Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MPC X?

MPC X, MPC Live, MPC One & MPC Key 61 Forum: Support and discussion for the MPC X, MPC Live, MPC Live II, MPC One & MPC Key 61; Akai's current generation of standalone MPCs.
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Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MPC X?

By Fre$hBreath Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:20 am
I can make music with my MPC X with no major problems getting in the way. Nothing about it really upsets me and with each update my MPC X gets better and better.

But here and on Facebook and Reddit I see an awful lot of criticism about the MPC X and MPC Live that makes me wonder sometimes how could anyone not love their MPC X as much as I love mine?

I get being dissatisfied because nothing is perfect, but are you happy with your MPC X or MPC Live?
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Re: Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MP

By Fanu Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:57 am
I dig my Live.
I think it's still by far the best device for making sample-based music.
The workflow is the best I know, all DAWs and other major beatboxes etc included…and I've tried them all.

Ableton Live + Push 2 could come close, but as long as Push 2 doesn't work well with Sampler, and as long as Simpler does not have a <> loop (and these are things I've been voicing very strongly, being an alpha+beta tester and a certified trainer), MPC Live takes the cake, easily.
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Re: Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MP

By zangetsu01 Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:08 am
Fre$hBreath wrote:I can make music with my MPC X with no major problems getting in the way. Nothing about it really upsets me and with each update my MPC X gets better and better.

But here and on Facebook and Reddit I see an awful lot of criticism about the MPC X and MPC Live that makes me wonder sometimes how could anyone not love their MPC X as much as I love mine?

I get being dissatisfied because nothing is perfect, but are you happy with your MPC X or MPC Live?


I feel you.. Would not want to make music without it.. The X is getting better with each update. The only thing missing for me are the new mixer which is supposed to be dropping with 3.0 and automation lanes from the TUI(Dont know when that drops).

Don't know about Facebook and Reddit but the biggest complain I've been hearing around here is the price tag.
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Re: Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MP

By Fanu Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:25 am
Also, good to understand that groups and forums are often "for" complaints.
Those who are happy don't make much noise about it.
So the ratio of happy/unhappy posts there is often quite uneven.
Reading relevant groups and forums easily gives one the impression that the product sucks, as you end up seeing so many complaint posts.

Re: Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MP

By smellypants Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:53 am
I sent my X to Akai to get the screen fixed and have been using the Live again... I was reminded how amazing it is!

All this power and workflow in such a small device is kind of shocking to me..

It is easily the 2nd best MPC I've ever used, and not far behind the best...

The MPC X!
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Re: Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MP

By Menco Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:34 pm
People are spoiled nowadays!
The MPC is changing from a groovebox to a DAW in a box which can be fully integrated in a software environment. That’s quite something that won’t happen overnight. Akai has proved they’re listening to us, simply by releasing the X and Live. We wanted MPC’s that that are able to run in standalone function, and Akai delivered. People need to be patient.

For me, I started to have my doubts about my Live till 2.4 dropped. I still sequenced most of my beats on my 2500, only to use the software for advanced mixing. I just love to push buttons blindly when working on my beats. Plus the MPC 2500 inspires me so much more than the Live, which to me only had the advantage over the 2500 because of it’s onboard FX. Plus it’s portability allowing me to work on things when I don’t have acces to my 2500 without using my laptop. This almost had me swapping the Live for a 1000, since most of the time I dumped my beats from my 2500 directly into the software. Now with the added AIR FX I can do almost all my mixing inside the Live. Only need improved automation and I only need the laptop for tracking vocals.

Re: Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MP

By CharlesRandolph Tue Feb 12, 2019 2:00 pm
Fre$hBreath wrote:I can make music with my MPC X with no major problems getting in the way. Nothing about it really upsets me and with each update my MPC X gets better and better.

But here and on Facebook and Reddit I see an awful lot of criticism about the MPC X and MPC Live that makes me wonder sometimes how could anyone not love their MPC X as much as I love mine?

I get being dissatisfied because nothing is perfect, but are you happy with your MPC X or MPC Live?


If I was starting from scratch, The LIVE or X would satisfied my needs. Unfortunately, due to the lack of word clock and 24/96 in standalone, I had no reason to keep it. Nevertheless, online groups like reddit and Facebook do have lots of information that can help.

However many times the users are not satisfied with what they create, so they deflect that hatred. Other times it's a Mob Mentality and they want to be apart of something and be recognized, so they join in on the hate train.

Re: Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MP

By Unreallystic Tue Feb 12, 2019 4:58 pm
Fanu wrote:Also, good to understand that groups and forums are often "for" complaints.
Those who are happy don't make much noise about it.
So the ratio of happy/unhappy posts there is often quite uneven.
Reading relevant groups and forums easily gives one the impression that the product sucks, as you end up seeing so many complaint posts.

This.

With that said there are other categories of reasons for complaints that have merit to them.
1. Not understanding their purchase
2. The cost can be hard to swallow when compared against other tools
3. A couple/few features that are more niche and not present can be a big deal to some of us, and to those of us that it is a bi deal, usually have enough people/power/knowledge behind them - to be LOUD (MIDI implementation for example)
4. The MPC videos you see on YT make it look easy to just pick up and play. Its not. There is a reason the MPC Bible gets echoed FAR beyond this forum as a STAPLE purchase, that means either A) People are quitting before they even know how to use it (I see that ALOT) or B) People are never really getting everything out of it (that's me, but I at least understand that).

All those complaints have some merit. It doesn't make them bad or inferior products.
- Unreall

Re: Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MP

By CharlesRandolph Tue Feb 12, 2019 5:32 pm
Unreallystic wrote:4. The MPC videos you see on YT make it look easy to just pick up and play. Its not.


Wish I had YouTube and Message Boards when I first picked up an MPC. Learned most things from reading the manual, making mistakes, and sitting in front of the machine for hours. Personally, if a person can't make music on these MPC, with all the videos and information available, they should try something else. These machines are so user friendly, they practically make the music themselves.

The steep learning curve has been drastically reduced. I think that's why many people, go back to the old machines, because they want to struggle and feel like they're working hard. And people who started with the old machines, look at people like they are crazy, because they understood what it took to get these machines to this point. :lol:

The MPC X and LIVE are packed with features, I would've killed for when I first started. Plus the price is like 2 grand cheaper. I could've bought a MIC, Speakers, Mixer, Turntable, Crate of Records and MPC X and never look back. :lol:

Re: Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MP

By Unreallystic Tue Feb 12, 2019 9:18 pm
Fanu wrote:True. I've seen so many Ableton Live user complaints, too, that are simply just user error and about not knowing how to use something.

I'm an AL user and I had a few complaints, but my biggest one was addressed in 2.3 - you can't tell me that it wasn't possible to shove at least a low level synthesizer into the hardware. I know this is a MPC place, but I actually don't really sample, I avoid sampling really *gasp* I know I know, but I jumped onto the MPC bandwagon because - Stand alone, workflow, and honestly, its hip-hop, but if you aren't going to be flipping records, the Live got real limited quick, I was stuck sampling myself playing out stuff on the iPad, which I could just do with iMPC Pro 2 anyways. Now, the MPC is TRULY stand alone for me, I don't have to use my iPad or XKey if I don't want to, and I didn't want to really on my studio, at that point, Ableton + Push was a better combination.
- Unreall
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Re: Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MP

By SupremeSoulstice Wed Feb 13, 2019 9:40 am
I love my live.. Everything is not necessarily for everyone. Love it or don't. Never means the Maschine isn't capable of achieving desired results sought out. I think a lot of these kids coming from computer based beat making expect hardware boxes to be able to do what they can do alone on a computer. Find ya grove and workflow and knock the rest of the bullsh*t off. If you making bangers on Maschine, Fl Studi or whatever, I could care less. Work with what works best for your. People made classics on less advantages then what we have access to now.
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Re: Despite your dissatisfaction; Are you happy with your MP

By SupremeSoulstice Wed Feb 13, 2019 9:41 am
SupremeSoulstice wrote:I love my live.. Everything is not necessarily for everyone. Love it or don't. Never means the machine isn't capable of achieving desired results sought out. I think a lot of these kids coming from computer based beat making expect hardware boxes to be able to do what they can do alone on a computer. Find ya grove and workflow and knock the rest of the bullsh*t off. If you making bangers on Maschine, Fl Studi or whatever, I could care less. Work with what works best for your. People made classics on less advantages then what we have access to now.
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