Akai Force Forum: Everything relating to the Akai Force, the new 64 pad, clip-based standalone sampler/groovebox from Akai. While not an MPC, it shares many similar software features to the MPC X/MPC Live including the same underlying code-base.
By sonicsnares Fri Oct 29, 2021 10:27 am
Hi.

I was super excited when I heard that USB Soundcards are supported to extend I/O. Now I'm super bummed, cause all soundcards I tried DON'T work.

Presonus 1810c - Error Code -5
ESI U86 XT - Not Working
Maschine MK3 - Not Working

Next time you release an update please be so kind & test sound cards & release a List of working soundcards. that would be very helpful & save time.
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By MPC-Tutor Fri Oct 29, 2021 10:40 am
Make sure your interface is working at 44.1kHz as this is the only frequency supported. You can check a list of supported devices here:

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=211654

Presonus devices do generally appear to be fine. The ESI interface does not appear to be class compliant. Akai have made it clear that only class compliant interfaces are supported - if an interface requires a Mac/PC driver to function it is not going to work in the MPC's custom linux environment.

Also if you wish to report working/non working interfaces, please try to describe your settings in more detail, especially whether or not you set the interface to 44.1 or not.

Regarding Maschine Mk 3 as a general audio interface, I've seen reports of it not working if there's not enough power, are you powering it purely by usb? Did you try powering it by the supplied psu?
By sonicsnares Fri Oct 29, 2021 7:44 pm
Hi.

I only saw now that ESI is not class compliant. I now bought the tascam 16x08 - fingers crossed it works as expected.

I also figured out the presonus ibox 2 works, but the 1810c doesn't cause even if I set the sample rate on windows to 44.1, as soon as I plug it back into force, it switches to 192 kHz. I hope it's fine now with the tascam cause I am really excited to use the Force as my central unit for a laptop free setup.
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By Koekepan Fri Oct 29, 2021 8:10 pm
Let us know how it works out. Reputedly, the Tascam does well on the MPC line, and so does the Behringer UMC1820, so I think that you'll be OK - just let us know!
By sonicsnares Wed Nov 03, 2021 8:52 am
Hi!

The Tascam 16x08 does the job, fortunately. However, I experience audio glitches when routing a few synths & instruments through the machine. Will that be solved in future updates?
By sonicsnares Thu Nov 04, 2021 1:18 pm
Tascam 16x08 glitches & crackles more detailed:

I route 3 hardware synths into the soundcard, add some akai effects like mother ducker and compression, and I set Send 1 to an external output & route the signal through a delay back into akai on a separate audio channel.

the glitches are very short but still annoying. it sounds similar to glitches on a laptop when the sample rate was set too low.

is this a common issue with the force?
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By Koekepan Fri Nov 05, 2021 6:39 pm
It might be CPU load. Under the conditions that you describe, I don't see it being I/O related.

Just to be as safe as possible, I'd stick it on its own USB socket in the back (obviously, everything is going down the same bus, but that should be massively over requirements for this data rate).

What does the CPU level peak at? What happens if you drop out some items?
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By Koekepan Sun Nov 07, 2021 2:21 am
Got a UMC1820 for myself.

I'm not running it full-blast, but I can confirm that slamming eight channels (four stereo channels) through it to my DP-32SD works just fine.

I don't put it on a hub; it gets its own direct USB connection.
By sonicsnares Mon Nov 08, 2021 8:55 am
I doubt it's the CPU load. It never exceeded 20% load, and it also happens with super simple routings. It's more of a click than an actual glitch but happens here & there. I thought it might be a digital clipping but then I turned down the input signal as well as the output - no better result, still clicking.
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By Koekepan Mon Nov 08, 2021 4:27 pm
Sounds more like a buffer underrun. Is there a way of increasing the buffer size? I'd do that in a hot minute.
By hahnice Tue Nov 09, 2021 8:08 am
I have the same issue too, but with the Presonus Studio 1824c . I have set it to 44.1khz on the PC but as soon as I connect it to the Force I get the error code -5. I can see the Presonus comes up in the device list but cannot use it because of this error.
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By Koekepan Wed Nov 10, 2021 9:01 pm
Just a check back on my UMC1820.

So far, flawless. I haven't used the ADAT expansion, but with eight channels inbound (three stereo sets: JP-08, Streichfett and Volca FM, two mono: Volca Keys and Volca Bass) and feeding out to a DP-32SD, it's behaving itself beautifully. I put effects on audio channels, and MIDI channels to drive the synths, and it's dead happy.

I could score a movie with this setup. If I needed more sounds, I could replace one of them with a rompler, but this is good.
By sonicsnares Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:12 am
I do ran a rather advanced setup - I'd say I am pretty happy with the tascam 16x08 input & output wise. I just can't get rid of the clicks, that's pretty annoying. Changing buffer size doesn't work cause AKAI requests 128 samples in order to work the 23 I/O.

The issue also occured when only routing ONE signal into akai & back.

cpu load 18%
By sonicsnares Thu Nov 11, 2021 10:08 pm
I might have found a solution for my clicks problem. I did 2 things:

1. in the audio settings I went to 16bit instead of 24bit, and I turned off the auto warp function
2. I used an USB cable from elektron digitone - this synth also sends lots of information via overbridge, so I assumed the USB cable is capable of sending many audio I/Os at the same time.

running the setup for hours without a single click. I guess it really is crucial to take a super high quality USB cable...