a third option would be to purchase a Novation Launchpad and Launchcontrol for less that half the price of the push and about a third of the price of the Maschine - this would give me rotary control, some help sequencing through session and some basic drum programming..
anyone have any input on this idea, or any experience with these bits of gear?
Not really - the launchpad is not as expressive as either push or maschine, and definitely isn’t intended (nor would I reccomend it) for drum programming. For one thing, it has no velocity sensitivity. Also, the launchcontrol has knobs, not encoders like the other controllers we’ve talked about in this thread (push, maschines of all types, BCR/BCF, etc).
…for a third of the price of the Push or Maschine, you could pick up a QuNeo. It comes with two MIDI remote scripts, one of which is a lauchpad emulator.
(I do work for KMI, like I disclose is my signature, but there’s never been a more appropriate place to recommend QuNeo; OP is looking for something like Maschine or Push to use with Live, for a third of the price, with clip launching capability and suitable for drum playing/programming.)
Basically, mate, if you are considering producing in Live with anything OTHER than The Push you are missing a MILLION tricks.
The Push is a phenomenal piece of kit, and Live is a phenomenal piece of software.
The Push is ideal for production using Live. (Fuck - I’ve very nearly sold The Push to myself… 
slight_smile:
I would not recommend getting the novation gear, for the same reasons botstein gave you.
Also, when comparing prices, remember that Maschine comes with a software package which, if you bought each product individually, would cost almost as much as you are paying for Maschine itself.
Maschine is probably the best Groovebox out there right now, so if it’s mainly about the drums, this should be your #1 choice.
If you want something a little less focused on drums and better integrated with Ableton, Push is your friend.
Not a great option like others have said.
Your original options win easily over the Novation equipment.
Personally I’d still go with Maschine, and it can intergrate as much as you want it too with Ableton, and it does very well.
It’s nice to occasionally just having a jam in Maschine in stand alone mode, then bringing the idea’s into ableton.
+1 I like to start in Maschine and finish tracks in Ableton.
here you go:
Maschine as a VST inside of ableton is a real asset…however if you’re planning on using maschine as a midi controller for ableton 9.1, well the script is just buggy and doesn’t work well. NI hasn’t updated that. Perhaps in lieu of people buying maschine 2.0…so as a midi controller for ableton I’m dissapointed in maschine…however when I use it with traktor is a whole different thing. So straight producing I would go for push…if you are DJing with traktor, maschine is very nice to have.
Emotion tech sensors/controller
There is a new sensor controller system worth looking into. Here is their website: http://www.unleashemotion.com/
It just came on the market and works with Ableton and other live performance software including VJ apps. I know they sell units directly, but they are currently running a kickstarter campaign with some additional incentives, so that might be the way to go if interested.
Good luck.
This was SO helpful, thank you so much!
I’m definitely getting a Maschine now, after all of the time, and with your help, I think I’ll be able to do everything I need!
Further question - just through me being lazy, as I’m sure there are hundreds of videos with the answer, but is it possible to work on a track in Maschine, then import it all to Ableton AS MIDI? Only because my current Ableton workflow involves me making basic patterns, arranging them, then going back into the clips in the arrangement to add/remove kicks etc!
Thanks for all the help everyone, made my decision now, and look forward to getting the Maschine asap!
Yes - watch the video above, you can drag and drop MIDI to, from, and between Maschine and Ableton.
Oh yesss apologies, half asleep!
Wait for the APC40MKII 
This is definitely not the answer - I’d like the APC40MK2 if I could find a good way to perform live with it, but I’m in no way even thinking about moving away from CDJs at the moment - that being said, I’ve seen some cool techno DJs use an APC 40 to perform, and they’re wicked - plus the MK2 does look the part!
I would go with the Push; its much more suited for Ableton. With the push you can still do the drumming/sequencing you can with the Maschine, so programming your drums/percussion wouldn’t be a problem. Overall the Push is more versatile in terms of physical control.
I use a launchpad, but I would definitely upgrade to the Push if I had the money