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 Hoekschop Mon Jun 27, 2022 3:17 pm
Hi fellow Force-users,

My collection of hardware is growing gradually and it has come to a point where I can't connect all my gear to my Force separately. Now I have connected some of my gear via daisy chaining (and separate midi channels) but I want a more practical solution. Especially because I expect to get more gear in the future. I would like all my gear to have its own port (and name) in the Force.

This is my setup at the moment:
- Midi Keyboard to the Force via DIN
- Behringer Pro-1 via USB
- microKORG S from the Force via DIN
- Volca FM via Midi thru of the MK

I need both DIN-midi and USB-midi connections. Another requirement is that it should work standalone too. I want to be able to play my synths from the keyboard without having to turn on the Force. Also, it would be nice if I could connect my iPad.

So far the best option seems to be the Mio XM: https://www.iconnectivity.com/mioxm. I also came across the MIDIHub but that doesn't offer Midi over USB.

Is there anybody here that owns a Mio XM (or its bigger brother the Mio XL)? I would really like to hear about your experiences.

Do you guys know about any other Midi Interfaces I should consider?

Thanks!
Conor
User avatar
By dnkygirl Mon Jun 27, 2022 4:57 pm
Connectivity mio units are excellent. There is a larger unit and a smaller unit called the xm. I am running two xm units on opposite sides of my room right now. I have a mix station which has my daw and mixing tools and my standalone setup which I use for songwriting and experimentation. At the mix station I need access to my synths which are on the other side of the room when I need to swap parts or fillers. The mioxm is making that possible using rtp midi. I use software editors when I can to change presets or tweak sounds from that station. The standalone setup I direct have access to the synths and am making custom patches and recording direct into the force. It may sound complex but it’s really not in my opinion. I have a lot of flexibility to create and make changes after the fact. The mio units are rock solid and love the fact I can network them together via Ethernet connection. This has made my life super easy when I’m working on projects.
By misterflibble Sat Jul 02, 2022 2:53 pm
I use the Retrokits RK-006 combined with a Kenton Merge box, and the combo works really well for my collection.

Here's a diagram of my setup.

When you don't have the RK-006 connected to a USB host, and instead just supply it power over USB (like with an iPhone charging brick), it acts as a Thru box. It's programmable to operate in different modes, which looks cool but I have never played with - I just use it in the default configuration.
By tomatoattack Sun Jul 03, 2022 7:49 am
Weirdly enough (synchronicity) this thread was just what I was looking for.

I have MioXL which is connected to my computer since always. I love the interface in a way it's super stable and the routing is awesome. I was sending MIDI out from my DAW to all of my devices connected to MioXL.

I obtained Force weeks ago and I am s impressed with it that I want to make it the center of my sequencing setup.

With that being said I was looking can I connect it straight into my Force and how is AKAI (MPC, Force, and all other AKAI devices) seeing this then?

Being so new I was afraid to just connect USB cable to my Force because I don't want to damage force. But seeing on their website it's a class-compliant device it occurred to me that it should work with Force nicely.

So looking here for more resources. I'll try to find more on this in MPC forum and eventually I will post my experience when I connect this to my Force device.,
By Hoekschop Mon Jul 04, 2022 3:01 pm
The Mio XM came in this weekend. It took me only 5 minutes to set the routing and it works as expected.

I made two presets. the first one for standalone use, with the MIDI-Keyboard routed to all ports. And a second to use with the Force. Here I routed the DIN-midi's only to the Daw and the rest of the routing is done by the Force.

Now I can use my MIDI-keyboard if just want to noodle, for example, on the Volca FM without having to start-up the Force. It also works with my iPad so I can practice my keyboard-chops on the Playground Session app.

Very happy with it :-) definitely worth the investment!

@Tomatoattack: it works fine. I wouldn't worry, just hook it up and see what happens :-)

@Misterflibble: that's some setup you've got!
User avatar
By dnkygirl Tue Jul 05, 2022 8:47 pm
Yes, the front USB port normally used to connect to the pc can be connected to the force. This is how I have mine setup. It allows me to see all of the gear I have connected via rtp, usb, and midi din. I love the mio units it’s the best midi interface I have ever owned. The flexibility to route things is amazing including over Wi-Fi which I haven’t played with yet. If you have a Wi-Fi router and have the mio connected via Ethernet you can use Wi-Fi to connect via rtp. So much flexibility…