MPC Touch (Day 3)

I am really close to returning the MPC Touch. Three days in and I really can't justify it. At least the redundancy of my MPC Studio purchase (after the Ren) was rationalized by thinking I would be traveling around with the unit. I can't see myself toting the Touch around, and it is not trumping the Ren in the studio. Maybe if I only had the MPC Studio, or if the Touch was my first MPC it would work for me. Right now I am spending too much time flipping back to the main menu for stuff that I can physically find almost blindfolded on the MPC Ren hardware.

I am also finding the layout of the MPC Touch uncomfortable. It seems unbalanced and I am not to keen on the pads--they are hard on the fingers. Although the Q-Links on the Touch are better than the MPC Studio (which are terrible), the profile of the knobs is too low and oddly shaped--so they will not be comfortable to use in deep automation (tweaking effects, vst instruments, etc.). They are fine for light tuning.

So, I am on the fence. I have 27 days to make my final decision whether to box it up...

Please, before you return it, check if the Q-Link knobs fit the Studio and maybe post a photo. It shouldnt last to Long, till we can get Touch-spareparts to order

I honestly dont know why anyone would bother......it looks pants to me......

I always base my decisions on one simple factor - can I advance my productions using "xyz". In this case, I'm looking at the 5000, Ren and Touch, asking the question... Can the Touch help me do things that I can't do with my 5000 or Ren? There has to be something major (opinion of course) for me to buy into a new model. So far I haven't seen anything that justifies buying the Touch at $800. Can't see how my productions would improve because of a Touch interface. The only possibility is the XY FX stuff, but not enough to make the purchase. I simply make the list of what I can do with each model. If the list isn't significantly more meaningful (not necessarily longer) for the Touch, I pass.

I'm still hoping for a standalone unit (the fact that the screen is actually a monitor extension screams standalone btw). But even then, the unit itself will have to provide more than a Touch screen to move me.

yeh....I wouldnt even want to make music on a touch screen.....everything is touch screen these days, it doesnt mean MPC's should be....

box of hot air i recon...

Eyalc wrote:I always base my decisions on one simple factor - can I advance my productions using "xyz". In this case, I'm looking at the 5000, Ren and Touch, asking the question... Can the Touch help me do things that I can't do with my 5000 or Ren? There has to be something major (opinion of course) for me to buy into a new model. So far I haven't seen anything that justifies buying the Touch at $800. Can't see how my productions would improve because of a Touch interface. The only possibility is the XY FX stuff, but not enough to make the purchase. I simply make the list of what I can do with each model. If the list isn't significantly more meaningful (not necessarily longer) for the Touch, I pass.

I'm still hoping for a standalone unit (the fact that the screen is actually a monitor extension screams standalone btw). But even then, the unit itself will have to provide more than a Touch screen to move me.

Prolly you know that you can spend 200 in a Kaoss Pad 3 or similar and get that xy feature. Even better implemented than the touch's

TT_Lab wrote:Prolly you know that you can spend 200 in a Kaoss Pad 3 or similar and get that xy feature. Even better implemented than the touch's

The Touch version doesn't sound good, is there option settings for XY pad besides latch?

TT_Lab wrote:Prolly you know that you can spend 200 in a Kaoss Pad 3 or similar and get that xy feature. Even better implemented than the touch's

Didn't know - but now I do. But what I was saying is that it's not even a feature I'm interested in. Wouldn't use it in my music. But thanks for the information!

The MPC software's fx are shit anyways. Most people move their projects to their daws before getting heavy into fx, so there's little point to this feature for anyone i know. And there goes your main selling point.

funkycoldmedina wrote:The MPC software's fx are **** anyways. Most people move their projects to their daws before getting heavy into fx, so there's little point to this feature for anyone i know. And there goes your main selling point.

This is exactly why I'm not feeling it. I mix in a DAW.

in my opinion... when actually using XY control for fx for live stuff..... I really think a wet/dry knob is an asset in conjunction with the x/y control. korg didn't put that in on the mini kp2 for example (they did have it on the original kp2) and on the mini kp2 they tried compensating by adding an option that would decay the effect when you lifted your finger off the pad. the problem is you couldn't choose the length of the decay, it was a static option. so without a wet/dry knob if you have a reverb on a drum loop... and you lift your finger... it cuts off with no tail on that reverb... that sounds terrible.

The XY Control is fun and playful, but it lacks the control needed to be useable for productions.

So I ended up keeping the MPC Touch. The things that annoyed me initially were more about me needing to adjust to change. At the end of the day the Touch is the best MPC created. I have had the 2000, 4000, Ren, and Studio.

MPC Touch is number one--great work AKAI!

godlike wrote:So I ended up keeping the MPC Touch. The things that annoyed me initially were more about me needing to adjust to change. At the end of the day the Touch is the best MPC created. I have had the 2000, 4000, Ren, and Studio.

MPC Touch is number one--great work AKAI!

I agree.

I'm curious to hear the reasoning behind your claim that the MPC Touch is the best MPC to date.