Poll: 'MPC Live' vs 'MPC X' vs 'Current and legacy MPC's'

kubes wrote:"Despite a studio-centric feature set, the MPC X does have the same internal rechargeable battery – if you want to use it in the wild, not a Problem"

Source: http://djtechtools.com/2017/01/09/akai- ... tandalone/

I believe that article is incorrect. There is no mention of battery power for the X anywhere, not in the product specs nor in the quick start guide.

yep, you might be right. I was wondering too why this was not mentioned in any way.

interestingly the screen on the X shows a battery icon in the upper right corner, but that might be a generic screen imposed on the X frame....just looked at video with andy from namm and the asme screen in the video does not have the battery icon, so other one in the media photo must be a mock up...

2500 with JJOS for life.

Have your main recording device (computer and interface), get a second one and use the second one as a sound generator to trigger VSTs.. In my case I use an old throwaway laptop & audio interface MIDI-ed up and audio sent through a mixer channel.

https://www.facebook.com/malakaibeats/videos/vb.211313284415/10154138087509416/?type=2&theater

This is like the poor man's Ren but it works for me. I didn't even blink when post-5000 machines started dropping.

The Live has a lot of value seeing as it's a small portable size, and the fact that it has a standalone option synergizes really well with it being able to run off of a battery charge. So convenient. And it's priced pretty well. I can understand why it will be a big hit.

But is there any reason to buy the X other than to have its stand alone capabilities? I personally don't mind using the computer/controller combo with my Ren. And I use a different audio interface as opposed to the one in the Ren. I don't think it will be worth the money to replace a machine that pretty much does the same thing albeit having standalone capabilities... $2k seems like an awful lot of money for something that virtually does the same thing as the Ren.

Your thoughts?

DaizM wrote:interestingly the screen on the X shows a battery icon in the upper right corner, but that might be a generic screen imposed on the X frame....just looked at video with andy from namm and the asme screen in the video does not have the battery icon, so other one in the media photo must be a mock up...

We've disproven this already, that icon on the X is not a battery icon, it's something else as the live has that same icon in addition to what is clearly is an actual battery icon.

I think that icon indicates standalone mode

MPC-Tutor wrote:

DaizM wrote:interestingly the screen on the X shows a battery icon in the upper right corner, but that might be a generic screen imposed on the X frame....just looked at video with andy from namm and the asme screen in the video does not have the battery icon, so other one in the media photo must be a mock up...

We've disproven this already, that icon on the X is not a battery icon, it's something else as the live has that same icon in addition to what is clearly is an actual battery icon.

I think that icon indicates standalone mode

Yes It's true, its the icon to switch between standalone and controller mode.

Pads wrote:The Live has a lot of value seeing as it's a small portable size, and the fact that it has a standalone option synergizes really well with it being able to run off of a battery charge. So convenient. And it's priced pretty well. I can understand why it will be a big hit.

But is there any reason to buy the X other than to have its stand alone capabilities? I personally don't mind using the computer/controller combo with my Ren. And I use a different audio interface as opposed to the one in the Ren. I don't think it will be worth the money to replace a machine that pretty much does the same thing albeit having standalone capabilities... $2k seems like an awful lot of money for something that virtually does the same thing as the Ren.

Your thoughts?

I agree 100%.

I mean I'm a flagship guy myself, but I can't justify the double price of the X over the Live. They do exactly the same thing, no extra features on the X, just a bigger screen, a few more buttons and ins/outs. Which is why I'll be getting the Live.

All NAMM videos where focused mostly on the Live which was being showcased in most occasions. The X didn't get much love imho, maybe because of the lack of features compared to the "mainstream" (due to it's lower price) and mobile Live.

Regarding the Ren then yeah, unless someone really wants a standalone machine I don't see any other reason to buy the X.

starmanwarz wrote:I agree 100%.

I mean I'm a flagship guy myself, but I can't justify the double price of the X over the Live. They do exactly the same thing, no extra features on the X, just a bigger screen, a few more buttons and ins/outs. Which is why I'll be getting the Live.

All NAMM videos where focused mostly on the Live which was being showcased in most occasions. The X didn't get much love imho, maybe because of the lack of features compared to the "mainstream" (due to it's lower price) and mobiity Live.

Regarding the Ren then yeah, unless someone really wants a standalone machine I don't see any other reason to buy the X.

I don't fully agree, To me it looked as if the 'X' gained more attention at the NAMM than the 'Live' did. The 'X' even had a few pre-NAMM videos and the 'Live' didn't.

The 'X' will have a better soud card than the 'Live', Bigger screen (which you can titl), more buttons and Q-link rotary knobs so better control, VU meter, scribble strips in the q-link section, scrible strip right below the VU meter to see what program your in, more inputs, 8x CV/Gate, Transport control << >> (Thank God), and a more sexy/WoW factor look (The last one is just my opinion)

Is the price of the 'X' justified in comparison to the 'Live' NO it isn't but in the end it all depends on your wallet and what you're willing to spend on these new maschines.

Here in Europe I'ts going to be €1799,- for the 'X' and €999,- for the 'Live'.

I will lay down that nasty €1799,- for the 'X' cause I expect it to bring me alot years filled with joy (production wise).

starmanwarz wrote:

Pads wrote:The Live has a lot of value seeing as it's a small portable size, and the fact that it has a standalone option synergizes really well with it being able to run off of a battery charge. So convenient. And it's priced pretty well. I can understand why it will be a big hit.

But is there any reason to buy the X other than to have its stand alone capabilities? I personally don't mind using the computer/controller combo with my Ren. And I use a different audio interface as opposed to the one in the Ren. I don't think it will be worth the money to replace a machine that pretty much does the same thing albeit having standalone capabilities... $2k seems like an awful lot of money for something that virtually does the same thing as the Ren.

Your thoughts?

I agree 100%.

I mean I'm a flagship guy myself, but I can't justify the double price of the X over the Live. They do exactly the same thing, no extra features on the X, just a bigger screen, a few more buttons and ins/outs. Which is why I'll be getting the Live.

All NAMM videos where focused mostly on the Live which was being showcased in most occasions. The X didn't get much love imho, maybe because of the lack of features compared to the "mainstream" (due to it's lower price) and mobile Live.

Regarding the Ren then yeah, unless someone really wants a standalone machine I don't see any other reason to buy the X.

Exactly. So that being said, I will most likely just get the 2.0 software and call it a day.

BUT..

What happens if I buy the software, we'll say for $99 to match Maschines software upgrade price, and then later on decide to buy the Live for whatever reason. Let's say, for arguments sake, my Ren stops working due to age so I have no choice but to buy one of the new machines.

Since I have already purchased the software before, what will that mean for previous buyers of the new software when buying one of the new machines? Are we stuck with a copy of the software that we can't use from already owning a copy from before?

I mean, I want to throw the word 'rebate' out there but I know that probably isn't happening so, it's just something to think about.

I personally think the day one Ren owners should be given 2.0 for free from all the issues we've had to deal with and time we've had to wait from the beginning for the software to get where it's at currently.

But the day one problems have been resolved for years. I've had a studio for over 2 years now and the software has been stable all that time.

You could arguably sell a broken Ren serial number. but we don't know yet if that would transfer the upgrade licence as well as the 1.x licence and then activate in offline mode. If the upgrade licence is transferable then it's fine.

so they shouldn't be paid for three years of hard work while still upgrading the present state of currant software?
So since i was one of the first customers in your restaurant... i should be able to come back after your remodel of the establishment with a new bad ass chief.
And get to eat free? only cause i was one of your first customers? And really, other then the crash phase.. what issues have you had? The machine {MPC} does all the older ones could and way more. right out the box. so in reality you got a bad ass piece of gear. with all kinds of "Expectected" free upgrades. don't get me wrong.. when it was crashing like crazy during like 1.3 or what ever version it was. i was frustrated. But i never have issues. And my waves mercury bundle has always worked. {just had to throw that in }

pk1 wrote:And my waves mercury bundle has always worked. {just had to throw that in }

Hahaha. My waves plugins do work...... so long as you scan them in 1.6 and then upgrade to the latest version.

That's just reminded me. Haven't heard anything about if that has been fixed yet.

pk1 wrote:so they shouldn't be paid for three years of hard work while still upgrading the present state of currant software?
So since i was one of the first customers in your restaurant... i should be able to come back after your remodel of the establishment with a new bad ass chief.
And get to eat free? only cause i was one of your first customers? And really, other then the crash phase.. what issues have you had? The machine {MPC} does all the older ones could and way more. right out the box. so in reality you got a bad ass piece of gear. with all kinds of "Expectected" free upgrades. don't get me wrong.. when it was crashing like crazy during like 1.3 or what ever version it was. i was frustrated. But i never have issues. And my waves mercury bundle has always worked. {just had to throw that in }

If I charged you $1000 a plate (each early Ren sold) and that food gave you food poisoning every time you ate it (using the software and it crashing) and then I remodeled my restaurant and brought in a new bad ass chef (MPC X/Live and software 2.0) - Yeah I would allow you a free meal (software 2.0) for your past troubles. Hey, to each their own.

What about the other situation I was talking about though? About buying the software and then long or soon after buying one of the new machines that come with the new software?

Yes 1.0 sucked. But ultimately if you bought a Ren and it didn't work properly due to software bugs you were entitled to return it for a full refund. That would have been the end of it. If you chose not to do that then you obviously decided to stick with it and hope that Akai were going to improve matters. They did. Far more than I expected.

Since 1.0, Akai have released a huge number of free updates to address bugs, plus they have added a ridiculous number of new features to the software. 1.9.6 is completely unrecognisable compared to 1.0. It's not perfect, but it's pretty decent and I think Akai have shown a dedication to the the MPC Software that most of us never predicted.

Akai have now spent a year completely reworking the software with some cracking new features and created two pretty awesome looking standalone hardware units to take full advantage of the features. Is it really a surprise that they want to give the new software free to those who are happy to upgrade their hardware, while those who want to stick with their 5 year old hardware can either freely stay on the software version it was effectively created for (1.x), or pay a small $99 upgrade fee to get all the new features.

It's only $99 - to me it seems odd that people will drop big bucks $1000+ on the Ren, stick with it even though they could have returned it, and then quibble on a $99 upgrade 5 years later that will completely transform their MPC.

Exactly how many freebies do early Ren owners expect to get from that one purchase 5 years ago?