When will a 'pro review' of this unit be available?

I was just wondering when the tried and trusted reviews of this MPC will be hitting the shelves (cyber or otherwise)? There seems to be a lot of inflamed opinion of this machine before it even drops that makes it tough to come to an informed decision as to whether it is worth buying. I wouldn't buy a car on specs alone, so the same can be said about buying new studio kit! Unless Akai wants to loan me the 5K for a few months so I can put it through its paces?! Yeah, thought not...

I think a few of the magazines might have gotten their review units by now, but i may be completely wrong. If i'm right about the 5000 coming out at the end of May, then maybe mid june is when we'll see some reviews.

Sounds about right.

I was initially disappointed about it only being 16bit, but I think the 24bit mixdown feature redeems itself slightly. I still think Akai dropped a bollock with that one though! For multi-samples and the more pro sound design tasks I will still use Kontakt, but what I really want to know is, does this box inspire creativity? Does it aid the workflow and make producing tunes a more pleasurable experience, or does the OS get in the way and become a pain in the arse?! That's a pretty subjective line of questioning I know, but any prospective buyer needs to know how good this thing is.

I recently sold an Alesis Andromeda that I bought new 5 years ago because the OS was pants. The sound it produced was great, but I never fully enjoyed using it.

Are you gonna buy it?

I told myself last year that I'd wait till June 2008 and buy a MPC4000. Not sure what I wanna do now.

I'm definitely intrigued by it, but not too sure if i'd get it or not. I'll probably wait to read the reviews and check out some decent vids on youtube, cause lets face it, at the moment there's about 20 youtube clips with the same guy from Akai promoting it and the tunes he's playing are rubbish! As a sidenote I saw a guy on one vid jamming with an MV8800 and he was rocking that thing in a big way. If i'm in the market for an MPC type tool then I should check that out too. What puts me off a little bit is that it ONLY gets marketed as a Hip Hop and RnB tool, and that's not really what i'm into. I'm sure it is a solid machine but I would choose Akai over Roland simply because I know the OS better.


If I were you LD i'd hang back on the 4K just to see how the dust settles with this new one. During the first few years of the 4K coming out I would always read nightmare tales from users about a total lack of support from Akai, amongst other things that were either wrong or not implemented. That was enough to completely put me off to be honest. That and the fact that I don't need anything as complex as the 4K. I'm sure it is a cracking machine but it's too much for what I need.

For now I will keep my money in my pocket (or bank balance in the black!), but I can see me making a big purchase this year...

Based on the info the beta tester 'scd' (Boele) gave on this site, I do feel quite confident about the 5k and I've placed my order. Plus...I think the 5k is really a beefed-up 2500 and I highly doubt that Numark-Akai can screw this one up~! I was gonna opt for the 2500 but just felt slutty adventurous, so...

Having said that, I'll keep my fingers crossed until I get mine...

I was also debating whther or not I should choose the MV8800, since it's been out for a while and the customer support and available info on the web is good enough for me. But still...I felt the specs on the MV8800 aren't quite right (two MIDI outs and NO stock digital-out) and the OS is yet another Roland fuzzy product. So even though I was really attracted by it, I had to say no...

I too liked what Boele had to say about the 5K, and if I remember correctly his only beef was that it was 16bit, although he did say those 16bits sounded better than the 24bits in the 4K! He also seemed to prefer using it to the 4k which is a good endorsement.

I have a friend who has the 2500 and he is constantly waxing lyrical about how great it is, but for me it wasn't enough of a step up from the 2Kxl to warrant getting it. The timing resolution of the new MPC alone makes it very tempting for me. Plus the effects sound way more useable than previous machines.

For the past 4 years i've been in the MPC users graveyard, but Akai are getting all 'George A. Romero' on my arse and I could be coming back from the dead!

That last comment was pure Stilton but i'm sticking by it!