What is the future for the MPC Renaissance?

All I can say is this. The NI Maschine (Love the new controller) at the same stage in production as the REN lacked a lot as well so they do have a head start in this business being a software based groove machine/daw.

At this point my Ren works fine to create music from beginning to end and is the center of my production process. The promise of software upgrades has been followed up by action and I'm curious to find out whats next. They built this product with constant expansion in mind and have done so thus far.

I've learned in most forums whether its this one or another brand that some are satisfied and some are not and some are torn. The most vocal are always those who are not. I tend to fall in every category at some point in time but at the end of the day I have to sum up how does it work for me only.

Functionality wise the Ren is solid and most issues are user error. Although I do hear of crashing issues but I personally do not have this issue.

Now when it comes to features we all are very hard on a company and that's myself included. I don't think that WE ALL can ever be satisfied as a unit which comes across on this forum. So base your choice on your feelings and workflow.

I chose the MPC workflow over the Maschine for few reasons...
1. I grew up in this game using MPCs (Although I have a MV8800 and the Maschine).
2. It is way easier to song play in the MPC. Workflow just makes more sense to me.
3. You don't have to worry about MPC groove emulation because it is a MPC so it has the best groove and sounds really good.
4. Built in sound card...Less crap on my desk is always a plus.

I hated the...
1. price but now that has dropped
2. They did not include a global mixer and multicore support which will be addressed with promised updates to the software.

Now based on that my decision was made. I'm happy and making tracks by the boat loads with no issues(Oh footnote: I bought my Ren during the 1.5 upgrade). My desire is more for features that most likely will be addressed. You will have to make yours for you.

BDRAKE wrote:They built this product with constant expansion in mind and have done so thus far.

Hopefully they had the cost of this constant upgrade process in mind when they started, and have a method for constant funding to allow this constant expansion.

BDRAKE wrote:Functionality wise the Ren is solid and most issues are user error.

BDRAKE wrote:2. They did not include a global mixer and multicore support which will be addressed with promised updates to the software.

You seem pretty sure about that, I don't think they have earned any trust in their promises, I will believe it when I see it, and after it has been sufficiently tested.

BDRAKE wrote:My desire is more for features that most likely will be addressed. You will have to make yours for you.

As everyone is, and does, thankyou for your permission and direction oh great one!

If you were head coder marketing person at Akai no one would blame you for thinking game over.

I mean, obviously Akai are going to have to do a fancy colour display, perhaps even design a new Ren just to play (perceived) catch up with NI. And whilst all thats going on they will now have a marketing dept pushing for nonsense features that can dazzle spotty teenagers. But In the real world those easy to market features will make zero difference to the majority of users. Its a potential disaster in the making.

BUT:
One of the cheapest and potentially most successful thing Akai could do for its virtual MPC range is go all out and give the sequencer some serious bells and whistles. One that rivals any Daw midi sequencer out there.

If I were head bloke I would be telling my team to give that thing the best sequencer ever seen on an MPC or any other hardware sequencer for that matter, and make sure it rivals any Daw midi sequencer. yes, I know its not hardware - but its close.

WHY:
Theres many reasons from a user point of view which are to many to go in to here just now, but from a sales point of viewthere are thousands of trapped Daw users out there who would love to use a hardware style sequencer, get the feel of a real tactile surface and move away from their Daws screens. They have tried various hardware midi sequencers, even buying MPCs but they are just so used to recording and editing in a Daw they almost always go back to it.

A Daw type midi sequencer in the Ren really would give Akai something to shout about (for years). And it would be great for the users.

I realise that many have numerous features on their wish list (mine is the Universal mixer), and those features can and should be added over time. But Im just talking about a core direction, a large part of the essence of the machine. A roadmap for Akai.


"Take care of the sequencer and it will never let you down"

labcoats wrote:One of the cheapest and potentially most successful thing Akai could do for its virtual MPC range is go all out and give the sequencer some serious bells and whistles. One that rivals any Daw midi sequencer out there.

I think they need to get what is there already, sorted, before they try any serious bells and whistles.

labcoats wrote:If I were head bloke I would be telling my team to give that thing the best sequencer ever seen on an MPC or any other hardware sequencer for that matter, and make sure it rivals any Daw midi sequencer. yes, I know its not hardware - but its close.

I wonder how tied they are to the current structure of the program, without major rewriting.

So far we have not seen anything really amazing, just standard hardware MPC features/workflow/limitations recreated in software, which allows effects and instruments to be VSTs, and tight integration into the computer environment, but I don't see anything that revolutionary.

Maybe they are so far into this, with the hardware MPC based structure it has, and the development tools they are using, that major changes might be too much effort.

labcoats wrote:I realise that many have numerous features on their wish list (mine is the Universal mixer), and those features can and should be added over time.

I see a difference between 'features' on wishlists, and fixing what is already there.

I think that bugs and general cleaning up of the workflow should be the first priority, get what is there working as tightly as possible to begin with, make it so what is there works for everyone the way they need it to, before moving onto anything shiny and new.

labcoats wrote:I mean, obviously Akai are going to have to do a fancy colour display, perhaps even design a new Ren just to play (perceived) catch up with NI.

The problem with a fancy new colour display is that then they have to support the old and the new displays in the software.

But I suppose that is a good thing about the software/controller model, at least they can keep the same software and make money off of new controllers, and not have to start from scratch each time they move on to a new product.

Hopefully, that would give support for at least a couple of older generations of controllers, before there is too much work involved in supporting the older controllers, in continuing software updates or major rewrites, and they are dropped.

Who knows, the product might not make it that far, they might go in a different direction.


Would it still be the Renaissance, or would it be better to drop the old school reference/design, and go with something more modern?

The negatives of the MPC Renaissance, this is my first mpc so I am a noob, but this is my opinion,

-No Multicore support
-No FX Automation
-No Sidechaining
-No sync midi to audio
-Whys do our fx send tracks have to go to submixes! Give us global tracks!
-Lag, overall, the more in depth I get into a project, especially complex projects, the more the ren doesnt want to play nice.

I have used the maschine since the MPC Renaissance and wouldn't even compare the two in workflow. I easily 100x prefer the MPC workflow over maschine. However, with the current state of the MPC, I am not not satisfied. I personally really appreciate the hardware and software layout of the ren for workflow, its just there are some major qualitative features that it is missing to ever recommend the MPC Ren to an audio professional. It is a major love hate relationship for me.

Numark is gonna have to finish the fight with slugger they already have in the ring. The outcome doesn't look good.

SimonInAustralia wrote:

BDRAKE wrote:They built this product with constant expansion in mind and have done so thus far.

Hopefully they had the cost of this constant upgrade process in mind when they started, and have a method for constant funding to allow this constant expansion.

BDRAKE wrote:Functionality wise the Ren is solid and most issues are user error.

BDRAKE wrote:2. They did not include a global mixer and multicore support which will be addressed with promised updates to the software.

You seem pretty sure about that, I don't think they have earned any trust in their promises, I will believe it when I see it, and after it has been sufficiently tested.

BDRAKE wrote:My desire is more for features that most likely will be addressed. You will have to make yours for you.

As everyone is, and does, thankyou for your permission and direction oh great one!

You took that a little too personally. My experience is just that. The crashing I cant relate to which I admitted but predicting the future is too speculative at this point especially since you and others seem to have unresolved issues. Which most I still do not have or it just do not make a difference in my workflow. Maybe that's the politically correct thing to say which is true as well. So if I insulted anyone of class I apologize.

Still with that said I really don't have the issues many of you say. When they add enough features to satisfy the lot of us and resolve what ever bugs that plague you a future can be seen. Some of us here don't have a positive outlook on the future when it comes to AKAI which is understandable. If the present consumers are not feeling it then the future is grim. The Great One Has Spoken

moyphee wrote:Numark is gonna have to finish the fight with slugger they already have in the ring. The outcome doesn't look good.

Thats what they have to do. Put some steroids in the software and make it flawless. Bugless. They can still come through with what they have now. A new controller will just upset folks that resources are put into a new product instead of the wild flower they have now. If they do the software right, the mk2 controller will have alot to benefit from.

And make it stand alone. Akai could've been the Samsung of beat machines.

Coz wrote:Here's some probable responses to help you out...


"The Ren is the best MPC EVER!"

"Nukai have killed the MPC"

"*Ship sinking gif"

"Still needs work to make it useable"

"NI Maschine got da pretty screens"

"I'd like to personally punch every Akai employee in the face!"


Take your pick what you want to believe.

labcoats wrote:If you were head coder marketing person at Akai no one would blame you for thinking game over.

I mean, obviously Akai are going to have to do a fancy colour display, perhaps even design a new Ren just to play (perceived) catch up with NI. And whilst all thats going on they will now have a marketing dept pushing for nonsense features that can dazzle spotty teenagers. But In the real world those easy to market features will make zero difference to the majority of users. Its a potential disaster in the making.

BUT:
One of the cheapest and potentially most successful thing Akai could do for its virtual MPC range is go all out and give the sequencer some serious bells and whistles. One that rivals any Daw midi sequencer out there.

If I were head bloke I would be telling my team to give that thing the best sequencer ever seen on an MPC or any other hardware sequencer for that matter, and make sure it rivals any Daw midi sequencer. yes, I know its not hardware - but its close.

WHY:
Theres many reasons from a user point of view which are to many to go in to here just now, but from a sales point of viewthere are thousands of trapped Daw users out there who would love to use a hardware style sequencer, get the feel of a real tactile surface and move away from their Daws screens. They have tried various hardware midi sequencers, even buying MPCs but they are just so used to recording and editing in a Daw they almost always go back to it.

A Daw type midi sequencer in the Ren really would give Akai something to shout about (for years). And it would be great for the users.

I realise that many have numerous features on their wish list (mine is the Universal mixer), and those features can and should be added over time. But Im just talking about a core direction, a large part of the essence of the machine. A roadmap for Akai.


"Take care of the sequencer and it will never let you down"

This.

I would love a lot of bells and whistles and what not, but audio tracks is the big missing piece for me. I can deal with not having every possible advanced feature, but even if it was just a simple 4-track for audio, I would be happy. I love sequencing midi, but when I want to cut guitar solos I have to export to a DAW. But once it's in a DAW, I can't mess with the sequences and reprogram anymore. I suppose I should try the REN as a plugin, but what fun is that?

audiounity111 wrote:I would love a lot of bells and whistles and what not, but audio tracks is the big missing piece for me. I can deal with not having every possible advanced feature, but even if it was just a simple 4-track for audio, I would be happy.

The very simple Direct Recording/Place Event feature, as found in more recent hardware MPCs, would achieve similar functionality, by letting you create record in new samples in time with existing sequences, and without having to wait for much more complex audio tracks to be implemented.

audiounity111 wrote:I love sequencing midi, but when I want to cut guitar solos I have to export to a DAW. But once it's in a DAW, I can't mess with the sequences and reprogram anymore. I suppose I should try the REN as a plugin, but what fun is that?

Yes, exactly, and the same issue is faced with external MIDI tracks.

The workaround is to lock the composition in and track in the DAW, that may be fine for some, but others may want to keep the MPC workflow flexibility through the process, rather than locking it in by moving it into a DAW.

I think that being able to create new samples, in time/sync with existing sequences, is a better fit to the MPC workflow than audio tracks, and theoretically, they should be able to program that in, with much less effort and wait, than audio tracks.

I NEED THEM TO FIX THE EXTERNAL MIDI IN PLUGIN MODE

dj clent wrote:I NEED THEM TO FIX THE EXTERNAL MIDI IN PLUGIN MODE

Yes!

Needs full 4 ports of external MIDI in plugin mode, and Direct Recording/Place Event in standalone mode, to properly support use of external MIDI gear.

Global mixer has been my long wish. Other then that and with that... I love my ren. I make beats daily. Why exhume the hate instead of just moving on. Like you want to make a record of your lost girl friend by posting it online. Most of this thread is stupid