MPC LIVE - DISCONTINUED in Germany`s Major Music Stores

Now that has happened, I already suspected. It seems the MPC One replaces the MPC Live. In all major German music stores, the MPC Live is no longer displayed, or always with the addition: "We no longer offer this article". A few days ago you could still read: available in ...

I don't think there will be an MPC Live MK2 to buy in the near future, after AKAI has put the 4 year old technology in a new case and sold it to the people as super new and innovative. In Germany the MPC One costs 749,- Euro, the MPC Live was sold for 949,- Euro. Which would you buy?

Funny way, i still have a price of 699,- dollars in my head, for the MPC One. Andy told everyone that at NAMM 2020. Or did I make a mistake? For me, 749,- Euros have absolutely nothing to do with 699,- Dollar and also an entry-level price, compared to the MPC Live. Remember, this is exactly the same 4 Year old Stuff inside the One as in the Live.

If the Live is really discontinued, now the true face of akai's further corporate policy is revealed. Bad Money making, with old stuff, less material (hardware) and no new technical innovations (hard and software). Now you don´t have the chance, to compare the Live and the One, because the Live is no longer listed at the online shops.
How long we have been waiting for a usable firmware update, one year? And we don´t have extraterrestrial wishes. Sorry, but the 2.7 "update", was a joke. Or had anyone found the Ableton License Code inside the Akai Account ?! This is like: here, i will give you a car, but the steering wheel and the tires are not included.

However, I'm slowly losing my faith. I think AKAI has lost touch with reality. It might be better if Akai releases the firmware as open source code. There are certainly many talented and capable developers, they living in 2020 and they know what workflow means. It is not the user who have to learn the terrible AKAI workflow, AKAI has to learn from the users!!! The MPC Live is my first MPC and the idea behind this machine is absolutely great, but I must spend so much time, to read and watch tutorial videos to understand, how the concept works, how to start, how to ... . I've been making music for 20 years now, but nothing like this ever happened to me.
That's why many of my friends and musician colleagues sent their MPC Live / x back after a week.
But that wasn't just because of the workflow, but also because of the absolute basics that every synthesizer and DAW brings with them these days, except the MPC. Akai has known our wishes for years, but nothing has happened until today. Oh sorry, i ´m wrong, after waiting a year, we got the "New" MPC One .

I don't know, maybe one of you knows where the journey is going. Maybe the biggest update of all times is just around the corner. An update in which all wishes come true. Is it worth waiting? What do you say?

I truly Dont know what Akai is doing or headed but l know this as lm prepared for the lives support ending. I have constantly told people l can make music without the MPC. So lm good

surfhai wrote:Now that has happened, I already suspected. It seems the MPC One replaces the MPC Live. ...I don't think there will be an MPC Live MK2 to buy in the near future

My guess is that the MPC Live Mk 2 will be here soon, the MPC One is not a replacement for the MPC Live.

Funny way, i still have a price of 699,- dollars in my head, for the MPC One. Andy told everyone that at NAMM 2020. Or did I make a mistake? For me, 749,- Euros have absolutely nothing to do with 699

$699 + German EU VAT = 750 EUR.

Dollar and also an entry-level price, compared to the MPC Live. Remember, this is exactly the same 4 Year old Stuff inside the One as in the Live.

No need to update the internal specs if it still runs the software perfectly well, products like the OP-1 and Octotrack are still running the exact same hardware from many, many years ago. I dont see anyone complaining about lack of CPU power in the Live/X, and the RAM limitations can be solved via a software update for disk streaming. Plus 1GB+ usable RAM still put the Live/X/One lightyears ahead of all the competition

If the Live is really discontinued, now the true face of akai's further corporate policy is revealed. Bad Money making, with old stuff, less material (hardware) and no new technical innovations (hard and software). ..How long we have been waiting for a usable firmware update, one year?

We've had three years of solid updates, huge amount of new features. The software was always where they said the bulk of the innovation would come. And who knows what the MPC Live 2 will bring. Remember the One is just an entry level MPC, it's there for people to get into the new MPC ecosystem cheaply.

Or had anyone found the Ableton License Code inside the Akai Account ?! This is like: here, i will give you a car, but the steering wheel and the tires are not included.

I agree, it is very strange that Live control didn't also come with an Ableton Live license, be it a free copy of 'intro' or a discounted standard or suite.

However, I'm slowly losing my faith. I think AKAI has lost touch with reality....I don't know, maybe one of you knows where the journey is going. Maybe the biggest update of all times is just around the corner. An update in which all wishes come true. Is it worth waiting? What do you say?

Yes big updates are coming. As I said, we've already had 3 years with significant updates, and Akai have confirmed they are working on some big stuff for the future, both on MPC and Force platforms. It does however seem that people are never happy no matter how many extra (free) updates the software receive after their original purchase.

I don't know of many hardware devices that have received the amount of features that the MPC has received in recent years. The specs are amazing compared to the competition. Yes there is room for improvement, but people seem to be complaining about 'missing' features that were never part of the MPC spec, like linear arrangement mode etc, or features like multi-mode which has never featured in any inMusic MPC. And the workflow is ultimately the classic MPC workflow - don't buy an MPC expecting a DAW workflow.

What missing features are currently stopping you from enjoying this machine?

2 me the firmware is very usable.

MPC-Tutor wrote:...And the workflow is ultimately the classic MPC workflow - don't buy an MPC expecting a DAW workflow.

What missing features are currently stopping you from enjoying this machine?

For folks whose main unit has always been an MPC, I can see being OK with the classic workflow. And much of it I like, which is why I got the Live. But the editing is antiquated at best. Copyin/pasting a bar+ of MIDI is a chore, having to either go to a different mode to Copy Events, or do it the DAW-style plus 2-3 steps.

Importing MIDI and not being able to put it where you want is another very inefficient hangover. Even if you do want it at bar 1 in whatever sequence, it deletes all other existing MIDI. As is, you have to import it to a blank sequence, then Copy Events.

And there are inconsistencies. Depending where you are, Copy can mean copy to the clipboard or duplicated.

Not missing obviously, but some of the classic workflow needs an overhaul, especially since it has a touch screen.

Thanks MPC Tutor, a reasonable response to the ongoing drama. One, Live, and X are all great machines that have been relatively well supported, end of story.

Lampdog wrote:

MPC-Tutor wrote:..... but people seem to be complaining about 'missing' features that were never part of the MPC spec..........

....... don't buy an MPC expecting a DAW workflow.

First of all, the mpc is absolutely amazing compared to other products on the market. She should live long !!!

Sorry Lampdog, please excuse me but in my eyes these are exactly the wrong answers. These are the answers that will make the MPC die in the long run. The MPC is no longer the MPC as it was 10 years ago. On the one hand there are the old users who have been using the MPC for many years and who know the workflow. On the other hand, there are the new users, who are using an MPC for the first time and come from a completely different world. I mean the world of DAWs, Soft & Hardware Synth´s.. The problem now is to unite both worlds.

Why do I think so? I´m an old man, 45 years old. I've been making music for over 20 years now. I started in a recording studio with only hardware samplers ( also from akai ) and synthesizers. I can remember that the DAW was emagic logic audio, still in black and white with only Midi. I'm from the analog world. Then I got to know the advantages of the DAW´s and now wanted to take a step away from the computer music production, back to the buttons. I was immediately impressed when I read about MPC Live for the first time. That's exactly what I was looking for. I have never had an MPC before. I've seen an MPC standing with friends and in there studios several times, which model I can't say. I wasn't interested in the MPC at this time. In my mind, the MPC always stood for hip-hop producers. That's why I don't know the evolution, workflow and history of the MPC family. You could say I am a new user. Exactly the same person that Akai now wants to win over with the help of MPC One. This is exactly what increases the pressure on akai and the expectations of the MPC. 

I think the majority of new buyers will come from the DAW area. They work with ableton, logic, protools and so on. They have never use a MPC before. Every DAW works according to the same principle, just as every syth is almost structured the same way. That means, the workflow is based on these Systems. Whether I use logic and then have to work with ableton, Protools and so on, after 5 minutes I find the way to my goal. Exactly the same applies to almost every hardware / software synthesizer. And when you came from this direction and you never use a MPC before, sorry but the „great MPC Workflow“ is not really intuitive to understand. I had quite a lot of synthesizers between my fingers and have been working with various DAWs for years, but when I sat joyfully in front of my new MPC Live for the first time and wanted to start, 5 minutes later I had lost my desire. I tell you why. It was not only the incomprehensible workflow, in these 5 Minutes i found 2 basic feathers, they are still not evadible at this time on the MPC. The first thing is a basic on every synthesizer since the 1970. The second point is a feature you can find in every DAW on the market. These are basic features, normally we don´t have to talk about it. After watching several videos in advance to understand the structure of the MPC, I managed to load instruments from the pre-installed expansion packs into a keygroup track.

Ok, what's the first thing a producer of electronic dance music does? Exactly, he reaches for the cutoff button and wants to hear what the sound in the frequency spectrum can do. Ok, i thought one of the q-link buttons will be made my day. But I was wrong. Even today there is no way to program a q-link button directly to the cutoff and this permanent. I have already called the akai support and the employee understood my problem and we found a solution for a coming update, that was over one year ago. Over the month of waiting and learning, i found a way by myself and use the insert HP LP effects to do what should have worked from the start and saved it as a template track. I don't know  any sythezieser, except a couple of rack synths, they don't have a cutoff button in direct access. Control the MPC Cutoff via an external midi keyboard using midi cc commands, no way, not provided. 

The second point, you find in every DAW, is to reorganize the Tracks. I want to move Track 7 to the Position of Track two. Or insert a new Track between Track 4 and 5 .... No Way !!! Ok, i´m a German, i love a clean structure, but these Points are not extraterrestrial, these Points are basic !!! You know what i mean!? AKAI want new user, it is ok, but then they have to be ready for it, and they are not!

From today's perspective, I can say that after some long nights together with Johnny Walker and my MPC Live , that now we are friends and many featchers and working methods make sense, and if, like driving a car, you no longer have to think about which button you have to press, the MPC is really fun. But honestly, at the beginning, I wanted to throw the thing out of the window. 

With the new and absolutely great MPC concept, independent, portable, all in one box …, the MPC Live has become very interesting for many musicians overnight. But this also means, that people who have not grown with the MPC are now coming into the family. Who have a different focus on certain standards, which is important for them and their workflow to get to their destination quickly with the MPC. Due to working with other DAWs, samplers and syths..  We shouldn't forget that akai uses this to advertise" Standalone Music Production Center". One user wants a cutoff button, the other wants a better midi, the third wants more effects and akai wants to be able to control Ableton live and so on. And from their point of view, everyone is right. It has nothing to do with complaints, it shows people thinking about, how the MPC can get even better. And we will all benefit from it, even if some user say I will never need it, one day they will ask themselves why it has not always been like this. 

In conclusion, I would like to say that it does not matter whether AKAI brings another MPC in another housing onto the market, the content is decisive. I think the concept is very good, but the software and the handling are not up to date in order to inspire new users. I am firmly convinced that every new user who comes from the same direction as me, is faced with exactly the same problems and thinks, what is the point, why is it all so complicated and why does it not work as I do know from everywhere. I think even akai has recognized that the MPC workflow does not harmonize very well with that of the new users and has given the MPC One some new direct access button. Also the AKAI Beats Academy was launched.

In my eyes, it is simply the wrong way to put old equipment in a new box in order to attract new users who 99.9 percent of them cannot understand the workflow and who will find exactly the weak points within a very short time, which AKAI has known for years and has not resolved until today.

I hope you are right and the biggest Update ever is coming in May. I believe in the potential of MPC.

@surfhai, New users must adapted and deal with the learning curve. Old users must adapted and update their skill set with continued education.

Wow.

CharlesRandolph wrote:@surfhai, New users must adapted and deal with the learning curve. Old users must adapted and update their skill set with continued education.

Now you know the young people's attention spand is a short fuse. They ain't trying to adapt , Akai might want to adapt. This ain't 1990.

Danoc wrote: Now you know the young people's attention spand is a short fuse. They ain't trying to adapt , Akai might want to adapt. This ain't 1990.

Well new user better learn. Because, the more features they add to the machine, the more convoluted it becomes. Which makes it harder to use. Truly, Akai Pro needs to streamline the OS.

@ Surfhai

Well said.
I have same experience as you, I have your age, I made the same training and I came to Mpc Live two years ago and it was my first Mpc.
The first months I had it, I just wanted to throw it away from the window for exactly the same reasons you said.
But then the magic happened as I started to get inside the workflow.
It just gave me the chance to have fun when composing, something I forgot working with computer for 10 years before Mpc.
I think this is why we all still use an Mpc even if it's convoluted and complicated. Once you get the sense of how it works, it's fast and effective, you don't lose yourself with the 1000 possibilities of a daw and its plugins which actually are chains of effects and sequenced effects.
With Mpc you work with the basics, even the effects are just basic, but all sounds great and lets you stay clean or dirty as you wish.
I immediately put the insert filters on qlinks and never thought this was a problem, I just thought it was the way to do it.
Something I learnt with Mpc is that if something doesn't work as you are used to, it will work in some other way, you just have to find that way.
But yes, I also think that the OS is still underdeveloped, and I also think it has a tremendous potential that is not exploited yet.
For example, LFO is too basic, Warp is very lame, the order of tracks cannot be changed easily (it's 2020!) and also effects slot cannot be swapped (it's 2020!).
I never thought of Mpc as a daw replacer, I always used it as a groovebox or advanced sampler, but it actually took me away from computer.
And I honestly think it still needs a companion, I use an Mc101 and I am upgrading to mc707, exactly because, as you said, the synth side is not excellent but it does its job anyway.
That's the point. All inside Mpc does its job in a way or another and that's also the fun of it.

Frisbi wrote:@ Surfhai

Well said.
I have same experience as you, I have your age, I made the same training and I came to Mpc Live two years ago and it was my first Mpc.
The first months I had it, I just wanted to throw it away from the window for exactly the same reasons you said.
But then the magic happened as I started to get inside the workflow.
It just gave me the chance to have fun when composing, something I forgot working with computer for 10 years before Mpc.
I think this is why we all still use an Mpc even if it's convoluted and complicated. Once you get the sense of how it works, it's fast and effective, you don't lose yourself with the 1000 possibilities of a daw and its plugins which actually are chains of effects and sequenced effects.
With Mpc you work with the basics, even the effects are just basic, but all sounds great and lets you stay clean or dirty as you wish.
I immediately put the insert filters on qlinks and never thought this was a problem, I just thought it was the way to do it.
Something I learnt with Mpc is that if something doesn't work as you are used to, it will work in some other way, you just have to find that way.
But yes, I also think that the OS is still underdeveloped, and I also think it has a tremendous potential that is not exploited yet.
For example, LFO is too basic, Warp is very lame, the order of tracks cannot be changed easily (it's 2020!) and also effects slot cannot be swapped (it's 2020!).
I never thought of Mpc as a daw replacer, I always used it as a groovebox or advanced sampler, but it actually took me away from computer.
And I honestly think it still needs a companion, I use an Mc101 and I am upgrading to mc707, exactly because, as you said, the synth side is not excellent but it does its job anyway.
That's the point. All inside Mpc does its job in a way or another and that's also the fun of it.

How did it take you away from a computer, when the MPC is computer? P.S. It's easier to read your post, if you don't press enter after every period.

CharlesRandolph wrote:
Well new user better learn. Because, the more features they add to the machine, the more convoluted it becomes. Which makes it harder to use. Truly, Akai Pro needs to streamline the OS.

Well we shall see.