Maschine Studio: Homer’s Car

This is a short follow-up piece for my earlier post on Maschine Studio, and it includes one small scoop.

A couple of weeks back I had problems with Maschine Mikro, during which I contacted the NI customer support. I got excellent assistance and, by accident, on epiece of news. I will suggest putting the Audiobus support back on the agenda, the support person responded to my off-topic comment on iMaschine not having one not speaking of an iPad edition of the app (that’s the small scoop).

Only days after iOS 7 was released, and NI put out one of the most peculiar software updates ever: a Traktor DJ app update for iOS 6.

And finally yesterday the Maschine Studio was released.

All the three releases are basically examples of the same phenomenon – being out of touch. Literally this goes for Maschine Studio. I write this entry on my iPad, and I would have loved a solution where I could have used iPad wirelessly via TouchOSC to control Maschine as a sort of external x/y touch controller.

However NI introduced a built-in jog dial. So did Apple – a decade ago.

What about the fact that I am writing this wirelessly on my bed? Maschine Studio has improved onboard screens and controls which don’t require a mouse or a keyboard.

So you can use Maschine Studio without them? Great. But do I still need a computer? Yes.

Thus Maschine Mikro is very confusing a concept. It has some capabilities of a standalone device, but in the end it is an expensive and space-consuming centerpiece for your workstation table. On the same table people already have their keyboard for playing, and they do need mouse and a writing keyboard for other things.

Hence my conclusion. On this ‘Simpsons’ episode Homer gets to design a car and puts in it everything possible. Maschine Studio even looks like that car: it seems to me like two different devices forced as one.

Homer’s car did not sell that well.

Maschine Studio: first thoughts

First of all, it is useless to copypaste all the facts this blog post concerns. For them please refer to either the official NI site or the Sonic State site briefing.

The topic: the NI Maschine Studio and the Maschine 2.0 software.

The first thing for me to look was the price. The new Maschine Studio will take either a thousand dollars or euros out of your pocket. As a bit of a downer, also the Maschine 2.0 software update will charge your credit card for a hundred – well 99 – bucks or euros.

Are they worth it? The actual release is still a month away so what I have seen are the videos and fact sheets. You’re still hooked on your computer with Maschine Studio although the two onboard screens basically enable working without looking at your workstation screen. Well one needs the processor power as well as the disc space for libraries that’s true. But have I imagined myself building beat tracks with a Maschine-styled device on my lap wireless except for the power chord? Yes.

As for the software update, 99 dollars/euros is a lot of money for one. And if the update features – as it would be natural – are mostly designed for the new hardware, then for example current Maschine Mikro owners such as myself will probably think once or twice before making any decisions on purchases.

One question on my mind after watching the presentations was the emphasis on deep integration. I have a bunch of third-party kits designed for Maschine – are they 100-percent compatible with the new environment?

To put is short, Maschine Studio still not an audio source itself although the name hints otherwise. There is no audio interface in it to use apart from workstation. Yes, you can do more things without mouse and keyboard, but what’s the point if you still need a computer? Finally, the new features seem to have an iPhone-styled emphasis for improving the workflow, not redesigning it. And all the 2001-style jog dial aesthetics do come with a size addition. How about inserting a touchscreen with menus and x/y effects control instead?

My very first emotional reaction: an initiative for something great but definitely not worth a thousand bucks.

Ok, as an ominous sign this WordPress app keeps crashing so I will leave this subject for now. When more material emerges, I will probably return to this later.