Native Instruments’ new Maschine Mikro MK3

Native Instruments’ new Maschine Mikro MK3 – cheaper than ever!

The Native Instruments Maschine Mikro MK3 is designed to emulate the workflow and feel of hardware drum-machines, with the convenience of software.

The next-generation Maschine Mikro MK3 has been redesigned as the ideal stepping stone into the Native Instruments Maschine ecosystem, one of the biggest steps they’ve taken on the new Maschine Mikro MK3 is the price, the MK3 is much more affordable than the MK2 – making it a great option for beginners getting into music production or those looking for an affordable backup live controller.

Native Instruments have employed a much smaller screen in the Maschine Mikro MK3, this helps keep the costs down and create a more focused workflow for the more basic functions. We see the addition of a “smart-strip” on the MK3 which allows for some intuitive new ways of playing your sounds or tweaking parameters. They’ve also played around with the layout on the latest Maschine Mikro iteration, the “Pad Mode” switches are now along the top of the performance pads, making it much easier to switch modes with both hands while playing.

What’s the difference between the Maschine MK3 and the Maschine Mikro MK3?

Due to the lack of the large display, certain sound design aspects might be difficult without looking at your computer screen, although that being said once you’ve set up your project, the navigation on the Maschine Mikro MK3 is super fluent.

Some key differences between the Mikro MK3 and its big brother the Maschine MK3, are the in-depth displays like I mentioned, also the pre-mapped parameter encoders make navigating and tweaking parameters much easier. The Maschine Mikro MK3 does not have an integrated audio interface like its big brother, however at USD $249 (Around R3800) compared to USD $599 (Just short of R10k), it’s much more likely to make its way outside of the safety of your studio.