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 KaoticShock Tue Jun 28, 2022 1:20 am
Straker wrote:Just finally tried the new plugins.
Stage pianos are quite good, not top notch but very useable and a lot of detail.
EP are just not good.
Strings are ok but nothing special.
Organ is not that bad.

Honestly, I autosampled EP and strings and organs from an MC707 and they sound much better.
I think piano is the only one worth when prices will get down.
For the rest, we are still not there.
Just a simple mc707 which is not a workstation has better sounds.
Fantom is years ahead.


I will definitely agree, Straker. I also have an MC-101, and I would definitely prefer certain Roland Presets over the AIR ones depending on the sound. The cool thing about the 707 is all the editing parameters tho, There aren't enough knobs on the 101, even when using the assignable parameters! Zen-Core engine still has ethnic instruments, more Electric Basses and Guitars than Fabric, etc. Its a balancing act, but I still like having the option to edit and automate instrument parameters in addition to using keygroups. Thanks for all the feedback.

And yes, even the Fantom-X6 from 2004 is still lightyears ahead of the current MPC Firmware. Where's my stummer/phrase generator Akai??????????
By fmq75 Tue Jun 28, 2022 8:29 am
Nice that you can try them on hardware as well.I like the Opi,i want that.It‘s really complex though,this tons of edit pages put me a little off But since its a very capable synth (and it sounds got),i‘m already looking forward what miracles other people come up with (and sell them of course).So,there is no manual?

And:how can i save favorites in this fancy new browser?
User avatar
By MPC-Tutor Tue Jun 28, 2022 9:17 am
fmq75 wrote:But since its a very capable synth (and it sounds got),i‘m already looking forward what miracles other people come up with (and sell them of course).


In theory I'd love to do this, but Akai are making it virtually impossible to distribute custom presets for their synths. There is no officially supported way to do this, absolutely no thought for third party developers (trust me, I've sent feature requests about this).

You can paste a folder of presets into the relevant 'presets' folder on the 'Synths' folder on your MPC disk, although it's a bit 'hacky' for it to work properly (and doesn't work for internally stored synths like Tubesynth, drumsynth etc). But now with the MPC Key, the entire 'Synths' folder is stored on the inaccessible internal drive, so ironically, the biggest potential market for presets can't actually install them.

I have a whole collection of Fabric presets ready to launch, but until I find a reliable installation method for all MPCs, it's probably going to sit there gathering dust. The other option is to distribute them as ready-made programs with the preset already applied, but these wont play nice with the new Sounds browser as it doesn't appear to have any support for plugin 'programs' whatsoever (only drum and keygroup).
By sinik Tue Jun 28, 2022 9:25 am
MPC-Tutor wrote:
fmq75 wrote:But since its a very capable synth (and it sounds got),i‘m already looking forward what miracles other people come up with (and sell them of course).


In theory I'd love to do this, but Akai are making it virtually impossible to distribute custom presets for their synths. There is no officially supported way to do this, absolutely no thought for third party developers (trust me, I've sent feature requests about this).

You can paste a folder of presets into the relevant 'presets' folder on the 'Synths' folder on your MPC disk, although it's a bit 'hacky' for it to work properly (and doesn't work for internally stored synths like Tubesynth, drumsynth etc). But now with the MPC Key, the entire 'Synths' folder is stored on the inaccessible internal drive, so ironically, the biggest potential market for presets can't actually install them.

I have a whole collection of Fabric presets ready to launch, but until I find a reliable installation method for all MPCs, it's probably going to sit there gathering dust. The other option is to distribute them as ready-made programs with the preset already applied, but these wont play nice with the new Sounds browser as it doesn't appear to have any support for plugin 'programs' whatsoever (only drum and keygroup).


what a shame. i really hope akai is being more open minded when it comes to these things. not everybody is a sound designer or wanna spend time creating presets. allowing loading external patches has to be a must imo. i think the key 61 is a great piece of hardware and it looks like they stepped up their game on product design and UX, but they should be more user friendly.

i have a headache when im scrolling through the tubesynth or hype presets.
User avatar
By MPC-Tutor Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:03 am
sinik wrote:what a shame. i really hope akai is being more open minded when it comes to these things. not everybody is a sound designer or wanna spend time creating presets. allowing loading external patches has to be a must imo..


Well their new VST versions currently don't even allow saving of user custom presets, so I'm not sure the current roadmap is too focused on these types of things.

As an expansion developer I can see that these synth plugins could well put a dent in some of my keygroup instrument sales, so ideally I want to counter that by offering well-designed presets for those synths, I'm quite happy to go down that route, but only if the MPC can officially support that kind of stuff. I'm not really too interested in trying to find hacky workarounds, that's no way to run a business.

For me the obvious way to deal with this is for akai to add something similar to the 'Expansions' and 'Progressions' folders on your SD/SATA/USB disk, i.e. a folder called 'Presets' which automatically maps any presets you place there to the appropriate plugin's own preset folder.
By Straker Tue Jun 28, 2022 11:16 am
KaoticShock wrote:
Straker wrote:Just finally tried the new plugins.
Stage pianos are quite good, not top notch but very useable and a lot of detail.
EP are just not good.
Strings are ok but nothing special.
Organ is not that bad.

Honestly, I autosampled EP and strings and organs from an MC707 and they sound much better.
I think piano is the only one worth when prices will get down.
For the rest, we are still not there.
Just a simple mc707 which is not a workstation has better sounds.
Fantom is years ahead.


I will definitely agree, Straker. I also have an MC-101, and I would definitely prefer certain Roland Presets over the AIR ones depending on the sound. The cool thing about the 707 is all the editing parameters tho, There aren't enough knobs on the 101, even when using the assignable parameters! Zen-Core engine still has ethnic instruments, more Electric Basses and Guitars than Fabric, etc. Its a balancing act, but I still like having the option to edit and automate instrument parameters in addition to using keygroups. Thanks for all the feedback.

And yes, even the Fantom-X6 from 2004 is still lightyears ahead of the current MPC Firmware. Where's my stummer/phrase generator Akai??????????

I would say that the opx4 is the best of them all.
The others are ok, useful tools I could say, good interfaces and flexibility but still nothing special, not so different from hype or electric, not at the level of better romplers like mc101/707 or fantom as you said but still ok for a 2gb soc, maybe the best we can get on that MPC standalone.
But opx4 is a different story, a great FM packed in a very clever way, endless possibilities for creating and experimenting, it is what MPC was missing more then the other plugins that at the end overlap with hype, electric and the other old plugins.
If I don't get stage EP and strings and organs, I have autosampled keygroups that sound damn good from Roland.
But I have nothing like opx4.
So that's really worth to buy.
When it will get to a decent price, obviously.
User avatar
By jabberwalky Tue Jun 28, 2022 11:48 am
Straker wrote:[
When it will get to a decent price, obviously.


Opx4 definitely on the wishlist. I'm kinda sad to only have 5 days left (3 of which I won't be near my MPC!)

Can't swing $150 on software right now, but sure would be tempted by that one. I've spent more on less comprehensive VSTs (and film scoring sample libraries......woof).
By Rank31 Tue Jun 28, 2022 11:53 am
Straker wrote:I would say that the opx4 is the best of them all.
The others are ok, useful tools I could say, good interfaces and flexibility but still nothing special, not so different from hype or electric, not at the level of better romplers like mc101/707 or fantom as you said but still ok for a 2gb soc, maybe the best we can get on that MPC standalone.
But opx4 is a different story, a great FM packed in a very clever way, endless possibilities for creating and experimenting, it is what MPC was missing more then the other plugins that at the end overlap with hype, electric and the other old plugins.
If I don't get stage EP and strings and organs, I have autosampled keygroups that sound damn good from Roland.
But I have nothing like opx4.
So that's really worth to buy.
When it will get to a decent price, obviously.


Yes this OPx4 is fantastic. By far the best plugin.

It's a FM synth but surprisingly I found it warmer and smother than the VA ones (Odyssey or Tubesynth). I started playing with the trial version and auto-sampled the most interesting sounds to make few keygroups.

I don't agree with the price at all. But I don't know how much time i will resist. :roll:

It's really a game changer for the MPCs IMO. Congrats Akai (except for the price).
By MJ76 Tue Jun 28, 2022 12:01 pm
Not sure if I'm understanding the pricing correctly (as I find the website confusing), am I correct in saying you get all the plugins for $499.00 (the 'MPC Instrument collection')? or does this collection only include cut down versions of the plugins?
By Straker Tue Jun 28, 2022 12:12 pm
MJ76 wrote:Not sure if I'm understanding the pricing correctly (as I find the website confusing), am I correct in saying you get all the plugins for $499.00 (the 'MPC Instrument collection')? or does this collection only include cut down versions of the plugins?

Yep all plugins for 499$, no cutdown versions.
They also give you a very fancy Akai sticker and a free version of Tetris videogame.
Or 149$ each.
By Straker Tue Jun 28, 2022 12:14 pm
Rank31 wrote:
Straker wrote:I would say that the opx4 is the best of them all.
The others are ok, useful tools I could say, good interfaces and flexibility but still nothing special, not so different from hype or electric, not at the level of better romplers like mc101/707 or fantom as you said but still ok for a 2gb soc, maybe the best we can get on that MPC standalone.
But opx4 is a different story, a great FM packed in a very clever way, endless possibilities for creating and experimenting, it is what MPC was missing more then the other plugins that at the end overlap with hype, electric and the other old plugins.
If I don't get stage EP and strings and organs, I have autosampled keygroups that sound damn good from Roland.
But I have nothing like opx4.
So that's really worth to buy.
When it will get to a decent price, obviously.


Yes this OPx4 is fantastic. By far the best plugin.

It's a FM synth but surprisingly I found it warmer and smother than the VA ones (Odyssey or Tubesynth). I started playing with the trial version and auto-sampled the most interesting sounds to make few keygroups.

I don't agree with the price at all. But I don't know how much time i will resist. :roll:

It's really a game changer for the MPCs IMO. Congrats Akai (except for the price).

Resist my friend.
I have the same problem as you. Let's help each other.
If nobody buys them for that price, they must go down.
By MJ76 Tue Jun 28, 2022 12:33 pm
Straker wrote:
MJ76 wrote:Not sure if I'm understanding the pricing correctly (as I find the website confusing), am I correct in saying you get all the plugins for $499.00 (the 'MPC Instrument collection')? or does this collection only include cut down versions of the plugins?

Yep all plugins for 499$, no cutdown versions.
They also give you a very fancy Akai sticker and a free version of Tetris videogame.
Or 149$ each.


Thanks man much appreciated.
User avatar
By epps Tue Jun 28, 2022 5:56 pm
I think I’m going to pull the trigger on the bundle. They all sound pretty good and I think having all that right in the mpc will be a game changer. The price is a bit high but they are a business at the end of the day
By KaoticShock Tue Jun 28, 2022 6:09 pm
epps wrote:I think I’m going to pull the trigger on the bundle. They all sound pretty good and I think having all that right in the mpc will be a game changer. The price is a bit high but they are a business at the end of the day


That's the way I felt. These new plugins are definitely nowhere near the same sound quality as modern (or even some classic) synths or Romplers, but as Straker said, this is probably the best it's gonna get for MPC Standalone. I will still definitely use Keygroups for other sounds, this collection is by no means comprehensive. But it is nice to be able to have more parameters to edit and be able to have access to a wide variety of sounds in standalone mode. For me that was worth the price. I completely understand why it's not worth it for others, the MPC is a Sampler/Sequencer at heart.

I just hope that with all of this new revenue from the Instrument plugins and the Keyboard, Akai can fix the bugs, implement more features and give us more plugins in the future. $150 for each plugin is ridiculous, only the bundle made sense to me.
User avatar
By Lampdog Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:59 pm
epps wrote:I think I’m going to pull the trigger on the bundle. They all sound pretty good and I think having all that right in the mpc will be a game changer. The price is a bit high but they are a business at the end of the day

If not a bundle let Opx-4 be the first purchase. :-D