Native Instruments debut the powerful Maschine+ standalone production controller
Subscribe
X

Subscribe to Mixdown Magazine

Native Instruments debut the powerful Maschine+ standalone production controller

The Maschine+ acts as the first hardware release from Native Instruments in a long time, and to be honest, it’s probably a little overdue: the company’s once-mighty Maschine software/controller combination has fallen out of favour with beatmakers in recent years due to the success of standalone tools from Akai, Roland and Novation.

 

With the release of the Maschine+, it looks like the German audio firm are set to reclaim their spot at the top, delivering an easily navigable unit that’s packed with useful features and tools. While not being battery powered, the Maschine+ is still operable as a standalone device or software controller, and includes Ableton Link and Wi-Fi compatibility for downloading sounds and syncing with your DAW.

 

Under the hood, there’s an Intel Atom quad-core processor, as well as 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, which is expandable via an SD card slot on the rear. The unit is also coated in a chunky aluminum chassis and weighs a hefty 2.5kg, ensuring it’ll remain intact when carted around for studio sessions or performance. 

 

The Maschine+ features an integrated 96 kHz / 24-bit audio interface with two TRS line inputs and outputs for recording and sampling audio, as well as a dynamic mic input, headphone output and MIDI I/O for expanding your setup. 

 

To get you going straight out of the box, the Maschine+ also includes 8GB of onboard sounds and plugins, such as Retro Machines, Kontakt, Reaktor, FM8 and Massive, as well as a number of exclusive expansions which are to be  further detailed soon. 

 

All in all, it looks like a pretty huge comeback for the Maschine, and we’re keen to see how it stacks up against other recently released standalone units. 

 

 

Find out more about the Maschine+ via Native Instrument’s website.