AKAI says they will change the way we make music forever @ m

Let me finally end this "ITS NOT A CONTROLLER, ITS AN MPC" debate.

Go here: http://www.akaiprompc.com/mpcrenaissance.php

On the page it clearly says: Music Production Controller ... right there in plain view.

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Now, you buy anything you want to buy. But, being experienced in wasting money on shit I don't need (I think most of the forum would agree with me on this one) I am trying to save people the hassle of buying something they are misinformed about because of Akai's marketing tactics.

If you buy it, that's cool. Good on you. Hope you have fun. Just make sure you know what you are buying.

JAH wrote:
@scoobylol
Do I think it will have a big inpact on the controller market? I have to answer your question with a question. Is there any product that made a big impact on the controller market? If so, I believe this will perform equal to or better...if it is designed to be used as a controller alone. By the way...I love the MPD 32.

As I read your comments further...they seem really odd. Does the Fantom G ride on the back of the original Fantom? Does the Korg Kronos ride on the back of the Oasys, Triton, and Trinity? Does the Motif XF....ok. You get my point hopefully. Every new MPC released brought something new to the table. Its 2012....and we (or I) have another one to look forward too. If you are not excited...I won't hold that against you.

Yo Jah, well I have to answer yes mate.

Korg's Nano series changed the way we thought about size and portability.
Novation and their automap technology.
Maschine and its integration with software.
Jazzmutant's Lemur, horribly overpriced but still ahead of it's time.
The iPad debateably.
Akai's own APC 40 which I think is a fantastic piece of kit.

All of these things have brought something new to the table. Life changing? Probably not but new yes. Be it in physical design or functionality. This new Akai product does very little to enhance anything let alone bring anything fresh as far as I can see from the limited info we've had so far. And that's where my problem lies, I don't like product hype. We can all see the blatant similarities between this and Maschine, so just be honest about it. Don't try and push this off as a revolutionary concept when the original idea was released by NI a year ago. It's cringeworthy.

My comment about this new product riding on the back of the previous MPCs is pretty much what I've already stated. It's an advertising gimmic that will end up backfiring because the products really aren't that similar in anything more than aesthetics.

Do Akai not feel confident enough to make a new product without having to reference something that was pioneered by a man who left the company well over a decade ago? It seems to me that they're trying to draw in a demographic that they lost a while back. Why not put the MPC moniker to bed instead of drudging it up, knowing that you will always garner those comparisons?

It's a nice enough looking piece of gear, and I'm excited to see one in the flesh. But this won't change things forever, it'll be lucky to change them for a weekend. Having said that if they do release more information I will be happy to eat my words if I'm proved wrong.

JamesJeffery wrote:Let me finally end this "ITS NOT A CONTROLLER, ITS AN MPC" debate.
Go here: http://www.akaiprompc.com/mpcrenaissance.php
On the page it clearly says: Music Production Controller ... right there in plain view.

It's certainly a bit confusing and perhaps they need to work on that marketing page to make it clear, but I think the idea is that the combo of controller and software is referred to as 'MPC Renaissance'.

Coz wrote:

W. Steele wrote:Price and a stand alone mode (WITHOUT COMPUTER) is what's gonna sell this thing .

I disagree.

We're all chained to our computers for one reason or another, and the reason I don't use Maschine that much is DEFINITELY not because you need a computer to run it.

The integration aspect is without doubt the best part about Maschine.

agreed. the best part about maschine is drag and drop samples, and duplicate pads non destructively, and dropping in vsts for effects on your sounds as you are making the beat. that and dedicate knobs to adjusting sample start and end points. everything else for me is a wash

scoobylol wrote:
Yo Jah, well I have to answer yes mate.

Korg's Nano series changed the way we thought about size and portability.
Novation and their automap technology.
Maschine and its integration with software.
Jazzmutant's Lemur, horribly overpriced but still ahead of it's time.
The iPad debateably.
Akai's own APC 40 which I think is a fantastic piece of kit.

All of these things have brought something new to the table. Life changing? Probably not but new yes. Be it in physical design or functionality. This new Akai product does very little to enhance anything let alone bring anything fresh as far as I can see from the limited info we've had so far. And that's where my problem lies, I don't like product hype. We can all see the blatant similarities between this and Maschine, so just be honest about it. Don't try and push this off as a revolutionary concept when the original idea was released by NI a year ago. It's cringeworthy.

My comment about this new product riding on the back of the previous MPCs is pretty much what I've already stated. It's an advertising gimmic that will end up backfiring because the products really aren't that similar in anything more than aesthetics.

Do Akai not feel confident enough to make a new product without having to reference something that was pioneered by a man who left the company well over a decade ago? It seems to me that they're trying to draw in a demographic that they lost a while back. Why not put the MPC moniker to bed instead of drudging it up, knowing that you will always garner those comparisons?

It's a nice enough looking piece of gear, and I'm excited to see one in the flesh. But this won't change things forever, it'll be lucky to change them for a weekend. Having said that if they do release more information I will be happy to eat my words if I'm proved wrong.

Were you offended by Maschine and MV-8000 having similarities to the MPC series? Or what about all the DAWs that have similarities to Cubase and Logic? So you saying the new MPC is cringeworthy is puzzling. Besides, if you have the time, check out my old threads in the MPC 5000 forum and even the MPC 2500 forum. Many feature request threads. Specifically take a look at my MPC unplugged thread....written in 2009. This is the product I wanted 3 years ago. I don't need the hype to sell me on this concept.

MPC is the Akai brand. It would be silly to call it anything but an MPC...MIDI Production Center to Music Production Center...to the current Music Production Controller.

Personally, I don't care if you eat your words or not. I am just here to talk about MPCs because that is what I enjoy talking about.

After the MPC 5000 OS failure, and the fact that this thing will be standalone too, I wanna know how they plan on making a decent software and OS for this thing. I mean they couldn't even do one of those things right last time.

Sweet news. Used prices will now go down on all the real hardware MPCs, so I can grab a 3000 again!

I'm not offended in the slightest Jah. Nor was I bothered about those products having similarities, what bothered me was comments like:

THIS IS THE NEW MPC KILLAH. MPCS ARE NOW WORTHLESS. JUST SOLD MY MPC IMMEDIATELY FOR THIS.

I'm yet to see any product accomplish everything the MPC did in such a proficient and streamlined way. And in fairness I don't think we will, the MPC filled a niche that was relevant to it's time.

Nor did I say the new MPC was cringeworthy, I said the marketing gimmics are, and I will stand by that for all the reasons I've mentioned. The thing about me eating my words was more to do with my own affinity and love of Akai. I want nothing more than this product to be a fantastic success so the company can build its future. But at the moment any potential this thing might have is being somewhat deviated by hype, a lack of real details and a pretty naff advertising video.

JamesJeffery wrote:Who needs lots of knobs and buttons? Just the basics to get the job done is all you need. These days you have the Lemur iPad app for complete and customisable control.

Remove the buttons from any MPC and see how far you get, of course you need dedicated buttons.

A older standalone MPC is just a control surface to control the internal MPC software, a large part of what makes it good to work with are the dedicated buttons for a lot of the functions.

The new MPC controller looks like it is much more than an MPD, lots of dedicated buttons assigned to VMPC software functions, much like a 'real' MPC.

There is no reason that the workflow on the MPC control surface can not be similar to a 'real' MPC.

As for the knobs, if the MPC controller is controlling VMPC software that supports VST plugins, why not have lots of assignable knobs?

With the VMPC software there is a whole lot more that needs control, so lots of knobs makes sense.

Lots of hate for not much reason it seems, wait until it comes out and you have had a go on it before so much hate.

I'm not really into it, but I don't think it looks that bad.

The real problem, based on Akai's track record, is going to be buggy software that never gets fixed, and advertised features that never get implemented, before they move onto the next music/life changing device.

cyrus wrote:agreed. the best part about maschine is drag and drop samples, and duplicate pads non destructively, and dropping in vsts for effects on your sounds as you are making the beat. that and dedicate knobs to adjusting sample start and end points. everything else for me is a wash

Absolutely.

I was given Maschine, so I in a way I have a subjective stance on it regarding its functions etc, without having to defend the purchase. For what it is it's fantastic, but the hardware/software side of things leaves a lot of room for improvement.

There must be a good reason for Akai to include 16 Q-Links on the MPC-Ren, other than to just double the previous count on the 5k? Will I be able to have 2 rough trim knobs and 2 more for finer adjustment? How freely assignable are they going to be with other software? How are sounds going to be exported out of this thing?

It's the software that leaves me with the most questions...

can the renaissance run jjos..........?


lol

Coz wrote:There must be a good reason for Akai to include 16 Q-Links on the MPC-Ren, other than to just double the previous count on the 5k?

To control parameters in the VST plugins that the VMPC software supports?

scoobylol wrote:I'm not offended in the slightest Jah. Nor was I bothered about those products having similarities, what bothered me was comments like:

THIS IS THE NEW MPC KILLAH. MPCS ARE NOW WORTHLESS. JUST SOLD MY MPC IMMEDIATELY FOR THIS.

I'm yet to see any product accomplish everything the MPC did in such a proficient and streamlined way. And in fairness I don't think we will, the MPC filled a niche that was relevant to it's time.

Nor did I say the new MPC was cringeworthy, I said the marketing gimmics are, and I will stand by that for all the reasons I've mentioned. The thing about me eating my words was more to do with my own affinity and love of Akai. I want nothing more than this product to be a fantastic success so the company can build its future. But at the moment any potential this thing might have is being somewhat deviated by hype, a lack of real details and a pretty naff advertising video.

Marketing is suppose to get people talking. All press is good press. Its gets people talking. The object is to sell units and not just cater to a small niche crowd.

SimonInAustralia said what I am saying the best. Akai took the MPC OS and installed it on a PC/Mac. Then they kept the MPC controller we have grown to love (even has the LCD screen) and made it completely integrated with the software...like it always has been but without the fixed hardware limitations.

Coz wrote:

cyrus wrote:agreed. the best part about maschine is drag and drop samples, and duplicate pads non destructively, and dropping in vsts for effects on your sounds as you are making the beat. that and dedicate knobs to adjusting sample start and end points. everything else for me is a wash

Absolutely.

I was given Maschine, so I in a way I have a subjective stance on it regarding its functions etc, without having to defend the purchase. For what it is it's fantastic, but the hardware/software side of things leaves a lot of room for improvement.

There must be a good reason for Akai to include 16 Q-Links on the MPC-Ren, other than to just double the previous count on the 5k? Will I be able to have 2 rough trim knobs and 2 more for finer adjustment? How freely assignable are they going to be with other software? How are sounds going to be exported out of this thing?

It's the software that leaves me with the most questions...

agreed. the workflow of the software with the knobs, paging, mouse, etc. will be the deciding factor. I think depending on the design and integration with controller, some of those knobs could be overkill or be life savers.....

the thing i was most excited about with maschine was how you could use it without looking at the computer.....but still have the advantages of the computer (file management, drag drop, export audio, vsts, etc.) while i think this is still cool, i actually find myself not using it like that, once you sort of learn the workflow it turns out im actually using the mouse a lot (and not disliking it) but still abe to use the hardware, but in doing this, ive figured out some of its shortcommings while applying an mpc state of mind to it.

I hope akai glued the software and hardware together right. like figuring out that happy medium of when to use the mouse, when to use the controller, switching between the two, etc. I hope they dont miss those nuances that unless you are an mpc owner you would overlook while designing.

if all akai did was make a virtual copy of itself, I do not think that is enough, entering the realm of software there are somethings that simpley dont translate the same, even if you try to mimic the workflow, it just wont work, you have to adapt.

i just realized after 2nd viewing that they added an arm rest like 60mk1, haha