Motu MachFive 3 Mark 79 Electric Piano review

16

Yo what’s good fam!

You know I’m a fan of the Motu engines/libraries as well as UVI (guys behind a lot of motu engines/libraries)

So I had to checkout the new MachFive 3, I remember seeing it back at winter NAMM and it looked really good.

I never had the previous version so I can’t tell you how it compares, but this one is looking real nice.

It’s a deep instrument, so I will be reviewing various parts of it separately.

One of the features of the library is that in addition to the traditional loops and instruments, there are dedicated, highly scripted and detailed instruments like ep, bass, piano, guitar, etc.

Today I’m checking out the new Mark 79 instrument which was created by Acoustic Samples specifically for the MachFive 3 library

let’s check it!

What is Mark 79?

It is one of the new dedicated instruments inside of MachFive 3 that uses the new scripting and engines to create a really detailed and playable instrument.

It’s a sampled library based on the Fender Rhodes MKII from 1979, and it sounds dope!

Has a really nice interface that doubles as the control center for treble, bass, acoustic noise, distortion, reverb, cabinet, release samples, and vibrato.

This could quite easily be it’s own instrument outside of the MachFive 3 factory library, and it really feels like it’s own instrument…gladly we get this as part of the factory content ๐Ÿ™‚

Quick Specs

  • size: 7.5 gb (Mark 79 Only, full MachFive3 library is 45gb total)
  • format: MachFive 3
  • standard price: $459 standard, $179 upgrade from MachFive 2
  • competitiveย crossgrade:ย $279 competitive crossgrade (need proof of registration for ableton live, emulator x2, any version of kontakt, eastwest play, gigastudio, quantum leap goliath, halion, reason, logic, structure, or independence)

How does it sound?

Freakin amazing! I absolutely love it. It has a very smooth, very warm feel to it.

I’ve been a fan of the Motu Electric Keys for a long time, it’s been my default EP, so I was really looking forward to this one.

Acoustic Samples did a great job of capturing the sound and building it in the MachFive 3 engine.

The scripting and everything is on point.

I love the use of acoustic noise, how quickly I can add distortion, reverb, adjust my bass and treble it’s all just right there.

At the end of the day, it just sounds dope, and I love that!

What’s the bottom line?

This is a killer addition to the factory content, one that can easily stand on it’s own.

I give the Mark 79 EP instrument 5 out of 5 subs, it’s really an excellent EP library. ย The fact that it is actually part of the factory content is crazy, but I love it!

Go on over and watch all the videos and learn about MachFive 3, it’s a really great sampler/synth and easy to program with as well.ย http://www.motu.com/products/software/machfive/body.html

leave a comment below, let me know what you think!

16 Comments

    • @xavier.p, this is only a small part of the full product, this product is only one instrument from the factory library. The price is for the entire MachFive 3 product which includes 45gb of sounds. I just split it up because there is so much in MachFive 3, my review would be an hour long otherwise lol

      Reply
  1. Nice review bro. Yes sir the MachFive 3 Mark 79 sounds way better than the Native Instrument’s EPs. I’ve been playing around with the other sounds in MachFive 3 and they did an outstanding job. I’m looking forward to ur other reviews on this vast library. Definitely worth the $179 for the upgrade.
    Btw, I’m really feeling the Telematic guitar library and scripting. That joint is off the hook ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • @Madbull Studios, No doubt bro, I’m very impressed by everything they did. I didn’t have any previous experience wtih MachFive, this is my first “taste” honestly I thought the old one just looked ugly to me, so I never messed wit it lol. But I’ve been a fan of their other products and sounds, they really did a good job here. I’m amazed at the single instruments they have in addition to the factory library, that’s crazy. And I was already in love with the uvi extreme fx, I had it previously but cool that they put that in here too.

      Reply
  2. SJ,the sounds that Motu has delivered in this product seem authentic as if “you’re actually using the real piano”. The price is steep,but then again for sounds like this,I may have to dine at home this weekend. lol,,Thanks for giving us a close look @ this one…

    Reply
    • @Baddboy2000, the price is steep if it were only this instrument, but compared to something like kontakt or halion it’s really pretty similar. I like that you can get a discount for owning other products like kontakt, ableton, reason, etc….that really makes it a good deal. Remember, this is only ONE of the included instruments. They also have a general factory library that also has EPs, Pianos and other traditional sounds. Thanks for the comment as usual.

      Reply
    • @Mehdo, for designing my own sounds I find I like it better than Kontakt as it’s easier to use, and I like the layout, it’s much more simple to build with. But I don’t like it better than Kontakt because Kontakt is more powerful in terms of scripting and such, so you have more third party libraries for it, that’s what I love about Kontakt, all the third party support.

      Reply
    • @BlackSoultan aka QueMusiQ, Since you already use Kontakt I’d go with Neo Soul keys, plus I like it a bit better for my style of music, though this one is amazing as well. If I had to choose only one it would be neo soul keys.

      Reply

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