So I have a Kontrol X1 and I’m replacing my bcd3000 with some sort of new controller(s). I’m oddly intrigued by the maschine if only to screw around with some sort of production though I don’t really understand the whole thing, I think I’d start out by making some drum loops to mess around with in my mixes. I have a few questions about it.
From what I read about maschine it is going to need some extra software for it to work. what would be good for a beginner and how much would it cost
I’ve got about 1600 US to spend. what controller would go well with my current x1 and a maschine for just traktor (no scratch yet) I’d like some jogwheels that are actually functional and a pretty decent crossfader and 4 deck support but none of that is hard and fast so just give me what you think would be a good way to spend my money.
Thanks in advance and if it helps for the advice I play drum and bass and a smattering of house and breaks.
Maschine comes with software, no need to buy extra especially if your just fooling around with beats and such. What you’re probably seeing people say you need extra software for is if you’re doing full productions then you may want to look at one of the other DAW’s such as Ableton or Logic. With how much you have to spend I would take a serious look at the S4 as it seems to be everything your looking for.
Thanks for the information… I have a few more questions then
Is maschine usable in traktor. would I be able to “bridge” (for lack of a better term) the maschine’s software into traktor so I could play the maschine within traktor while I dj
what are some other options other than the s4? possibly the 2 channel route. I was really just wanting the extra channels for samples…perhaps I could set up the maschine to trigger the sample decks?
Just sync the MIDI clocks and route the audio into Traktor. You could try the VCI 100 as a 2 channel controller, and yes you can use Maschine to control de sample decks.
IMO, S4 would suite you best. The 4 channels will come very handy - on top of the two track decks, you can have one sample deck & one live input for the Maschine channel. Or you could even have two sample decks and route Maschine to the AUX channel.
Have to say that the Maschine ↔ Traktor integration is not perfect, as it is now. You need to either use an external audio cable (best) for routing M to T or a virtual cable (vac, soundflower, jack). NI are saying that there will be better integration coming soon in 2011 …
From my own experience I’d say go slow on buying an S4 AND Maschine. Both are quite capable beast, but take some time to master.
Buy one, become really familiar with it and then go ahead and think if you need the other one. Learning how to use Maschine at the same time as learning Traktor on the S4 will be a full-time-job and still require probably a month worth of work.
I would suggest buying Maschine, start building songs with it and perhaps if you want to DJ a bit use the Demo of Traktor.
Buy the S4, get your head around the loops etc building some beats like that. There’s all the loops from loop master now which should sync perfectly when you drop them in.
Then think about a maschine to add more beats to your mixes / producing music.
As I understand you do need a DAW (Logic / Ableton) to actually make full tracks with maschine. It’s more a drum / loop tool.