Opinion requested for MPC37 use

Hello everyone,

I'm thinking of buying an MPC37 for live EDM/electro type “Groovebox” use rather than complete song creation in “Arrangement” mode.
Do you think this is a good idea?

The reviews/videos I've found on YT don't answer my questions:
- Can you easily mute/unmute tracks like on the old Roland MC or Korg Electribe?
- If I've understood correctly, can “sequences”, equivalent to “patterns” on the competition's products, be easily linked live?
- And finally, isn't the limitation of 2Gb of RAM, of which a good 1/3 is used by the OS, too much of a handicap?

I'm hesitating with an Akai Force, but the presence of a keyboard on the MPC37 is a major plus for me.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me!

You can set up 16-32 Project 1&2 macro knobs to mute any track(s) you want. Each knob can assign 128 tracks mutes. The the had 8 dedicated mute buttons.

Sequences can be arranged live & you have song mode on the MPC. The Force has the 999 scenes/sequences in the clip-matrix which can act as one big song mode.

RAM isn't really a limitation in most cases, especially now that disk-streaming is available on the MPC & Force.

The Key 37 is cool if like the MPC workfolw over the Force & you like to play keys vs pads. The Force 64 pads can be put into piano mode & used as an 64 pad piano giving you 4 octaves is I use to get some going before I use my Keylab-88mk2 MIDI controller.

I would would wait until the official MPC 3 is released before making a decision. I hope Akai drops a MPC64 next.

I've got a 37 and a Force. The Force is the better machine IMHO. But as you say, it doesn't have the keyboard. The MPC 3 software makes thing better but that clip view of the Force is so much better for being able to drop in and out various instruments.

There really is no solution to having the power of the Force sequencer and the keyboard at the moment, other than using an external one.

Thank you very much for your answers.

It's going to be difficult to make a choice, all your arguments are relevant...
I'll think about it some more and see if there are any other comments to help me.
But, for live performance, do you think the Force is the best choice? With an external keyboard?

B-Wise wrote:The Key 37 is cool if like the MPC workfolw over the Force & you like to play keys vs pads. The Force 64 pads can be put into piano mode & used as an 64 pad piano giving you 4 octaves is I use to get some going before I use my Keylab-88mk2 MIDI controller.

Edit: I was trying to say I use the 4 octaves on the Force pads until I get something going before using a actual piano controller.

gilesjuk wrote:I've got a 37 and a Force. The Force is the better machine IMHO. But as you say, it doesn't have the keyboard. The MPC 3 software makes thing better but that clip view of the Force is so much better for being able to drop in and out various instruments.

There really is no solution to having the power of the Force sequencer and the keyboard at the moment, other than using an external one.

Yeah, & now the Force is missing many plugins. Hopefully these will be added later with some QOL improvements for the Force. I think their working a mk2 & new gen MPCs that will be made around the feedback of MPC3.

Luckily the Force is still the superior sequencer because of the clip-matrix. I think their going to add it the MPC to get them use to it before they drop the new gen models. That would make a lot of business sense.

Currently the best setup would be the Force, MPC One & a MIDI piano. I would be patient & see what Akai had planned.

RedElectron wrote:Thank you very much for your answers.

It's going to be difficult to make a choice, all your arguments are relevant...
I'll think about it some more and see if there are any other comments to help me.
But, for live performance, do you think the Force is the best choice? With an external keyboard?

Hard to answer that question since I don't how you produce music. The Force can't change tempo easily. You can record/resample patterns/scenes at different tempos as a workaround or download the MockbaMod OS that has tempo automation. You can also use an external sequencer to change tempo.

If tempo automation isn't an issue then it's really up which device you feel more comfortable on.