Does look an interesting development, as long as Maschine 2.0 SW is available to and supports existing owners, I’ll be happy sticking with my MkII.
Let me be the first to say, I am that asshole who will upgrade his gear for no rhyme or reason. Especially when it comes to Maschine. However aside from 2 additional screens and a VU meter and a few additional buttons I don’t see what the big deal is about it. As a MK II (used to own the original as well) owner, i’m completely satisfied with my MK II. And for those of you who own the Mk I, the MK II’s pads are a huge upgrade. I absolutely love how playable and finger friendly it is now. So given everything i’ve said, I doubt unless there is some other significant upgrade to the hardware that i’m unaware of I doubt i’ll be upgrading.
I can’t tell by the pictures, but even with the displays on the Maschine Studio, it’s still not stand-alone right? You still have to have it hooked up to your laptop yeah?
Yeah, still just a controller, no built in soundcard either apparently.
They’ve got a great write up. Man those displays are gorgeous, i’m still a little choked about no time stretching or audio tracks but it sounds like NI may just ignore the audio tracks altogether. If they were going to do audio tracks the 2.0 update would have been the logical time to do it.
Maschine has offline time stretching like most DAWs
I gotta say I was pretty surprised at this announcement. I was expecting 2.0 but not more hardware. This is interesting because it shows that NI isn’t afraid to step into the court of competitors. I didn’t think they’d make a full size beast to compete with the Renaissance because it would go against their emphasis on portability or that they wouldn’t want to diversify the lineup too much.
I think this also means we could still see a Kontrol Z4 (even though people think they wouldn’t try to compete with club standards like Pioneer or A&H). And as mentioned in the DJTT Maschine article it’s possible NI could start to place those gorgeous displays onto other products (Kontrol S4 MK3 or Kontrol Z2 MK2). Many being able to browse tracks, browse effects, and see which samples are loaded directly on the unit, i’d cry.
You’re basically paying double for the color screen, VU meter and a bigger wheel? Meh. If its anything like previous NI VU meters, it’s worthless.
How is that “double” the price? Isn’t Maschine MK2 $600? But, yeah, it’s a significant increase.
Also, @rdej47: I agree, those displays would be badass in some of their other future hardware versions.
Any word on integration with traktor ?
A worry free sync would be amazing. Or can you load up traktor as a VST already ?
And probably, as i predicted, a traktor s8 with LCD displays will follow
I’m sure that NI endorsed artists have been vocal about the fact that they want to avoid the laptop altogether. Any video that you watch of DJ Shiftee and Craze they always try keep the laptop off to the side. Don’t get me wrong I love Traktor but the more information and feedback they can give you through the gear the better. It’s win/win, you get to really dive into your gear and your audience doesn’t think you’re just geeking it up on the laptop.
Watch the amount of artists in this video from 2010 who specifically mention they don’t like having to go to the laptop.
damm this is a MPC killer…
Still waiting on a dedicated “Traktor OS” machine where the laptop can be ditched completely 
But that new Maschine looks badass .. much more “future” than the latest MPC’s
Shame theirs no sound card though
That’s going to come with the generation after the next-gen traktor controllers (with LCDs controlled via USB by a computer)
I think the first step was IOS integration. Now they could go the numark route and make a glorified iphone/ipod/ipad dock with jogwheels, or actually build a standalone unit. That’s entirely up to them.
I, for one, will probably pick one up sometime. I bought a Mikro MK2 a few months ago and love it for portability (making beats & tracks at coffee shop, airport etc.), but was slightly limiting when working at home. I will still use it when I travel, but the Studio looks great for use at home in my studio. I opted against the “regular” Maschine MK2 because I didn’t think it offered enough over the Mikro for what I wanted.
It won’t be for everybody, but for me, this looks great. I am glad I didn’t get the Push or the “regular” Maschine MK2. I like the workflow of Maschine and, frankly, I felt like I wish it was easier to adjust levels etc for arranging; I don’t always want to have to switch out to Ableton to do arranging.
Looking at it again I’m more tempted by this.
Three midi outs I’m hoping that means they finally added some meaningful streamlined means for sequencing of external devices. That alone is why I still keep my mpc around
Yup. They sure have:
"MASCHINE STUDIO’s advanced MIDI CC functionality lets you easily assign any instrument or effect parameter to any external control surface or your host’s automation control. Create detailed automation lines in your host and MASCHINE will stay tightly locked to every tweak, pan, and fader ride.
Seamlessly turn MASCHINE STUDIO into the control hub of your entire studio. 1 MIDI In and 3 MIDI Outs let you route control messages from MASCHINE STUDIO to multiple devices for the ultimate command center. Connect a MIDI keyboard for intricate melodic performances. Or route control messages from MASCHINE STUDIO to multiple devices."
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/maschine/production-systems/maschine-2.0/overview/integration/