Akai MPC Key 61 - Price

Hello to everyone,

In April the Key 61 had a price drop, and it's currently at 1490€.

1) From your experience, do you think Akai will maintain this price or they will soon increase it again?
2) Do you think the price will go lower in Black Friday?

Another question, not related to price... Do you think Akai will release MPC 3 this year or only in 2024?

Thank you for your time.

Experience with Akai is that hardware pricing is less predictable than it used to be, but we're currently dealing with inflation, post pandemic slump and on the back of a chip shortage which has driven prices up. Normally you'd see the price of an MPC gradually drop over time.

I see that they are claiming the price drop on the MPC Key is 35th anniversary related but I suspect it's more 'poor sales' related. 1500 EUR is a more realistic price IMO, it was definitely overpriced at release. I suspect it will shoot back up for a bit and then quietly drop down to 1500 for the longer term. Just a guess.

As for MPC 3, this is just rumour that has persisted for many years now, all because (in 2019?) one of Akai's product manager's talked about certain potential future features being a '3.0' thing. There was a brief moment a few months back where Akai had an 'MPC Software 3' placeholder listed on their store, but nothing has materialised and I still think that if there is an MPC 3 coming, the key word here is 'software' not firmware.

MPC Software 3 'could' be a much needed overhaul of the MPC Software computer app, with VST3 support, Force support and more 'DAW' features. Or not, who knows, If I did actually know I'd not be able to even vaguely talk about it for legal reasons.

The AKAI Force was like $1500 new, it's around $1000 now, (at some point it was sub $1000). It clearly did not sell as well as InMusic hoped.

The MPC X was around $2000 new, it's $1500 now

Prices tends to drop.

The only MPC that got a price hike was the MPC One, which was like $600 new I believe but then was raised around $700; up until the MPC One +.

The direct competitor for the MPC Key would be the Fantom-06 at around $1400, so I don't believe the MPC Key's price will drop more than that.

Thank you very much for your reply.

Since you are an expert in MPC workflow i would like to ask for your opinion:
I produce pop/rock music and i will be recordind in linear mode (standalone)...
Do you think it's easy to make full songs in linear mode (only mastering will be done in my laptop).?
I will record voice, guitars, and will connect my e-drums to mpc to play directly with mpc kits.

Thank you for your time.

MPC-Tutor wrote:Experience with Akai is that hardware pricing is less predictable than it used to be, but we're currently dealing with inflation, post pandemic slump and on the back of a chip shortage which has driven prices up. Normally you'd see the price of an MPC gradually drop over time.

I see that they are claiming the price drop on the MPC Key is 35th anniversary related but I suspect it's more 'poor sales' related. 1500 EUR is a more realistic price IMO, it was definitely overpriced at release. I suspect it will shoot back up for a bit and then quietly drop down to 1500 for the longer term. Just a guess.

As for MPC 3, this is just rumour that has persisted for many years now, all because (in 2019?) one of Akai's product manager's talked about certain potential future features being a '3.0' thing. There was a brief moment a few months back where Akai had an 'MPC Software 3' placeholder listed on their store, but nothing has materialised and I still think that if there is an MPC 3 coming, the key word here is 'software' not firmware.

MPC Software 3 'could' be a much needed overhaul of the MPC Software computer app, with VST3 support, Force support and more 'DAW' features. Or not, who knows, If I did actually know I'd not be able to even vaguely talk about it for legal reasons.

I'm not an MPC expert, but I have a Force and while I do a range, my own music is usually ambient (although not entirely without a sense of time). The Force can certainly do what you're describing, so I imagine that the MPC family could as well.

My remaining thought is: Neither the MPC nor the Force is an MTR, so if you just want to record stuff in, you might look elsewhere. If you think that disc streaming or clip arrangement are your style, the Force might be the better pick.

Thank you,

I know it's not a MTR, but it allows 8 audio track recording in 24bit 48kHz) like a regular audio interface + DAW combo)... i can record my mic and i can connect my guitar multifx... the other instruments i will use will be the synths, piano and strings that come with Key 61 and the drum kits triggered by my e-drums.

So, i guess it works?!

Koekepan wrote:I'm not an MPC expert, but I have a Force and while I do a range, my own music is usually ambient (although not entirely without a sense of time). The Force can certainly do what you're describing, so I imagine that the MPC family could as well.

My remaining thought is: Neither the MPC nor the Force is an MTR, so if you just want to record stuff in, you might look elsewhere. If you think that disc streaming or clip arrangement are your style, the Force might be the better pick.

5 minute limit on audio tracks might be an issue. I believe this is the same on the MPC and the Force, irrespective of disc streaming (which is Force only).

But it's only 5 minutes if it's consecutive recording, right?
I can record multiple parts across the same track.

MPC-Tutor wrote:5 minute limit on audio tracks might be an issue. I believe this is the same on the MPC and the Force, irrespective of disc streaming (which is Force only).

MPC Key 61 price most likely will remain stable at current price for a while because initially they sold a ton of them. And it seems they got a second shipment after the initial first shipment shortages. But by then everybody that wanted a Key61 had one already and the overstock isn't selling as much anymore because of the MPC SE is now an MPC buyer competitor.. So, unless there is another stimulus payment coming that allowed many people to buy new gear, they may be sitting on unsold units from a second over shipment that they need to get rid of. It's not just Key61, but other older products in their lineup as well.

The Force does not have "clip arrangement". In the arrangement, there are no clips that you could move around and arrange. Each track is one big clip.

The MPC has "song mode" where you can at least arrange your song parts in some order, without having to commit to that order yet.

I wouldn't choose an MPC or Force for pop/rock production, unless it's only for very basic song idea demos. Like, a beat or a groove, that sort of an idea. At some point as the idea materializes, staying in Akai land stops making sense, and that point happens a long time before thinking about mastering.

But if you absolutely want to, and it's some kind of a production dogma like "PC DAW free recording", then go ahead, it's certainly possible to get something done. Just be prepared for frustration. The easiest way to produce with an MPC is to learn idiomatic MPC production things and construct your music from whatever comes out that way. You can record guitar, but it's going to be a SAMPLE, not a track. Chop up the sample to slices and trigger the slices with the MPC's pads. That's what it was made for. The MPC wasn't made for you music, it's the other way around. You make music that's made for the MPC.

The MPC is an instrument, not a DAW. Like if you make music with a piano, it's going to be some kind of piano music. You don't buy a piano and then go to a piano forum saying "I want to make pop/rock with guitar and vocals with this piano". Makes no sense. On a piano you make piano music, and on an MPC you make MPC music. Not guitar rock. At most you can make some kind of guitar rock mock-ups.

But it's only 5 minutes if it's consecutive recording, right? I can record multiple parts across the same track.

Yes, you can record multiple parts.

The big limitation on samples is ultimately RAM. Disc streaming takes the sting out of this on the Force, but the MPC line doesn't have this (yet).

If you were to go with the Force, I would in your position record elements of the song as samples perhaps 4 to 16 seconds long, and then lace them together that way. I've done similar things myself, and it works pretty well. It also means that if you suddenly feel the urge to go for another round of the chorus, it's a simple row launch away. However, for what you say your aim is I would almost combine something like the MPC One with an MTR such as the Tascam DP-24SD or DP-32SD. An MTR will be friendlier on jobs like comping and overdubs in a way that the MPC workflow is not.

In the sense of a workstation, which is a term that arose with devices like the M1 because they allowed someone to do on a single machine what had previously only been possible at an audio production station with tape cutting, multitrack reel-to-reel recorders, a big analogue mixer, outboard effects and so on, the MPC family and Force are both workstations, but they are workstations with a particular focus; that of assembling songs from disparate parts. On the other hand, the modern MPCs also allow you to have a linear experience if you simply put your whole song into a single pattern.

The question is whether or not that will give you what you want. If you want to have deep multitracking, layered vocals, all sorts of cross-fading and overdubbing, then I would go for the MTR as part of the package. If you're happy to lay down the MIDI, record some verses, slap them down with sample playback and work on that basis, Akai has what you need.