MPC Key 61: New FCC Filing From Akai

Straker wrote:Yeah I totally agree.
I like my Mpc too, it makes what I need and makes it fast and reliable.
I didn't consider keygroups as a base for a workstation but you and Enochlight are right, there is more potential on them then in new Air synths with current cpu, especially with a disk streaming.
I actually use many sounds I autosampled from external synths but then there is a limit of tweakability which is a bit of a shame.
The strong point of Fantom, beside the very high quality of the presets and the deep editing of them, is the tweakability, morphing between oscillators, macros and so on, all at hands with knobs.
Anyway, let's see what the next update will bring, it's quite sure this Mpc key version will come up with an update.

Yeah what I would like to see added to the sampling engine besides extended modulation possibilities is more experimental oriented features, things that would introduce morphing behavior or other ways of thickening sounds to get a more «synthy» texture and evolving behavior out of static samples. Like syncing and crossmodulating samples with each other, being able to modulate sample loop position(the MPC 4000 could do this ..well sort of), unison etc. That would be neat. I'm not exactly holding my breath about any of that but I actually think such approach, if doable, would be a better and easier way for Akai to claim their place among the big boys than competing with Fantom or Kronos on onboard synths.

And who knows what's possible. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. They have certainly managed to develop the engine a lot from what it was like in the beginning, that's for sure. And I was pretty stoked already about my MPC Live back in 2017

Besides that I don't really see any real problem for Akai with competing on other things like sample packs and sampled stage piano stuff, especially if/when disk steaming is introduced. Except maybe for the multi velocity layer aspect of it, dunno. Well and polyphony, as you pointed out. But, although I haven't tried them myself, it would surprise me if both the Fantom and the Kronos didn't have some limitations or annoyances of their own. Convoluted workflow for instance. Just a hunch

HUBA wrote:

Straker wrote:Yeah I totally agree.
I like my Mpc too, it makes what I need and makes it fast and reliable.
I didn't consider keygroups as a base for a workstation but you and Enochlight are right, there is more potential on them then in new Air synths with current cpu, especially with a disk streaming.
I actually use many sounds I autosampled from external synths but then there is a limit of tweakability which is a bit of a shame.
The strong point of Fantom, beside the very high quality of the presets and the deep editing of them, is the tweakability, morphing between oscillators, macros and so on, all at hands with knobs.
Anyway, let's see what the next update will bring, it's quite sure this Mpc key version will come up with an update.

Yeah what I would like to see added to the sampling engine besides extended modulation possibilities is more experimental oriented features, things that would introduce morphing behavior or other ways of thickening sounds to get a more «synthy» texture and evolving behavior out of static samples. Like syncing and crossmodulating samples with each other, being able to modulate sample loop position(the MPC 4000 could do this ..well sort of), unison etc. That would be neat. I'm not exactly holding my breath about any of that but I actually think such approach, if doable, would be a better and easier way for Akai to claim their place among the big boys than competing with Fantom or Kronos on onboard synths.

And who knows what's possible. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. They have certainly managed to develop the engine a lot from what it was like in the beginning, that's for sure. And I was pretty stoked already about my MPC Live back in 2017

Besides that I don't really see any real problem for Akai with competing on other things like sample packs and sampled stage piano stuff, especially if/when disk steaming is introduced. Except maybe for the multi velocity layer aspect of it, dunno. Well and polyphony, as you pointed out. But, although I haven't tried them myself, it would surprise me if both the Fantom and the Kronos didn't have some limitations or annoyances of their own. Convoluted workflow for instance. Just a hunch

Do you remember how Mpc was on 2017?
Crazy that it's the same device, it was so different, so basic and so buggy, no air synths, no air fx, a mono reverb, it was a joke compared to now.
So who knows how it will develop in the next years, it looks like it's selling good and in my opinion the future of digital is in this boxes and they will replace computers.
Because Mpc is actually a computer, a tablet plus audio card plus controller already mapped in a clever way.
Fantom and Kronos are just dedicated synth oriented workstations, Mpc is primarily a sampler sequencer, so no comparison is possible but Fantom and Kronos synths are light years ahead compared to Mpc ones.
But who knows what Air and Akai can bring to Mpc. Let's see.
I will skip this key version I guess, but the fact Akai is investing on it, means some interesting solution will come in the future.

The latest Fantom has pretty impressive synths via Zen-Core. Having access to Roland's catalog of synths that it emulates is definitely a leg up (fairly accurate Jupiter and Juno among others).

Bezo wrote:Unless they modernize the workflow and leave some of the archaic MPC ways behind, no way I'd want an MPC workstation.

At the same time, with a modern workflow & 2022 speed/power, it could be legendary. I'd grab one immediately.

NGL, a keyboard like this with the Force pads and OS would be utter fire...

Straker wrote:Because Mpc is actually a computer, a tablet plus audio card plus controller already mapped in a clever way.

This, 100x. Any time people ask me what my MPC or Force are, this is how I describe them - like a tablet with a control surface optimized for making tunes.

And it's only a matter of time before an upgraded SoC board comes out that's more powerful and at a similar price point to the current SoC board, and with any luck the work done on the MPCs in their current lineup will translate with minimal effort and we'll see a ton more RAM and power available to us in a new revision. I really hope so, and that Akai keeps the love flowing on the MPC/Force lineup. For all their faults, they've really turned both product lines into winners IMO.

I can absolutely guarantee, with absolute certainty, that when the SoC is indeed eventually updated to be something faster/more RAM, the current MPC/Force OS will absolutely run on it with little effort. I can't even fathom Akai throwing away literal years of hard work that the devs have put into this platform - it's just too valuable. I'll bet the farm that the years its taken them to create all of these effects, plugins, and the current gen sampler & ecosystem have cost them tens of millions. Just for the software development alone.

/begin tangent

Software development is crazy complex and expensive. This is why whenever I see chumps trying to justify software piracy, I want to punch them in the face.

/end tangent

EnochLight wrote:/begin tangent

Software development is crazy complex and expensive. This is why whenever I see chumps trying to justify software piracy, I want to punch them in the face.

/end tangent

I agree, unless it's predatory like Adobe.

jabberwalky wrote:

EnochLight wrote:/begin tangent

Software development is crazy complex and expensive. This is why whenever I see chumps trying to justify software piracy, I want to punch them in the face.

/end tangent

I agree, unless it's predatory like Adobe.

Yeah, I'm going to stay away from that one, only for the fact that Adobe devs absolutely deserve to be paid for their hard work just like anyone else. How you feel about software as a subscription service is entirely noted, though.

EnochLight wrote:I can absolutely guarantee, with absolute certainty, that when the SoC is indeed eventually updated to be something faster/more RAM, the current MPC/Force OS will absolutely run on it with little effort. I can't even fathom Akai throwing away literal years of hard work that the devs have put into this platform - it's just too valuable. I'll bet the farm that the years its taken them to create all of these effects, plugins, and the current gen sampler & ecosystem have cost them tens of millions. Just for the software development alone.

/begin tangent

Software development is crazy complex and expensive. This is why whenever I see chumps trying to justify software piracy, I want to punch them in the face.

/end tangent

Yeah, but they also might get totally **** by the SoC manufacturer saying “yeah, never mind - we’re going to go off in this other direction now.” Hopefully Akai signed a contract for a multi-year, multi-upgrade roadmap of some kind that guarantees them a few hardware revs on the same platform.

misterflibble wrote:Yeah, but they also might get totally **** by the SoC manufacturer saying “yeah, never mind - we’re going to go off in this other direction now.” Hopefully Akai signed a contract for a multi-year, multi-upgrade roadmap of some kind that guarantees them a few hardware revs on the same platform.

Whatever the case may be, this news certainly doesn't make any new products likely anytime soon:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/202 ... st-5-days/

Not sure if it's finished or not, but Scott Stortch Definitely violated his NDA and posted a picture of the MPC Key 61 on IG.

KaoticShock wrote:Not sure if it's finished or not, but Scott Stortch Definitely violated his NDA and posted a picture of the MPC Key 61 on IG.

Did you grab the picture?

zangetsu01 wrote:

KaoticShock wrote:Not sure if it's finished or not, but Scott Stortch Definitely violated his NDA and posted a picture of the MPC Key 61 on IG.

Did you grab the picture?

Here is the link I found:

https://www.reddit.com/r/mpcusers/comme ... urce=share

KaoticShock wrote:Not sure if it's finished or not, but Scott Stortch Definitely violated his NDA and posted a picture of the MPC Key 61 on IG.

I doubt he leaked that without AKAI authorization, it's viral marketing. And it works, since we ain't talking about the numerous bugs here, only the "brand new fresh" AKAI workstation...

61 keys just too big for me, want a 49 version please