Would this combo work well together? I feel the need to beef-up my VST control, so any advice is welcome

 

Last edited: Jan 12, 2016

While it doesn't work absolutely flawlessly for example it is kind of a pain to get the knobs to do what they are supposed to do. If you don't mind having to do a few little work arounds here and there the two work quite well together and can make for really interesting setup where you are taken to the joys of producing in yesteryear to a somewhat hardware setup without much need for interaction with a computer and little clicking. Sometimes I prefer the Ableton Push/AKAI Advance combo when I'm working on music and currently both the Maschine Mk2 and Ableton Push Mk1 run about the same it's just a matter of which one you think would be more intuitive to your workflow. Feel free to ask any questions that you have and I will do the best of my ability to answer them might take a minute for me to reply.

 

What is your DAW of choice or are you planning on making most of your compositions within Maschine? I really wish that Maschine was a full service DAW but for what it's worth it not being one also help integrate it very easily with your workflow without the need for too much crazy rewiring.

 

I am on Reaper at the moment, but I'm looking at a dual OS setup with project stems and a versioning system stored on the NAS. I am quite happy to have the drum process isolated in it's own 'box', and the VIP controlling the synths. I am currently a mouse-warrior in partnership (mostly) with my trusty CME XKey, but I want to shake things up a little, as I intend to have some collaborators coming into the mix.

 

Last edited: Jan 14, 2016

Dude, if you are planning on not using the the Advance in the Maschine "Daw" and more within Reaper I say absolutely go for it. It will make producing music with out a doubt so much more fun. If you're looking for a more completely in the box experience though I might look into trying out the Push mk1 but if you like Reaper and you plan to stick with it then I'd go with the Maschine.

From a more economic perspective though since NI has been sort of silent since the release of AKAI's MPC Touch controller and Ableton's newer rendition of the Push. You might want to wait till NAMM comes around, I wouldn't quote me on this but it seems like Native Instruments might be getting ready to announce a newer version of the Maschine possibly even a full fledged DAW and well then the price of the Mk1 Mk2 and Studio would come down and you'll get a really good deal.

That being said if you're not strapped for cash I might even look into the MPC Touch or Ableton Push 2 (AKAI didn't have anything to do with it though) it really all just depends on what you have the most interest in doing with it though I can't provide any feedback on those. I really wonder how well the MPC Touch plays with the Advance I'm sure it provides some super neat integration.

The best thing I believe that the Maschine has over everything else is that out of the box the stock library and expansions are hell of legit and provide for some really great inspiration for so so much, especially if you plan on collabing. I do feel like the Maschine is most geared for people who produce hip-hop, so if you do produce hip-hop and downtempo stuff the Maschine works like a fucking dream for that kind of stuff and chopping up samples. However I'm really big on producing House music and while the provide some really great Melodic Kits I do feel like their drum kits are somewhat lacking in terms of having a nice variety of drum kits for House and Trance but if you already have a nice sample library you can always customize it to work with stuff. I do wish it was easier to browse your own stuff in Maschine the way it is now with Ableton Push and the 9.5 update but I'm sure there's a way to customize Maschine to do stuff similarly.

 

Thanks for the great reply The type of music will be Pop, Dance, RnB, Rock, Ballads, Synthpop etc. Basically I want some gear for people to play around with, as a mouse and a mini keyboard is not very inspiring I've got a Kemper Profiler, and I'll get a V-Drum kit too, so the workflow will be mostly digital. Primarily looking at songwriting and producing demos, with the option of going into a pro studio if the situation warrants it.

I will take your advice and sit on the fence for a while, and see how the market plays out, but you have been most helpful My current equipment consists mainly of guitars and analogue synths, so a digital refresh is long overdue

 

Last edited: Jan 14, 2016

The advance is really more like a workstation than a midi controller. If you don't need a potent midi controller, go for it. If you do, buy something else.

 

Having a workstation type controller with a few knobs to access all the VST and presets sounds like a good trade-off for songwriting, but what 'potent' controller would you recommend for sound design and other more in-depth stuff?

 

Last edited: Jan 14, 2016

The centerpiece of the advance is the akai vip software which enables you to browse and layer several presets from different vst instruments from the keyboard. It's more like a vsti and preset aggregator and when I saw the presentation at musikmesse I thought of the target consumer to be in the field of live keyboarding. It didn't really convinced me and I percieved it as a half-baked answer to native's komplete kontrol - which I think could be better for you as the integration with maschine should be considerably better. Plus, selling the layering sounds thing is something Ableton Live users can only smile at.
Without the vip software, the advance is actually limited in comparison to other controllers. No faders etc.
Currently, I use the novation launchkey 49 which is versatile and useful. I'm not so happy with the build-quality though, several keys are already clackering and just two years old. But they still work and probably will do forever, doepfer keyboarders know what I mean ;) . My next controller keyboard will be the Arturia Keylab 88.