Advice on MPC standalone functionality / Linux compatibility

Hi everyone!

I'm a total beginner doing research on which MPC (or perhaps Maschine) to get for beatmaking.

I prefer to start learning as analog as possible instead of doing most or all of the work in software. Within my budget range I like the MPC Studio Black (and Maschine Mikro MK3/Maschine MK3). However, they all seem to be meant to work as hybrids. The problem is that I'm using a Linux machine and afaik neither Akai's nor NI's software works on Linux.
So my question is: Do I HAVE TO use the software that goes with these pieces of hardware in order to make everything work or can I use e.g. LMMS, connect the hardware and start jamming/learning and just leave out the bundled software?
If not, would other (more expensive) MPCs like the MPC live do the job as a real standalone rig?

I have been searching the web for hours, but couldn't find a clear answer to my question. I was thinking to buy used equipment on ebay for a start and maybe just try if I can make it work or not, but that seems a bit risky in case I end up with a useless combi of incompatible hardware/software.

Advice and explanations would be highly appreciated!

The MPC Studio black is a midi controller. Meaning it sends data to your computer whenever you hit a pad, move a slider or pres a button. So you can use any piece of software that acceps midi input. So to answer your question: NO! You don't have to use the akai software for this.

Best you read up on how to use a midi controller in LMMS. I found this: https://lmms.io/wiki/index.php?title=Using_MIDI

Ps. You don't HAVE to buy an mpc as a midi controller. There are LOADS of controllers out there (with pads and keys).

If you are looking to run the software on Linux, probably worth checking the compatibility pages on WINE, it may be possible but I have never tried.

Thanks for the input!

I got a hint to check out the SP-404 and it got me curious. So I'm gonna start with a 404 for now. Maybe in the future I'll get the chance to test an MPC with my Linux machine, or even go for a bigger standalone MPC.

NearTao wrote:If you are looking to run the software on Linux, probably worth checking the compatibility pages on WINE, it may be possible but I have never tried.

I checked, but it seems a bit hopeless, unfortunately.

If you're going 404, you might as well look at other MPC options as well. You can do a *ton* stand alone with One/Live/X, and never touch a PC.

You didn't imply it, but just to be clear... you're not going to get the kind of integration you were looking for with an SP-404 either... you'll be moving all the heavy lifting for midi/audio/card reading to your Linux box and external hardware. Pretty much what you'd be trying to do with the MPC in standalone mode.

Nothing wrong with the approach...

Haha this cracks me up. Asking a question on how the mpc integrates with linux and then go for a SP 404 which is a standalone machine.

Yes, I've been looking into other MPCs as well and I really like them, but concerning my budget the 404 is already much more than I was planning on.
Maybe I wasn't clear enough in my initial explanation. My aim was to find a standalone machine, so I don't have to use my computer too much. That is because 1) I'm curious about analog crafting and 2) I was afraid using Linux might get me into trouble at one point. So within my budget I found the MPC studio and Maschine (Mikro), but they come with their software. The 404 comes very close to my preferences for analog production and budget. Going for an MPC Live/One unfortunately too fancy at my stage.

I hope I made a good decision. Can't wait to get started

Even if you don't end up liking the SP-404 you can certainly flip it and make back most of your money. Spend some time with it, it's a quite solid device. Personally I bounced off of it because it didn't match my workflow, but I see plenty of folks who jam out with an SP-404 that can certainly make some interesting music out of it.

Most importantly, have fun!

Exactly! I have to see whether I'll get used to it, but I'm sure it's gonna be fun.