Akai is back at NAMM this year

It’s a pity Ballard isn’t around to update his vision for the driverless car era. Would also have loved his opinion on the beta

just saw this speculation on reddit; it seems like a plausible analysis:

Akai is at NAMM this year with a sizeable floor space.

MPC3.0 software drops, still in public beta.

Thomann.de just today listed the MPC Live II as "Available in several months" after being constantly in stock for years. This came after the sale season deall of getting 700EUR in plugins for it for free (the thing itself cost 999EUR)

Thomann.de just today listed the MPC One+ as "On Request" after being in stock all year.

The Keys61 was pulled from the market a month or so ago with no real announcement.

Force, X and Keys37 remain in stock and for sale.

I wouldn't blame a reasonable person for arriving at the conclusion that we are going to see a new MPC range at NAMM, built around MPC3.0, and we are going to see 3 flavours of it - Small (like One+), Medium (like LiveII) and Keys (Large like the 61). I would also assume we are going to see bigger ram sizes in all these models.

jpeg wrote:just saw this speculation on reddit; it seems like a plausible analysis:

Akai is at NAMM this year with a sizeable floor space.

MPC3.0 software drops, still in public beta.

Thomann.de just today listed the MPC Live II as "Available in several months" after being constantly in stock for years. This came after the sale season deall of getting 700EUR in plugins for it for free (the thing itself cost 999EUR)

Thomann.de just today listed the MPC One+ as "On Request" after being in stock all year.

The Keys61 was pulled from the market a month or so ago with no real announcement.

Force, X and Keys37 remain in stock and for sale.

I wouldn't blame a reasonable person for arriving at the conclusion that we are going to see a new MPC range at NAMM, built around MPC3.0, and we are going to see 3 flavours of it - Small (like One+), Medium (like LiveII) and Keys (Large like the 61). I would also assume we are going to see bigger ram sizes in all these models.

Yes, it is exactly what I also thought.
It would make a lot of sense that Akai will upgrade all the MPC line with 4gb of Ram and the new MPC3 Os.
It's definitely very possible we will see this on Namm.
Then it will be a busy year to update 3 until is reliable and to make more complex fx and plugins for the new most powerful MPC.

No inMusic FCC submissions since the Key 37, so whatever they are developing it isn't at a stage where they are ready to gain FCC approval. The key37 was released 3 months after FCC submission BTW.

Might see a prototype...

MPC-Tutor wrote:No inMusic FCC submissions since the Key 37, so whatever they are developing it isn't at a stage where they are ready to gain FCC approval. The key37 was released 3 months after FCC submission BTW.

Might see a prototype...

It's gonna come sooner or later, Namm or not.
Since they started to put 4gb Ram on Key61, all the line will follow.
Who knows when.

New cpu and nvme ssd would be as important as more ram.

Calling it now, Keys 61 will not be back as good as it is, Mpc key 49 I reckon, I for one would be all over it haha (currently own a 37)

Loonytunes wrote:Calling it now, Keys 61 will not be back as good as it is, Mpc key 49 I reckon, I for one would be all over it haha (currently own a 37)

For 12 extra keys?!?!
That sort of sh*t has got to stop.
For real. Gtfoh with that ish.

Akai is only there to show off the new half baked plugins they got "ready" for Only the Mpc3 Beta so you have to login every time.

The registry is a bit different this time around though.
They want you to send in a sample of your hair so their "forensics" team can analyze and confirm that it is you. Then and only then, you will be able to use the plugins, but when you turn off the Mpc off and back on, you will have to redo the 2week process all over again.
There's a quicker version, but I assure you, you do not want that procedure done, unless your into prostate exams.

Loonytunes wrote:Calling it now, Keys 61 will not be back as good as it is, Mpc key 49 I reckon, I for one would be all over it haha (currently own a 37)

This don't make sense, especially if it as good as it is. What would make more sense is that they slowed down production of their current items knowing they have new models coming out & BAM!, now there's a key49 & a 88- with weighted keys & the other options like the 37 & 61 are in full production.

Why would they reduce customers buying options after they went thru the trouble of making the 61? Please explain your logic.

Loonytunes wrote:Calling it now, Keys 61 will not be back as good as it is, Mpc key 49 I reckon, I for one would be all over it haha (currently own a 37)

I reckon since the key37 has been so successful and popular; they will just come with the same 37 keys in a different colour, if lucky they might add more RAM, but I doubt it.

Most likely they will just re-release the same unit specs with a black finish.

That's probably pretty accurate minus the ram

jpeg wrote:just saw this speculation on reddit; it seems like a plausible analysis:

Akai is at NAMM this year with a sizeable floor space.

MPC3.0 software drops, still in public beta.

Thomann.de just today listed the MPC Live II as "Available in several months" after being constantly in stock for years. This came after the sale season deall of getting 700EUR in plugins for it for free (the thing itself cost 999EUR)

Thomann.de just today listed the MPC One+ as "On Request" after being in stock all year.

The Keys61 was pulled from the market a month or so ago with no real announcement.

Force, X and Keys37 remain in stock and for sale.

I wouldn't blame a reasonable person for arriving at the conclusion that we are going to see a new MPC range at NAMM, built around MPC3.0, and we are going to see 3 flavours of it - Small (like One+), Medium (like LiveII) and Keys (Large like the 61). I would also assume we are going to see bigger ram sizes in all these models.

That was me that wrote that. Its already a little dated. Mpc Live II is back in stock at Thomann..weird comsiderimg it was "availble in several months" for a while..... One + is "Availble at short notice". Akai Force was entirely deleted, just disappeared, and now today is magically back and instock. The rest above remains the same. Still, I stand by statement in the original post.

It sucks to see the issues with MP3...I went through a lot of that with my Akai Force, but 3.3 Firmware is super solid for me, and MP3 looks eerily similar in many many ways.

Been on MPC since the 2000XL waaaaay back in the day, absolutely love the workflow on the Force, want to buy a One+ or Live II to compliment it....AKAI you breaking my heart with all the firmware shenanigans. Hope to see some new updated gear at NAMM. Big ups to Mockba and Hackai modders, you the real MVPs right now.

thank god some of you dont work for akai

MPC-Tutor wrote:No inMusic FCC submissions since the Key 37, so whatever they are developing it isn't at a stage where they are ready to gain FCC approval. The key37 was released 3 months after FCC submission BTW.

Might see a prototype...

Good looking out. I do have a twist on that. 4gb of ram, some button label / mapping changes to accommodate MP3 functions, wouldn't warrant a FCC change though. Deep analysis though dude. I didn't think to look there....I hope they ditch the red colour while they are at it. That said my old 2000xl was the limited edition bright orange.

BigUncleBucks wrote:
That was me that wrote that. Its already a little dated. Mpc Live II is back in stock at Thomann..weird comsiderimg it was "availble in several months" for a while..... One + is "Availble at short notice". Akai Force was entirely deleted, just disappeared, and now today is magically back and instock. The rest above remains the same. Still, I stand by statement in the original post.

It sucks to see the issues with MP3...I went through a lot of that with my Akai Force, but 3.3 Firmware is super solid for me, and MP3 looks eerily similar in many many ways.

Been on MPC since the 2000XL waaaaay back in the day, absolutely love the workflow on the Force, want to buy a One+ or Live II to compliment it....AKAI you breaking my heart with all the firmware shenanigans. Hope to see some new updated gear at NAMM. Big ups to Mockba and Hackai modders, you the real MVPs right now.

Big up, it seems ur insights have merit, as I saw a music radar article bout NAMM; and some similar sentiments was expressed by the article write regarding Akai's presence at NAMM (see below):

The fact that the current-gen MPC Live II and MPC One+ are currently out of stock at some retailers may just be coincidence. Given the general lifespan of Akai product generations though, and the fact the MPC software has just received a major update, it certainly seems plausible that 2025 might be the right time for some new hardware. Aside from special edition updates, the top-end MPC X hasn’t had a proper refresh since its launch back in 2017.

But as an old skool MPC head whats ur impressions of 3.0 thus far?

I personally would like to see more Hackai type mods; or da return of JJOS, due to the fact that Akai seems to be making changes that disrupt old workflows, and other changes that were not requested such as locking programs to tracks, and limiting time signatures to 4/4, and changing the main screen, etc