The Software looks dope!

I wonder if it has piano roll?

So here's my question. Akai has the new line of MPC's to roll out and the main piece of the package beside the unit is the software which will act as a DAW from my understanding.

Just how powerful is their DAW, or what is it and what is it not capable of? I'm a huge Pro Tool's user, and I'm sure many of yall on here have your preferred DAW. I am able to get a nice mix in Pro Tools after mixing down each track, but keep it mind that also includes vocals for recording a full track, not just beat making.


Is the software only geared towards beating making, how does it compete with other DAW's. I can't really see making full use of their DAW. Because lets say somebody wanted to buy one of your beats and you did a nice little mix on it in Akai's DAW, but the person buying the beat does not care about that, they want the original files of the beat in order to get a fuller mix in their studio's DAW including vocals, etc.... Maybe I've missed it, but what is the full detail surrounding the DAW. In my humble opinion, if Akai's DAW cannot go beyond my DAW then the only thing your getting out of the package is just the unit......


Thoughts

713_HOU_TX wrote:So here's my question. Akai has the new line of MPC's to roll out and the main piece of the package beside the unit is the software which will act as a DAW from my understanding.

Just how powerful is their DAW, or what is it and what is it not capable of? I'm a huge Pro Tool's user, and I'm sure many of yall on here have your preferred DAW. I am able to get a nice mix in Pro Tools after mixing down each track, but keep it mind that also includes vocals for recording a full track, not just beat making.


Is the software only geared towards beating making, how does it compete with other DAW's. I can't really see making full use of their DAW. Because lets say somebody wanted to buy one of your beats and you did a nice little mix on it in Akai's DAW, but the person buying the beat does not care about that, they want the original files of the beat in order to get a fuller mix in their studio's DAW including vocals, etc.... Maybe I've missed it, but what is the full detail surrounding the DAW. In my humble opinion, if Akai's DAW cannot go beyond my DAW then the only thing your getting out of the package is just the unit......


Thoughts

My two cents is that you can use it the same way as maschine. You can use it in standalone mode to make a beat then open it up as a plugin in your daw (mine is Logic Pro) and drag in the midi files. Whether you can drag in audio files I don't know at this point. Assign the outputs to aux tracks and bounce to audio stems lickty split.

However unlike a DAW it seems not to have any audio tracks, mixer pages, automation tracks, or direct midi channels. It is more akin to a drum machine which is ok for most software users. Need to track out beats just bring your laptop and sound card or email the file.

Blue Haze wrote:
However unlike a DAW it seems not to have any audio tracks, mixer pages, automation tracks, or direct midi channels. It is more akin to a drum machine which is ok for most software users. Need to track out beats just bring your laptop and sound card or email the file.

Combining an MPC 4000 and 5000 will accomplish all of this. Taking it in that direction is something I would like to see.

Retrofreak wrote:I wonder if it has piano roll?

it looks like the sequencer is similar to a piano roll, dont you think?

713_HOU_TX wrote: In my humble opinion, if Akai's DAW cannot go beyond my DAW then the only thing your getting out of the package is just the unit......

Thoughts

i would think you would be able to export each track as a .wav file to import into protools, or you could even sequence it it the mpc then i assume it would have seperate output options and you could input those to your daw that way.

i would assume that you would do something similar while tracking out on your hardware mpc.

just treat the software as a sequencer, i think your overthinking the DAW part, because it "should" work in conjunction wiht your daw.

everything else pretty much works like that doesnt it? i know people track out multitracks from battery 3 into protools (still trying to figure out how exactly to do this in logic) amongst other things.

@ everyone who posted about the realtime timestretch:

i can see the benefit of real time time stretching now, its not something that i would personally use all the time, but it does look cool now that you put it that way, wouldent necessarily be a selling point for me though.

I like the software out now where you add warp markers. Then move the warp markers and the sample stretch and snap to the grid. This is the type of technology I want to see in a new MPC.

Yeah would be dope is elastic audio and a extract the groove template then you would be on some s###? For us dance producers can you do side chain compression or noise gate in this units. That would be some next level stuff for MPCs?

Retrofreak wrote:I wonder if it has piano roll?

True but what I truly miss on maschine from my mpc, ableton, and a distorted logic too is good old fashion step editor and a clear numbered sequencer editor with bold squares and a numbered timing grid.

DJ Hellfire wrote:

Coz wrote:It looks like there will be a lot more mouse clicking than controller operation with how it's laid out.

I don't really care. Doesn't bother me! Some **** is just quicker with the mouse!

emptysea wrote:
Also, you can tell in the MPC Studio video that the timestretch will be an offline process unlike the timestretch coming to Maschine which NI has said will be in realtime.

Got a link on info for that update?

true enough, mouse clicks can be quicker. only thing that i suspect i wont like from those screen shots is the drop down to change modes. I hate the drop downs in maschine, I wish they were buttons or left/right paging. but i guess if they have dedicated mode buttons on controller it may not make a differance. but for me, something like switching to the main modes (seq, sample edit, pgm assign) it needs to be fast - drop downs = pain in the ass for speed; dedicated buttons = faster

regarding the DAW stuff, if its on par with maschine, you should be able to export each track as a wav, then just import that into your DAW.

bare minimum it needs to be able to:
1. export track(s) to wav
2.export song (tracks separated or main outs)
3.export/resample pad to clear up fx

another option would be for them to add some kind of audio track feature (nym was asking about this in another thread).

they better have those knobs assigned to sample start and end points when editing a sample, if not, they can go fck themselves, same with zoom.

as far as mouse clicking(which i hate).. every single button or drop box function should be able to be custom assignable to users preference of controller button/slider/whatever..
that should def be key!

i feel you on the drop down menus killing workflow, def needa have those assignable.
i hope its at least able to click and the drop down menu stays without holding the right mouse button or moving the mouse out of the drop down pane.

padlock wrote:as far as mouse clicking(which i hate).. every single button or drop box function should be able to be custom assignable to users preference of controller button/slider/whatever..
that should def be key!

If every single button or drop box function in the software is mapped to the hardware so it performs like a traditional MPC, why would you need customize anything?

cyrus wrote: or left/right paging. = faster

Remember Akai !!
Joysticks for the next Hard MPC Machine !!

Thank You.