Native Instruments Maschine Mk3 Drum Controller

The latest incarnation of NI's Maschine, the Mk3 is an extraordinarily powerful music production and performance device. It comes with a ton of software that runs on Mac or Windows, but can also operate without a computer, downloading (with some planning) what it needs in advance. I'm not going to write about the solid construction, beautiful screens, abundance of buttons, the wonderful pads or the superb touch encoders, or the 96kHz audio interface that let's it record, for example, from line level or dynamic mics (no 48V, so condensers can't be used, at least not without a separate power supply). I'm not going to talk about the well designed Mac interface, or the powerful synths and mastering tools that are part of the Komplete 12 Select package. Every review I've read or watched talked about them. I'm going to talk about the 717 page PDF manual that comes with Maschine, and what it means for the user.To begin with, the massive size of the manual means that there's a lot more to Maschine MK3 than you can learn in a dozen 15 minute videos. As I said, Maschine is meant to function as both a composition and a performance tool, though it clearly leans toward the composing/beatmaking side. While NI has done a brilliant job of making the user interface both logical and reasonably intuitive, the fact that you feel comfortable after 20 minutes of messing around will lead many into thinking they've mastered Maschine after a few weeks use. Don't be misled: You will be doing yourself and Maschine a disservice if you fall into this way of thinking. There's a lot more to Maschine. It's not just a beatmaker, that of course incorporates a superb multi-voice arpeggiator and sequencer. It's a competent sampler, a powerful mastering tool, a competent midi controller, all carried by powerful capabilities to control both built in and stored plug-ins and to use them in a variety of roles. By the way, the manual is not for the Komplete Select package - it covers only the built in plug-ins. If you want a tutorial or manual, for example, on the well known Massive synth plug in, you have to look back to NI's website.You can add Maschine to your workflow within days of opening the box. In one sense, it's that easy to use. I know it'a going to be central to my workflow within a month or two. On the other hand, I think it going to be much longer before I've really mastered all that Maschine offers. It's not that there's anything wrong with Maschine, it's just that it is that comprehensive and capable.

I like this controller more the more I use it. As a Komplete owner, and owner of other NKS compatible software; like Arturia Pigments, and their modeled soft synths, you can use, and tweak all those instruments, and effects as if you're using hardware.I was someone who was basically dawless. I hated dealing with computers, and softsynsths. I was basically hardware only. Maschine helped me bridge that gape big time. I feel like I'm playing with a real instrument. I combine the Mk3 with jam, and the combo is amazingly tactile. For 98% of the time I can just close my laptop, and just play/compose and have fun. The pads are the best by far that I own, and the knobs are great, plus the slider is just fantastic.I play guitar, bass, synths, and see the mk3 as another type of instrument to get new ideas going. I see a lot of complaints from those who wanted a midi controller for their daw and were dissappointed. If that's the only reason you're buying this then you would be. Get a push in that case. Being able to work as a controller with daws is just a tiny portion of its usability for when you have all the pieces of your track and you want to finish it with some vocals, and mix it in your preffered daw.It's a lot more than just a midi controller. And it works the best when used with Maschine, and NKS supported software. With NKS, and all of komplete you get audio previews of all presets, and visual icons on your controller screen, it's absolutely amazing. So if you are only using this as a daw controller for ableton you are missing out on so many cool features, its primary purpose is not to be a daw controller. Think of it as an instrument/interface you use with Native Instrument software, and anything with NKS. Their softsynsths, and effects do sound amazing by the way. Komplete is awesome, and since you get komplete select, you can upgrade for quite a bit less. If that sounds good, then you will probably love it too.Loopop has some amazing videos on YouTube describing all the awesome things the Mk3 and Jam can do. Check them out to see if this is for you.

Excellent unit. Must be synced to your computer which runs software that goes along with the unit - works great, clean sequencing and sampling. Follow tutorials and the learning curve is both good and fun! Pair with a midi keyboard for even more functionality. :)

this thing is amazing.....where do i start..i was looking for a simple drum machine to write drum tracks to play my guitar along with , i've also dabbled in music software so after looking at options i bought this...this is a tool like a keyboard used with there software maschine 2 and can use with/in conjunction with other software. it has tons and tons of sounds ,very well built. i LOVE the pads , touch sensitive, i would consider this an instrument or bunches of them. this has to be run on a pc or laptop , i don't own a laptop so i run it on my desktop pc thats run through my home theatre system and it sounds outstanding...the software that comes with this is extensive after registering the product and downloading native access .with the bundle software you can make any sound you want like seriously ANY sound. don't want to make it yourself? it will do analog sampling.......take my money! ......wait that's an expression no need to try and sell sound packs for hundreds and hundreds of dollars.. yup kids the only downside is what they want to charge for these extra sound packs..but it comes with so many sounds you won't have time to go through them all. this does have steep learning curve, that's not a bad thing because it does sooo much stuff it takes a min to learn it..lots and lots of youtube videos for tutorials.. if you like to write music and want something quality that sounds great this is your one stop shop.