MPC Studio Black with the latest MPC software, pros/cons

Hey everyone, I'm looking for some feedback on using the MPC Studio Black with the current software.

Is it still good, what features are hard to reach from the controller?
Are you switching back and forth between the computer and the controller a lot?
Can you make a full beat just on the controller?

This sounded really convincing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBvU_MR-4kI

I've been rocking the 3000LE for ages, I love the layout and everything about it, but recently been collaborating with friends on their MPC Live so I wanted to get up to speed on the new software.

I can pretty much do everything I need on the MPC Beats and was thinking to just buy an MPC Studio Black for 100-150 bucks which I think comes with the latest software included, has pretty much the 3k layout, comes with Mac M1 drivers and it sounds like a great option to have without breaking the bank.

Are there any gotchas, I looked at the newer MPC Studio as well, found one for 90 bucks, but I'm just not convinced about the layout in general.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

You can‘t buy that version of MPC Studio with latest software included (M1 drivers etc) because it‘s out of production.
You can only try to make a 2nd hand (or new old stock unit) run with latest software, possibly using (Apple’s) Rosetta mode because it‘s unlikely Akai updates software for a product they don‘t sell anymore.
I assume it’s a significant amount of work to make the old code M1 native.

In the video he refers to MPC software 2.9 and it looks like control and the display driven interface just works, which is nice and definitely a solid value.
But it‘s not clear which MacBook he uses.

I have a silver Studio myself, acquired as a bargain (just like your idea) and run Essentials 1.2 on an old MacMini under 10.6. because I have no need for plugins/audio tracks with 2 fairly expanded DAWs next to the Studio.
Iirc in Beats the Studio control surface was not active at all, just pads and dials.

Imho it‘s not a big drawback if the Studio control code is executed via Rosetta.
Plugins may still run in native M1 performance, but I couldn‘t verify because the silver Studio doesn‘t do M1 at all.
I had almost identical performance when comparing the Mini M1 to a 3Ghz Intel i5.
(using Rosetta/WINE on the Mini with some native Win software)

rmri wrote:Hey everyone, I'm looking for some feedback on using the MPC Studio Black with the current software.

Is it still good, what features are hard to reach from the controller?
Are you switching back and forth between the computer and the controller a lot?
Can you make a full beat just on the controller?

Q-Links and main dial are way better than on the silver Studio, just as stated
I only needed the computer screen to enter file names and in fact I had the software even running in background mode most of the time because my old MacMini isn‘t the most blazing kind of machine...
There were hickups by screen refresh when the sequencer display was on.
(this kind of „power dependency“ seems to apply to all platforms, I‘ve run it on a Dell i3 tablet and iMPC Pro 2 on an iPad Air One, all clearly under-powered, all kind of glitchy)

So yes, while you could do essentially a production without computer screen, there are certain actions that simply are faster with screen display, f.e. file operations etc.
But you can decide for yourself, it‘s not limited by default.

ps: I didn‘t use the Studio for too long, got a fully expanded MPC 4k soon after I liked the MPC kind of way

Don‘t. Studio Black relies on driver residue. You‘ll grow out of it faster than you think.

83dude wrote:Don‘t. Studio Black relies on driver residue. You‘ll grow out of it faster than you think.

Can you elaborate?
I think the Black one is confirmed to work on M1 with Rosetta. Or did you mean something else?

Yep, it still works, but rather more by accident. I think it‘s just a matter of time until support for Rosetta is dropped. Even if that doesn’t happen, you‘ll never know what the next macOS brings to the table.

I miss my Studio silver controller, since that‘s not supported anymore. And the same will happen to the Studio black as well. It is just a matter of time.

Thw=e software continues to grow more and more screen driven so using it on something without a touchscreen is not going to do anything but continue to get worst.
Even the "X" with it's abundance of buttons and layout is dependent on the touchscreen.

A used LIVE is so cheap now why would you not get that instead of considering one of the old non touchscreen units?
You would be better off using the software with a mouse than trying to using it without a touchscreen.

Many thanks for the replies, very good points raised.

Call me crazy, but I still like the Studio way better than any of the new MPCs with the touchscreen.
I think I'm ready to accept my faith and possibly rethink this decision in the following years, but one thing is for sure, it won't be the fault of the nice folks here