Axe-FX III and NI Maschine + setup for home studio use?

[machin3god]

Hey guys, I need some help. Thinking of getting a Maschine +.

Current set up:
Axe-FX III used as an audio interface straight into my monitors and into my M1 Mac Mini through USB.

If I add a Maschine +, connect it through USB to my Mac Mini as well, do I need another audio interface so both the Axe-FX and the Maschine + play through the monitors? Can I just use one or the other as an audio interface and sync them?

This stuff is pretty new to me. Thanks for your help.

 

[chestnut]

Hey guys, I need some help. Thinking of getting a Maschine +.

Current set up:
Axe-FX III used as an audio interface straight into my monitors and into my M1 Mac Mini through USB.

If I add a Maschine +, connect it through USB to my Mac Mini as well, do I need another audio interface so both the Axe-FX and the Maschine + play through the monitors? Can I just use one or the other as an audio interface and sync them?

This stuff is pretty new to me. Thanks for your help.

Hi Machine3god,

on the Mac you have to create an "Aggregate Device". You find the Audio-Midi-Setup under /Applications/Utilities.
On the left side down you'll find a "+" sign. There you can create an "Aggregate Device". Here you can combine all available audio devices. It works really well if you choose an identical sample rate. The Axe-FXs sample rate per default is 48 kHz. You can't change this. But maybe the Machines sample rate.
I haven't tried this combination but have an aggregate device with my Focusrite audio interface.
Using the Axe-FX for Monitoring isn't difficult - the only thing you have to do is:

• Choosing the aggregate device an the audio interface
• setting the DAWs output to Axe-FX

 

[lqdsnddist]

Just get a small outboard mixer. Works a lot better having the control over the levels going to the monitors, you can lower the level when you power up or down a device to avoid pops in the monitor etc.

well worth the minimal investment to have direct control over levels, mix both sources at once etc IMO

 

[Duff Man]

Isn’t the idea with maschine+ that it’s primarily standalone? are you using a daw on the Mac? I only ask because you could just plug the maschine+ direct into the axefx input 2 If you just wanted live sound and basic mixing in your monitors. If you wanted to use maschine as a control surface only then you could just use it via USB into your daw to control the plugin in your daw and then you wouldn’t even need to set it up as an aggregate device.

wait, hang on, is it even a USB audio device? I just checked NI’s website and it says you can plug it in and use it in classic mode as a controller (as I described above).

 

[ectoplasm88]

In the maschine software just select the Axe-FX III as your output. Assuming the Maschine+ still supports this as an option.