The final evidence of external pruning is in the Mikro's lack of MIDI ports. As well as those encoders, some buttons had to go, so in place of the Maschine's blue Group buttons, the Mikro has only one, tasked with transforming eight of the pads into Group selectors. To better serve the gigging musician, the plastic and metal shell is rigid without being too heavy, and keeping it to the size of a couple of thick magazines does wonders for your bag space. The Mikro's single rotary leaves it distinctly challenged when it comes to preparing those all-important mid-song tweaks. For my money it's the Maschine's 11 endless encoders that will be most missed. Inevitably this results in more time spent navigating around, but in most cases the display proves to be no hindrance it's even able to show (simplified) sample waveforms. Instead, a single display of about half the size (128 x 64 pixels) is present. With 100mm of prime panel space shaved off the top, there's no longer room for two large, crystal-clear displays. Of course you don't drop to the Mikro's price point without losing something. To a large extent this is due to the 16 highly playable pads, which are responsive to both velocity and aftertouch and tastefully backlit in orange. Despite the size reduction, the Mikro hardware retains much of the original's charm. Shrinking Maschineīoth hardware models share the same software, revised and improved since our original 2009 review ( /sos/jun09/articles/nimaschine.htm). The result is a Maschine that's more portable and more affordable: the Maschine Mikro. Not content with resting on their laurels (or indeed any aromatic shrubs), Native Instruments have recently revisited Maschine's hardware to indulge in a spot of careful pruning. Yet arguably it was its software's ability to host third-party plug-ins - instruments and effects - that raised it above other self-contained grooveboxes. Positioned somewhere between the tactile experience of an Akai MPC and the flexibility offered by Ableton Live, the Maschine arrived stocked with a wealth of original sounds. Just two years have elapsed since Native Instruments launched their Maschine, and already this partnership of controller and software feels ubiquitous. Mouse-free, wallet-friendly groove production is the order of the day as Native Instruments miniaturise their Maschine.
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