Members Syntex Posted July 29, 2010 Members Share Posted July 29, 2010 I bought MASCHINE recently. Does it actually work? Or is it another buggy mess from NI? I can't remember last when I bought a music product that is as bad as this one. What I've experienced so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Hamburglar Posted July 29, 2010 Members Share Posted July 29, 2010 I think something's wrong with yours. The 15 minutes I spent with it at Guitar Center, I found it extremely smooth and intuitive. I want this. Also, every review seems glowingly positive so I figured my experience was the norm... Do you have the latest update and everything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rosebud Posted July 29, 2010 Members Share Posted July 29, 2010 I didn't care for it either. Granted, I purchased it days after it shipped but, it seemed buggy and lacked features at the time. My biggest problem though was when I ran it in Logic, I could never overcome the latency. There was no way to record in real time with that lag. I sold it after a month or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Syntex Posted July 29, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 29, 2010 I updated the software during the installation. It took quite a while to install and update. Reviews mean nothing. Paid reviewers never tell the full story. User reviews vary widely. MASCHINE is not intuitive in the least. The only reason I understand parts of it is because I have been using Ableton for a while. The main problem with MASCHINE is the software seems buggy. NI still does not know how to write a decent tutorial for their products. The user experience ends up as a frustrating matter of trial and error over a period of weeks. Then, as NI updates the software, their videos and manuals no longer match it. Based on what I read and viewed, I had really hoped MASCHINE would be a great tool. Instead, I am finding out it is still another beta product that will not be debugged well enough for a couple years. I am going to call NI support this week. If they cannot resolve these problems, then I am going to return this buggy product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moog man Posted July 29, 2010 Members Share Posted July 29, 2010 Everyone I've talked to that has it loves it, as well as people online. There is a widespread consensus that this is great product and works solidly. I think you have a buggy machine or you don't have the latest software update. Go to the NI website and check your updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Syntex Posted July 29, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 29, 2010 The NI website is of no help. The Knowledge Base section is COMPLETELY useless. How can someone create a music database and yet a term like "metronome" returns no results? WTF?! I tried searching the forums for answers. That did not help much. The metronome issue alone pointed to a bug most of the time. I know it is not a case of user error (as was documented in a couple forum posts) because my display shows the metronome is ON. I have the latest software update, so that isn't the cause either. The manuals are a joke. Sometimes they seem as if they were written by monkeys trained to use the Print Screen key. That's how the Getting Started manual begins. Any fool can capture screens and call it "documentation". I don't need a manual to illustrate what I see right in front of me. Windows users will feel right at home with the content in the MASCHINE Reference Manual. Practically everyone has had the experience where they view something like a printer icon and then read an explanation, such as "Click on this icon for the printer status". Well, duh, I guess that's what it is for! The MASCHINE manuals are like this in various sections. I encountered that with signal routing where the manual tells the user to click on the Routing tab to view the routing and then provides no explanation of signal routing. Well, duh, so that's what the Routing tab is for. Who would have ever guessed it? Tech support is practically non-existent. I wanted to call NI. They have no phone support. I submitted a trouble ticket. 24 hours later I got a response back that said basically, "Have you checked your computer"? Great! I don't know what to do at this point. It seems like MASCHINE has a lot of potential. But it also has a steep learning curve and software bugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StompBoxLover Posted July 29, 2010 Members Share Posted July 29, 2010 I think it's fantastic! never touched the manual, no need, pretty well laid out. importing my own sounds was quick and easy, the category feature saves me hours looking for 'that' sound and within a week I had loops made in Maschine placed in a theater production and a radio play. maybe you got a buggy unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Syntex Posted July 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 30, 2010 I returned the unit and bought another one from a different store. After a third very lengthy session of installing software there is no difference. The metronome still doesn't work and all other problems have not been resolved. Meanwhile, I received another e-mail from one of the clueless tech support reps at NI. He told me it is unnecessary to route sound in order to hear it. On a good day I suppose he doesn't use either headphones or speakers too. Despite NI's best efforts to hide phone support details, I obtained their number from a music store employee. I will probably call NI tomorrow, assuming I have time. This is a frustrating experience with a very difficult to understand instrument. I have owned numerous pieces of gear and software -- MPC's, synths, workstations, soft synths, you name it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zoink Posted July 30, 2010 Members Share Posted July 30, 2010 I've had Maschine since it was released, and I like it just fine. Easy to use, and very powerful. Sometimes a piece of gear just clicks with a user, and sometimes it doesn't. I think it depends on what you're used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moog man Posted July 30, 2010 Members Share Posted July 30, 2010 Sorry to hear about your woes. I love NI stuff and have never had an issue with it (although I don't own Maschine). Perhaps try out a korg Padkontrol + battery and kontakt. Works like a dream for me! If your fed if software though it may be time to revisit that MPC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members veracohr Posted July 30, 2010 Members Share Posted July 30, 2010 How can someone create a music database and yet a term like "metronome" returns no results? WTF?! I haven't used Maschine, but in my experience with NI softsynth manuals, they tend to put things under odd headings that make it difficult to find. That is, where the info isn't completely absent. They totally fail at manuals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chando Posted July 30, 2010 Members Share Posted July 30, 2010 I don't have the patience for laggy garbage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Syntex Posted July 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 30, 2010 I called NI tech support. The trouble I had was based on an out-of-the-box signal routing configuration problem. Contrary to what the company rep told me in e-mail, the routing must be changed. The default routing does not work on a Mac. This confusion could have been avoided if NI would document things appropriately. The phone rep told me that the 1.5 software update adds a user manual addendum to the Documentation folder. I found no such addendum there. He felt the missing manual might be due to a folder permissions problem, though I doubt it. Did any of you receive a file with an addendum to the manual when you updated to version 1.5 of the software? It is not available as a separate download. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members synthesia Posted July 31, 2010 Members Share Posted July 31, 2010 I opened up my Documentation folder and i have the manual in english, spanish. french, german and japanese. do you want me to email you one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members synthesia Posted July 31, 2010 Members Share Posted July 31, 2010 I've had Maschine since the day my local retailer got it in stock, and have never had a problem. It is one of my favorite piece of equipment. I also have pretty much at least one version of every product Native Instruments has release and have dealt with their support multiple time without a problem. I hope this thread doesn't make people think NI sells "buggy" products or have questionable service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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