By B-Wise
Wed Jan 14, 2026 1:47 am
Certified Beatz wrote:I flipflop all the time
That can be an important part of growth
That can be an important part of growth
That can be an important part of growth
That can be an important part of growth
By Certified Beatz
Wed Jan 14, 2026 2:02 am
B-Wise wrote:Certified Beatz wrote:I flipflop all the time
That can be an important part of growth
no pre-ordering tho I will definitely hold out.. im sure there going to me a ton of MPCe expansions and instruments coming but im going to wait..
By B-Wise
Wed Jan 14, 2026 3:54 am
Certified Beatz wrote::-D
That's makes sense. It's not this new MPC will make anyone beats way better. I still think it's crazy that Akai is about to be 2 model deep into gen2 & the PC software is still in beta.
I know there's gonna be something about this at NAMM.
I wonder if now that MPC & Force have pretty much the same main features & are both now on the same firmware 3.6, will they allow the Force to use the PC software in controller mode & if this has something to do with the delay.
By EnochLight
Wed Jan 14, 2026 4:42 am
Force is always caught up to MPC, sort of like in the slow kid kinda’ way. It’ll get there. Just with lesser hardware.
By B-Wise
Wed Jan 14, 2026 5:21 am
Certified Beatz wrote: im sure there going to me a ton of MPCe expansions
I meant to ask about MPCe.
With Live3 I thought there would be more interested in this new major feature. Is there anyone around known to for using the MPCe pads to make some new type of music?
I'll look it up later but, if anyone has a link/name, that would be gold!
So far, I see the step-buttons getting most of the attention & people either being confused by the matrix or loving clips.
By THXjay
Wed Jan 14, 2026 12:12 pm
I wouldn't be surprised if Akai/Air didn't announce some moog instruments to take advantage of the new pads at NAMM.
By EnochLight
Wed Jan 14, 2026 2:24 pm
B-Wise wrote:Is there anyone around known to for using the MPCe pads to make some new type of music?
The Live 3 has barely been on the market for a little over 3 months, and stock availability has been all over the board, so I'm not surprised no one is really taking advantage of the new MPCe pads in a unique way just yet. But if you find someone who has posted content that most of us was consider unique, absolutely share!
By 40Beatz
Wed Jan 14, 2026 2:25 pm
Circle Jerk 
I think like a MPC. A program is a tool. If the sculpture don't look right, Don't blame the chisel..
MPC5000, MPC4000, MPC3000, MPC 2500, MPC 2000XL MPC X/LIVE 2/3/ONE
MPC5000, MPC4000, MPC3000, MPC 2500, MPC 2000XL MPC X/LIVE 2/3/ONE
By NearTao
Wed Jan 14, 2026 3:00 pm
EnochLight wrote:B-Wise wrote:Is there anyone around known to for using the MPCe pads to make some new type of music?
The Live 3 has barely been on the market for a little over 3 months, and stock availability has been all over the board, so I'm not surprised no one is really taking advantage of the new MPCe pads in a unique way just yet. But if you find someone who has posted content that most of us was consider unique, absolutely share!
I've done a few videos showing off MPCe...
To me it's not going to help somebody make a *new* type of music, but it *does* allow you to more quickly and easily be more expressive once it is setup. You can assign a lot of different parameters to the X and Y access, taking into consideration both absolute values and difference values, and then adjust how deep the modulation is for things like pitch, filter cutoff, resonance, bit reduction... the list goes on and on...
So from a purely mechanical explanation, no it's not giving you much of anything that you *couldn't* without MPCe, since you can still go in and automate those parameters manually... but it gives you the freedom to take what might normally be 3 to 4 degrees of expression... note on, note off, velocity, aftertouch... and adds in spacial context to the pads x/y values. Yes, this *is* an exercise to get all of this setup, and it takes some practice to know what you do/don't like, and it *is* very menu "divey" to get going...
All that said, I do have to say, it allows you to get *more* out of a very traditional 16 pad drum kit, and the articulations for x/y can vary from as intense to as subtle as you'd like, and can really help breath some more life into what might otherwise become very stagnant samples that you're going to hear on repeat... which is why a lot of people will drop FX like Flavor Pro or something else that can be pretty subtle for adding in wow/flutter or other effects to help vary a sample over time... except now... you can much more easily (once setup) vary a bit more of those samples through your performance in realtime.
Hope that helps...
By EnochLight
Wed Jan 14, 2026 3:46 pm
NearTao wrote:I've done a few videos showing off MPCe...
To me it's not going to help somebody make a *new* type of music, but it *does* allow you to more quickly and easily be more expressive once it is setup. You can assign a lot of different parameters to the X and Y access, taking into consideration both absolute values and difference values, and then adjust how deep the modulation is for things like pitch, filter cutoff, resonance, bit reduction... the list goes on and on...
So from a purely mechanical explanation, no it's not giving you much of anything that you *couldn't* without MPCe, since you can still go in and automate those parameters manually... but it gives you the freedom to take what might normally be 3 to 4 degrees of expression... note on, note off, velocity, aftertouch... and adds in spacial context to the pads x/y values. Yes, this *is* an exercise to get all of this setup, and it takes some practice to know what you do/don't like, and it *is* very menu "divey" to get going...
All that said, I do have to say, it allows you to get *more* out of a very traditional 16 pad drum kit, and the articulations for x/y can vary from as intense to as subtle as you'd like, and can really help breath some more life into what might otherwise become very stagnant samples that you're going to hear on repeat... which is why a lot of people will drop FX like Flavor Pro or something else that can be pretty subtle for adding in wow/flutter or other effects to help vary a sample over time... except now... you can much more easily (once setup) vary a bit more of those samples through your performance in realtime.
Hope that helps...
Oh totally - you don't have to convince me. After having the Live 3, I find it almost painful to go back to the old pads - they seem so much less capable now that MPCe is here. I sold my Live 2 pretty quick. I do feel that the MPCe pads are really a patient sound designer's playground. Indeed the setup can be a PITA (I'd wager AKAI will address that at some point).
By Certified Beatz
Wed Jan 14, 2026 4:35 pm
EnochLight wrote:NearTao wrote:I've done a few videos showing off MPCe...
To me it's not going to help somebody make a *new* type of music, but it *does* allow you to more quickly and easily be more expressive once it is setup. You can assign a lot of different parameters to the X and Y access, taking into consideration both absolute values and difference values, and then adjust how deep the modulation is for things like pitch, filter cutoff, resonance, bit reduction... the list goes on and on...
So from a purely mechanical explanation, no it's not giving you much of anything that you *couldn't* without MPCe, since you can still go in and automate those parameters manually... but it gives you the freedom to take what might normally be 3 to 4 degrees of expression... note on, note off, velocity, aftertouch... and adds in spacial context to the pads x/y values. Yes, this *is* an exercise to get all of this setup, and it takes some practice to know what you do/don't like, and it *is* very menu "divey" to get going...
All that said, I do have to say, it allows you to get *more* out of a very traditional 16 pad drum kit, and the articulations for x/y can vary from as intense to as subtle as you'd like, and can really help breath some more life into what might otherwise become very stagnant samples that you're going to hear on repeat... which is why a lot of people will drop FX like Flavor Pro or something else that can be pretty subtle for adding in wow/flutter or other effects to help vary a sample over time... except now... you can much more easily (once setup) vary a bit more of those samples through your performance in realtime.
Hope that helps...
Oh totally - you don't have to convince me. After having the Live 3, I find it almost painful to go back to the old pads - they seem so much less capable now that MPCe is here. I sold my Live 2 pretty quick. I do feel that the MPCe pads are really a patient sound designer's playground. Indeed the setup can be a PITA (I'd wager AKAI will address that at some point).
Ok stop rubbing in the live 3 purchase
some of use hated the layout.. and now are contemplating purchasing seeing i have 8 knobs in the way of the touch screen on the XL.. let alone 16 of them to kill my wrist after 4 hours of dialing in
By NearTao
Wed Jan 14, 2026 5:23 pm
Honestly, not trying to rub anything in... but I get you. I still argue that the Live 3 *isn't* necessary for most people in the MPC space... the Live 2 and it's brethren are all still highly competent, and the fact that the floor has fallen out from under the older product line just further makes them more value for the money.
The new USB-C interface in *my* mind is *the* killer feature, and makes the MPC (for me) clearly above the SP404 mk2 from a straight up integration standpoint. CPU/Ram upgrades will be more use case related for folks, but the fact of the matter is that while it is *nice to have*, it's absolutely not necessary to make better music or anything... for me the biggest thing I've noticed frankly is the faster loading times... which is nice, but we're so far beyond S950/MPC60 load/processing times in most cases that it's a moot point. I put the MPCe in the take it or leave it space. It's nice, and it will reward you if you put the time in to learn it... but they honestly need to extend the x/y ability of the MPCe pads into key groups at a minimum, and all the plugins/effects where it makes sense (or allow for macro programming or the like where possible).
I'm still getting my head around all the new button placements and shortcuts... it's a lot to take in for sure. I *would* have liked to have seen a display update for a better touchscreen experience... but we got what we got.
Anyways... if you *don't* need the Live 3... it's probably at least waiting for what drops next in the space... as Akai obviously has a product release strategy... and who knows, we might see people flipping Live 3s soon, so you could get a 3-4 month old one on discount.
The new USB-C interface in *my* mind is *the* killer feature, and makes the MPC (for me) clearly above the SP404 mk2 from a straight up integration standpoint. CPU/Ram upgrades will be more use case related for folks, but the fact of the matter is that while it is *nice to have*, it's absolutely not necessary to make better music or anything... for me the biggest thing I've noticed frankly is the faster loading times... which is nice, but we're so far beyond S950/MPC60 load/processing times in most cases that it's a moot point. I put the MPCe in the take it or leave it space. It's nice, and it will reward you if you put the time in to learn it... but they honestly need to extend the x/y ability of the MPCe pads into key groups at a minimum, and all the plugins/effects where it makes sense (or allow for macro programming or the like where possible).
I'm still getting my head around all the new button placements and shortcuts... it's a lot to take in for sure. I *would* have liked to have seen a display update for a better touchscreen experience... but we got what we got.
Anyways... if you *don't* need the Live 3... it's probably at least waiting for what drops next in the space... as Akai obviously has a product release strategy... and who knows, we might see people flipping Live 3s soon, so you could get a 3-4 month old one on discount.
By zangetsu01
Wed Jan 14, 2026 5:51 pm
NearTao wrote:Anyways... if you *don't* need the Live 3... it's probably at least waiting for what drops next in the space... as Akai obviously has a product release strategy... and who knows
Bro you've said that as if you've got an NDA choking you and prohibiting you from saying that the MPC XL is right around the corner.
(just joking)
