So... it's 1.5 already. are you happy with ren?

In my real life, Ren crashes everyday, still buggy, loses connection with my macbook often...
(yes, i have decent setup with nice working computers.)

now, im really scared working on my mpc ren.
i blew up few projects and did not make the deadline because ren had problems.

i tried to stick up with it because the price i payed.

i have used various software/hardwares but this mpc ren really ranks the worst experience ever since my mackie blackjack audio interface.

i can say its almost impossible to work 6 hours with no crash with ren.

being mpc fan for 10yrs, im so sad.

ren, is nearly impossible to make music on without worrying being crashed.

i know other software has problem and is buggy at early release.
but no, not like mpc ren.

i wish akai is more responsible for their products.

i wonder if anybody feel hopeless of their mpc ren like me...

I understand where you're coming from. I've had the Ren since 1.0 and it has improved but still has a lot of missing features and bugs. You learn to work around them or avoid things completely that cause problems.

My Ren has been sitting on a shelf gathering dust for a few months now. You can't get anywhere near what you paid for it if you try and sell it second hand. So I sit and wait, using Cubase with ableton push in the mean time.

Going back over some of the music I made with the Ren I feel like it taught me some things about less is more and I wouldn't trade what I've learned for that money back. I can honestly say that it's heading in the right direction but has a ways to go. If it's driving you nuts, shelve it, keep checking back for updates and hopefully it will turn into an amazing piece of kit some day.

Some things that I did to minimize crashing was to sample and remove vst instruments as often as possible. Also make sure you always save right before adding or removing a vst instrument or effect every time. Most crashing occurs when adding or removing vst or au plugins... Good luck.

Yeah most of the crashing for me with any other daw has been vst plugins...

I haven't really put the ren to test by actually making beats with it.. (only creating live sets with loads of pgms.)

But it has never crashed for me as a plugin instead of standalone....

I was hoping the new MPC software instrument would be on a path to allow me to do what my 5000 doesn't - integrate the instrument with my DAW. The limitations / challenges with doing so, don't make it worth it IMO. Hence, I haven't touched the Studio controller in a few months, and probably won't until / unless they get the plugin integration improved, or my hardware MPC ceases to function. But at that point I'll also start looking at Maschine too.

For right now, the only thing I use the software for, is loading my 5000 songs, and exporting the tracks to my DAW for mixing and maybe adding a few more instruments here and there.

I'm looking forward to 1.6 for possible improved plugin integration - primarily more virtual tracks. If it's not in 1.6, I'll continue using the software as a transfer mechanism, but that's about it. From a transfer perspective, it has more than paid for itself in terms of saving tracking time, so can't really complain. But from a composition perspective, not so much.

Still say though - glad others are able to use it.

Yeah i definitely feel your pain.. This 1.6 needs to be big because i took a huge step back in work flow purchasing this and I'm hoping they get it right. Making beats isn't a hobby for me... It's my job.. So its kinda crucial... I've been using logic X and Battery 4 in the mean time because it seems to flow a little better as far as drum programing and having all the intricate stretching features that logic has. I enjoy the MP work flow but it hasn't really seamless into my setup so I've definitely been shelving it until they fix a few things.

I barely receive any crashes at all really my ren runs stable for what I do

Clippyclipp wrote:I barely receive any crashes at all really my ren runs stable for what I do

+1

peace

Clippyclipp wrote:I barely receive any crashes at all really my ren runs stable for what I do

Same here. I have not even had one crash on my Macbok Pro since 1.5 ....

I've got it pretty stable on by Surface Pro 2 now, in spite of having to plug into a USB 3.0 slot. Turning off WIFI and Bluetooth, clean reboot, and it is pretty stable. But, I also use a limited number of VSTi's and VST's. I have 5 synths I use, and about 5 or so effects outside of the ones that came with All hosts have trouble with certain VSTi's. For example, I finally gave us on Tera. It crashes every host I have ever tried......

The main things that causes crashes for me are as follows:

Loading a ton of samples (not always but 10-20% of the time)

Trying to use a qlink for both fx and prog

Various vsts when loading (not always but I have a handful that can put it over the edge...this is more to do with some dodgy vsts which need updating more than the Ren)

Otherwise it's fine. If I'm doing any of the above I am sure to save before hand

Nubian Mindz wrote:....If I'm doing any of the above I am sure to save before hand.

This is the trick right here... Keep track of what causes it to crash and get into the habit of saving before you perform those operations.

The bottom line is no. I'm not happy. The crashes are the biggest work flow killer for me. I put my Ren back in the box, ablnd shoved it in a closet. I went back to my 4k.

Very happy with my Ren, there are things I wish Akai would look into like a better,streamlined browser for tagging, adding .fxb support, would be a plus,but within a year Akai has put alot of hard work into the Ren.

I think they can now build upon this OS by subtracting old features like drop down windows, and go for drag n drop,and storage of vsts alike samples within the browser and focus more now on workflow options, this is where Akai can start having some fun.

They've laid down alot of the hard work now, so perhaps now they can start hitting the user requests more, I know audio tracks have been requested, and I think it's a smart move.

Akai definitely had alot of work and still does, but I think it's attainable now, more then I once did.

Clippyclipp wrote:I barely receive any crashes at all really my ren runs stable for what I do

as well, I use very few plugins, and mostly just chop samples n lay down beats. I never thought the mpc ren would replace my daw,and it hasn't , but I knew this before I ever bought it. I think if I relied heavily on the ren, maybe I would have went thru more problems, but my plugs I use are stable, and updated, so guess I'm lucky.

Clippyclipp wrote:I barely receive any crashes at all really my ren runs stable for what I do

Yup. Lay down drums, chop samples and lay that down as well. From there I take it to Logic as quickly as possible for adding vst's. Or I use the studio to load in MPC2500 projects for postproduction/ adding vst's.

ren has been running well for me!!