Support and discussion for all of Akai’s modern standalone MPCs including the MPC X / X SE, MPC Live 1, 2 & 3, MPC One / One+, MPC Key 37/61.
By TonyO. Mon May 30, 2022 11:50 am
Hansjbs, are you certain about the price and release date? Is this real intel or just speculating? If so, the price of the MPC Key 61 is a lot cheaper than I was anticipating. I was thinking it would be priced higher than the X, around $2700. I guess Akai is pricing the unit competitive to compete with the Roland 06 Fantom. I just hope quality isn’t compromised in order to satisfy lower price point.
By Straker Mon May 30, 2022 12:08 pm
TonyO. wrote:Hansjbs, are you certain about the price and release date? Is this real intel or just speculating? If so, the price of the MPC Key 61 is a lot cheaper than I was anticipating. I was thinking it would be priced higher than the X, around $2700. I guess Akai is pricing the unit competitive to compete with the Roland 06 Fantom. I just hope quality isn’t compromised in order to satisfy lower price point.

I bought a used Mpc Live plus a midi keyboard for 800$.
I saved more then 1000$ without knowing it.
By TonyO. Mon May 30, 2022 12:45 pm
Lol, Straker. Nice savings, but having a Live and midi keyboard is not the same. I’m interested in having an all in one workstation so that I have less pieces of gear sitting on my desk. Plus I like the way the MPC 61 key looks based on the leaked photo of Scott Storch playing the keyboard with his son. The design from what I can see looks nice and sleek. $1899 I think is more than fair if Akai delivers a great quality workstation. I’m hoping it had a Fatar keybed, great sounding sound engine, and excellent sounding AD converters. I can’t wait to demo it at Guitar Center.
By J.O.BEATS Mon May 30, 2022 9:24 pm
TonyO. wrote:Lol, Straker. Nice savings, but having a Live and midi keyboard is not the same. I’m interested in having an all in one workstation so that I have less pieces of gear sitting on my desk. Plus I like the way the MPC 61 key looks based on the leaked photo of Scott Storch playing the keyboard with his son. The design from what I can see looks nice and sleek. $1899 I think is more than fair if Akai delivers a great quality workstation. I’m hoping it had a Fatar keybed, great sounding sound engine, and excellent sounding AD converters. I can’t wait to demo it at Guitar Center.



A live and midi keyboard will likely take up less space.

Also, it’s most likely running the same OS and has the same ad converters.

Time will tell though….
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By Ultros Mon May 30, 2022 10:20 pm
If akai wants to sell units they needa not send em to scott storch... send me a unit to pick apart and probe and rave about. inMusic is silly they dont understand anticipation. You have to *show* people an object then keep them dangling for a while then make it available. Not just throw it out there on a wing and a prayer and hope it sells. They never *create demand* for their products.
By Uncle Dieppe Mon May 30, 2022 10:28 pm
The 23rd June was the date Andy Mack said they were going to Release the New MPC OS

I’d say Akai if they intend to release it are more likely to drop the Mpc Keys this week at Namm which starts 3rd June

I do hope that the model Storch has is only a prototype,and Akai have changed the design slightly for the final version I’m not a fan of those rubberised buttons like the live has,if it’s commanding a premium price needs to feel premium I much prefer the clicky buttons like the X/One Has and massive faux pas if they leave out the 16 OLED Encoders also needs to be available in 76 and 88 Hammer weighted options too, also have a 10” tiltable screen like x as well and massively expand on the I/O.

If the processor and RAM are not seriously updated either it’s gonna be a flop in the keyboard community,simply using the same internals as the X isn’t gonna persuade many people to jump on it,it’s just gonna be just a fancy midi keyboard Controllor with a Live bolted on
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By Lampdog Mon May 30, 2022 10:47 pm
Uncle Dieppe wrote:I much prefer the clicky buttons like the X/One Has and massive faux pas if they leave out the 16 OLED Encoders also needs to be available in 76 and 88 Hammer weighted options too, also have a 10” tiltable screen like x as well and massively expand on the I/O.

If the processor and RAM are not seriously updated either it’s gonna be a flop in the keyboard community, simply using the same internals as the X isn’t gonna persuade many people to jump on it, it’s just gonna be just a fancy midi keyboard Controllor with a Live bolted on



ALL OF THIS!

I still wont buy it tho.
By Certified Beatz Tue May 31, 2022 1:54 am
Lampdog wrote:
Uncle Dieppe wrote:I much prefer the clicky buttons like the X/One Has and massive faux pas if they leave out the 16 OLED Encoders also needs to be available in 76 and 88 Hammer weighted options too, also have a 10” tiltable screen like x as well and massively expand on the I/O.

If the processor and RAM are not seriously updated either it’s gonna be a flop in the keyboard community, simply using the same internals as the X isn’t gonna persuade many people to jump on it, it’s just gonna be just a fancy midi keyboard Controllor with a Live bolted on



ALL OF THIS!

I still wont buy it tho.


Nice thing about this release it should have the same OS for my X so that being said my keylab MKii will be just fine sitting on my 61 keyboard tray on my console tucked away when I don't need it..
By KaoticShock Tue May 31, 2022 3:03 am
Ultros wrote:If akai wants to sell units they needa not send em to scott storch... send me a unit to pick apart and probe and rave about. inMusic is silly they dont understand anticipation. You have to *show* people an object then keep them dangling for a while then make it available. Not just throw it out there on a wing and a prayer and hope it sells. They never *create demand* for their products.



THIS! I ain't gonna buy it either.


Now, if they give us an additional 14 plugins to use in standalone mode............ (praying non stop until June 23rd)
By KaoticShock Tue May 31, 2022 3:07 am
TonyO. wrote:I’m hoping it has....... a great sounding sound engine.



Yes..... Like decent piano sounds that don't sound like 2003 :lol: :lol: :lol:

(And Guitars and Electric Basses and ethnic instruments and actual FM Synthesis with Operators) An MPC Heads dream...... :lol:
By Straker Tue May 31, 2022 11:35 am
TonyO. wrote:Lol, Straker. Nice savings, but having a Live and midi keyboard is not the same. I’m interested in having an all in one workstation so that I have less pieces of gear sitting on my desk. Plus I like the way the MPC 61 key looks based on the leaked photo of Scott Storch playing the keyboard with his son. The design from what I can see looks nice and sleek. $1899 I think is more than fair if Akai delivers a great quality workstation. I’m hoping it had a Fatar keybed, great sounding sound engine, and excellent sounding AD converters. I can’t wait to demo it at Guitar Center.

Not to kill your dreams but I must say that the Key Mpc will have exactly same OS, Ram and cpu of X/Live.
I can understand that the key bed and the design can be appealing to a keyboard player and that having a keyboard where you can play while launching samples on the run is also very appealing.
But Kronos and Fantom are way superior for synth engines and romplers. Just compare a standard piano of Fantom to a standard piano of Hype. Or an electric piano of Fantom to Mpc electric.
Well, if I wanted a keyboard workstation for 1800$, I would definitely look for Roland or Korg.
By TonyO. Tue May 31, 2022 12:47 pm
I wish Akai would put more focus on developing instruments/synths with musical-sounding sound engines. I really liked the way some of their old rack samplers sounded, like the S3000 for example. I feel like every since the Numark acquisition, Akai has been rolling out products with great features but lacking what I’d describe as warm musical texture and quality. When I compare Akai to Roland instruments, there’s no contest. The Roland Fantom for example sounds glorious, IMO. I was considered buying the Roland Fantom 06, but it’s my understanding it doesn’t include an Audio Sampler. I don’t need all of the advanced features Akai May or may not include in the MPC 61 Key (although nice to have). I do most of my sequencing and editing in Protools. I just need a sampler where I could use as a scratchpad to spread out samples across the keys and get ideas out. I was considering an ASR-10 but want to avoid buying a vintage piece of kit which may turn into a maintenance headache. I don’t know why gear companies aren’t interested in bringing to market a compact sampler synth that sounds musical? I like yo chop Vynls, so I’m literally considering buying the MPC 61 Key just for sampling. I’m not interested in the arranger and all the other features. The roland Fantom 7 looks like a beast but I think the size is too large and the price point is way more than I’d want to spend. But when I compare the sound of Roland instruments to Akai and Korg, I usually prefer the Roland sound engine. Korg stuff sounds dope too. Akai has great features, but some of their instruments sound really bad. This coming from a huge Akai fan.