[OFFICIAL] - MPC X & MPC Live Photos, Specs & Pricing

Man i'll be glad when the Live comes out. Im sick of the DAW sequencer.

starmanwarz wrote:That's great to hear man, thanks for your input!

I only discovered this today and I gotta say I'm in love with it, watched a ton of videos and it looks very impressive. To someone who has never used software to make music, would you say that it might be a bit too hard to get into? Ableton looks really complex, is it possible to only work with Push 2 without interacting too much with the computer?

I wouldn't say it's complex. When I do workshops, people get the hang of it and are banging out their beats in a few hours. I always say, it's deep, not complex. Anything you don't learn appears complex; it's worth reading the manual and watching a few tuts, no matter what you use. Looking like an empty Ableton Live screen is like looking at a plane cockpit if you dont know what to do.
Can highly recommend it.

I'll probably release my basic and advanced Ableton workshops in video format at some point this year.

Ill-Green wrote:EDIT:Sweetwater are suckers, they said they don't price match on preorders. Only for items in stock. So who ever said they got a deal from Sweetwater are liars.

I pre-ordered from them, saw a better deal ($400 less) from another vendor, called them back and they immediately took $400 off my price. In fact, I called them to potentially switch to the other model, and they offered the same $400 off without me even asking.

For many vendors, price-matching is about two things:

First - Akai has a track record of over-promising and under-delivering. Once Akai didn't give an official date, and the estimates for delivery started pushing back, I would stop giving any discounts on pre-orders too. It creates an accounting nightmare if the vendor doesn't deliver and people get frustrated and start cancelling their pre-orders.

Second - Despite not having bought anything from Sweetwater in over 6 years, I have a reputation as a reliable buyer. I don't call them a ton, I don't complain, and once I order something, pre-order or not, I don't cancel it. For me, I'm probably a safer bet to give the pre-order to, because they know I'm more of a fire-and-forget buyer. I buy it, and when it comes in, it comes in.

Not defending Sweetwater here - I couldn't care less who thinks they're garbage or not - I actually think their customer service is one of the worst of the online vendors - been through several battles with them.

Eyalc wrote:

Ill-Green wrote:EDIT:Sweetwater are suckers, they said they don't price match on preorders. Only for items in stock. So who ever said they got a deal from Sweetwater are liars.

I pre-ordered from them, saw a better deal ($400 less) from another vendor, called them back and they immediately took $400 off my price. In fact, I called them to potentially switch to the other model, and they offered the same $400 off without me even asking.

For many vendors, price-matching is about two things:

First - Akai has a track record of over-promising and under-delivering. Once Akai didn't give an official date, and the estimates for delivery started pushing back, I would stop giving any discounts on pre-orders too. It creates an accounting nightmare if the vendor doesn't deliver and people get frustrated and start cancelling their pre-orders.

Second - Despite not having bought anything from Sweetwater in over 6 years, I have a reputation as a reliable buyer. I don't call them a ton, I don't complain, and once I order something, pre-order or not, I don't cancel it. For me, I'm probably a safer bet to give the pre-order to, because they know I'm more of a fire-and-forget buyer. I buy it, and when it comes in, it comes in.

Not defending Sweetwater here - I couldn't care less who thinks they're garbage or not - I actually think their customer service is one of the worst of the online vendors - been through several battles with them.

I am also not defending Sweetwater, but to call people liars because you didn't get what other people received? I'll say it's easy for these computer gangsters to do online, different story in person. I pre ordered the MPC X as soon as they started taking orders. I told them about the PSSL 17% off coupon and the salesman matched it. I have an emailed invoice confirming that I will be paying $1825 for the MPC X. When Akai releases it, I'll get it, no big deal. This forum has helped me over the years but there is a lot of whining on here.

Yo which machine are you going for the X or the Live?
Who was the other vendor and and why not get it from them instead of SW?
Only thing l lime about SW is they send candy with every order lol

Eyalc wrote:

Ill-Green wrote:EDIT:Sweetwater are suckers, they said they don't price match on preorders. Only for items in stock. So who ever said they got a deal from Sweetwater are liars.

I pre-ordered from them, saw a better deal ($400 less) from another vendor, called them back and they immediately took $400 off my price. In fact, I called them to potentially switch to the other model, and they offered the same $400 off without me even asking.

For many vendors, price-matching is about two things:

First - Akai has a track record of over-promising and under-delivering. Once Akai didn't give an official date, and the estimates for delivery started pushing back, I would stop giving any discounts on pre-orders too. It creates an accounting nightmare if the vendor doesn't deliver and people get frustrated and start cancelling their pre-orders.

Second - Despite not having bought anything from Sweetwater in over 6 years, I have a reputation as a reliable buyer. I don't call them a ton, I don't complain, and once I order something, pre-order or not, I don't cancel it. For me, I'm probably a safer bet to give the pre-order to, because they know I'm more of a fire-and-forget buyer. I buy it, and when it comes in, it comes in.

Not defending Sweetwater here - I couldn't care less who thinks they're garbage or not - I actually think their customer service is one of the worst of the online vendors - been through several battles with them.

BornElevation wrote:

Eyalc wrote:
I pre-ordered from them, saw a better deal ($400 less) from another vendor, called them back and they immediately took $400 off my price. In fact, I called them to potentially switch to the other model, and they offered the same $400 off without me even asking.

For many vendors, price-matching is about two things:

First - Akai has a track record of over-promising and under-delivering. Once Akai didn't give an official date, and the estimates for delivery started pushing back, I would stop giving any discounts on pre-orders too. It creates an accounting nightmare if the vendor doesn't deliver and people get frustrated and start cancelling their pre-orders.

Second - Despite not having bought anything from Sweetwater in over 6 years, I have a reputation as a reliable buyer. I don't call them a ton, I don't complain, and once I order something, pre-order or not, I don't cancel it. For me, I'm probably a safer bet to give the pre-order to, because they know I'm more of a fire-and-forget buyer. I buy it, and when it comes in, it comes in.

Not defending Sweetwater here - I couldn't care less who thinks they're garbage or not - I actually think their customer service is one of the worst of the online vendors - been through several battles with them.

I am also not defending Sweetwater, but to call people liars because you didn't get what other people received? I'll say it's easy for these computer gangsters to do online, different story in person. I pre ordered the MPC X as soon as they started taking orders. I told them about the PSSL 17% off coupon and the salesman matched it. I have an emailed invoice confirming that I will be paying $1825 for the MPC X. When Akai releases it, I'll get it, no big deal. This forum has helped me over the years but there is a lot of whining on here.

But you guys already preordered, they already got your sale so saying another seller got it for cheap, they'll just lower it to keep you, aka keep a unit sold. What about us guys that are shopping for a deal, seems sweetwater doesn't want potentially new customers. **** them all, Thomann got my money

Danoc wrote:Yo which machine are you going for the X or the Live?
Who was the other vendor and and why not get it from them instead of SW?
Only thing l lime about SW is they send candy with every order lol

What up Danoc! Haha - yeah they do send candy - forgot about that.

The X man. I'll say this though - I really like the form factor of the Live - and the battery is a great idea. I've been using the Touch for about a year now - love the form factor of it. And I'll keep my Touch for traveling. But a few things bug me about the Live - no arrow buttons - jumping to a specific bar is cumbersome - just enough to be annoying. Not having dedicated Q-Links - the solution is cool by paging through them though - would just prefer more Qlinks. And the biggest risk IMO is that battery. Sure it's cool for getting things done without plugging in, but I asked questions early on - specifically about what happens when it goes bad? It happens in laptops all the time. Can I replace it? Do they have to? If they have to - how long does that take? Could I be without my Live for a few weeks? A few days? Any MPC repairs I've needed through Akai in the past was a STRAIGHT nightmare.

I see you changed your mind to the X. Maaaaaan - I know you do this music stuff for $ - not just a hobby - think about that battery man - it sounds cool and all, but if it goes bad, you're without a critical piece of your music process for what could be days or weeks - if you can't just replace it yourself. I'd find out about that before fully committing to it. Of course similar risks exist with the X - that screen hanging over the edge for example. But I can control that. I can't control that battery. Laptops are different - have no choice but to deal with batteries. But laptops I just buy another and swap it myself.

And if you're getting that Live, change that Avatar bruh - that's for X owners only. Haha. We exclusive over here. LOL

Ill-Green wrote:But you guys already preordered, they already got your sale so saying another seller got it for cheap, they'll just lower it to keep you, aka keep a unit sold. What about us guys that are shopping for a deal, seems sweetwater doesn't want potentially new customers. **** them all, Thomann got my money

Exactly man, that's the game. If you don't have the relationship with them, that's how you do it - it's called creating "leverage". Buy it, then come back and say you're cancelling unless they price match. You gotta commit something to them (which creates leverage for you), then use that leverage to your benefit. They're not just going to give you that price if you didn't "earn" that price. I wouldn't just randomly match prices for people unless they were a proven, reliable customer. Unlike Akai, Sweetwater actually runs a pretty tight ship from a sales perspective. Their practices are sound business.

But looks like you got an acceptable price on one anyway. Which one did you pre-order? Live or X?

@Eyalc your just like me, couldn't say it beter myself. Apart from the form factor, mobility and the battery I don't see a reason to get the 'Live' over the 'x'.
The price maybe.. But I'm still aiming for the 'X'.

I can already see the 'X' standing on my desktop as the centerpiece of my studio..

What's the deal man how you be? I aint to worried about the battery the Live wull be plugged up to a socket at all times. If l travel l will take the plug with me. If the battery goes out that won't stop me remember it comes with a power supply.
There's a lot of stuff lm not worried about the live having. All l need is that dope sequencer and exporting to the PC function.
Let me say this. I be killing it with the LPD8 it works its just the dam DAWs won't rock like l want it. Im working on a movie score and lm almost finished but doing my cinematic drums and what not got tedious because l had to fix the midi notes. Sick of changing the buffer etc. I SHOULDN'T have to do that, you know what lm saying? If l didnt have this type of problem l would of gotten the MPC Black and be done with.

With this track the string arrangements is crazy. My female singer is going to kill this. Ima hit the major studio and film it let you guys see my process.

Im sure Akai will have the xtra batteries to buy or someone will like forat.

Reason lm getting tha Live is its coming out first. I don't know when the X is comin. and l need it like right now to ease the tension off production.

I will be able to rock exactly how l like on that joint. Might do a video tonight on some strings l bought for Reason 9. They are dope! One cost 9.99 and the other $31 dollars and they sound dope! Thsts under 50 bucks for dope sounds. So l can't wait for the Live so l can take it to the next level. But lma ask questions about that battery. That was a go thought on your part. Glad you got a deal on the X.
Man l still love the X leave me alone bout my pic lol Hahhahaaaa.

If Akai wanted to freak it man the could of did a permanent tilt on the Live. That would of been so hot. Oh well. Down the road l might get the X lf its not necessary l won't. Thst is a sexy machine

Eyalc wrote:
What up Danoc! Haha - yeah they do send candy - forgot about that.

The X man. I'll say this though - I really like the form factor of the Live - and the battery is a great idea. I've been using the Touch for about a year now - love the form factor of it. And I'll keep my Touch for traveling. But a few things bug me about the Live - no arrow buttons - jumping to a specific bar is cumbersome - just enough to be annoying. Not having dedicated Q-Links - the solution is cool by paging through them though - would just prefer more Qlinks. And the biggest risk IMO is that battery. Sure it's cool for getting things done without plugging in, but I asked questions early on - specifically about what happens when it goes bad? It happens in laptops all the time. Can I replace it? Do they have to? If they have to - how long does that take? Could I be without my Live for a few weeks? A few days? Any MPC repairs I've needed through Akai in the past was a STRAIGHT nightmare.

I see you changed your mind to the X. Maaaaaan - I know you do this music stuff for $ - not just a hobby - think about that battery man - it sounds cool and all, but if it goes bad, you're without a critical piece of your music process for what could be days or weeks - if you can't just replace it yourself. I'd find out about that before fully committing to it. Of course similar risks exist with the X - that screen hanging over the edge for example. But I can control that. I can't control that battery. Laptops are different - have no choice but to deal with batteries. But laptops I just buy another and swap it myself.

And if you're getting that Live, change that Avatar bruh - that's for X owners only. Haha. We exclusive over here. LOL

Ill-Green wrote:But you guys already preordered, they already got your sale so saying another seller got it for cheap, they'll just lower it to keep you, aka keep a unit sold. What about us guys that are shopping for a deal, seems sweetwater doesn't want potentially new customers. **** them all, Thomann got my money

So do a preorder with them and if they don't match the price at that point cancel the preorder and go somewhere else. You don't get charged till it dispatches so you don't have to drop the money yet. Problem solved.

Zang hush yo mouf lol that was a cheap shot at me haaahaaa lol Yall leave me alone lol
You're just getting the X for eye candy purposes lol talking about how its goung to look on your desktop lol lmao
I ain't going to lie as soon as someone walks into your spot the first thing they will see is the X.

zangetsu01 wrote:@Eyalc your just like me, couldn't say it beter myself. Apart from the form factor, mobility and the battery I don't see a reason to get the 'Live' over the 'x'.
The price maybe.. But I'm still aiming for the 'X'.

I can already see the 'X' standing on my desktop as the centerpiece of my studio..

@illGreen.
Dope man.

The x and live comes out the same day accordingly in Thonmans store.
Hell l wished ld paid attention they got the MPX16 that looks nice. Plus they got the plastic dust cover for the touch. Wonder if that will work with the Live.

Danoc wrote:Zang hush yo mouf lol that was a cheap shot at me haaahaaa lol Yall leave me alone lol
You're just getting the X for eye candy purposes lol talking about how its goung to look on your desktop lol lmao
I ain't going to lie as soon as someone walks into your spot the first thing they will see is the X.

zangetsu01 wrote:@Eyalc your just like me, couldn't say it beter myself. Apart from the form factor, mobility and the battery I don't see a reason to get the 'Live' over the 'x'.
The price maybe.. But I'm still aiming for the 'X'.

I can already see the 'X' standing on my desktop as the centerpiece of my studio..

Whahahaha.. If the shoe fits... be my guest to wear it..

No but seriously Danoc, The sequencer may be tight but you'll go need those extra buttons << >> to jump between bars man. And also the Q-link knobs for fast control.

But in the end its up to you to decide, I can only advice and sit back and watch..

Eyalc wrote:

Ill-Green wrote:But you guys already preordered, they already got your sale so saying another seller got it for cheap, they'll just lower it to keep you, aka keep a unit sold. What about us guys that are shopping for a deal, seems sweetwater doesn't want potentially new customers. **** them all, Thomann got my money

Exactly man, that's the game. If you don't have the relationship with them, that's how you do it - it's called creating "leverage". Buy it, then come back and say you're cancelling unless they price match. You gotta commit something to them (which creates leverage for you), then use that leverage to your benefit. They're not just going to give you that price if you didn't "earn" that price. I wouldn't just randomly match prices for people unless they were a proven, reliable customer. Unlike Akai, Sweetwater actually runs a pretty tight ship from a sales perspective. Their practices are sound business.

But looks like you got an acceptable price on one anyway. Which one did you pre-order? Live or X?

Thing was, I used to frequently buy from them after Musicians Friend sold to Guitar Center. Service seemed good at first and yes, they gave me a lot of Jolly Ranchers and Smartees with my orders. But whenever I asked for a quote they would take a week or two to get back and by then I already found a cheaper deal elsewhere. So they just faded away from me over time.

But hey, I already got a deal so...

I'm getting the MPC Live as an all in one portable studio.