Straker wrote:TonyO. wrote: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.
I don't think Mpc instruments sound bad.
I actually like Hype and the others have their use, I would say they are standard.
But even an mc707 is superior as a synth engine.
Fantom is really at another level, light years ahead compared to Air instruments.
That's why I am saying that with 1800$ you can really get a workstation with much better synths and rompler sounds then Mpc ones.
But Mpc is much better as a sampler and is very good to make music fast.
So yeah, this key version can be a good bonus for Akai but it really doesn't add anything new and in my opinion is overpriced because it's in the same range of much better workstations.
And I don't think someone would buy it for the sampler, for that you get a Live and pay half.
Even the MC-101 is a better synth engine, even if it doesn't have all the editing parameters of the 707. The main sounds that the MPC is lacking are the General MIDI sounds: guitars, Electric Basses, Ethnic Instruments, etc. Sure, you can make keygroups, but compared to other workstations, this is unacceptable. The Neptunes famously overused the "Strat Guitar"(or some kind of preset name like that) from the Trition, even though it sounded ridiculously fake and cheesy. I tried to compare the presets from the Hype to what I have in Zenology and the Korg Trition VST and there is just no comparison. I completely agree about Akai needing to develop more instruments/plugins. I know they are working on more plugins (I sent an email directly to InMusic as a feature request) but who knows how many plugins or what kind of instruments they're working on. If they really want to "kompete" with Native Instruments, then they need a "Komplete" array of virtual instrument plugins that cover all the General MIDI sounds and have a comprehensive amount of editable parameters, not like the Hype with hidden waveforms and lacking ways to change the sound. Still hoping for some kind of FM synth, I've been waiting for my Reface DX to ship from Sweetwater since last October!
Bottom line if Akai wants to win NI customers over, we need a standalone version of "Komplete"
Oberheim opening back up for business in my opinion is comparable to Michael Jordan coming back to the league to play for the Wizards. This is what a real synth looks and sounds like
