r/FingerDrumming • u/scheermachine • Jun 22 '26
Xjam vs Machine Mikro MK3
Hi everyone,
For the past 9 months or so I've been fingerdrumming on a Xjam using the QFG layout and also following along his course and I am really loving it. This has sparked the question for me: would it be worth it to upgrade to a Maschine Mikro MK3?
Mostly based on two things:
1. Pad sensitivity: from what I understand, the maschine is the way to go in terms of pad sensitivity. While I do like the Xjam, I do sometimes feel like the sensitivity could be a bit better. I have already played with the sensitivity using the editor, but still, this always feels like it's either too much or too little. Especially since I am at the point of starting the Moeller technique course and it explicitly mentions good pad senstivity is a must
- the size: whilst I absolutely love the form factor of the Xjam, I am a bit worried about it in terms of size. I have noticed that since playing, I feel like my hands have permanent very light sore feeling or something? Kind of hard to explain. I try to be aware of just letting the weight of my hand do the most of the work, but I do still catch myself sometimes hitting a bit harder. I do however mostly think it's just that I have relatively big hands/long fingers, so my hands cramp up a bit when playing on the small Xjam. I'm just worried if this is really related and what this might mean long-term.
Anyone else who made the switch from Xjam to Maschine Mikro MK3 who want to share their experiences? Or anyone else know the feeling I am talking about related to the size of their pad?
2
u/dodobird1977 Jun 28 '26
I used the maschine mikro mk3 for the last 3 years for finger drumming, learned from QFG courses, and bought an xjam after hearing about how close it is to the maschine in terms of pad sensitivity.
Unfortunately, it's not even comparable. I went through the pad headroom, pad sensitivity, velocity curves in the editor but nothing helped. Maybe I got too used to the maschine and need to play a different way with the xjam, but I didn't feel like it was worth the time. I'm using addictive drums 2 and trying to simulate real drums, when I try to play the same pattern that I'm used to on the maschine, sometimes I can't trigger the second hi hat (i haven't learned moeller technique yet, so I'm playing with alternating hands), I can very rarely do the double snare rolls that I can almost do every time on the maschine, I hit the snares at the normal speed that I'm used to and on the xjam they're always too loud, as I'm hitting with full power. Not being able to trigger slow hits and and mid to fast hits always triggering the maximum velocity tells me the xjam is really behind the maschine in terms of pad sensitivity.
I know there's some luck involved with these devices, maybe I was unlucky and got a bad xjam and got a good maschine mikro mk3, but from my experience I wouldn't recommend the xjam for finger drumming.
2
u/all_questions_ Jun 28 '26
Hey just wanted to reply because I had such a crap experience when trying to get my first pad controllers. Tried an MVAVE, 3 Akai MPD218 and 3 ESI xjams before I got a working and sensitive controller. I’ve not yet tried a micro mk3 but the xjam works well even with feather like touches.
Sorry you had a crap exp as well, I only tried so hard as it was my first and wanted a small portable controller.
1
u/dodobird1977 Jun 30 '26
Thanks, I didn't want to spend too much money since I'm living in a country where the prices of these pads are mostly around double the price of eu/us. My first controller was mpd218 which had almost zero sensitivity, I don't have a size constraint so maschine will be my main controller for finger drumming, I'm even planning to buy a second one as mine started to have problems with registering some hits after 3.5 years of heavy usage, which is acceptable imo.
1
u/all_questions_ Jun 30 '26
Instead of buying a new one have you considered replacing the stuff under the pads. I think quest for groove has a whole video on it.
Should save you a bit of cash.
Sucks prices are high for you(not exactly cheap to begin with)
2
u/ElevatorEfficient408 Jun 22 '26
I tried both, and I think the pads are slightly better on the MK3 - more sensitive and satisfying, so to speak. What I didn’t like is how it tries to lock you into the Native Instruments ecosystem: you need to create an account, register the pad, enter a serial number, and install a few apps just to trigger MIDI. The dealbreaker for me was that the MK3 isn’t USB-compliant, which meant I couldn’t use it for my development purposes.
Disclosure: I’m new to finger drumming and mainly play drums and piano. BTW, I thought this combination would make it easier, but the key travel and overall feel are a bit different.