Whats the difference between Maschine & Cubase Groove Agent?

[GavinKMusic]

Hi Guys,

In Cubase they have Groove Agent which looks kind of like Maschine but as a VST. Groove Agent you can drag and drop samples onto the pads and trigger them using your midi controller.

So is it really worth investing in Maschine?

Thanks,
Gavin

[ochaim]

Groove Agent is more akin to Battery than it is to Maschine.

Maschine can run as a a VST or as a standalone program where you can sequence. Groove Agent looks to be only sequenceable in a DAW.

Maschine can use more than just samples, you can assign a VST to its pads/banks, most stable I find are other NI patches. This is more useful when used as a standalone, but can also be done when the Maschine project is opened in the DAW if you want to mix it there.

They are quite different. Most get Maschine for its sound library (drum samples and NI patches that use kontakt/reaktor/massive/etc) and the workflow.

a lot of the trap style fills and patterns are based on maschine's "note repeat" functionality.

hope that helps.

[GavinKMusic]

Thanks Owen. Much appreciated.

I'm still deciding if Maschine is really worth it. I dont think RedOne uses it. He said he only uses whats in Logic and thats been good enough for hit songs like Lady Gaga's and other artist he has produced. They say less is more. I like less.

Also looking at Stylus RMX..

Gavin

[mojobone]

Your mileage, as they say, may vary, but I've heard that Maschine can be difficult to download, install and operate (this is true of many multi-output virtual instruments) and that tech support for NI's myriad products can be...spotty.

Stylus RMX on the other hand, runs on a vast array of hardware and is widely considered an essential tool by many modern composers, though it may come down to which VI has the sounds you'll need and use.

Groove Agent reportedly works pretty well, I just don't know many people that use it.

[GavinKMusic]

Your mileage, as they say, may vary, but I've heard that Maschine can be difficult to download, install and operate (this is true of many multi-output virtual instruments) and that tech support for NI's myriad products can be...spotty.

Stylus RMX on the other hand, runs on a vast array of hardware and is widely considered an essential tool by many modern composers, though it may come down to which VI has the sounds you'll need and use.

Groove Agent reportedly works pretty well, I just don't know many people that use it.

Thanks. Yeah I might go ahead and get RMX. Hope it loads quicker than Trilian. Trilian has great bass sounds but takes a while to load them. Loving Nexus2..fast work flow. Groove agent works fine and some of the sounds are good. I also like to drag and drop samples on to the pads. then just use my midi keyboard to play them. This one reason I don't get buying hardware like the Maschine. I can just use Groove Agent, midi controller and my midi editor in my DAW.

RMX seems worth a try.

[mojobone]

It's on my wishlist, but I play drums, I have a triggers kit and some very good (mostly Addictive) drum samples; RMX' beat-slicing and beat-transform capabilities (not to mention loads of meticulously-sampled percussion sounds and expansion packs) are still well worth the associated learning curve, IMHO. If I were a more 'beats'-oriented musician, I woulda bought Stylus, before I bought the pads kit.

[TheElement]

Got RMX and got lost in it for hours the other night. So it looks like a great creative tool. very pleased.

[dynamicalan]

Hello,

I just got Stylus RMX Xpanded and I am reading here that the beat slices are very useful. However, what I don't like is the drag n drop midi regions into the host just because you're not getting a normal midi region. What you get is a slice region or a single note. In addition, I can see that when you do a group for 1 and 3 the hi hat on each beat is also on that to and some of the libraries or kits meaning not in kit mode already are sampled by reverb or something so you can't go back to dry.