The Official MPC Element Thread

MPC 5000 OS3 is needed...**** this new product!!!

JAH wrote:Couple comments......

4. Having more virtual outputs in the Ren...reasonable request. But...while you are tracking the long way using the virtual outs, a user can export 128 MPC tracks then import the tracks inside a DAW in a fraction of the time.

Understand your perspective, but using virtual outs is the short way, not the long way. Exporting MPC tracks is the extra step that actually takes more time. Having access to more virtual outs, and being able to assign each MPC track to a DAW track would eliminate the need to have to export. Plus any time you export to wav you are committing to that performance, which for many people, at various times during the production and recording process, is a bad thing. Changing the performance requires tweaking in the MPC software and re-exporting again... instead of opening the plugin, making the change and keeping it moving. It's not smooth workflow the way it is.

It all depends on what people are using it for I suppose. Boom-bap beats with a sample and some drums won't run into this issue. Those with 16 or more tracks in a song will. Really less than that, because 16 mono tracks in a song doesn't seem very realistic. There's gotta be some stereo tracks in there somewhere!?? LOL.

Anyway, good discussion - other perspectives are always cool to understand.

ChitownScrooge wrote:MPC 5000 OS3 is needed...

+1

Eyalc wrote:

JAH wrote:Couple comments......

4. Having more virtual outputs in the Ren...reasonable request. But...while you are tracking the long way using the virtual outs, a user can export 128 MPC tracks then import the tracks inside a DAW in a fraction of the time.

Understand your perspective, but using virtual outs is the short way, not the long way. Exporting MPC tracks is the extra step that actually takes more time. Having access to more virtual outs, and being able to assign each MPC track to a DAW track would eliminate the need to have to export. Plus any time you export to wav you are committing to that performance, which for many people, at various times during the production and recording process, is a bad thing. Changing the performance requires tweaking in the MPC software and re-exporting again... instead of opening the plugin, making the change and keeping it moving. It's not smooth workflow the way it is.

It all depends on what people are using it for I suppose. Boom-bap beats with a sample and some drums won't run into this issue. Those with 16 or more tracks in a song will. Really less than that, because 16 mono tracks in a song doesn't seem very realistic. There's gotta be some stereo tracks in there somewhere!?? LOL.

Anyway, good discussion - other perspectives are always cool to understand.

There are negligible differences in the amount of steps...noting to record into your DAW you must assign MPC Tracks or Programs to audio channels and set aux or audio tracks up in your DAW to record them. Exporting eliminates the need to do this. If after your record your music through your virtual outs into your DAW and need to 'tweak' it inside your MPC...that is another 4 odd minutes of tracking versus a few moments to export.

There is a very good reason why most DAWs today have Track exporting functions and offline rendering of plugin tracks from MIDI to audio. This is a huge time saver for those that work this way.

In the end, its personal preference and the world would be boring if we did everything the same way......

Really sad to see this, but Nukai should really focus on delivering quality products first and not increase the range which seem sub-par to try and increase market share.

Is really 1 track only?

In this picture I see a track up and down buttons so it should be more than 1 track...

If they were to gimp anything it should have been the use of plugins and not tracks. The controller even has track up and down buttons.

For a kid starting out today with no DAW or plugins, a single track in standalone is way too limiting. Offer 4 or 8 tracks and Akai won't be able to keep up with demand.

TT_Lab wrote:Is really 1 track only?

In this picture I see a track up and down buttons so it should be more than 1 track...

Perhaps those are the buttons for the DAW tracks you should insert the plugins on?

Like I said in my earlier posts, they should have just upgraded the mpd.
I like the idea, I just wish the controller was different

@JAH, yeah, agree with why the DAWs have that render midi to audio feature, and agree with it being there. The good thing about DAWs is that they support both approaches (the one you are describing, and the one I am describing). I suppose my perspective is that the mpc software only currently supports one of those approaches, at least in my workflow. To really be a great DAW, it needs to add that support. But also understand that there a ton of other features that could be argued to be higher in priority. But those features can jump off a bridge - I want virtual outs!!!! j/k

Like we've been discussing, maybe Essentials will help address some of this. Really hope that is at least an indirect intention of it. But still hollerin "more virtual outputs!!!!!" until I see them there. LOL.

Very interested in this. I wonder if it will import legacy mpc projects. Will preorder sometime this week.

Any word if time stretching is included?

TT_Lab wrote:Is really 1 track only?

In this picture I see a track up and down buttons so it should be more than 1 track...

it's pretty obvious the hardware is a repackaged MPC Fly..

but i just noticed akai modified the specs on their site by specifiying "Tracks per instance: 1 (user may run unlimited instances)" which i guess hints towards using duplicates of the plugin across your daw tracks... still kind of confused over the track limit

My guess is, the flagship isn't doing so well so they'll slowly start scaling back resources. The way they are run, its a neverending race to release new products. But they don't have an endless supply of resources to maintain whats out there either. We've seen this before from Akai. They lose interest and move on.

MeSoHordey wrote:My guess is, the flagship isn't doing so well so they'll slowly start scaling back resources. The way they are run, its a neverending race to release new products. But they don't have an endless supply of resources to maintain whats out there either. We've seen this before from Akai. They lose interest and move on.

What would make more sense is (if this is a retooling of the MPC Fly) that Akai would remarket a non-selling hardware product to cater to others who aren't using iPads, so that the original hardware doesn't go to waste.

Apologies in advance if this is redundant, but I have a couple of questions:

1.) Can you use this to control regular MPC software and use the Element as a portable option? I already own a Ren so this would be interesting
2.) Seriously only one track? or is this just inside a Daw?
3.) Does anyone know when 1.5 is going to be announced?