I would really like one of these to improve the SFX design workflow. But even years after the release the used ones stubbornly refuse to drop below $400.
Anyone use one of these? Thoughts?
I haven’t, but I’ve wanted to for a while now. I may have to bring one in as a demo. ha!
I have never noticed equipment cost to be a deciding factor in your past purchases. 
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I owned a Maschine Mk2 for a while, though not the Studio version. I ended up selling it. It was a lot of fun to play around with, but I didn’t really see myself using it in a serious way. It worked well with the Maschine software, but that wasn’t how I wanted to make music. I don’t do sampling and “beat making” per se, which I think is the big draw for these. Definitely a fun thing to have though. And the pads were nice. Maybe I’ll give it a try again someday as my interests evolve. How do you see yourself using it? I’m always looking for ways to improve my workflow, but it seems like every hardware controller I try out (besides a basic MIDI keyboard) is more trouble than it’s worth.
I need a tactile remote controller that can browse, preview, and edit banks of sound effects on an external audio server. So basically its a piece of hardware that can browse through folders of sounds.
I feel your pain. Controllers in general are either complicated and expensive, or overly simple and lacking features. Before I had the Avid System 5 (what I’m currently using now), it was a constant struggle for me to find something with enough features, that communicated effortlessly with a DAW. Some dedicated control surfaces like the Arturia Spark that were designed to control a specific software program were not versatile enough to be used for anything else.
Other integrated controller solutions like the Open Labs Niko or Miko, launching in the $8000 ballpark were too expensive, though a pretty cool idea.
Either way, nothing in this space is plug and play, or simple. Believe it or not, the easiest controller I’ve ever used is this one (lol):
From what I remember from when I did research, the Studio was most useful for being able to finely edit samples, and for it’s extra buttons to more deeply integrate with the Maschine software. If you just want something to browse through folders of sounds, I feel like you could get something a lot smaller and more simple.
But yeah, it’s hard to find good controllers! I’ve been through a few myself, including Maschine Mk2, Akai MPD226, Novation Launchpad Pro, Novation LaunchKey Mini, Novation Nocturn… I’m not sure if I’m forgetting something haha. It seems like such a nice idea to have an ergonomic, hands-on interface with the computer to make music, but I just keep gong back to the keyboard and mouse. Maybe one day I’ll have a predictable enough workflow to know just what I need, and maybe by then the controllers will just be a lot better. 
Yes i just bought one a few weeks back, i like it , its great. I’m in the NI camp with Komplete and Komplete Kontrol so fits in perfectly. i find it works for me better creating drum parts, from drum tapping over the years on anything… the pads are really responsive and nice workflow.