Buying mpc live ?

Look, buy it if you are happy with the features it has NOW, not the features 'it might have', because there are no guarantees that Akai will ever implement them, or they might not implement them to a level you are happy with. That's why I'm saying 'sit and wait a bit longer' to the OP as he made it clear he was cautious about buying a beta status product.

Take the 'with wifi support' claim on the retail box - it doesn't actually have wifi support ATM and Akai haven't even confirmed exactly what 'wifi support' will actually bring to the MPC.

But if the Live does what you need now, then buy it and enjoy. But equally don't come back to the forums in a couple of years time whining about how, as an 'early adopter who supported the product' you paid over the odds and never got x/y/z feature and now are being asked for $99 to upgrade to 3.0 (beta). Because that's exactly what a lot of 'early adopter' MPC Ren owners have been doing, and it's what a lot of MPC5000 owners did before them.

modd wrote:Being that this will be my very first mpc, do you guys think it will be a while before they release an update for it ? Is there a site i can follow up for that on ?

Akaipro.com is Akai's 'official' site. That is where you can check for software updates. It is anyone's guess as to when Akai will release a final version or update to the MPC 2.0 software. To date, the MPC 2.0 software has been in development for over 18+ months.

modd wrote:Being that this will be my very first mpc, do you guys think it will be a while before they release an update for it ? Is there a site i can follow up for that on ? I really like what theyre going for but also i dont want it to ruin my first mpc experience if its just going to crash or some other things happen in the middle of it. Yes some people are claiming theirs are good but i doubt they've been working with the full capabilities that they are able to and doesnt mean if i buy one it wont wack out on me

According to a developer, it should be just a few weeks. I don't think their coding is super fast, so I'd guess two months or so.
However, you will be able to experience "the MPC thing" with it already, and in many ways the Live is more advanced than many of the earlier MPCs.

golddope wrote:There not in Beta ,a live user I know a live user that called Akai ,it's the finished product but I will read hints that a software update will be .
I have a live ,and yes ,in some areas it's a new way of working due to limitations with unfinished areas in the software,
But I love it,well good fun

Can't be finished. They spent months saying if it's in the software it's in the LIVE. I hope those missing features are added asap.

modd wrote:Being that this will be my very first mpc, do you guys think it will be a while before they release an update for it ? Is there a site i can follow up for that on ? I really like what theyre going for but also i dont want it to ruin my first mpc experience if its just going to crash or some other things happen in the middle of it. Yes some people are claiming theirs are good but i doubt they've been working with the full capabilities that they are able to and doesnt mean if i buy one it wont wack out on me

the live has never crashed; ive had it for 2 weeks

I think it's currently okay in terms of stability, had some odd little quirks that have been fixed with a reboot (e.g. on screen dials refusing to change value). It's the missing/incomplete features that mean it requires careful consideration before purchasing, especially considering the price they are currently asking for it.

jpeg wrote:

modd wrote:Being that this will be my very first mpc, do you guys think it will be a while before they release an update for it ? Is there a site i can follow up for that on ? I really like what theyre going for but also i dont want it to ruin my first mpc experience if its just going to crash or some other things happen in the middle of it. Yes some people are claiming theirs are good but i doubt they've been working with the full capabilities that they are able to and doesnt mean if i buy one it wont wack out on me

the live has never crashed; ive had it for 2 weeks

When they say the update is weeks away, I am inclined to believe this, because the update will undoubtedly be released alongside with the MPC X release. So postponing e update would also postpone the release of the X, and the demand is building up for them to hit the shops.

Not sure I'd recommend the MPC live at the state the OS is in right now. You'd be well advised to wait at least until the X's are released. IME everything else works usably well enough to get beats done, ASIDE FROM THE AUDIO TRACKS. Some nasty bugs in them audio tracks that would drive anyone up the walls. MIDI syncing might still also need some fixing, some peeps having probs syncing their units with the rest of their rig.

Just my 2 markka's and YMMV

tsutek wrote: Some nasty bugs in them audio tracks that would drive anyone up the walls.

I'm going to be putting audio tracks through its paces later this week, what kind of bugs are you seeing?

I won't tell you what you should buy that's up to you.

The 2.0 SW is in beta. If you have a Live and go to your account it will tell you beta 2.0.

I have tbe Live and.lm loving it. Pads are nice and fat and they are responsive. The sequencer is so sweet!. The touch screen is really dope and responsive.

Im lovin the things it can do. That screen beats the hell out of the 2000XL screen!
Once you are finished making your drums in standalone you can then open it up on you computer and use Air instruments and Air effects that are dope. Velvet, Hybrid 3, Xpand 2 etc that are and free!

I see the Live as a drum machine/DAW/Computer.
Akai will get their other stuff going. Im making some heat on this thing.

modd wrote:I will be looking into buying my first mpc which would be the mpc live, it was either this or the push 2 but my thing is should i wait a few months till the issues are out and buy the push 2 till then or should i buy it now and work with it to learn it till the issues are out ?

Well, I messed with audio tracks for the first time yesterday, and I get the whole unit to lag the display, audio tracks cut off after 5mins even they show up on the screen (on the timeline), timestretching to 999 BPM and transposing to -32 semitones can cause the sound to mute itself.. sometimes the audiotracks do not play upon loading a project. Power cycling the unit helps, but is nowhere ideal nor satisfactory.

Sorry, I haven't been a consistent, professional bugtester wrt to these yet. I've done that work for a living and its a major PITA to document everything etc

tsutek wrote:sometimes the audiotracks do not play upon loading a project. Power cycling the unit helps, but is nowhere ideal nor satisfactory.

You have to wonder how stuff like that didn't get picked up during the private beta period (or maybe it did and Akai just haven't fixed it yet).

To the OP, it might also be worth me throwing the idea of the MPC Touch into the equation. Obviously the Touch will not function standalone and has a lower spec audio I/O, but otherwise it has all the software features of the Live at half the price (or less if you go second hand).

the audio track probs might be related to a specific media choice. I need to test an SD card and an ext USB drive to see if the same problems appear. ATM only been using a Samsung EVO 850 SSD formatted to exFAT so..

MPC-Tutor wrote:Look, buy it if you are happy with the features it has NOW, not the features 'it might have', because there are no guarantees that Akai will ever implement them, or they might not implement them to a level you are happy with. That's why I'm saying 'sit and wait a bit longer' to the OP as he made it clear he was cautious about buying a beta status product.

Take the 'with wifi support' claim on the retail box - it doesn't actually have wifi support ATM and Akai haven't even confirmed exactly what 'wifi support' will actually bring to the MPC.

But if the Live does what you need now, then buy it and enjoy. But equally don't come back to the forums in a couple of years time whining about how, as an 'early adopter who supported the product' you paid over the odds and never got x/y/z feature and now are being asked for $99 to upgrade to 3.0 (beta). Because that's exactly what a lot of 'early adopter' MPC Ren owners have been doing, and it's what a lot of MPC5000 owners did before them.

A wiseman said "Don't buy a product for what promised in the future, buy a product for what it is in its current state" and thats how you decide. Personally I bought the Live for pitch tuning, 64 polyphony, touchscreen and being current. Eveything else, I could care less but I hate **** bugs, I hate the lag in certain screens, I can expect this from a Hong Kong bootlegged clone but this straight from Akai, should be flawless and 99% bugfree, updates should be added features instead of stability issues. I can go on but its obvious Akai shot themselves in the foot with this.

Ill-Green wrote: I hate **** bugs, I hate the lag in certain screens, I can expect this from a Hong Kong bootlegged clone but this straight from Akai, should be flawless and 99% bugfree, updates should be added features instead of stability issues. I can go on but its obvious Akai shot themselves in the foot with this.

I hope that Akai will eventually fix all the bugs, add the missing advertised features & streamline the OS but until then my $$$ is staying in the bank!!