Maschine MK3 vs Ableton Push 2

NI Maschine or Ableton Push? It's a tough choice for many producers. Yes, Push is optimised for Ableton Live and Maschine is multi-DAW friendly. Both controllers have their pros and cons though...

When buying a new controller, most musicians and producers are faced with a choice between two of the main players, Native Instruments' Maschine MK3 and Ableton Push 2.

Before you get in a tizzy and start complaining that it's not possible to compare apples and oranges (you can decide which controller is which in this analogy) Loopop disagrees and explains that aside from the software side of things there are comparison points to be made. Yes, in terms of software, Ableton Live is a fully-featured, mature, comprehensive DAW, and the MASCHINE software, while constantly improving, is more groovebox-oriented and isn't trying to be a complete one-stop-shop DAW itself. 

In this video Ziv (Loopop) explores the different sides of both controller / instruments breaking the comparison down by a number of criteria:

So, what are the criteria Maschine MK3 and Ableton Push 2 are judged by? Here you go:

  • hardware
  • creating music
  • scale
  • soft keys
  • arpeggiating
  • chords
  • sequencing beats
  • sounds
  • sampling
  • sequencing notes
  • projects
  • mixing
  • touch strip
  • macros
  • locks
  • mapping parameters
  • USB power
  • arrangement

This is a very interesting, and bold, video from Loopop and is bound to get hardcore users from both camps up in arms. And for others it's a decent overview of both that will hopefully help you make a decision as to which is best for you and your studio/live performance needs.

Learn lots more about Ableton Push 2 here and NI Maschine here.

Check out our overview video of the new Maschine MK3 here:

Remember, you can learn a whole lot more about Ableton Push 2 here and NI Maschine here.

 

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"Rounik is the Executive Editor for Ask.Audio & macProVideo. He's built a crack team of professional musicians and writers to create one of the most visited online resources for news, review, tutorials and interviews for modern musician and producer. As an Apple Certified Trainer for Logic Pro Rounik has taught teachers, professional..." Read More

Discussion

matstaples
Surely parameter lock functionality can be replicated by switching scenes in Ableton? Making small or large changes to a duplicated scene and thwm switching between them is easy done on Push.

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