Bug reports & end-user support for Akai's MPC Software 'controllers' including the new MPC Studio 2, the MPC Touch, MPC Renaissance & original MPC Studio and MPC StudioB lack.
By Deepmojoman Sat Sep 04, 2021 5:39 pm
For all who might wonder about this issue themselves, I found the solution: you will need to go into MPC 2.x, and go into:

Menu/Help/Set up Guides/MMC Control

Then follow the installation instructions for MMC Control. It will install new, discoverable MIDI ports into your system, named Akai Pro Internal MIDI, into your system. Apparently what this extension is intended for is to allow you-when using MPC 2.x as a plugin-to control the transport of your DAW via the hardware transport on your Touch.

I'm not particularly interested in using it as a plugin: when doing so, you have to deal with whatever latency that comes with your DAW, and: you can only record MIDI with the plugin, relegating the plugin to the position of basically being a Sample Player (like HALion Sonic, or Komplete) .

I want to use the Touch as another option for recording actual audio (like from a track from Cubase), take that sample and mangle it however I choose, and then shoot it back into Cubase. The only way you can do that is to use the MPC 2.x software in Standalone (preferably while running the Akai Pro MPC Touch ASIO), and that way you essentially now have an independent Sampler sitting on your desk, with the main difference between it and, say, an MPC One, being the fact that the One is storing its Programs, and loading samples onto its removable SD Card, whereas the Touch is simply replacing the SD Card with your computer's HD. Functionally, the Touch and the One act exactly the same.

MMC Control-and the new discoverable MIDI ports it installs-gives your DAW the means to communicate with MPC Software/your Touch-all actuated by your DAW's transport and synced to your DAW via MIDI Clock. Without it, all the transport and MIDI Clock info coming from your DAW never even reach your Software/Touch.

You (unfortunately) do not get MMC Control capabilities for your Touch while in Standalone (this fact is immediately blared out to the world-literally at the top of the first page of the aforementioned MMC Set up Guide-) and that's a bit of a bummer, but for me a small one. What's awesome is knowing that for half the price of a One, I now have it's functional equivalent on my desktop. When I want the full One, I can get it later, but the Touch gives me a really well-working solution for the interim.

Hope that helps anyone out there.