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.
By MGoolas Thu Jun 23, 2022 11:37 am
I think that they are artificially overinflating their prices for older mpc users as to not steal the spotlight from a potential MPC Key purchase. There is no way these prices will remain the same for long.
Also..... That Fabric plugin is just a dual rompler right ? I have seen the screenshots with all the features and sections and it seems like there is no VA engine apart from sample engines and a multimode filter for each part.
That almost feels like two Hype plugins duct taped together in my book. No modulation matrix or extra envelopes and pricier than Arturia Pigments or similar swiss army knife vsts.
By HouseWithoutMouse Thu Jun 23, 2022 11:38 am
Straker wrote:149$ for acoustic piano?
149$ for electric piano?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_skimming

SOME people will buy at that price. Then the price drops to $129 and more people buy. Then the price drops to $99 and more people buy. At some point the price drops to an INCREDIBLY LOW $49 and lots of people are completely ecstatic about that BARGAIN, finally getting their hands on these PREMIUM PLUGINS. Youtubers advertise this like crazy, people send links to their friends on social media, DID YOU SEE THIS BARGAIN!? And then in the last phase, the whole bunch is in a no-brainer sale for $29 and even those people buy the plugins who don't want them. :)
By Straker Thu Jun 23, 2022 11:44 am
HouseWithoutMouse wrote:
Straker wrote:149$ for acoustic piano?
149$ for electric piano?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_skimming

SOME people will buy at that price. Then the price drops to $129 and more people buy. Then the price drops to $99 and more people buy. At some point the price drops to an INCREDIBLY LOW $49 and lots of people are completely ecstatic about that BARGAIN, finally getting their hands on these PREMIUM PLUGINS. Youtubers advertise this like crazy, people send links to their friends on social media, DID YOU SEE THIS BARGAIN!? And then in the last phase, the whole bunch is in a no-brainer sale for $29 and even those people buy the plugins who don't want them. :)

Yeah like expansions.
Maybe it's also marketing for key61.
You want fabric plugins?
You have them free on key61 or 149$ each on Mpc.
Well I wait for 29$ bargain.
Someone said 149$ is Omnisphere price.
Well, Omnisphere is a PRO plugin which runs on most performative CPU and lots of Ram.
Not on 2gb OS/Ram.
Come on.
By nkozyra Thu Jun 23, 2022 11:50 am
HouseWithoutMouse wrote:
Straker wrote:149$ for acoustic piano?
149$ for electric piano?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_skimming

SOME people will buy at that price. Then the price drops to $129 and more people buy. Then the price drops to $99 and more people buy. At some point the price drops to an INCREDIBLY LOW $49 and lots of people are completely ecstatic about that BARGAIN, finally getting their hands on these PREMIUM PLUGINS. Youtubers advertise this like crazy, people send links to their friends on social media, DID YOU SEE THIS BARGAIN!? And then in the last phase, the whole bunch is in a no-brainer sale for $29 and even those people buy the plugins who don't want them. :)


Agreed, that's how all plug-in manufacturers operate as a baseline, but I think given this is a value add for the keyboard they may be more conservative.
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By MPC-Tutor Thu Jun 23, 2022 11:53 am
MGoolas wrote:I think that they are artificially overinflating their prices for older mpc users as to not steal the spotlight from a potential MPC Key purchase. There is no way these prices will remain the same for long.
Also..... That Fabric plugin is just a dual rompler right ? I have seen the screenshots with all the features and sections and it seems like there is no VA engine apart from sample engines and a multimode filter for each part.
That almost feels like two Hype plugins duct taped together in my book. No modulation matrix or extra envelopes and pricier than Arturia Pigments or similar swiss army knife vsts.


Fabric = 2 primary layers, each layer loads acoustic instruments, sound fx or basic synth oscillators, each layer with its own amp, filter and pitch envelopes and LFO (all generally higher spec'd than the keygroup program equivalents). third percussion layer, global controls over things like formant, sample start, filter, envelope etc, lots of FX, more expression control than keygroups.

It's good for a standalone rompler, lots of tweaking options, but it's not pigments or anything like that, not even close. Can't import your own samples. Maybe they'll improve it over time, I'm not sure what their plans are with any of these plugins. The existing plugins haven't really seen any improvements beyond some bug fixes.
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By kja Thu Jun 23, 2022 11:55 am
How can you compare with vst that runs on a computer when mpc is all about standalone.. of you have a computer then you could just run the mpc software as a vst in live and have any vst for your beats.. this cost what itt does because you can use them without a computer.. obviously they won't be as nice as omnisphere.. that is not the point.. do you want standalone or not? Lol. If so, this is the best option yet..
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By NearTao Thu Jun 23, 2022 11:55 am
Okay... well that's insane... $499 for the set. Only works within the software or standalone... so no VST etc... and from what I can tell no indication if it will work on future platforms. I get what they are doing from a business perspective... but holy heck as a customer I'm not terribly interested at that price point.

EDIT: Well guess I'll have to wait for a 50% off sale or something... but $250 still feels spicy.
By hansjbs Thu Jun 23, 2022 11:58 am
MPC-Tutor wrote:
Straker wrote:What pro or semipro plugin can you have on a 2gb shared cpu/ram soc?
Come on. Let's be serious.
That's overoverpriced.
The most stupid move from Akai since 5 years.


My point is that if someone is using the MPC 'professionally' then they probably don't care too much about paying over the odds for a platform-specific set of plugins like these. They'd rather have the plugins than not have them.

I don't think anyone is under the illusion that these plugins are pound-for-pound equal to mass market, top dog ones like Omnisphere, but ultimately they are going to be useful for working MPC producers who want a wide range of sounds to work in standalone with. Most working producers don't have time to come to forums and moan about plugin prices, they just buy the plugins and go away and make music & money with them.

xx% will buy at full price, xx% will wait for initial discounts ('any' discounts), xx% are fairly price sensitive and will wait until black friday etc, xx% will never buy (but will probably be the most negatively vocal about it all).


This is the best statement I’ve seen in this forum in a long time. :worthy:
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By MPC-Tutor Thu Jun 23, 2022 12:02 pm
It is ridiculous, like Waves, different sale almost every day, bit like Udemy. Same old companies running the same old promos, I love going to Rekkerd to see which predictable 'cycle' we're currently in the middle of. I find Fabfilter have the best balance. Prices are reasonable all year round (e.g. £150 for Pro Q3 is a good price for an industry standard EQ plugin). No random or convoluted sales, no promo codes, just a summer sale and black friday when you get a sensible 25% off. They seem very confident in their pricing, (and so they should be!).

HouseWithoutMouse wrote:
Straker wrote:149$ for acoustic piano?
149$ for electric piano?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_skimming

SOME people will buy at that price. Then the price drops to $129 and more people buy. Then the price drops to $99 and more people buy. At some point the price drops to an INCREDIBLY LOW $49 and lots of people are completely ecstatic about that BARGAIN, finally getting their hands on these PREMIUM PLUGINS. Youtubers advertise this like crazy, people send links to their friends on social media, DID YOU SEE THIS BARGAIN!? And then in the last phase, the whole bunch is in a no-brainer sale for $29 and even those people buy the plugins who don't want them. :)
By Jawbrizza Thu Jun 23, 2022 12:02 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote:
Straker wrote:What pro or semipro plugin can you have on a 2gb shared cpu/ram soc?
Come on. Let's be serious.
That's overoverpriced.
The most stupid move from Akai since 5 years.


My point is that if someone is using the MPC 'professionally' then they probably don't care too much about paying over the odds for a platform-specific set of plugins like these. They'd rather have the plugins than not have them.

I don't think anyone is under the illusion that these plugins are pound-for-pound equal to mass market, top dog ones like Omnisphere, but ultimately they are going to be useful for working MPC producers who want a wide range of sounds to work in standalone with. Most working producers don't have time to come to forums and moan about plugin prices, they just buy the plugins and go away and make music & money with them.

xx% will buy at full price, xx% will wait for initial discounts ('any' discounts), xx% are fairly price sensitive and will wait until black friday etc, xx% will never buy (but will probably be the most negatively vocal about it all).


hardware is absolutely a hobby game so ive got to disagree on this man. anyone making money who has half a brain will already have multiple better options and be using computers. this is marketed at those dumb enough to bite :nod: akais marketing is horrendous and clearly aggressively aimed at the lowest common denominator. its not about targeting real working producers, its about catching as many of the people simple enough to believe it will make them real producers. im not trying to be a dick or anything but its true. there is no money in targeting the tiny percentage of beatmakers who actually sell beats. thats just poor business sense. it only takes a glimpse at their website and design aesthetic to see that. I do believe the price will drop quickly though as with all current and likely future akai products

I dont doubt its a fun bit to play with but if I need an FM synth to sell a beat I can safely say page diving on my MPC wouldnt be my go to. same for piano libraries, or basically anything except chopping samples and sequencing. beyond that it just cant compete with a computer and never will. just my 2c though im sure some people out there will use these synths on beats and sell them obviously
By Straker Thu Jun 23, 2022 12:03 pm
kja wrote:How can you compare with vst that runs on a computer when mpc is all about standalone.. of you have a computer then you could just run the mpc software as a vst in live and have any vst for your beats.. this cost what itt does because you can use them without a computer.. obviously they won't be as nice as omnisphere.. that is not the point.. do you want standalone or not? Lol. If so, this is the best option yet..

Someone compared Omnisphere price with these fabric plugins price.
It doesn't make any sense also for me.
It's clear they are overpriced to make you buy key61, now I am thinkin that.
It's years I am saying Akai could have run a plugin store for Mpc.
But my idea was a store to buy plugins for 30$ or so, like rack extensions on Reason.
That's more or less the market price.
149$ is way too expensive and without any sense because the quality is what it is.
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By MPC-Tutor Thu Jun 23, 2022 12:08 pm
You do make a fair point there, I actually would really love to know what % of MPC users are professional/semi pro vs hobby.

Jawbrizza wrote:hardware is absolutely a hobby game so ive got to disagree on this man. anyone making money who has half a brain will already have multiple better options and be using computers. this is marketed at those dumb enough to bite :nod: akais marketing is horrendous and clearly aggressively aimed at the lowest common denominator. its not about targeting real working producers, its about catching as many of the people simple enough to believe it will make them real producers. im not trying to be a dick or anything but its true. there is no money in targeting the tiny percentage of beatmakers who actually sell beats. thats just poor business sense. it only takes a glimpse at their website and design aesthetic to see that. I do believe the price will drop quickly though as with all current and likely future akai products

I dont doubt its a fun bit to play with but if I need an FM synth to sell a beat I can safely say page diving on my MPC wouldnt be my go to. same for piano libraries, or basically anything except chopping samples and sequencing. beyond that it just cant compete with a computer and never will. just my 2c though im sure some people out there will use these synths on beats and sell them obviously
User avatar
By Lampdog Thu Jun 23, 2022 12:08 pm
HouseWithoutMouse wrote:SOME people will buy at that price. Then the price drops to $129 and more people buy. Then the price drops to $99 and more people buy. At some point the price drops to an INCREDIBLY LOW $49 and lots of people are completely ecstatic about that BARGAIN, finally getting their hands on these PREMIUM PLUGINS. Youtubers advertise this like crazy, people send links to their friends on social media, DID YOU SEE THIS BARGAIN!? And then in the last phase, the whole bunch is in a no-brainer sale for $29 and even those people buy the plugins who don't want them. :)

This is exactly what happens.
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By HanHuman Thu Jun 23, 2022 12:18 pm
Holly shit, waaaaaaay too expensive. :lol:
Bummer I was interested with the OPx4, but $149 is not in the realm of what I'd pay for an MPC plugin.
Thinking about it I don't even know what I would pay for that. Maybe $50 to $70 tops.
Anyway got hardware, I'll pass on this one.
Last edited by HanHuman on Thu Jun 23, 2022 12:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.
By KaoticShock Thu Jun 23, 2022 12:23 pm
To me, the price of these plugins is justified because I can't just put Nexus, Sampletank or Xpand or Structure in my MPC. Auto-sampling all those patches would takes months, which is time I don't have. Plugin instruments speed up my workflow, so for me, they are very valuable. Not for $999, but yes for $499. I usually buy Expansions I want half price on BF.