I have to give it to Akai, they are pushing things forward!

Akai were real bold with the 3.0 design changes; the blueprint was discussed way back by big chin Dan Gill; he was very specific when he spoke of Force and MPC software merging; wether that will proceed forward as a merging of the hardware, remains to be seen.

Somebody floated the idea of an MPC Force; I think that would make sense; as an alternative unit within the MPC range.

Maybe the clip mode from the Force software will be added into a future 3.x update to coincide with the release of a new Force hardware running MPC 3x software.

Anyways thats more speculation; but far as beta the feedback ive seen it seems the 3.4.1 still feels beta-ish, will probably take till 3.6 for to stabilise.

Also why should those who been using MPC for decades have to change they workflow just cos they wanted to make it easier for these simpleton, newbie, social madia trend hopper producers.

All Akai need to do is add an option in preferences for legacy mode; that gves u the old progrms/tracks workflow and the old main screen, but everything else in 3.0 runs the same.

I hope akai does something neat. I hope to see my friend andy again, i hope to see the ocean.. i hope..

Have to say the overall layout has gotten quite busy. I wonder how much of an advantage it really is to have so much going on in each page or whether it would have been better to portion things out into a few more pages in total. I suppose it's somewhat convenient when you've learned its every ins and outs to have so much info available at once, but the new UI layout honestly looks like a hassle to be able to get comfy with, even for existing OS 2 users. Maybe it's just me. I see myself keeping my Live mkI in OS 2 indefinitely, focusing mainly on advanced keygroups in OS 3 and learn my way through everything else piece by piece when needed.

I alternate between giving Akai credit and feeling like they are not delivering.

That said, the if the MPC was only 1 track and 1 program, it would surpass the capacity of almost every groovebox out there. People have high expectations BECAUSE Akai keeps raising the bar.

I bought my MPC so I’d have something with some muscle memory that just does what it does without having the hassles of a computer with OS updates conflicting with software and plugins.

The Air plugins are generally great, 3.0 will be great when kinks are ironed out and potential 3rd party plugins (besides Air) is great.

Gotta hand it to Akai in general.

sinik wrote:it sure is good for akai as a business. but they are moving away from the core mpc workflow. some will like it, some will not like it. for me, it lost its appeal as a "classic groovebox sampler". its more like operating an ipad with some physical knobs and pads.

from UX side of things, i really think less intuitive as previous mpcs.

from now on it will be tons and tons of new instruments and effects they are going to squeeze in. and they will make the arranger more and more complex because people want it that way.

here is a video from altruwest, he really has some good points about this whole situation:

That's a nice video with valid points. No fanboy-ing going on. Just a healthy conversation with an unbiased opinion.

BackOnDaMPC wrote:That's a nice video with valid points. No fanboy-ing going on. Just a healthy conversation with an unbiased opinion.

he was waffling tbh; I did not listen to the stream in its entirety; but as i skipped thru the vid; i recall a point where he was complaining about having to arm a track to record on mpc.

there was another point where he was complaining about the 8 audio track limit.

his points seemed very nit picky, he was a NI Maschine loyalist, so he might be salty that NI lost the battle.

jpeg wrote:his points seemed very nit picky, he was a NI Maschine loyalist, so he might be salty that NI lost the battle.

altruwest is an OG MPC 4000 user and still is – no saltyness whatsoever.
he just clearly is not a fan of the new direction akai is heading.

They took it too far. Plain and simple. They added features that most of us old farts use to dream about having on our mpc. But then they heard the call of FL trappers complaining about the mpc workflow. So they decided to make a standalone FL studio

It’s a business I get it. But they are going to lose a portion of their loyal customer base. This really isn’t an mpc anymore.

sinik wrote:altruwest is an OG MPC 4000 user and still is – no saltyness whatsoever.
he just clearly is not a fan of the new direction akai is heading.

Exactly!

J.O.BEATS wrote:They took it too far. Plain and simple. They added features that most of us old farts use to dream about having on our mpc. But then they heard the call of FL trappers complaining about the mpc workflow. So they decided to make a standalone FL studio

It’s a business I get it. But they are going to lose a portion of their loyal customer base. This really isn’t an mpc anymore.

This!

I was waiting to see where they'd go with v3. The one thing that could salvage it for me is if the V3 desktop software app actually works on Mac (the current one doesn't), then I can at least tether and get around some of the limitations in standalone, but it's clear Akai don't listen to their professional users. At the moment I'm leaning 80% towards just selling it, I'm sure someone really simple making really simple music will want it.

John Schaefer wrote:The one thing that could salvage it for me is if the V3 desktop software app actually works on Mac (the current one doesn't), then I can at least tether and get around some of the limitations in standalone

Technically the software works for me on Windows, but Akai managed it to make the UI really awkward to use.

John Schaefer wrote:At the moment I'm leaning 80% towards just selling it, I'm sure someone really simple making really simple music will want it.

Why not stick to MPC2? You know all its features, quirks and bugs.

People were screeching from the rooftops for an arranger. Now that they got it they scream that they never wanted it and that the mpc workflow is gone. Before that they were screaming that it has shit converters and sounds like a toy. Now that Linn himself blessed the new mpcs I haven't heard anyone talking about how bad they sound.
At the end of the day you can't please everyone. For every old mpc head that wants to see the mpc3000 getting repackaged again and again with a dot matrix screen and smpte i/o there is one newcomer that wants all the "modernities" of a daw away from the daw.
At the end of the day nobody is taking our old mpcs away. My 1000 serves its purpose for its great sequencing capabilities. For everything else that is modulation and effect heavy with long samples and such, liveII is where is at

Masi wrote:

John Schaefer wrote:At the moment I'm leaning 80% towards just selling it, I'm sure someone really simple making really simple music will want it.

Why not stick to MPC2? You know all its features, quirks and bugs.

Because V2 already has infuriating limitations I was waiting for them to fix. Still no LFO available to most programs, so sound design is painful. Being able to use the desktop app would at least let you run Audio Units per pad/program and get some deeper results, but the app doesn't work so for me V2 just doesn't do what I expected the MPC to do. Their constant attempts at catering to their most basic users have won out.

MGoolas wrote:People were screeching from the rooftops for an arranger. Now that they got it they scream that they never wanted it and that the mpc workflow is gone.

You're sure these are the same people? And if they are, does it mean they're obliged to fake gratitude regardless of the functionality of the arranger?

MGoolas wrote:Before that they were screaming that it has shit converters and sounds like a toy.

Did they? I've never heard of this. I've been happy with how my OG Live sounds from the beginning.

MGoolas wrote:Now that Linn himself blessed the new mpcs I haven't heard anyone talking about how bad they sound.

Right. Those stupid other peoples. And you did so not just invent a group of complainers to complain about at all.

MGoolas wrote:At the end of the day you can't please everyone.

And? That's probably the cheapest criticism deflecting cop out ever, as it could be said about anything, no matter how sophisticated or utterly useless the product in question is. It's about as meaningful as the phrase "It is what it is".

Any manufacturer should aim to understand who their customers are and make products that reflects that as best they can. Akai could have done much worse, being that we're here discussing their products. That doesn't however mean they couldn't also have done better.

MGoolas wrote:For every old mpc head that wants to see the mpc3000 getting repackaged again and again with a dot matrix screen and smpte i/o

Again, I have never heard of these people. You seem to invent groups holding absurd opinions and associate them with those you disagree with.

MGoolas wrote:there is one newcomer that wants all the "modernities" of a daw away from the daw.

Yeah and that's not a bad concept if done cleverly. Obviously some aspects must be minimized or even removed completely in order for a standalone DAW like hardware machine to work and actually offer something in terms of workflow over a PC with say Ableton Live installed. It's no doubt challenging and it's well wort a good try or ten because of the potential such concept holds if at all successful.

MGoolas wrote:At the end of the day nobody is taking our old mpcs away. My 1000 serves its purpose for its great sequencing capabilities. For everything else that is modulation and effect heavy with long samples and such, liveII is where is at

You sequence an MPC Live2 with an MPC 1000?

I would prefer to be able to use the Live sequencer as effectively as the one in the MPC 1000 and ditch the MPC 1000.

John Schaefer wrote:

J.O.BEATS wrote:They took it too far. Plain and simple. They added features that most of us old farts use to dream about having on our mpc. But then they heard the call of FL trappers complaining about the mpc workflow. So they decided to make a standalone FL studio

It’s a business I get it. But they are going to lose a portion of their loyal customer base. This really isn’t an mpc anymore.

This!

I was waiting to see where they'd go with v3. The one thing that could salvage it for me is if the V3 desktop software app actually works on Mac (the current one doesn't), then I can at least tether and get around some of the limitations in standalone, but it's clear Akai don't listen to their professional users. At the moment I'm leaning 80% towards just selling it, I'm sure someone really simple making really simple music will want it.

You own it. So does that mean you make really simple music?