MPC 3 -- Let's GO!!

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 3 -- Let's GO!!

By machinesworking Sun Aug 18, 2024 9:20 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote::lol: No, not the language barrier, this is one of the standard circular arguments you'll see here and on other social media groups. Hopefully Akai know what they are doing as I doubt most 'DAW users' will ever be happy with the inevitable limitations and compromises of standalone hardware. :popcorn:


I think you're making a circular argument yourself there. I started off in the 80's using computers for sequencing, never liked most of the hardware sequencers. By the 90's when the MPC came out I just didn't have the kind of money they cost back then.

There's been a very noticeable trend among DAWs to go for UX over features. Live, Bitwig, Traction, etc. all have vastly fewer quantization settings, limited to no access to SysEx, NRPN etc. etc. Live only addressed 128 parameters of a synth forever. IMO though this still doesn't get away from maintenance. I have DP11 as the main DAW and 400 odd plugins, it's a couple hours a month just on making sure things work properly, updates to the OS or plugins, some glitch that needs looking into etc. etc.

I'm well aware of the limitations of the MPC, my first reason for getting one was a soft and hardware solution to enjoying drum programming, but the MPC has evolved into a DAW that gets songs out as quickly as Live or Bitiwg etc. without some large setup. I've taken the MPC Live II to the couch and bed to mess around, I've never taken a laptop, audio interface, MIDI controller etc. to those places. The "solutions" from others are just not as good. Maschine sucks at anything out of 4/4, Lives' Push 3 is another joke that way with no ability to render a song on the hardware, and so on.

There's not any issue with the MPC Live II here that could pop up quite like last months Kontakt fiasco with dual monitor setups and crashing your DAW if you touched the interface on Kontkat. Standalone is relatively bug free here, the only issue I really have with the MPC is the VST2 version under Apple Silicon can crash your DAW.

What I'm saying is the "DAW crowd" isn't necessarily made up of people who need the MPC to be like Logic, DP, Cubase, Reaper etc. Personally I'm just glad I won't have audio track limits anymore and it looks like any porting to the computer to finish is mainly about mastering. It definitely looks to me like the process of adding in little variations to a compiled song is going to be massively faster with a real arrangement type view.

It's the "DAWless" crowd that seems the most upset, without even trying out 3. For their sake I hope they're overreacting.

Re: MPC 3 -- Let's GO!!

By benway Sun Aug 18, 2024 10:38 pm
Neodymium wrote:So why do you use an MPC and not just a Laptop?

I use both.

But it seems like most of the reasons why I would use an MPC rather than DAW in some situations will be gone from 3.0 on.

Different tools are suitable for different tasks and parts of the process. Which is what I’m really getting at. Akai seems to be blowing up what the MPC is uniquely good at - a super flexible and quick way of creating from samples and performing sample based material - just so it behaves more like tools that are already ten a penny. This is described in a much better and more concise way a few posts ago.

bitermc wrote:I think most people wants an all in one musical instrument with as much DAW capabilities as possible...

That’s gonna be a nope from me at least, even though for sure I can see that a lot of people want this. But personally If I want a DAW I’ll just … use a DAW. I don’t think there’s anything inherently uninspiring about using a laptop as against other tools, it’s more so that its strengths - in general - tend towards the nitty gritty of arranging and editing rather than open ended idea generation.

There are exceptions, eg Bitwig is great for experimentation as is Live especially when expanded with max devices. But there’s nothing else like the MPC for smashing together samples whether from records, hardware/software experiments, modular jams or whatever and trying out a bunch of ideas and options quickly. DAWs tend to make this process more linear and walled in because of how they’re structured … so it sure is nice to see Akai pretty much adopting this same structure.

Maybe they’ll shock me and nail it in the end, but I’ve always felt that the more anyone tries to create the DAWless DAW, the more it ends up like:

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Re: MPC 3 -- Let's GO!!

By benway Sun Aug 18, 2024 11:30 pm
machinesworking wrote:Lives' Push 3 is another joke

Apologies for double post but just spotted this and … lol no. Push 3 is amazing and pretty much shits on everything else out there in terms of the sheer range of creative possibilities. It runs Max in standalone.

Some people like to rag on it because it’s an instrument and doesn’t try to do the DAWless DAW thing they want, or maybe they think it should be making their tracks for them idk

I have no idea why anyone thinks that an electronic instrument obviously must also cram in a full recording studio as well if it’s gonna be good. But maybe that’s just me.

That said, imho MPC still currently has the edge for pure sample based creation/performance though. For now at least.

Re: MPC 3 -- Let's GO!!

By renegadebliss Mon Aug 19, 2024 12:42 am
HanHuman wrote:Summer would have been a great time to release the beta as a lot of people tend to have more spare time to test it. But AKAI is probably dropping it in September or even later when many people won't have a free minute to try it out. :Sigh:


Everyone's different. I'll have more time in the Fall and Winter to make music then Summer time. But remember this isn't even probably coming out official until 2025 , so patience :)

Re: MPC 3 -- Let's GO!!

By machinesworking Mon Aug 19, 2024 1:40 am
benway wrote:
machinesworking wrote:Lives' Push 3 is another joke

Apologies for double post but just spotted this and … lol no. Push 3 is amazing and pretty much shits on everything else out there in terms of the sheer range of creative possibilities. It runs Max in standalone.

Some people like to rag on it because it’s an instrument and doesn’t try to do the DAWless DAW thing they want, or maybe they think it should be making their tracks for them idk

I have no idea why anyone thinks that an electronic instrument obviously must also cram in a full recording studio as well if it’s gonna be good. But maybe that’s just me.

That said, imho MPC still currently has the edge for pure sample based creation/performance though. For now at least.

There's no Song mode in Push 3, you can't even sketch out the beginnings of one. You can "play" scenes, but you can't play them back. I'm not sure if you can set up different time signatures for various scenes? but I doubt it. It can't do program change messages either. I've used Live since version 3 and was pretty excited at the idea of sketching out songs in standalone, but they really didn't think it out at all IMO, it's going to be great in 10 years knowing Abletons time frame. For instance Live 12 has been out for 6 months or so and the manual is still a mess and only online. Push 3 "could" be a great instrument for something like the MPC, but I'm not convinced you can access more than one instrument at a time from MIDI etc. I suppose you could Ableton Link them, but again, it's a lot of money to spend on something that probably won't respond like I would want it to to the MPC.

So yeah I stand by what I said but to be more clear about it, Push 3 standalone is a joke for anything besides maybe using as an MPE player for Max patches you cook up on the computer. On the other hand the Push 3 that's just an audio interface and controller is a great device. I seriously right now as it stands see no reason to use Push 3 in standalone besides maybe live, and even then modern laptops like the Apple Silicon Airs are more than powerful enough with no moving parts, so it's hardly an issue to use them live.

it really is a world of difference to the MPC, which even now is perfectly capable of finishing entire songs in standalone.

Re: MPC 3 -- Let's GO!!

By J.O.BEATS Mon Aug 19, 2024 1:53 am
Let’s be real. A lot of people buy the mpc and other gear because it looks cool and they feel more legit as an artist than working on a laptop

But once they get the mpc they realize the laptop was easier to use and so cognitive dissonance kicks in

That’s why you have all these people who have admitted they bought an mpc but don’t use it but now will because it’ll be more like a daw

But what I can deduce from the info we have is people will hate the arranger because it’s still not really like their daw and go back to ableton and FL a week after 3.0 drops
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Re: MPC 3 -- Let's GO!!

By Neodymium Mon Aug 19, 2024 2:05 am
benway wrote:
Neodymium wrote:So why do you use an MPC and not just a Laptop?

I use both.

But it seems like most of the reasons why I would use an MPC rather than DAW in some situations will be gone from 3.0 on.

Different tools are suitable for different tasks and parts of the process. Which is what I’m really getting at. Akai seems to be blowing up what the MPC is uniquely good at - a super flexible and quick way of creating from samples and performing sample based material - just so it behaves more like tools that are already ten a penny. This is described in a much better and more concise way a few posts ago.


Kind of vague and not really an answer to a simple question. My question implied you use both, but why use both? When a Laptop can do it easier as you seem to be stating. What does the MPC give you, that makes you choose 'Both' over 'just' a a Laptop.
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Re: MPC 3 -- Let's GO!!

By zangetsu01 Mon Aug 19, 2024 2:39 am
I don’t think that this public beta is really meant for the public to beta test and submit their feedback.

That’s what they got their “inner circle” and “closed” beta testers for.

The public beta is just to see the public’s opinions and they will only deal with the major shortcomings as long as people will make enough noise.

And in this phase it’s a sweet spot to hide behind the fact that it’s still in its “beta” phase. :smoker:
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Re: MPC 3 -- Let's GO!!

By Ill-Green Mon Aug 19, 2024 3:00 am
Believe it or not but we had this discussion around 20 years ago. Everybody was shifting to computers because they said its powerful and easier. Then Akai drops the Renaissance and everybody wanted their MPC standalone again.

And here we go again :lol:

Re: MPC 3 -- Let's GO!!

By robleighton22 Mon Aug 19, 2024 3:05 am
I sold my MPC One to fund a Push 3 SA, and was always an Ableton user since v4. I also had owned a Push 2 in the past. Honestly the Push 3 for me was a mess, for most of the reasons already stated. The deal breaker actually was its timing for sequencing external instruments. As soon as I introduced more than 1 synth, I ran into issues. It might have been because I was trying to sequence my S2400 as well with it, but either way it was the only piece of hardware that really struggled to clock my gear in time.

The workflow also was hideous in a standalone environment, it might have improved somewhat since I traded it for a MPC 4000. However, on reflection, I know I made the right choice to get rid of it. The buttons were horrible, the workflow was not intuitive and you couldnt easily arrange full songs. As an Ableton controller it's great, particularly for the MPE pads, but I would have expected some more thought gone in to how the UX would be standalone. Genuinely felt like a major afterthought.

My MPC 4000 on the other hand is rock solid, and does what it's supposed to do exceptionally. Most importantly I can sequence my S2400, Korg Prologue and various monos with zero issues.

On reflection, the MPC One was fantastic for its cost. And I also didn't run into any clock issues but hadn't fully experimented using it as a master sequencer for my S2400. Would def buy a modern MPC again. Hoping a well designed mini will come out to compliment my MPC4000 or otherwise will prob get an MPC X in the future. My only gripe with my 4000 is its old and I'm too scared to fix any electronics my self, inevitably something will go wrong with its hardware eventually.
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Re: MPC 3 -- Let's GO!!

By NewAkaiUser Mon Aug 19, 2024 12:07 pm
Akai made fools of us by announcing the open beta and starting a month-long silence. This company is mentally still in the 80's :vomit: :twisted:
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Re: MPC 3 -- Let's GO!!

By MPC-Tutor Mon Aug 19, 2024 12:14 pm
The beta will go public once they complete the private testing stages. A public beta needs to be at a certain level of 'polish' and have a finalised feature set.

The reality is, the moment it went into private beta someone would have leaked it, so there was no way it was ever going to remain a secret. At least this way the public feedback they are receiving (e.g. regarding programs, arranger, mutes etc) is likely continuing to shape the development, without them having to deal with 1000s of public testers having daily meltdowns.
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