can we get a working sampler before adding more bloat akai?

Ever since nu-kai the specs havent been like they used to vs current pc specs. 1000/2500 can out with 16mb ram in 2005 upgradable to 128mb big step down from the 4000, and went back to 16bit from 24. some cost cutting is accepatable to meet a price point but since then they have been cutting it very close on the build quality and specs are all parts from 2yrs prev to hardware release, this latest gen has been the worst, particulary feel for the people who forked out for the X as apart from extra buttons and knobs its still the budget tablet specs for the actual hardware. things like disk streaming should at least be possible on our current hardware and room for plenty more software optimisations but they arent getting any faster and has always felt like my live is struggling with the basic work load when the frame rate drops to half when using xy fx in controller mode particularly. keen for them to get this gen of mpc respectable as soon as possible, we need more regular updates and bug fixes and no more bloatware

Caustic Yoda wrote:Ever since nu-kai the specs havent been like they used to vs current pc specs. 1000/2500 can out with 16mb ram in 2005 upgradable to 128mb big step down from the 4000, and went back to 16bit from 24. some cost cutting is accepatable to meet a price point but since then they have been cutting it very close on the build quality and specs are all parts from 2yrs prev to hardware release, this latest gen has been the worst, particulary feel for the people who forked out for the X as apart from extra buttons and knobs its still the budget tablet specs for the actual hardware. things like disk streaming should at least be possible on our current hardware and room for plenty more software optimisations but they arent getting any faster and has always felt like my live is struggling with the basic work load when the frame rate drops to half when using xy fx in controller mode particularly. keen for them to get this gen of mpc respectable as soon as possible, we need more regular updates and bug fixes and no more bloatware

I’ve had these same thoughts. I would have paid $200 more for specs similar to today’s laptops.

Can’t compair laptops to samplers.
The first Akai samplers did have better specs than the computers around that time, but samplers where mad expensive compaired to the €/$1000 Lives today.
Also, the computers from the late 80’s were able to do only some simple basic tasks. The capabilities of an average pc/laptop have increased exponantially these last three decades. I email, record/ edit audio, webbrowse, do graphical design, edit movieclips, facetime and do all my administration with my 2014 MBP with 4GB of RAM.
A sampler basically still does what it did 30 years ago. And of course they add more and better editing options and tools, but nothing drastical to be in need of 16gigs of RAM on a MPC. The MPC’s limitation is not it’s poor specs, but it’s poor programming. People want the basic sampler features. Should be possible with these specs. Other people want this DAW in a box. Should also be possible witht these specs. And some people want this MPC generation to be ahead of it’s time like the MPC 60 was. Won’t happen. Not for this pricetag. Hence the fact Akai sold Akai professional after decreasing sales and the release of Roger Linn after the MPC3000 came out.

Menco wrote:Can’t compair laptops to samplers.
The first Akai samplers did have better specs than the computers around that time, but samplers where mad expensive compaired to the €/$1000 Lives today.
Also, the computers from the late 80’s were able to do only some simple basic tasks. The capabilities of an average pc/laptop have increased exponantially these last three decades. I email, record/ edit audio, webbrowse, do graphical design, edit movieclips, facetime and do all my administration with my 2014 MBP with 4GB of RAM.
A sampler basically still does what it did 30 years ago. And of course they add more and better editing options and tools, but nothing drastical to be in need of 16gigs of RAM on a MPC. The MPC’s limitation is not it’s poor specs, but it’s poor programming. People want the basic sampler features. Should be possible with these specs. Other people want this DAW in a box. Should also be possible witht these specs. And some people want this MPC generation to be ahead of it’s time like the MPC 60 was. Won’t happen. Not for this pricetag. Hence the fact Akai sold Akai professional after decreasing sales and the release of Roger Linn after the MPC3000 came out.

I agree, The new MPC's should at least do the same things that were possible on the older MPC's and the things that were advertised (Everything on the computer can be done on the MPC with the limitation of 8 audio tracks and the exeption of VST's)

I (and I guess I'm not alone on this one) would like to see Akai work on these things before adding new stuff. Once these things have been added and the bugs are terminated it wil be a good start point to go to 3.0 and add all the stuff they want.

Caustic Yoda wrote:I feel this update is just a distraction from akai, stalling on the actual fixes, yes its better than nothing but i think these forums are being way to nice, cmon they advertised "biggest update yet" there have been very few features added or fixed, i dont care for soft synths at the best of times and being built into a sampler is a waste of space i dont need, we want the real fixes and fixing things that were right in legacy mpcs should be top of the list and should have been right from the very start of the ren and studio releases. they should also be easiest things for the software team to fix. i will continue to call them out until these things are fixed and i think others should do so too.
While im here again i will mention the bug or problematic behavior of a selected track that is muted or volume down also mutes the pads on the sampler, this is problematic for live perfromances and never been a factor in prev mpcs

I sure agree with you on fundamental missing implementations, e.g. MIDI. My 'voice' has been very vocal about these things in the official forum and on Gearslutz, so no doubt on that.

I do however disagree with the stalling part. It is pretty apparent (if you are following the Gearslutz thread) that Akai is developing the MIDI implementation. Dan (of Akai) refers to these things as backend coding, which means you don't really see it, but it is part of the backbone of the software. It permeates everything, so to speak. This often means that it takes longer than other things to develop, to 'appear' to users.

In the mean-time they also have other things to put on our boxes, some of which I don't care about, but others do so that's cool. Now, fundamental things should always take precedence, but I have recently change my opinion into that I think they really are doing the fundamentals 'as we speak', so to speak.

It is a process that takes time, is all.

Yes it looks they are working on Live properly, Dan said on GS there will be an update every three months or so and they are working on audio disk streaming and midi multi but it will be not on next update.
I think we can trust them, it looks they are listening to customers suggestions.
On Next update they will fix clip programs and XY issues, Dan said this.

Yeah, Dan's recent announcement allows me to be very confident in the future of the Live & software. There's hop it may come to meet expectations I didn't have.

Bezo wrote:Yeah, Dan's recent announcement allows me to be very confident in the future of the Live & software. There's hop it may come to meet expectations I didn't have.

What are your expectations?

I asked about crossfade loop enhancements... it’s doesnt seem like it’s in cards. If any of you crossfade loopers want a wav zero crossing GUI, please submit a feature request.


Any word if there is going to be an additional window for crossfade loop? The non visual trial and error way implementation is pretty time consuming. When you finally get it right it does sound really good.

On the JJOS on the MPC 1000; when you loop part of a sample you can open up a GUI to dial in the ends.

I read on gearslutz that its “functional” therefore not on the list of things to worry about , however “fixing clip mode” is, which is kind of ridiculous because clip mode isnt necessarily broken. Why the things that are most useful are taking a backseat to the things most complained about is really disheartening. Kind of reminds me why i DONT think companies should always listen to their customer base: they should hire people who care about the product and actually use them, and trust that instinct to deliver the best version of that product that could be possible. This is a situation where they are delivering half-baked requests for things , and sitting back and saying “THERE YOU GO GUYS!” instead of using other established tools that are doing very similar things effectively as inspiration , and taking things to their most useable versions. The more I think about it , the more I really get frustrated with the MPC Live.

i really hope Akai find some inspiration soon, because ive now learned this machine inside out and im starting to see how much of this is being developed in the most convenient and easy way, rather than the one forged with exerpeince that has any kind of longevity.

I hope something like JJOS happens these boxes

Frisbi wrote:

Bezo wrote:Yeah, Dan's recent announcement allows me to be very confident in the future of the Live & software. There's hop it may come to meet expectations I didn't have.

What are your expectations?

Aside from multi-output plugin support and another small thing or 2, my expectations have already been met. Otherwise, I was happy with the Live as is.

What I didn't expect were plugins in stand alone mode, which I'm sure they will add to. Auto Sampler is probably not a surprise to many, but I wasn't thinking about it until it was added, and I appreciate it as an alternative/addition to plugins in stand alone mode. And to know they're planning quarterly updates going forward can only make it better. My general #1 hope is that the software is brought closer to DAW level.

Well I wish they put some effect plugins for standalone.
That would be perfect for me, since some effects are still weak, especially modulations.