First Impressions of MPC Live

Stand alone the MPC Live seems fine.

2.0 Software - can't get it to work on my main PC (just will not open and has the message can't open MPC software, windows looking for a solution), new install, Windows 10, tried it on my surface pro 4 and sort of works. VST plugin sort of works... but

Can't get the MPC Live to recognise my Surface Pro 4 or my main PC when putting it into controller mode - just sits there saying looking for computer.

So I'd say 40% sucessful, which I think is poor when you sort of want to plug and play. Looks like a few weeks of tech support to try and get things working correctly.

In controller mode did you try a different usb cable besides the blue one?

A lot of people suggest using a different cable.

Yes, tried a different cable, computer makes a sound in that it recognizes there is a connected device, MPC live just sits there saying looking for computer.

USB socket on the Surface Pro 4 is 3.0 so it's not that. Looks like another support call.

I think this is bad for Akai, sorry but they have released a half baked product, hardware maybe there but the software is not. For a new product you may get minor problems but most of the time they are fairly small and I do expect most of the time to plug and start using. At the moment I would recommend people to stay away from buying.

To be honest thinking of returning it...

I think I've been miss sold a product that currently does not work correctly. I would certainly warn anyone thinking of buying one to carefully think before parting with their money. Give it 6 months, a couple of firmware and software updates it perhaps is worth the original price of £799 certainly not £969.

CFM01 wrote:To be honest thinking of returning it...

I think I've been miss sold a product that currently does not work correctly. I would certainly warn anyone thinking of buying one to carefully think before parting with their money. Give it 6 months, a couple of firmware and software updates it perhaps is worth the original price of £799 certainly not £969.

That´s a wise decision!

CFM01 wrote:To be honest thinking of returning it...

I think I've been miss sold a product that currently does not work correctly. I would certainly warn anyone thinking of buying one to carefully think before parting with their money. Give it 6 months, a couple of firmware and software updates it perhaps is worth the original price of £799 certainly not £969.

Man I feel you, good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Truth is that Akai remains a shitty company, there's no denying that.

I wouldn't worry on the software side of things cause these issues gets fixed with a simple update..Hey and don't forget you've risked by buying it with a beta OS..No one forced you to do it and you were aware of..Anyway for me Live's strength is not in the software or else i'd be buying the Touch..I get your frustration though cause it's a new and expensive machine but in situations like these you must have a clear mind and first thing to do is contact AKAI for solutions..

Yorgos Arabatzis wrote:I wouldn't worry on the software side of things cause these issues gets fixed with a simple update..Hey and don't forget you've risked by buying it with a beta OS..No one forced you to do it and you were aware of..Anyway for me Live's strength is not in the software or else i'd be buying the Touch..I get your frustration though cause it's a new and expensive machine but in situations like these you must have a clear mind and first thing to do is contact AKAI for solutions..

The thing is that he cant update because the computer and the MPC don't recognize each other..

PC is very unpredictable. That's how it goes in the Audio game. Akai is not the only company who has major problems with it.

starmanwarz wrote:

CFM01 wrote:To be honest thinking of returning it...

I think I've been miss sold a product that currently does not work correctly. I would certainly warn anyone thinking of buying one to carefully think before parting with their money. Give it 6 months, a couple of firmware and software updates it perhaps is worth the original price of £799 certainly not £969.

Man I feel you, good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Truth is that Akai remains a **** company, there's no denying that.

I agree akai are shit company in general with respect to how they manage launches and addressing bugs and features, and are scumbags for raising the price just before release

However to they credit they have been listening and implementing the user requests; i get it they are slow and the communication is poor.

But at least they are responsive to user requests; but the way they go about fulfilling the requests in a manner that is not forthright, somewhat used car salesman like.

The units feels good maybe not as solid as the 1k but still solid build, this one feels more hollow than the 1K; but the user interface is alot more creative and inspirational and joyous to use then the 1k.

outputs sound great; the load time of the demos is typically about 5 seconds which is good, tbh the demos are good, but so where the demos on the electribe, however this live is more enjoyable to use and has more features.

the screen look and feel is awesome, better than my limited use of the touch, super responsive

the design just a big block they could of came with a better design with some softer slopes curves and angels, but i guess it was all to do with the practicality of fitting the components into the unit.

kinda pissed the bluetooth and wifi had the coming soon page I was looking forward to wirelessly connecting my device.

but I agree that this unit is overpriced at £969 ; I think its overpriced at £799 too.

I think this units true price is about £699 (for initial release) then it should settle to around £599 to £649 tops.

They (technology manufactures) artificially inflate the cost of all these electronic devices; think about it 2GB of RAM, 20GB hard drive, a CPU and a wireless card, with a flat screen and a pad controller.

there is no new technology here its all been around for donkeys years; they just combined it in a unit, same with the software, acid had real-time tempo matching of samples back when it was owned by sonic foundry in the early 2000's.

but despite the gripes this is the best device for me at this time; other devices have silly limitations and poor design choices that we should not have to put up with in this futuristic age we live in.

Yeah, in a way we are "forced" to buy this device since the others are so limited... I wish some day a respected company like Ableton or NI comes out with a proper standalone so I won't have to deal with Akai ever again.

CFM01 wrote:To be honest thinking of returning it...

I think I've been miss sold a product that currently does not work correctly. I would certainly warn anyone thinking of buying one to carefully think before parting with their money. Give it 6 months, a couple of firmware and software updates it perhaps is worth the original price of £799 certainly not £969.

hm, i totally understand ur frustration. luckily i don't have all this problems, except of my "optional ssd" self rejecting bug.. but i can live with that as long i can use usb sticks to save and load my files. anyways.. i'm really happy with my mpc so far, everything works great and fluid.. no hick ups, no lags, no crashes etc. personally i think its worth the money, for a standalone unit with all these functions, features and sounds and compared to a toriaz sp-16 for example ,which is more expensive have less functions, no built in battery etc., nope i think 799£ and even 999£ seems for me to be a fair price!
don't forget: we're early adopters and the mpc is a brand new product with a beta os.. so if u decide to buy something like this u. have to be aware of possible bugs etc and not blame others only because u don't wanted to wait.
but hey it's just my opinion, so pls no offense dudes!!

matt underwood wrote:don't forget: we're early adopters and the mpc is a brand new product with a beta os.. so if u decide to buy something like this u. have to be aware of possible bugs etc and not blame others only because u don't wanted to wait.

I agree as an early adopter you should be prepared to accept bugs and to (ironically) pay a higher price for the privilege. Not sure how many people are actually aware that they are buying a product that currently ships with an actual 'official' beta OS though, this is not stated on the MPC Live product page. If you don't read forums like this, how would you know this?

I think Akai would do themselves a lot of favours if they included a statement to point out that the OS is not only beta, but still missing some core features (and stop putting 'with bluetooth/wifi' stickers on the boxes until the Live actually supports them!).

MPC-Tutor wrote:

matt underwood wrote:don't forget: we're early adopters and the mpc is a brand new product with a beta os.. so if u decide to buy something like this u. have to be aware of possible bugs etc and not blame others only because u don't wanted to wait.

I agree as an early adopter you should be prepared to accept bugs and to (ironically) pay a higher price for the privilege. Not sure how many people are actually aware that they are buying a product that currently ships with an actual 'official' beta OS though, this is not stated on the MPC Live product page. If you don't read forums like this, how would you know this?

I think Akai would do themselves a lot of favours if they included a statement to point out that the OS is not only beta, but still missing some core features (and stop putting 'with bluetooth/wifi' stickers on the boxes until the Live actually supports them!).

true, I totally agree with everything what u're saying.