Future third party vst support?

Think we'll ever get third party vsts working in the MPC stand-alone software? That would be pretty dope.

Maybe if they released an x86 based MPC... more people might be apt to hack on it. As it stands, it is a linux based system, but the program (from what I recall) is a big compiled blob, which makes it require more specialized skills to dig into it and make changes. Plus, any time you make changes, they are likely to not be compatible with future versions of the firmware.

Otherwise I suspect that they'd need to open up and document their API so that people would know how to code against it and get access to the display, know what size they can allocate for their VST, know how to map Q-Links, how much CPU they are allowed to consume... etc... I'm just not seeing Akai go in that direction with their current platform.

I guess they could form partnerships with third parties and convince them to make custom VSTs specifically for the MPC platform. It's a very small market though, I doubt there would be much interest. I suspect it will always conversions of AIR VSTs and maybe other inMusic brands, such as Sonivox and BFD.

Did not know it was linux based, that definitely complicates it. Having a vst like BFD on the mpc would be dope af. I'm starting to come back around to creating on my laptop but with the mpc thrown in the mix. There's a lot I can do with Reason racks and players, so marrying that with the mpc might be my next step.

I thought it was Android. Based on the Roboto font that is. And the fact it's touch screen and such. Seems like basing off Android would have been easier.

Android is linux based... and also available on Arm platforms... so it'd entirely be possible to get Arm running on the MPCs... seems unlikely that somebody would be interested enough to do that level of hacking though

QuentinB wrote:Think we'll ever get third party vsts working in the MPC stand-alone software?

Nope.

QuentinB wrote:That would be pretty dope.

Yes it would be. But the ARM Cortex CPU and limited 2 GB of RAM on the stand-alone machines preclude most of that happening, IMHO. Air Software can't even deliver ported versions of Hype to the MPC series or anything else for that matter (it's been years since we got 3 basic synths)...

I mean it's cool that a drum synth is allegedly coming, but really - it took how many years for that to happen?

QuentinB wrote:Think we'll ever get third party vsts working in the MPC stand-alone software? That would be pretty dope.

The real question is, who's going to buy a third party VST for the standalone MPC? It's 100% doable, but will it turn a profit? Plus Akai Pro has been pushing, Akai Pro MPC Expansions packs which may be as close as we're going to get third party sounds.

I remember the first prototype of the X being shown years ago at some talk and it had a Windows OS. Probably would've been possible to have 3rd party vsts then. I doubt we will see any because the market for a vst that only runs on the MPCs is too small to be worth the development costs and give Akai their share, let alone be profitable. Im pretty sure when they decided to go with Linux third party vsts became off the table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw-9-XW ... =emb_title

SuperKonquer wrote:I remember the first prototype of the X being shown years ago at some talk and it had a Windows OS. Probably would've been possible to have 3rd party vsts then. I doubt we will see any because the market for a vst that only runs on the MPCs is too small to be worth the development costs and give Akai their share, let alone be profitable. Im pretty sure when they decided to go with Linux third party vsts became off the table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw-9-XW ... =emb_title

They originally were going to run with Windows Mobile or whatever it was, but scrapped that idea and went Linux.

The MPC as it is, is locked down pretty tight. We cant do shit right now unless we flash the entire firmware image. Somebody will need to root it, or Akai has to open up the OS to let us install anything, otherwise any single VST installation is going to require an entire firmware image, and I highly doubt we're going to see anything like that. These things are just enough for what they do, they're already pushing it in some spots like warping which is as good as its gonna get because of the guts inside. No way in hell you're going to get a 4 note instance of something like Massive X or Absynth in here on top of the MPC software running.

Monotremata wrote:The MPC as it is, is locked down pretty tight. We cant do **** right now unless we flash the entire firmware image. Somebody will need to root it, or Akai has to open up the OS to let us install anything, otherwise any single VST installation is going to require an entire firmware image, and I highly doubt we're going to see anything like that. These things are just enough for what they do, they're already pushing it in some spots like warping which is as good as its gonna get because of the guts inside. No way in hell you're going to get a 4 note instance of something like Massive X or Absynth in here on top of the MPC software running.

The problem is not the firmware but the binaries. The MPC software on the hardware is a single monolithic binary. Plugins are embedded into it. So it is difficult to hack anything here.
There is no API, no SDK just one big file started with Linux.

Would be good if they could work something out as a a marketplace for third party plugins would work well for everyone, it would provide the MPC with an endless supply of add-ons, which in turn makes the MPC more appealing to potential buyers, plus it would generate revenue for third party developers and it would free up internal development time so Akai can concentrate on the core features. I'm really talking about small developers, one man shops etc who might be more interested in working on stuff for a niche platform.

The model works well in many industries, for example in the ecommerce sector with the likes of Shopify and Woocommerce offering the basic store functionality and all the bells and whistles mostly provided by third party extensions.

True that, they would have to up the ram, crap, have to make a new machine, from the ground up. You think Linux is the way to go? Would you be able to get a 3rd party Vsti in your MPC2?

That's one of the reasons that it looks bleak, just slap on an external midi keyboard and go. With dope quality Vsti.

EnochLight wrote:
Nope.

QuentinB wrote:That would be pretty dope.

Yes it would be. But the ARM Cortex CPU and limited 2 GB of RAM on the stand-alone machines preclude most of that happening, IMHO. Air Software can't even deliver ported versions of Hype to the MPC series or anything else for that matter (it's been years since we got 3 basic synths)...

I mean it's cool that a drum synth is allegedly coming, but really - it took how many years for that to happen?

Linux does support VST's... so it's not Linux that is the issue preventing the use of VST's... it's the implementation of the software interface on the hardware. It'd be possible for Akai to do this, just probably not financially justifiable for them.

NearTao wrote:Linux does support VST's... so it's not Linux that is the issue preventing the use of VST's... it's the implementation of the software interface on the hardware. It'd be possible for Akai to do this, just probably not financially justifiable for them.

100%! All the music software companies need to form a consortium and create a MUSIC OS around Linux.