Early buyers are cool as they will break the machines in and list up all the bugs and compliants to the company and they already have tons of gear and experience using music gear technology. However, I fortell that this time next yr the 500 will be 70 to 50 percent less in price (with updated o.s. and a couple of new features added) used.
You ask why???
Mark my words the main reason will be because alot of first time buyers without mpc experience will buy it, try it, give up cuz of lack of some fruity/reason/live features, and generally lack of understanding how to use it. They will complain about some bugs or (hide their ignorance blaming the machine) and pick up the next roland, korg, software, or uber gear that comes out in 2007 mind you.
Sure a mpc head will do some wonders with it but the experienced now know that they could wait for the inexperienced users to sell or give away cheaply just like a diamond for a cookie.
Basically it will be like taking candy from a baby within a yr for very cheap after the storm and frenzy has passed. MPC 500 will be a great second hand buy within a yr. First time buyers learn the gear before jumping to something else ha, ha, Early buyers thanks for feedback and keeping the company going. I never want the company to stop producing mpcs. Keep them in business for us.
Anyway I think for Akai the price is alright, as for experienced users yeah we know more about capabilities compared with other mpcs and pricing and we would compare, moan, and complian about the prices.
But for the first-time mpc buyer that has never used an mpc that will be the price that is exciting and it`s portable. For the experienced heads just a little patience since you already have a mpc, you can get them cheaper from the first-timers.
Remember the mpc 500 isn`t aim for us per se as the early adopters according to the marketing plans.