END OF THE MPC STANDALONE!!!

r4nd0m wrote:
I guess its never going to happen - Apple has almost left the pro-department and just maintains its base but innovation has stopped - apart from that I doubt that they would look at a niche market like this.

Ableton doesnt have the skills I would say nor the interest to deliver a standalone device while needing to port their software. I actually thought the Force looks like their “Push3”, rushed to market with the promise to fully support Ableton as a result of AKAI/Ableton relationship going sour and development having surpassed the gate of no return, so AKAI releasing it anyway as they saw potential for it in the absence of Ableton willing to take it all the way.

Innovations like this take a serious amount of time to develop but with X/Live they had the software in place and experience to bring the intended controller to market BUT still need to deliver the Ableton integration - I am not sure if what Andi showed in various NAMM videos is the actual integration in full that people expect AKAI to deliver being able to be used standalone and to fully replace the Push2.

Again I dont think Apple/Ableton will enter this market at any time - its easier to upgrade a PC or to replace a multi purpose laptop to advance their product instead of needing to buy a complete new revision of hardware. In fact they both tease with different, limited versions people to buy into their core software package (Garageband/Lite/Intro) to get people to buy Logic/Standard/Suite and retain revenue streams by making major updates a paid upgrade.

That's why I said IF. Akai Pro has the blueprint and if they wanted to make a MONSTER of a machine they could. The issue is not the know how, but it comes down to the culture. Akai Pro is stagnate and their last truly innovated piece was MPC 4000, DPS 24, and Aksys Software from 2002.

However, once the company was bought, the culture changed. They started making standard gear, doing what everyone else did, and they stopped pushing the envelop. The truth is, computer components cheaper and more powerful. There is absolute no reason for these machines, to be this under powered in 2019.
(Other than cost cutting.)

Now this does not mean, I can't create on them, because I can. I'll go back to pause mix tapes and tape loops if I need to. (Let's hope that not needed.) But my point is, this is not their best effort. I want their best effort. I use these machines every single day, 5 to 8 hours a day. Not just on the weekends or when it's convenient.

If the MPC X is $2100 machine, what does a $4100 machine look like? Also track explode and rendering is the best thing about these machines. However, that's not worth $2100. I don't use timing correct, modes, or chord progression handicaps. I can do those things myself.

Our jobs as end users, is to push the machines to the limits. So that Akai Pro will push us by making better gear. However, if we only sample, loop, filter, program basic drums, and turn knobs. Akai Pro is going to see that and give us just that.

@charles you do know that this New MPC spec you posted will not happen anytime soon. No way akai jumps from 2 gig ram to 64-128gb. Financially the marketing department would not allow it because they won't make any money. That thing would cost an arm a leg and a newborn. Should they make it upgreadable? hell yeah let the consumer decides how far they wanna take the machine.
What we might hopefully get is a similar product to both the live and the X with maybe 4-8gb ram. 64gb hard drive witn options to upgrade.

Yup, the MPC is generic. Never will I look at another new product from Akai thats for sure. Its catered to certain present genres but as an innovative instrument, its not.

Join me, sell it and buy a Volca Sample and learn to make beats all over again.

CharlesRandolph wrote:...If LOGIC or ABLETON releases a full size (MPC X/4000/3000 SIZE) standalone with their full software DAW integrated it's lights out.


FOR STARTERS

16 Analogue in and 16 ADAT (for a total of 32 separate in)
16 Analogue out and 16 ADAT OUT (for a total of 32 separate out)
32 out over USB 3
64 to 128 Gig of RAM
Intel i7 or i9
HDMI, SPDIF, WORD CLOCK
4 MIDI in and 8 MIDI out
32 channels of DANTE
Polyphonic Touch Sensing Drum Pads...

IMO, some form of this is the future. Akai, Native Instruments & Abelton are hanging around outside the ballpark. Are any of them willing? And you make me wonder if it would be easier for the DAW companies to create the hardware around their software. Ableton is the closest. Logic would be starting from scratch.

Personally, I'd be OK with the Live version; half the analog I/O, no network.

I think a keyboard version with those full blown specs would do better.

Remember Open Labs Neko? It had everything in it, Protools , and any hardware synth. They were cloning hardware and putting it in these. Open Labs failed.

What up lll. You sold your Live?

Ill-Green wrote:Yup, the MPC is generic. Never will I look at another new product from Akai thats for sure. Its catered to certain present genres but as an innovative instrument, its not.

Join me, sell it and buy a Volca Sample and learn to make beats all over again.

...Akai will release another stand alone piece of hardware in the future..it will be better. Each iteration has been an improvement over the last in some major way.

What I don't get, and this is reaching beyond just the tool described in this thread, is "what do people consider innovation"? The term gets thrown around a lot, but almost nothing that is innovative, truly seems innovative, just popularized by the masses *iphones cough cough*. People keep looking to the next iteration to be innovative, but all they are typically are spec bumps with one or two throw away features.

So I check these forums and the facebook group(s) and there are constantly folks complaining about wanting certain features or it not being innovative enough, and I'm just like, what else can they do, beyond essentially a spec dump?

I own both sample based Pocket Operators. I own the Digitakt, I use Ableton, I have Reason, I have FL Studio, I used to use Sonar, I got the Force, I got the Live, I use the iPad Pro, I have the Kaossilator Pro and KP3+...and NONE of them are perfect, but they all excel at something.

The Digitakt is great for freestyle beat making, terrible when I already have an idea in my head.

The Pocket Operators are as portable as possible, but use batteries, and doing anything more than "playing around" requires more gear.

Ableton is my main work horse, it can do anything, but to use it at work requires a laptop purchase, and dragging around my Push 2 as well.

Reason, I hate the controller options/setup *personally*, and while its recent popularity has made it more accessible, I struggled with it for years, because I had no mentor and finding videos on Youtube or taking classes on it were so hard to even FIND. It also would require a laptop for portable use, along with some kind of controller.

FL Studio will require a laptop purchase, I have (2) Fires and they are super portable, so that is a plus. I like certain things about how FL Studio is setup, I hate other things about how its setup - I would not want to use it as my primary DAW, but its great for quick & simple pieces.

iPad is light weight, requires a controller (I run the XKey), but I'm simply not fond of any of the software I've used, for various reasons, my favorite being iMPC 2 - but it crashes too much to be reliable.

Kaossilator/KP3 combo is great for freestyling or building up or adding to something that is existing, but being stuck with only (4) channels is super rough. It doesn't play well with DAWs, etc. It feels like a toy from a productivity stand-point, like a more serious "Pocket Operator". But they can still sample.

Then there are the currently discussed Live (and for me Force). They are truly stand alone, no need for any controller unlike say the iPad. They can do way more than the Pocket Operators & Kaossilator/KP3+, though not as immediate. While the Digitakt is great for programming in stuff, the clicky feel of the buttons is also how the music feels. Its not exclusive to "EDM", but that's where it shines. The MPC however, if I have an idea, I can put it down. If I hear a quote on YT that I want to do some damage with, I can easily record it in, chop it up, and build up whatever is floating in my head. I don't have to take out a laptop and a controller. I can be on the bus and do it. The level of polish doesn't reach the true DAWs like Ableton, but it way more immediate. It's easy to use the touch screen and manipulate note data, compared to the Digitakt.

Is it perfect no, again things have been great for me *crossing fingers*, I can't dismiss the bad luck people have had with quality control. I'm sure people here are pushing it/them harder than I have - I don't do vocal work on the MPC, but have never needed to go beyond 5-6 tracks, and if the need arises, there are real EASY ways to navigate around 8 tracks.

So the MPC isn't dead for me, and I'm not going to complain, it has a specific set of skills and I enjoy those. If you need a portable workhorse, then a laptop is your best bet bar none, even if they crammed a laptop into an MPC for the next iteration so it could handle VSTs, there would still be issues when comparing it against Ableton/Reason. So #Shrug
- Unreall

I may be the only one but I see the new mpc as a further advancement of the 1000/2500 line and I believe it to be a good modernization of those instruments. It would be nice to see some of the WTF features that are missing but I am still more than happy with it. The live seems perfect for me, pretty cool i can track my synths into it too.

Danoc - poked The wasp nest with this thread. Haha

I listen to an album like Endtroducing all done on an MPC 60 and I know the biggest piece of equipment I have issues with and features lacking is me.

A miracle do-all standalone is not going to fix that.

Less is more when you have an instrument with lots of character (early Akais/MPC60)

hansjbs wrote:@charles you do know that this New MPC spec you posted will not happen anytime soon. No way akai jumps from 2 gig ram to 64-128gb. Financially the marketing department would not allow it because they won't make any money. That thing would cost an arm a leg and a newborn. Should they make it upgreadable? hell yeah let the consumer decides how far they wanna take the machine.
What we might hopefully get is a similar product to both the live and the X with maybe 4-8gb ram. 64gb hard drive witn options to upgrade.

That's the idea. However the marketing department has nothing to do with budget. As far as it making money, yes it will. Limited edition 2000 units at $4100 each. The software is already done and ready to run on x86 format. So the only thing is design and sourcing parts. User can upgrade their RAM and SSD.

The machine would sell itself, no need for a glorified marketing plan.

dryad-66 wrote:Less is more when you have an instrument with lots of character (early Akais/MPC60)

When the MPC 60 came out, it was the "MORE:. Plus it was priced at $5000. That's why people bought the SP12 because it was $2700.

CharlesRandolph wrote:

hansjbs wrote:@charles you do know that this New MPC spec you posted will not happen anytime soon. No way akai jumps from 2 gig ram to 64-128gb. Financially the marketing department would not allow it because they won't make any money. That thing would cost an arm a leg and a newborn. Should they make it upgreadable? hell yeah let the consumer decides how far they wanna take the machine.
What we might hopefully get is a similar product to both the live and the X with maybe 4-8gb ram. 64gb hard drive witn options to upgrade.

That's the idea. However the marketing department has nothing to do with budget. As far as it making money, yes it will. Limited edition 2000 units at $4100 each. The software is already done and ready to run on x86 format. So the only thing is design and sourcing parts. User can upgrade their RAM and SSD.

The machine would sell itself, no need for a glorified marketing plan.

I'd get the Live version as I could live with 1/2 the analog I/O and network (thought 16 I/O would be sweet as I'm considering analog summing). I agree that it would sell because it would satisfy a LOT of folks. Who doesn't use some combination of sequencer, controller, audio interface, CPU & DAW? All in one, cheaper than individual tools, and perfectly integrated? Yup!


And I was going to say, that full featured version might do better as a keyboard. The MPC version would be huge.

Endroducing on the MPC was done so right...

Thes One on the 3000
Exile still on his 2000xl i believe.
One Be Lo on the LIVE
DJ Brace still on his 5000

These people are killing it, but everyone got "problems" from these machines.
I am definitely from a work around perspective so if it doesn't have something ill find a way.

Those work station look a bit aggressive for me. I DJ.... if i seen one of those next to my tables it would just be like wtf? haha Look crazy though as far as features.