MPK Road 88

The MPK Road 88 Includes VIP3.0 - music software platform, AIR Music Tech DB-33, AIR Music Tech Velvet plus
AIR Music Tech Mini Grand for Road 88.

US Price: 899 US.

zangetsu01 wrote:I understand that there will always be people that would welcome such a device. But I think it will even sell less than the X.

Yes I agree with you. And the low sales probability is probably why they haven’t (and won’t) do it. I think though, they’d have a major play for all of the people that loved the ASR form factor. And like the MPK line, throw 16 pads on it to still cater to the MPC purists. I mostly lean toward your thinking, but I lean a little bit toward “if they do it right, they could capture a nice slice of the market” (that’s probably more wishful thinking on my part though lol).

Eyalc wrote:

zangetsu01 wrote:I understand that there will always be people that would welcome such a device. But I think it will even sell less than the X.

Yes I agree with you. And the low sales probability is probably why they haven’t (and won’t) do it. I think though, they’d have a major play for all of the people that loved the ASR form factor. And like the MPK line, throw 16 pads on it to still cater to the MPC purists. I mostly lean toward your thinking, but I lean a little bit toward “if they do it right, they could capture a nice slice of the market” (that’s probably more wishful thinking on my part though lol).

Would combining the MPK Road 88 and MPC Live , give you the same functionality? But in more of an modulator, ASR form factor?

CharlesRandolph wrote:Would combining the MPK Road 88 and MPC Live , give you the same functionality? But in more of an modulator, ASR form factor?

I think so definitely. That’s the other reason I think they wouldn’t do it. We could achieve the same thing using their modular pieces. I have an MPK88 and I use it as a controller for Logic and MPC.

Eyalc wrote:

CharlesRandolph wrote:Would combining the MPK Road 88 and MPC Live , give you the same functionality? But in more of an modulator, ASR form factor?

I think so definitely. That’s the other reason I think they wouldn’t do it. We could achieve the same thing using their modular pieces. I have an MPK88 and I use it as a controller for Logic and MPC.

How integrated is your setup with the MPK88? Do you use all the knobs and sliders? Would the MPK Road 88 serve the same purpose?

CharlesRandolph wrote:
How integrated is your setup with the MPK88? Do you use all the knobs and sliders? Would the MPK Road 88 serve the same purpose?

When I bought it I thought I would use them a lot more than I do. But not so much anymore. At first I used the pads a lot more, but now for the things that require pads, I just do in the MPC to start with, and export the stems to Logic and continue from there. At first when I bought it, I would try (on purpose) to use the knobs and sliders to control things in Logic, but I found that it wasn't intuitive. At that time is when started thinking... they need to put an MPC inside this keyboard, and then all of the knobs, sliders and pads would be SO much more useful.

So short answer, how integrated is it? Not as much anymore. I use the keys to play now, and that's about it. It's in great shape though, and I love the feel. If it breaks down on me, I wouldn't get the Road 88 though - I would probably switch brands to be honest. Go with less cost. I've proven to myself that knobs and sliders on a controller aren't really worth it for me. If it had a brain in it like the MPC brain, sure, but just to control other things, give me a foot pedal and a mod wheel and I'm good.

Eyalc wrote:

CharlesRandolph wrote:
How integrated is your setup with the MPK88? Do you use all the knobs and sliders? Would the MPK Road 88 serve the same purpose?

When I bought it I thought I would use them a lot more than I do. But not so much anymore. At first I used the pads a lot more, but now for the things that require pads, I just do in the MPC to start with, and export the stems to Logic and continue from there. At first when I bought it, I would try (on purpose) to use the knobs and sliders to control things in Logic, but I found that it wasn't intuitive. At that time is when started thinking... they need to put an MPC inside this keyboard, and then all of the knobs, sliders and pads would be SO much more useful.

So short answer, how integrated is it? Not as much anymore. I use the keys to play now, and that's about it. It's in great shape though, and I love the feel. If it breaks down on me, I wouldn't get the Road 88 though - I would probably switch brands to be honest. Go with less cost. I've proven to myself that knobs and sliders on a controller aren't really worth it for me. If it had a brain in it like the MPC brain, sure, but just to control other things, give me a foot pedal and a mod wheel and I'm good.

The mapping of the knobs and sliders is a royal pain. Never understood why many companies do not setup a pre-map template, that could be edited. STrange thing is Akai don't even template their own gear, to talk to each other.

CharlesRandolph wrote:The mapping of the knobs and sliders is a royal pain. Never understood why many companies do not setup a pre-map template, that could be edited. STrange thing is Akai don't even template their own gear, to talk to each other.

No doubt. The PITA factor is what led me away. And yeah, Akai is just so disconnected from product to product. It's

Eyalc wrote:No doubt. The PITA factor is what led me away. And yeah, Akai is just so disconnected from product to product. It's

They are trying to functions like a small indie company, but they are missing the hyper focus dedications to the gear and their end users.

I don’t think that all products are aimed at us MPC headz..

zangetsu01 wrote:I don’t think that all products are aimed at us MPC headz..

MPC is Akai Pro's flagship piece, it's tough to shake that. Kind of like Mickey Mouse and Disney.

I guess all I'm saying is... It would be nice to see a performance workstation / controller to compete with Roland / Yamaha. Based on the MPC brain. But I suppose one could argue what did earlier - does the world actually need ANOTHER performance workstation / controller? i think one like that from Akai could be unique enough to garner some attention and sales. But anyway, I've said the same thing enough times. Can't promise I won't say it again. lol

So for now, I'll sit in from of my MPCs and MPK88, shut up, and finish this next album. Coming April 2019 btw... shameless self-promotion.

Lampdog wrote:If that workstation/keyboard happened they'd need to as a STARTING point equal, mpc 4k/z8 features and go from there.

That would be great starting point.

This I might like. Depending on the action. $899 is a very fair price too for something like this. You can't fault me for MPC comments because I really only play keys. I use an MPC like 10% of the time and just prefer the 4000.