New 3.2 OS is out!

From https://gearspace.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-and-electronic-music-production/1246262-akai-pro-force-new-post.html

Updates in Force 3.2
New Features
MPC Instrument Collection
Force now supports the MPC Instrument Collection of plugin instruments available for purchase for use with your standalone device.
AIR OPx-4 is the brand-new four operator FM powerhouse, delivering the ultimate in FM synthesis sound shaping. The instrument includes:
• Advance FM Synthesis: Four Operators, each capable of producing complex waveforms through feedback, formant shaping, FM filtering and FM shaping parameters.
• Dual-mode filter path with 23 different filter types.
• Six envelopes with tempo-synchronized looping.
• Two LFOs and two Ramps.
• Three insert effect slots and two global effect slots, with a huge library of 27 AIR effects including reverbs, delays, modulations, and distortions.
• Modulation Matrix with 32 slots.
• Sample layer for adding percussive attacks.
• Over 670 factory presets included.
AIR Stage Piano is the brand-new flagship acoustic piano instrument. With an elegant interface, you can tweak the sound of each piano model to your taste by changing the dynamics, age, and formants of the piano timbre and adjust note release samples and sustain resonance to increase realism. From the depth and richness of a concert grand to the upright jazz feel of the most vibrant club, Stage Piano and its inspiration selection of carefully crafted presets are perfect for capturing the moment. The instrument includes:
• Advanced acoustic piano sound engine
• Up to six velocity layers.
• Four multi-sampled acoustic pianos: Yamaha C7, Steinway D, Bechstein Upright, and Workstation.
• Sympathetic resonance.
• Hammer fall and staccato release layers.
• Equal and stretched tunings.
• Five built-in AIR effects: Flavor, Compressor, EQ, Delay, and Reverb.
AIR Stage EP is the brand-new flagship electric piano instrument, delivering the lush and rich sounds of the most desirable electric pianos at your fingertips. Stage EP includes five detailed electric piano models, including acoustic mechanics and an FM tine synth, to capture the magic and warm smoothness of the originals, while also adding the full spectrum of modern and classic electronic sounds. This instrument includes:
• Advanced electric piano sound engine.
• Up to twelve velocity layers.
• Five multi-sampled electric pianos: Rhodes, Rhodes Hot, Suitcase, Wurlitzer, Pianet.
• Acoustic and FM mechanics layer.
• Seven built-in AIR effects: Chorus, Tremolo, Amp Sim, Compressor, EQ, Delay, and Reverb.
AIR Studio Strings is the brand-new orchestral strings instrument, bringing the rich and elegant sounds of orchestral, chamber, and solo strings inside your Force. Create beautifully articulated masterpieces from a powerful sampled library featuring combined and individual strings, including Violin, Cello, Bass, and Viola.
This instrument includes:
• Advanced four-part, sample-based string ensemble engine.
• Orchestral, chamber, and solo sample sets.
• Unique intelligent legato engine.
• Four built-in AIR effects: Flavor, EQ, Delay, and Reverb.
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AIR Organ is the brand-new organ instrument for Force, delivering advanced drawbar organ additive synthesis for every musical occasion. With ten incredible tonewheel sets, all gathered from authentic vintage organs, and the award-winning rotary speaker simulation from AIR DB33, AIR Organ will bring you a rich, expressive experience in a stunning user interface.
This instrument includes:
• Advanced drawbar organ additive synthesis engine.
• 10 different drawbar models sampled from vintage organs.
• Percussion layer and key click sounds.
• Scanner vibrato.
• Four built-in AIR effects: Rotary, EQ, Delay, and Reverb.
AIR Mini D is a four-voice poly synth based on the classic American synthesizer legend. A painstakingly-modeled oscillator section includes eight authentic oscillator waveforms and multiple LFO shapes with 19 sections, including ramps, sine, square, triangle, random, and steps. Ladder and modern style filters feature cutoff, resonance, and contour controls, along with a dedicated feedback path. A built-in creative effects chain allows you to apply EQ, Chorus, and Delay to further sculpt your sound. Over 400 presets are included, ranging from basses, leads, percussion, and synth FX.
The Fabric Series includes four new plugin instruments: Fabric XL, Fabric, Fabric Piano, and Fabric Electric Piano.
Fabric XL is the brand-new flagship sample-based synthesizer from AIR Music Technology and delivers the ultimate sounds for all your production needs. Fabric XL brings a stunning collection of cutting-edge presets, including everything from twisted and dark motion pads, drone and sub-basses, acoustic and electric guitars, acoustic and electric pianos, classic poly and lead synths, and much more.
Fabric is almost identical to Fabric XL, but removes the largest sample keymaps to reserve less of your Force’s memory.
Fabric Piano and Fabric Electric Piano deliver the sonic characteristics of the flagship Stage Piano and Stage EP instruments, respectively, but in less CPU-intensive forms. Each includes a comprehensive set of editing features and built-in effects, such as the AIR Flavor effect for adding grit for a lo-fi sound.
Activating Instrument Plugins
If you have purchased a plugin instrument, you can activate it on up to three devices.
Note: Activation requires an internet connection.
To activate plugins:
1. Open the Preferences menu by pressing Menu, and then tapping the Preferences icon at the top of the screen.
2. You will need a valid internet connection to activate your plugins, so if you are not already connected, use the Wi- Fi or Ethernet menus to select your network.
3. Tap the Activate Plugins option on the left side of the screen.
4. Tap the Log In button to log into your inMusic Profile. You can scan the QR code with a mobile device or open the URL shown on the page in a browser of your choice. If you do not already have an account, you will be prompted to create one.
5. Once you have been logged in, you can try out plugin instruments through a free trial, or activate your purchases. To start a trial, tap the Start Trial button next to the desired plugin.
To register a purchase, use the Enter Serial field to enter your serial number and then tap Register.
To refresh the page with your latest purchases or activations, tap Refresh.
To activate a plugin on your device, tap the Activate button next to its name. Tap Deactivate to remove the plugin activation from your device.
To download a purchase to your device, first tap the Change button at the bottom of the touchscreen to select a Content Download Drive. This can be a connected SATA drive, USB drive, or SD card. Then, tap the download icon to begin downloading the plugin to your drive. The download icon will change to show the installation progress. Once the process is complete, you can use your plugin with Force.
To log out of your account, tap Log Out.
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Insert Effect Updates
Force now includes two new AIR insert effects: AIR Amp Simulation and AIR Flavor.
AIR Amp Sim
This effect simulates guitar and bass amplifiers with a wide range of available cabinet models and tone shaping options.
Parameter
Drive Output Soft Clip Top Boost Bias Feedback Bass
Mid
Mid Freq Treble
Parameter
Timbre
Timbre Depth Vinyl Distortion Vinyl Noise Flutter
Monofy
Value Range
0.0–11.0
-12.0 – 0.0 – +12.0 dB 0–100%
0–100%
0–100%
0–100%
-12.0 – 0.0 – +12.0 dB -12.0 – 0.0 – +12.0 dB 250 Hz – 4.00 kHz -12.0 – 0.0 – +12.0 dB
Value Range
Varies 0–100% 0–100% 0–100% 0–100% 0–100%
Default Value
0.0
0.0 dB 0%
0%
0%
0% -12.0 dB 0.0 dB 1.00 kHz 0.0 dB
Default Value
Neutral 100% 0% 0% 0% 0%
AIR Flavor
This effect applies EQ simulations of radios, phones, tape machines, and more to dramatically change the timbre of your sound.
Force is now also compatible with the AIR Flavor Pro plugin. Flavor Pro is the
to manipulate samples, melodies, loops, and instruments to the extreme for today’s modern lo-fi sound. At the heart of Flavor Pro are six powerful effects modules, providing immense lo-fi control with unlimited possibilities. Add instant-color effects such as pitch flutter, tape saturation and dropouts, distortion, drift, downsampling, and vinyl rumble, hum, pops, and crackles. AIR Flavor Pro’s powerful multi-effects layout allows instant vintage magic and manipulation of your production in a fast and creative way. For more information, thempcstore.com.
Cab Model D.I., Brit, 1x8”, 1x12”, 4x10” 2x10”, 2x12”, 4x10”,
4x12”, 1x15” Bass, 4x10” Bass, Radio
new flagship multi-effects plugin designed
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Force now also includes Touch FX, a multi-effect plugin with ten different FX chain configurations, giving quick access to beat-repeat, turntable, delay, filter, and modulation effects.
Use the controls on the left side of the Touch FX plugin window to adjust the settings for the Touch Strip control. You can control the Touch Strip by assigning it to a MIDI control or by using the virtual touch strip on the touchscreen.
Touch Strip: This strip can be controlled manually by tapping and dragging from the touchscreen, or by assigning it a MIDI control. Use this to control the selected Touch FX.
Touch Enable: Tap this box to enable touch control the currently selected Touch FX.
Assigned Parameter: Use this field to select a preset parameter to be controlled by the touch strip. This can be
separate from or in addition to controlling the Wet/Dry amount, depending on the Touch > Wet/Dry setting.
Touch Value: Use this slider to control the value of the Assigned Parameter controlled by the touch strip.
Wet Amount: Use this slider to set the blend the original signal (dry) and the effect signal (wet).
Touch Value / Wet/Dry Lock: Tap the lock icon to use the touch strip to control the Wet/Dry amount in addition to the touch value of the Assigned Parameter.
Touch Attack: Use this slider to set the length of the attack phase of the envelope, which is triggered when you move the touch strip control.
Touch Release: Use this slider to set length of the release phase of the envelope, which is triggered when you release the touch strip control.
Use the controls on the right side of the Touch FX plugin window to select a Touch FX type and adjust its settings. You can also select from the included presets at the top of the window.
Manual Filter
The touch strip controls a static, multi-mode filter without modulation.
Parameter
Cutoff Resonance Mode
Value Range
40.00–10000 Hz 0.00–1.00
LowPass, BandPass, HiPass
Default Value
2530.00 Hz 0.50 LowPass
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Beat Sync Filter
The touch strip controls a multi-mode filter with its cutoff frequency modulated by an LFO, which can be synced to the project tempo.
Parameter
Cutoff Resonance Manual Speed Depth
Mode
Value Range
40.00–10000 Hz
0.00–1.00
Off, 0.10–50.00 Hz
0.0–100.0%
LowPass, BandPass, HiPass
Default Value
34737.15 Hz 0.50
Off
50.0% BandPass
Shape Ramp Up, Ramp Ramp Up Down, Triangle,
Sine, Square, Random1, Random2
Sync Speed Off, 2 Bars, 1 Bar, 1/4 1/2, 1/4, 1/4t, 1/8,
1/8t, 1/16, 1/16t, 1/32, 1/64
Beat Sync Delay
The touch strip controls repeated instances of the original signal that decay over a period of time that is synced to the project tempo.
Parameter
Cutoff Resonance Feedback
Diffusion Mode
Delay Time
Delay Mode
Octave Mode
Parameter
Cutoff Resonance Mode
Delay Time
Value Range
40.00–10000 Hz 0.00–1.00
-99.00 – 0.00 – 99.00
0.00–1.00%
LowPass, BandPass, HiPass
1 Bar, 1/2, 1/4, 1/4t, 1/8, 1/8t, 1/16, 1/16t, 1/32, 1/64
Normal, Cross- Feedback, Ping- Pong
Off, On
Value Range
40.00–10000 Hz 0.00–1.00
LowPass, BandPass, HiPass
1/4, 1/4t, 1/8, 1/8t, 1/16, 1/16t, 1/32, 1/64
Default Value
3052.90 Hz 0.50
49.50
0.50% LowPass
1/4
Normal
Off
Default Value
2530.00 Hz 0.50 LowPass
1/4
Beat Repeat
The touch strip controls an effect that will slice and repeat the source audio according to a tempo-synced beat value.
Reverse
Off, On
Off
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Tape Stop
The touch strip controls a tape stop effect that emulates the slowing down of analog tape playback.
Phaser
The touch strip controls a phaser effect, created by multiple ganged all-pass filters to create “notches,” or sharp spikes, in the frequency spectrum. The frequencies of these all-pass filters can be modulated by an LFO to create a sweeping sound.
Comb Filter
The touch strip controls a comb filter, which creates “notches” in the frequency spectrum, similar to the phaser, by delaying the audio signal and adding it back to itself.
Washout
The touch strip controls an echo effect that is useful for creating transitions.
Parameter
Cutoff
Manual Stop Time
Sync Stop Time
Parameter
Feedback Manual Speed
Parameter
Feedback Manual Speed
Parameter
Cutoff Resonance Feedback Diffusion
Value Range
40.00–10000 Hz 1.00 – 4.00 s
Off, 1/4, 1/4t, 1/8, 1/8t, 1/16, 1/16t, 1/32, 1/64
Value Range
0.0–100.0% 0.10–50.00 Hz
Value Range
0.0–100.0% 0.10–50.00 Hz
Value Range
40.00–9000 Hz 0.00–100.00% 0.00–100.00% 0.0–10000.0%
Default Value
2530.00 Hz 2.50 s
Off
Default Value
100.0% Off
Default Value
100.0% Off
Default Value
1160.00 Hz 0.50% 0.50% 5000.0%
Sync Speed Off, 2 Bars, 1 Bar, 1/4 1/2, 1/4, 1/4t, 1/8,
1/8t, 1/16, 1/16t, 1/32, 1/64
Sync Speed Off, 2 Bars, 1 Bar, 1/4 1/2, 1/4, 1/4t, 1/8,
1/8t, 1/16, 1/16t, 1/32, 1/64
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Delay Time 1 Bar, 1/2, 1/4, 1 Bar 1/4t, 1/8, 1/8t,
1/16, 1/16t, 1/32, 1/64

Granulator
The touch strip controls a granulator effect, which turns your incoming audio into small grains of sound that can be looped, pitch-shifted, and manipulated.
Parameter
Density
Window Length Grain Length Grain Feedback
Pitch
Stereo Spread
Parameter
Frequency Feedback
Value Range
1.0–300.0 grains/sec
20.0–1000.0 ms
10.0–200.0 ms
-99.00 – 0.00 – 99.00
-12.0 – 0.0 – 12.0 semi
0.0–100.0%
Value Range
Default Value
150.0 grains/sec
510.0 ms 105.0 ms 0.0%
0.0 semi 0.0%
Default Value
Manual Flanger
The touch strip controls a flanger effect, a modulated delay that emulates the sound created when running two analog tape machines in parallel with a slight time misalignment.
100.00–4000.004000.00Hz Hz
0.0–100.0% 100.0%
Additionally, the following improvements have been made to existing Force plugins:
• Rack FX presets have been updated to include presets that use the AIR Flavor and AIR Amp Sim effects.
• The Akai Granulator effect now includes three new parameters for more control over the grains: Reverse, Shape, and Skew.
• The AIR Vocal Tuner effect now includes a suite of factory presets.
• The AIR Reverb effect now has an expanded range of factory presets.
Snapshots
You can now capture a snapshot of all automation parameters in each row using the Row Launch buttons. Once a snapshot has been captured to a row, the saved state of all automation settings will be relaunched with the event data on that row.
To capture a snapshot:
1. Press and hold Edit and then press any Launch button to open
the Edit Row window.
2. Tap the Take Snapshot button.
To clear a snapshot from a row, tap Clear Snapshot from the Edit Row window.
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Menu Editing and Shortcuts Panel
You can now edit the order of Force modes in the Menu.
To edit the Menu appearance:
1. Press Menu to open the menu.
2. Tap and drag the menu icons to your preferred location.
Mode icons placed in the left-most column will be available in the shortcuts panel in other modes.
The top row also serves as a shortcut area that by default lets you quickly create a new project, save projects or other Force files, open the Project popup, and access Preferences.
The remaining sixteen modes in the main area of the Menu will also be available to select by pressing and holding Menu and tapping a pad according to your selected layout.
To reset menu changes, tap the X button at the top of the menu next to the Sync setting.
To use the shortcuts panel, swipe the black touch handle to the right from the left edge of the touchscreen while viewing any mode. The five modes from the left-most column of the Menu can be accessed here.
To close the shortcuts panel, swipe the menu to the left, or select one of the modes.
Track Reordering
You can now change the order of your tracks and their contents.
1. Open Clip Matrix Mode by pressing Matrix on your Force hardware, or by selecting Clip Matrix from the mode Menu.
2. Double-tap a track header to open the track settings window.
3. Use the Position field to move the track and its contents to a new location.
404

Sounds and Favorites
Force now includes two new menus for browsing included plugin instruments, the Sounds and Favorites menus.
To enter the Sounds and Favorites menus, press Menu, and then tap Sounds.
When viewing either the Sounds or Favorites menu, you can swap to the other menu by tapping the first tab at the bottom
of the touchscreen.
Tap the gear icon at the top of the screen to open the Sounds menu settings. Here, you can set the default Sounds menu view to be Instruments or the Current Preset, and enable or disable opening Track Edit mode when loading an instrument.
Tap Locate Preset at the top of the touchscreen to open the preset list for the currently selected plugin instrument.
Tap Edit Instrument at the bottom of the touchscreen to open Track Edit mode to adjust the instrument parameters.
Tap the ? Instruments button to select another program type to search for using the Sounds interface. You can search for Drum, Plugin, Keygroup, Clip, MIDI, and CV program types in any factory expansions or user expansions on any attached drives. When browsing an expansion or user folder, tap a cell to load the selected program.
When searching for non-Plugin programs, you can also tap and hold on an empty space to set a preferred folder location for your saved programs.
To save a preset as a favorite:
1. Select the desired plugin and preset using the Sounds menu.
2. Open the Favorites menu by tapping the bottom-left tab in the Sounds menu.
3. Press and hold on an empty Favorites slot to save the preset in the selected slot.
To edit an existing Favorite slot, tap and hold on a filled Favorite slot. In the menu that appears:
• Tap Clear to clear the slot.
• Tap Overwrite to replace the favorite with the currently selected preset.
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Setlists
Use the Setlists tab to create a list of projects to easily recall, such as for a live performance.
To create a Setlist:
1. Open the Setlist tab from the Sounds page.
2. Tap and hold on an empty Setlist slot, and then tap Choose Project.
3. In the file browser that appears, locate the project you would like to add and then tap Select to load it.
To edit an existing Setlist slot, tap and hold on a filled slot. In the menu that appears:
• Tap Choose Project to select a different project for the same slot.
• Tap Clear to empty the selected slot.
• Tap Copy to copy the project to another slot. Then, tap and hold on an empty slot and tap Paste.
Note Probability and Note Ratchet
You can now add probability and create roll effects by adding ratchets to any note in the Force sequencer. You can apply probability and ratchet from your Force in the Clip Event Editor or the Step Sequencer.
To apply probability or ratchet to a note in the Clip Event Editor:
1. Open the Clip Event Editor.
2. Tap the up arrow (?) button in the lower-right corner to show the velocity/automation lane.
3. Tap to select the current parameter (by default, Velocity), and then use the data dial or -/+ buttons to select Probability or Ratchet.
4. Adjust the blue bars to alter the probability that the note will play, or the ratchet subdivisions for the selected notes. The subdivisions are shown as dotted lines on the original note.
You can also view and adjust the probability or ratchet information using the Step Sequencer. Select the desired note and then set the Step Sequencer Parameter to Probability or Ratchet. As the bars are adjusted, the current probability value (1–100%) or ratchet subdivision (Off, 2-8) will be shown in the Parameter field. The ratchet value will also be shown in the note on button beneath the accompanying slider.
Note probability and ratchet values will be saved and loaded as part of MPC pattern files (.mpcpattern).
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Built-In Tuner
Force now includes a built-in tuner function, allowing you to easily tune any connected audio sources such as guitars, basses, synth modules, and other pitched instruments.
To access the tuner:
1. Press Menu to open the menu. Alternatively, open the Project Pull-Down Menu by tapping and dragging the menu
handle from the middle-top of the screen when it is visible.
2. Tap the tuning fork icon.
3. In the window that appears:
• Use the Input Channel field to select the input for the instrument you would like to tune.
• Use the Frequency of A field to set the base tuning frequency.
4. Play a note and use the indicator to adjust your instrument to the correct pitch.
5. To close the tuner screen, tap Close, the X in the upper-right corner, or anywhere outside the window.

Anyone else having problems opening old project files?

Can’t wait till I’m home tomorrow. Hopefully they have a deal on those new plugins. This update is bonkers. Thanks Akai.

64hz wrote:Can’t wait till I’m home tomorrow. Hopefully they have a deal on those new plugins. This update is bonkers. Thanks Akai.

looks like the instruments are all on sale right now

+this is a great update. I love that you can rearrange tracks right now, this was so annoying

WildWIlD wrote:Anyone else having problems opening old project files?

After updating to 3.2, I have what may be a related problem (or just user error): I started a new project from an old template file, and can't add samples from my sample pool to tracks in the arranger mode - the Browse Samples button isn't working (seems to be greyed out), so I can't get to my samples (that I successfully loaded into the project).

Anybody else having this problem, or am I just having a brain freeze?

WildWIlD wrote:Anyone else having problems opening old project files?

I'm getting an error message on the project I was working on last. An older version loads fine. Definitely odd.

Otherwise this seems to be a great update. Lots of good stuff in there!

Any updates to warping engine? Slice/Repitch algorithms? Old warping gave me crazy stuttering sometimes

If you're using Tascam Model 12, I would skip this update and wait for 3.2.1 since it seems that the audio interface is now crackling VERY noticeably every 10seconds or so. I hope this will be addressed soon ...

Edit: Back at 3.1.3

Iconnectivity Audio4+ is also farting out terrible distortion now. Really lame for me considering it was working great on last firmware and I don’t give two sh*ts about the new plastic vst synths. Really hope Akai is quick on a fix for audio interfaces or else I’ll be back on Elektrons soon.

Nothing but problems so far with 3.2!

Expert Sleepers ES-9 Audio Interface was working perfectly in 3.1.3, completely broken in 3.2. Crackling is an understatement, it has a constant distorted drone, and any sounds put through it are distorted and bitcrushed.

I can't open 2 of the 3 of my existing projects.

LOL I was about to ask if there are any fixes for audio interfaces, but it appears it's got worse, not better. There are fixes and improvements available for Linux audio interfaces drivers. The devices are supposedly "class compliant", but in practice it appears that there is no standard reference host implementation to test against, so device manufacturers just make their devices work with Macs and iPads. So that has become the de-facto reference, and other OSes must do whatever it takes to mimic that. Which means adding per-device tweaks. A lot that stuff is already available in newer Linux kernels, so Akai doesn't have to code the tweaks themselves.

Good to have track ordering, finally! Would be nice to be able to reorder insert effects as well.

OTOH, having to connect and "authorise" plugin over the internet puts me off a lot. It makes hardware as short-lived as software. What will happen when InMusic shuts down the servers after discontinuing the Force?

Yeah, I think that I'll be waiting on this one a little myself. Track reordering is nice; to me the big win is ratcheting and probability.

The plugins and their prices just remind me that I have plenty of hardware. Mini D? I have a Behringer Model D. AIR's FM synth? Nice, but I have some Volca FMs with the velocity-responsive third party firmware. Yeah, I'm good on that front.

And as for the audio interface troubles? Annoying, but I ... have an external MTR. As long as I have MIDI, I can record whatever.

I'll let them come out with a bugfix update, then upgrade.

I've got Force firmware 3.2 running on my MPC-X trough our Hakai hack.
So far so good. No new issues while using my RME UFX II audio interface and all of my projects are loading so far.

Fingers crossed..!!