Will the future KEY 61 be a Gen 2 or a MPC XL with keys ?

now that the ONE and key 37 gen 2 are out, i'm little worried for the future key 61.
hoped a huge step up like the XL for the X but i'm afraid it will be just an internal upgrade.

Apparently no

HUBA wrote:Apparently no

Or, not right now.

Wouldn't be surprised if its not released until January 2027.. at this rate reverb gonna turn into rentacenter for MPC's

Lampdog wrote:I think Key61 G2 will happen in the future.
I think Force G2 will happen in the future.

I think i will own one of the two

Lampdog wrote:I think Key61 G2 will happen in the future.
I think Force G2 will happen in the future.

I think so too, but maybe those will have more hardware & RAM updates & got pushed back.

Lampdog wrote:All the movement that’s been going on, aint no way Akai will not bring those out the barn. I can see a Key61g2 in my future and I’d really love for it to stay with lighted wheels and soft touch buttons.

The One & keys was already well made for what they're for but Force & 61 need some surgery - both need a tilt screen & it would make more sense for both to have the MPCe pads. So I guess they brung out the big guns first then the little guy & the clean up crew later this year or 2027 (NAMM, maybe). They may even have a whole new unit as a wildcard. Akai needs to be a Netflix series

The Gen 2 Key 61 is what I'm holding out for.

it WILL come out at some point,
Problem is that gen1 have 4gigs onboard already and 8gigs is just not feasible with current prices. They can't even cannibalise sales of any other model by taking upgraded boards because all of them are 4gigs (apart of XL) In other words it's just too small of an upgrade to launch it now with nothing but CPU upgrade - surface control revamp would require additional R&D and depending on PCB layout potentially additional FCC testing. However, in the long run it's either key61 or Force6 but the keyboard WILL come out. I think it just lost it's priority in favour of Force which they easily can upgrade with 4gigs and call it a day, but it's just my guess.

i want it too, key61 was experimental, i was saving money for it but then the key37 came out, cheaper and taking less space and button's positions are more MPC-like

when key61 g2 comes, i'm gonna take it, maybe they got to redesign the buttons positions to make it more MPC-like as the key37 is

I am hopeful of eventually seeing a Key 61XL G2, so I did a mock up to see what all would fit. This is a 39" x 16" chassis, which is large enough to have the same tilting screen as the XL without overhanging the back. It has the linear Q-links, displays and sequencer buttons from the XL. Screen menu buttons right of screen, pad menus left of screen, touch strip left of pads, and all 8 pad pages with their own button. Two octave select button pairs for when the keyboard is split and mod wheels are left of keyboard. Transport buttons are above the right of keyboard, with the main encoder above them. Top right is the meters and assignable knobs for the 8in/8out hardware onboard mixer, with paging buttons for usb/adat I/O. If Akai wants to make the machine that can replace a DAW and hardware gear, might as well go all in.