MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

Support and discussion for all of Akai’s modern standalone MPCs including the MPC X / X SE, MPC Live 1, 2 & 3, MPC One / One+, MPC Key 37/61.
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Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By 8ty8 Sun Apr 23, 2023 7:24 am
B-Wise wrote:Compared to the Force even a loosey-goosey tilt screen would be a blessing. Once you find a good way to position it, it's cool, but at the same time, not cool. Akai why you do us like that?


Can you elaborate on this a bit, please?

The Force's screen is completely flat... Are you saying you would like a screen akin to the old MPCs where you could tilt and reposition freely (without a kickstand) -- or would you prefer the screen of the X to be like the Force (flat) ?
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Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By THXjay Sun Apr 23, 2023 9:54 am
Whilst I do agree with most people regarding the X being good as it is. I do think that there are a few things that would make it perfect and not require updating for a long time, and they are...

1. Make it from metal and not plastic. I know it currently has a metal plate on the top but that is purely cosmetic and not part of the chassis. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't have those awful glossy plastic sections on the top third.

2. The internal access should have more thought put into it. I was going to change the main browse knob on the X for a metal one with finger indent until I found out the the current one is fixed from underneath and requires you to dismantle the whole machine just to change a knob????? why????
And the pad section should really be a separate module that can be unscrewed from the top and a new set dropped in.

3. Like the old models that had floppy/cd drives on the front, the X should have a hard drive slot on the front panel so we can slide in an ssd instead of messing around underneath. Not a big deal I know but it would be so much easier if you wanted to pop it out :)

4. The screen housing would be nice in metal just to make it feel more solid. The kickstand could be improved as well just to make it rock solid.

5. If they're gonna put a wrist rest on the X then let's have a proper leather one not the sponge/rubber (or whatever it is) one they currently use. Give us an MPC60 style rest.

6. Generally I would just like to see the overall build quality be much better. I appreciate that the current range is made in Taiwan rather than China, as Taiwan has more of a Japan quality as opposed to the "general" lesser quality from China. I've seen too many reports of broken USB sockets and control buttons that you just feel that things are a little flimsy and not going to last that long. And if they must "paint" text onto the transport buttons I wish they would use better quality paint :) seen so many X's with worn away play/record text.

7. Another idea would be to angle the OLED displays above the Q-Links so they are more readable without leaning over them.

8. And, saving the best for last.....HDMI output, HDMI output, HDMI output, HDMI output. I don't really understand people's comments saying "just use a computer" whenever someone asks about HDMI. The whole point is we want to use standalone but would like a large display to see what's going on. This would be even more useful if we get the arranger in the future, that would be so much easier to use with a nice large display, as well as lokking cool as ****.
Come on Akai, Roland did this 15 years ago, it's time to catchup ;)

With Akai posting their 35th anniversary of the MPC online, it's looking more likely that something will happen before the years out!!

Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By B-Wise Sun Apr 23, 2023 10:33 am
8ty8 wrote:
B-Wise wrote:Compared to the Force even a loosey-goosey tilt screen would be a blessing. Once you find a good way to position it, it's cool, but at the same time, not cool. Akai why you do us like that?


Can you elaborate on this a bit, please?

8ty8 wrote:The Force's screen is completely flat... Are you saying you would like a screen akin to the old MPCs where you could tilt and reposition freely (without a kickstand) -- or would you prefer the screen of the X to be like the Force (flat) ?


In short - The Force flat screen sucks.

There's a tilt screen mod on YT, but I don't want to chance it ATM just in case I mess something up. So I'll wait untill I got the cash to buy another used 1. Like I said, it's cool once you position it right, but still... :WTF: Akai. Really! Did anybody test it before releasing it & couldn't tell it wasn't comfortable. This is a modern pro device, we shouldn't have to deal with this at the price range for a new 1. Tho I got mines used for $888.

The crossfader makes up for it - kinda :) That's something I hope the new MPC gets. The way it's set up you can have 16 crossfaders & each 1 can I think have 128 difference parameters for both A/B sides. INSANE!

My theory is that Akai knew from start the Force would have a mk2 & the current 1 is just a test run, but my reasons for that is for another thread.
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Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By mrmarbury Sun Apr 23, 2023 11:34 am
8ty8 wrote:Yes it can, but that other dude's complaint really makes no sense -- the screen has a metal support bracket that folds out from the back and locks into place. It's not like the screen is loosey-goosey flopping around, it literally clicks into place and then does not move. I have had absolutely no issues with it whatsoever, and i'm sure many others feel the same.

With that other dude you might mean me? So yeah no. It only clicks into place in the steepest setting. Everything in between and the metal clamp is floating 1-2mm above the ratchet mechanism and when I do something on the screen it just wobbles back and forth sounding and feeling like cheap china gear and and the clamp bouncing on the MPC making a sound like my neighbors bed when they are getting it on in the middle of the night. Either way even if that metal clamp works for some people I am happy to pay 10 bucks more to have a proper studio quality display mechanism.
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Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By Monotremata Sun Apr 23, 2023 2:38 pm
THXjay wrote:8. And, saving the best for last.....HDMI output, HDMI output, HDMI output, HDMI output. I don't really understand people's comments saying "just use a computer" whenever someone asks about HDMI. The whole point is we want to use standalone but would like a large display to see what's going on.


This popped into my head at work the other day while I was digging through the service manual of a couple of our ViewBoards we make. I'd take a wild guess they tapped the HDMI output for the LCD screen, so they couldn't add the output if they wanted to. I highly doubt that SoC has a multi output HDMI switcher in it.
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Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By THXjay Sun Apr 23, 2023 3:25 pm
That's a thought. That could be why they haven't added an output. Then again it should be easy to split and send a mirror out to a monitor.

As the internal board is really a mini Linux computer which includes an HDMI output as standard, surely it shouldn't be too hard to hack an output

Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By Certified Beatz Sun Apr 23, 2023 5:19 pm
Skimming throw the thread.. all I really get out this is that no one will be happy no matter what akai comes out with.. the ones complaining about the quality of the tilt screen on the X is just un happy with there lives really who cares the MPC is a great purchase enjoy making beats and just understand all the complaining your doing is why your music sucks.. :( .. well that was a bit harsh but let's enjoy the product.. :o
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Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By EnochLight Sun Apr 23, 2023 5:53 pm
8ty8 wrote:Also give us guarantee that the X will be supported for at least another 10 years <-- this goodwill gesture would go a long way for them..


Lmao.. yeah, and it would probably destroy the company. The X came out in 2017, so you're suggesting the X be supported for 16 years??! :shock: :Sigh: :smh: I just don't see that being realistic in any universe. But yeah, it would create a lot of goodwill. Just doubt it would create revenue, which is what they need to survive.

Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By BeatWilson Sun Apr 23, 2023 6:02 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote:Just a quick note, if I delete some posts it’s because I felt they were off topic or just going to cause arguments, so don’t waste my time reposting. Not looking for discussion about my moderation decisions either, let’s keep things on topic about the new mpc x

:worthy:
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Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By 8ty8 Sun Apr 23, 2023 7:02 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote:Just a quick note, if I delete some posts it’s because I felt they were off topic or just going to cause arguments, so don’t waste my time reposting. Not looking for discussion about my moderation decisions either, let’s keep things on topic about the new mpc x


Thanks Tutor -- much appreciated!

EnochLight wrote:
8ty8 wrote:Also give us guarantee that the X will be supported for at least another 10 years <-- this goodwill gesture would go a long way for them..


Lmao.. yeah, and it would probably destroy the company. The X came out in 2017, so you're suggesting the X be supported for 16 years??! :shock: :Sigh: :smh: I just don't see that being realistic in any universe. But yeah, it would create a lot of goodwill. Just doubt it would create revenue, which is what they need to survive.


How would it destroy the company? It would have the whole market saying "wow, look at that, this is a company that supports products, they take care of their customers. I have no issues giving them my money"

Here is a real life example: MOTU still supports quite a lot of older hardware, and they are a major player in the audio interface world. Whenever you see people mention MOTU, for example on gearslutz, one of the first things they make mention of is how great the customer service/product support is, and they greatly recommend them. I myself have a few MOTU products. As I mentioned earlier, that goodwill goes a long way.

I know the 10 year thing is quite a stretch, but that's only because I think the current hardware should be able to continue running newer versions of the OS. We're running Linux here, not macOS or Windows, and besides the plug-ins, it seems to already be optimized for these chipsets.

Also, seeing the XL has me thinking that perhaps Akai doesn't plan on releasing a new X for quite some time. I mean, again, what else can they improve upon from the current design?

Most of the changes that have been proposed have been cosmetic / aesthetic in nature: changing materials to metal, fixing the kickstand... Nothing fundamentally altering the chipset (except maybe an HDMI port?). Even if Akai gave us an updated processor with more RAM, the ARM architecture still remains the same...

I have enjoyed reading through people's suggestions, and I hope Akai is listening, but beside OS bugs and instability, from a pure hardware standpoint -- i'm quite happy with my X.

If I were Akai -- I would've made the MPC X the only upgradeable unit, similar to how apple has the Mac Pro. And sell upgrade kits/parts so that users could add modules as they need, like back in the day how you could add EFX and the additional outs, etc...

Let's keep this topic going, and let's keep the mood light -- this is great stuff!

Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By jpeg Sun Apr 23, 2023 8:17 pm
J.O.BEATS wrote:I would think no current (modern) mpc user would buy this at that price. But I’ve been wrong before

And so we should assume the ONE + is exactly the same. Just a ONE with upgraded ram, Wi-Fi, and all the overpriced plug ins.

Looks like I’ll be shopping the second hand market for my Live replacement


so based on the fact that these are very limited hardware refreshes what does that mean for the version 3 software timeline? cos if it was a major hardware upgrade we would expected v3 software to drop at the same time but from that advert looks like the mpc xl will ship with the same v2 software
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Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By mrmarbury Sun Apr 23, 2023 9:27 pm
Certified Beatz wrote:Skimming throw the thread.. all I really get out this is that no one will be happy no matter what akai comes out with.. the ones complaining about the quality of the tilt screen on the X is just un happy with there lives really who cares the MPC is a great purchase enjoy making beats and just understand all the complaining your doing is why your music sucks.. :( .. well that was a bit harsh but let's enjoy the product.. :o

Lol, You can enjoy something but still be not blind to the things needing improvement. I love my X. That’s why I am complaining. I think it can be much more than it is.

Re: MPC XL - CODE NAME ACV5S - A NEW MPC X FOR SOON ?

By Certified Beatz Sun Apr 23, 2023 10:45 pm
mrmarbury wrote:
Certified Beatz wrote:Skimming throw the thread.. all I really get out this is that no one will be happy no matter what akai comes out with.. the ones complaining about the quality of the tilt screen on the X is just un happy with there lives really who cares the MPC is a great purchase enjoy making beats and just understand all the complaining your doing is why your music sucks.. :( .. well that was a bit harsh but let's enjoy the product.. :o

Lol, You can enjoy something but still be not blind to the things needing improvement. I love my X. That’s why I am complaining. I think it can be much more than it is.



I'm not going to lie sometimes when I edit it i hit the touch screen and it falls :o :o :o
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