Could we talk about the new MPC one?

Yo Real I didn't know you were in NC, I am also. Cool.

Unreallystic wrote:
Based off your perspective, is the MPC ONE form factor too small? Do you prefer larger drum machine? When sitting down in a chair, sitting up straight, with your feet flat and legs parallel with floor. What is your the height from your ear to the floor? (For Audio and Visual Monitor setup)

Yeah, things are made for people up to 6'3". I say it all the time, unless you do sports, 6'3" is the tallest you want to get. I NEVER fly because of my height, ironically I am finally taking a flight because it makes no sense to drive from NC to TX for one weekend (DIY Musician Conference if anyone else is going) - and I chose First Class.

Gear isn't really too much of an issue, its just the height of desks and chairs that I have to manipulate - my Live bag has a laptop stand to make a comfortable angle/height, my old setup I had put a standing desk on top. I have big Kawhi Leonard type hands, but not sausage fingers despite being fat, so I mean for a while I was using the Akai Fire for remote work, it wasn't perfect but it works. I switched back to the Live around the announcement of the One, and bought the new Launchpad because of its MIDI handling abilities, and its been a perfect match with my Live, giving me quicker and easier access to playing out melodies - and the pads are an OK size for me.

As for the One, I do NOT like the smaller pads. Pure preference, when I play on a MPC, its mostly about the vibe I get from the large pads, if I want something smaller I'll use my MIDI fighter Spectra or 3D. I'm also frustrated with the screen. I've said it elsewhere when comparing the Live to the X, despite having a bigger screen on the X my *limited* time with the X, I walked away feeling it was wasted, as the screen is so much further away, but this is remedied a bit by the ability to angle the screen. With something designed for the home studio, it feels like such a missed opportunity to not have a hinged screen...the One feels like the next coming of the MPC 1000 - hate it or love it.
- Unreall[/quote]

CharlesRandolph wrote:

Bezo wrote:A computer with those specs wouldn't cost much more than $1,000. I doubt an MPC would cost $3,500. They'd be silly to charge that.

Look at what they're charging for low end 4 core SOC, used in old chrome books and tablets. $2,199 for MPC X.

I think the X is just about at the top of what folks will pay for a groove box.

Bezo wrote:I think the X is just about at the top of what folks will pay for a groove box.

It would have to be more than a groove box.

CharlesRandolph wrote:

Bezo wrote:I think the X is just about at the top of what folks will pay for a groove box.

It would have to be more than a groove box.

In 2020, it would have to be a DAW in a box, and the computer. I've got the fastest, latest iMac, and it cost less than $3,000.

If Akai insists on gouging, then nah, it wouldn't do well. There has to be value in it.

@ Bezo

Well an advanced 2020 groovebox cannot be a daw in a box?

Bezo wrote:In 2020, it would have to be a DAW in a box, and the computer. I've got the fastest, latest iMac, and it cost less than $3,000. If Akai insists on gouging, then nah, it wouldn't do well. There has to be value in it.

But MPC has always been a DAW in a box. It's more than capable of recording any entire song, just using the MPC and those 8 tracks. Not saying that something, I'm seeking to do. But in a bind it would work just fine. As far as value, it all depends on what you need it to do.

You could call it a DAW-in-a-box, but it would be considered a terrible one by modern standards. Its an emergency tool, not one that you jump for to use. Too many people make tracks on the MPC, only to finish the tracks in another DAW, the overall experience from conception to delivery needs to be improved - and it sounds like they are working on it.

Looking at various DAWs and VSTs, you do NOT need a high-end PC for what we are really talking about. You do not need some multi-core beast to handle the computations of processing audio, and looking at the Propellerhead model, if you keep "VST" development in house, or at least tightly managed, you can squeeze a LOT out without much processing power. Being frank, I don't think a massive expansion of capabilities would be a good thing either, even if Akai could execute it, part of the 'charm' of the MPC is the focus and directness, the reason I've moved further and further from Ableton and towards FL Studio & MPC is that they are much more direct, Ableton in a box, does not excite me as much as it use to.
- Unreall

Frisbi wrote:@ Bezo

Well an advanced 2020 groovebox cannot be a daw in a box?

Of course, but the specs discussed are not worth $3,500 IMO. The average DAW user is working with much more, especially RAM. What we're talking here is a Gearslutz travel rig, and you'd still have to at least double the RAM and cut the price 25-30%.

CharlesRandolph wrote:But MPC has always been a DAW in a box. It's more than capable of recording any entire song, just using the MPC and those 8 tracks. Not saying that something, I'm seeking to do. But in a bind it would work just fine. As far as value, it all depends on what you need it to do.

An extremely low spec DAW in a box. I get that a lot of MPC users are good with 8 tracks, but that's not a limit of today's DAW. Pro Tools LE did way more than that 20 years ago.

And I'm assuming most spending $3,500 on an MPC expect much more than the specs discussed so far.

I remember using the TASCAM DA-88 and then we borrowed another for 16 tracks. One guy had three of them, a Mackie 24.8 and a Lexicon effects module. It was amazing and the recordings were really good.

I make tracks on Mpc, i don't find it terrible at all, I just use it with an mc101 and that's it.
People used to make tracks with 32mb Mpc and I am sure you still listen to some of them.
I don't know why you talk this way, ok it's your personal opinion, but if you find it so terrible why not just selling it and just use computer to produce?
If you sell it for a good price, contact me.

Bezo wrote:

Frisbi wrote:@ Bezo

Well an advanced 2020 groovebox cannot be a daw in a box?

Of course, but the specs discussed are not worth $3,500 IMO. The average DAW user is working with much more, especially RAM. What we're talking here is a Gearslutz travel rig, and you'd still have to at least double the RAM and cut the price 25-30%.

CharlesRandolph wrote:But MPC has always been a DAW in a box. It's more than capable of recording any entire song, just using the MPC and those 8 tracks. Not saying that something, I'm seeking to do. But in a bind it would work just fine. As far as value, it all depends on what you need it to do.

An extremely low spec DAW in a box. I get that a lot of MPC users are good with 8 tracks, but that's not a limit of today's DAW. Pro Tools LE did way more than that 20 years ago.

And I'm assuming most spending $3,500 on an MPC expect much more than the specs discussed so far.

If you want today Daw limit, just work with a Daw.
Mpc is something else.
I think you made a mistake, you should have invest on something else.

I started with 4 track cassette tapes, so anything over 24 tracks is still incredible.

Ohhhh snap, I remember that LOL I remember when the studios had 3 Adat machines for 24 tracks. Alesis killed the market with that, I even had one. I went to buy the lower Adat machine, and Samash gave me the XT Adat by mistake LOL Yep I did not take that back LOL hahahaaaaa I had the MPC 2000XL did my entire song on it, recorded two tracks into the ADAT and had 6 tracks for vocals. I had the Yamaha O1V digital mixer.

ADAT


ADAT 3 STACKED


ADAT HD 24, REMEMBER THIS ONE CHARLES? I went coocoo for coco pops over this thing, and by the time I had the money it was going out cause Protools was taking over! LOL It still looks dope. I had a Tascam Dat Machine and a Tascam CD recorder.

CharlesRandolph wrote:I remember using the TASCAM DA-88 and then we borrowed another for 16 tracks. One guy had three of them, a Mackie 24.8 and a Lexicon effects module. It was amazing and the recordings were really good.

Ooh yeah, those were much simpler times. The whole transition from that to where we are now really took time. We went roland 880 and 1680 before we went computer. That's because windows based computer were horrible. They would blue screen just from pressing stop and back to fast.

So, people starting with the MPC ONE, LIVE, X are really way ahead of where we started. Plus they have computers with windows that is stable. So from that perspective, I really don't see what there is to complain about.

FORMATTING ADAT tapes to record was the longest process in history.

Frisbi wrote:If you want today Daw limit, just work with a Daw.
Mpc is something else.
I think you made a mistake, you should have invest on something else.

I think you missed some of the exchange.

I'm good with mine. I just want steady upgrades like we've been getting. Improved workflow on my Live is all I expect.

But you folks kill me with the "just use a DAW". Folks would still be on the 60 talking about "nah, we don't need more sampling time, just use a tape machine.".

CharlesRandolph wrote:I started with 4 track cassette tapes, so anything over 24 tracks is still incredible.

I get it. I'm not knocking anyone's appreciation for existing advancement. The satisfaction or desire for things to stick at any point in time baffles me though. Folks get comfortable with something and berate others for wanting advancement to continue.