just an observation

i check this board every so often..i've even posted before in the past about different things...but one thing that stays the same no matter how long i go between checking is that there's always a group of people starving for new features.

nothing wrong with wanting the most bang for your buck i suppose, but at what point do you stop waiting for your machine to turn into a magical box? work with what you've got ...gooooodness. I deal with beatmakers ranging from hobbyists to professionals and there's one interesting thing that seperates the two among many other qualities....the professionals I know never complain about the limitations of their gear or voice desire over needing a certain feature to "really" work effectively (often times the same gear the hobbyists and amateurs are using @ the root).

just an observation..not anything to get pissed about if you feel i'm talking about you.


peace

I think we all want the mpc4k to mach its full potential. There are those little adjustments that would make the mpc4k a better machine.

For instance,,,,
THe mpc is capable of handling for about 500 ram mb of samples in memory, but its still impossible to scroll true the samples with the jogdial by letter of the alphabet.
When you got about 500 drumsamples,, or a multisampled piano in your sampler, youve got to scroll true at leats 1500 samples with your bair hands.

There are other minor short commings like this wich shouldnt be hard to implement. Somehow akai doesnt come up with these kind of ideas themselves so we all feel like whe should help them a bit.

I really dont see a problem. Its a good thing that the 4000 keeps getting updated. Im sure your observations is correct according to you but im also sure alot of people wanting new/advertised/working features also make alot of music.

The better it gets.. the better.

Kalei

eh, I understand wanting advertised features to work as advertised...I'm all for that. I'm talking more along the lines of solutions to problems that aren't really problems. For instance...the 500 samples in memory issue: if you're creating huge multisamples or whatnot, open ak.sys and get to it. Otherwise you should be punished accordingly for choosing to make 500MB multisample programs on a screen the size of your hand. You want to make the programs on the road where you don't have a computer handy? Why not just ask akai to build mac osx or windows into it as well. That way you don't even need your computer. I'm getting ridiculous...but I think the point is evident. There is no limit at which requests for improvements would stop. Someone wanted a screen output, there's already a usb keyboard...so why not add a 2nd usb port for a mouse! get it? I mean the machine is what the machine is and while i certainly appreciate akai's every effort to make it better, let's not get ridiculous and expect this box to become some uber magical machine that we always dreamed of (at least...if you don't already think that...which i do hehehe).

antb wrote:eh, I understand wanting advertised features to work as advertised...I'm all for that. I'm talking more along the lines of solutions to problems that aren't really problems. For instance...the 500 samples in memory issue: if you're creating huge multisamples or whatnot, open ak.sys and get to it. Otherwise you should be punished accordingly for choosing to make 500MB multisample programs on a screen the size of your hand. You want to make the programs on the road where you don't have a computer handy? Why not just ask akai to build mac osx or windows into it as well. That way you don't even need your computer. I'm getting ridiculous...but I think the point is evident. There is no limit at which requests for improvements would stop. Someone wanted a screen output, there's already a usb keyboard...so why not add a 2nd usb port for a mouse! get it? I mean the machine is what the machine is and while i certainly appreciate akai's every effort to make it better, let's not get ridiculous and expect this box to become some uber magical machine that we always dreamed of (at least...if you don't already think that...which i do hehehe).

I agree to the fullest!!! However we are quite fortunate that Akai is implimenting all of these upgrades which extend the life and possiblities of the machine. I agree learning the fundamentals and mastering the machine is the key to great music it lessens the frustrations and compliants because you the master can tell it what to do rather than the it telling you that your ideas aren`t possible. The beauty of the 4k so far is that it isn`t locked into one mode of development where if I bought it 3 years ago, someone else could come along and pick up the 2004 model with newer and more convienient features (before you needed an all new machine) we have the best of both worlds. If Akai listens to the compliants at least fire is under them and they will keep updating for the next three yrs (wishful thinking) but the pro would have mastered the machine and use it for the next 10 to 20 yrs whereas the amatuers and hobbyists will buy up the next new machine within two to three years.

antb I hear you, not arguing If it stopped now I would be satisfied with its development, well.. not satisfied at the time it took but nonetheless... thats history now.

For me though, this box would be all I needed if the timestretch had better quality and the slice function was better. Of course realtime timestretch would be a killer too

If it had that, it would actually be my dream machine and I wouldnt ever ask for anything else. I dont need alot of stuff people are asking for, infact I could easily trade a few features for the stuff I mentioned but all peoples needs are different. I wish I was a gazzillionare, then I would pay some people (with roger linn as the head honcho) to build a custom mpc covering all my needs

Until then Ill have to use the computer with it

Kalei

antb wrote: I mean the machine is what the machine is and while i certainly appreciate akai's every effort to make it better, let's not get ridiculous and expect this box to become some uber magical machine that we always dreamed of (at least...if you don't already think that...which i do hehehe).

What I have to say, is that a machine is a machine
and a song is a song.

But some songs are better then other songs.

Some Machines are better then other Machines.



A little hard work and creativity can make a good song excellent.


*** If Akai went out of business today, it wouldn't stop me from using my MPC
as Waldorf going out, didn't have me sell my Q.

But that doesn't mean that Akai shouldn't be addressing it's users' concerns or it's
competition concerns. If they don't do that, then they will suffer the fate of other
companies that haven't listened(acted) to thesevery important factors.

As I"ve said in another thread, if Akai doesn't implement the seperate track length
feature, it's not going to stop me from using my MPC-4000, but it might make
me go buy a RM1X or RS7000, so that I can have a hardware sequence that does
implement this. But would I rather have my preferred Sequencer have this ability.
YES!

Will Akai listening to it's users, help me in coming back to Akai and and help justify putting out $3000-$4000 when they put out the MPC4500XL.
YES!


As an end user that has been using various Hardware and Software sequencers for the
last 15 years, I feel it is my obligation to provide Akai with information on how
to make their products better (have a wider range of features, for a wider audience),
as I will be the one that benefits from it. That's why you'll see me filing official RFE's and Bug'
with the company. I don't think of it as bitching , I view it as IMPROVING.

I have to believe that AKAI wants to improve their product. A good company will.


Cheers!

Dave

bump for 2011.



nowadays nobody wishes for new features. because we are not getting any