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

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.
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Re: I have to give it to Akai, they are pushing things forwa

By B-Wise Sun Feb 02, 2025 12:46 am
They cater to the younger crowd because most of the older MPC heads will be dead sooner than later. Life & business is cold like that.

The owner & engineers of the current Akai didn't create the classic MPCs/S-Series. Ironically the OG Akai management didn't know their American market & didn't even want to make the 2k. They had to be convinced by an ex EMU employee Ablert Marco, who they hired as an US based consultant, that it would be a great Idea.

The 2XL was a no brainer after the success of the 2k that they couldn't vision being successful & didn't want it to compete with their current flagship the 3k. With a mentality like that the og Akai probably would've failed in the 2000s not being able to adjust to fast enough to a more competitive & complicated hardware market & we most likely wouldn't even be having this conversation.

The current Akai isn't loyal to the original concept & design of the OG Akai & they have adapt to an ever changing user/potential customer base. They're thinking years into future of how they want their Akai to be. They made the 5k to test having a synth built into the a MPC. The Ren was like a test to see how a hybrid workflow work & be accepted & then made the Studio with the touch screen to test that & then took all these tests & designed the current MPCs & even tested out an alternative clip based MPC with 4x the pads via the Force.

:arrow: Main point
What I'm saying is this current company is always changing & so will their OS & their idea of what an MPC is. The current MPC3 OS is just getting started (nor is it really out of beta :nod: ) & isn't stuck in the stone. The lack of certain features could be added later especially if enough you guys tell them, but most older heads claimed, "Why bother, they aren't going listen." While more younger user are hitting them up over every little thing & buy more plugins/expansions. Who do you think Akai is gonna cater to? Like Nas said, "It ain't hard to tell."

Re: I have to give it to Akai, they are pushing things forwa

By T-Monk Sun Feb 02, 2025 2:43 am
J.O.BEATS wrote: This really isn’t an mpc anymore.


Should they have made an MPC without a touch screen, 8 outputs, no plugins and only basic effects? And then sell it for $350 and never update it? The MPC1000 exists already in that space.

Time always marches on and the free market dictates that they need to at least do something new or make something that improves on an existing product. I’d say anyone who’s used the new MPCs sees the improvements. Maybe not everyone likes every feature, but this device needs to appear to the widest audience, otherwise it will be a brick like the MPC1000 which is not supported.

I’ve seen people make good music using only half the capacities of the machine and others who only know 1/4 of the features because they don’t need them.

It’s actually pretty respectable product, but like anything there are issues with it.

Re: I have to give it to Akai, they are pushing things forwa

By SuperKonquer Sun Feb 02, 2025 4:02 am
John Schaefer wrote:
SuperKonquer wrote:You own it. So does that mean you make really simple music?


Well considering that it's disconnected and sitting on a shelf in my lounge, no, I don't make really simple music.

Let's put things into perspective though. You have access to one of the most advanced music making gizmos in a box that has ever existed. Does it do this or that or that exactly how you want it to be done? Obviously no. But humans have made "complex" music for all of time without even being able to imagine having access to the tools that you do. Even 30 years ago, you would have had to be a very successful producer'/engineer to have access to the amount of tools available inside the current MPC.

I struggle to take anyone serious when they say the lack of x feature or workflow completely forbids them from making the amazing music that they would otherwise be crafting. It's a billion different ways you could use the MPC plus a billion different ways you could supplement the lack of x features. And most importantly, there are things that other gear may do that the MPC doesn't do or does poorly according to some. But there is no single piece of gear that comes close to all the things the MPC can do, and that's by a mile.

You could literally just it use as a track recorder and live record in any time signatures you like. You could just use it as a sound module or fx unit. The only limit from stopping anyone from making the greatest musical piece ever created by any lifeform is determination and imagination.

Re: I have to give it to Akai, they are pushing things forwa

By Certified Beatz Sun Feb 02, 2025 4:55 am
John Schaefer wrote:
SuperKonquer wrote:You own it. So does that mean you make really simple music?


Well considering that it's disconnected and sitting on a shelf in my lounge, no, I don't make really simple music.


If you haven't already go by a maschine mk3 and tell me how there desktop software is working for you :-D :-D

You put that one on the shelf faster :-D :-D :-D
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Re: I have to give it to Akai, they are pushing things forwa

By Lampdog Sun Feb 02, 2025 8:28 am
SuperKonquer wrote:The only limit from stopping anyone from making the greatest musical piece ever created by any lifeform is determination and imagination.

^
Quotable.

With all the good/bad quirks in MPC’s, none have been a brick wall stop for me. I still make beats.

Re: I have to give it to Akai, they are pushing things forwa

By Masi Sun Feb 02, 2025 11:09 am
John Schaefer wrote:
Masi wrote: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.

I see. Better then to move on and let the MPC be a thing of the past.

Re: I have to give it to Akai, they are pushing things forwa

By jpeg Sun Feb 02, 2025 11:14 am
sinik wrote:
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.


there is no new direction; Akai have been on the same course for the past decade, people get mad at new features being added that they dont want; but that dont mean its not an mpc anymore.

if u dont like arranger view; dont use arranger view, simple as that, some people dont want to use a DAW; they want to work all standalone within MPC, so Akai have provided for both sides of the coin.
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Re: I have to give it to Akai, they are pushing things forwa

By Lampdog Sun Feb 02, 2025 2:29 pm
Masi wrote:
Lampdog wrote:With all the good/bad quirks in MPC’s, none have been a brick wall stop for me. I still make beats.

Some folks like to make beats with the MPC by banging their heads on it. :twisted:

Must be the…..

Re: I have to give it to Akai, they are pushing things forwa

By HUBA Sun Feb 02, 2025 6:58 pm
SuperKonquer wrote:The only limit from stopping anyone from making the greatest musical piece ever created by any lifeform is determination and imagination.

Yawn
SuperKonquer wrote:humans have made "complex" music for all of time without even being able to imagine having access to the tools that you do.

Sure, if you're talented enough it's possible to make great music with anything. However, if what made you get into music was, you know, any modern type genre, like say synthwave or dubstep, lip burbling and banging rocks together typically won't suffice.
SuperKonquer wrote:I struggle to take anyone serious when they say the lack of x feature or workflow completely forbids them from making the amazing music that they would otherwise be crafting.

Your judgement of what you see as a lack of talent in others is based solely on your own lack of imagination and curiosity. Your loss
SuperKonquer wrote:there is no single piece of gear that comes close to all the things the MPC can do, and that's by a mile.

That's highly debatable and whether or not it's even relevant strongly depends on what type of music you're into, what workflow you prefer etc. For experimental type stuff there's plenty other gear that will take you further. Likewise if your music rely on immediacy and improvisation the workflow is simply too slow and restricted. Not ideal for drone music etc. etc.
SuperKonquer wrote:Even 30 years ago, you would have had to be a very successful producer'/engineer to have access to the amount of tools available inside the current MPC.

That's true to an extent but it's also true that comparable gear of that era was already pretty powerful and offered things the MPC will probably never offer. The ASR-10, Trinity or even the XP-50 was arguably more groundbreaking back then than the current MPC line is today. People expect new gear to deliver based on technology available at the current time and on what competing gear offers.
SuperKonquer wrote:It's a billion different ways you could use the MPC

Sure
SuperKonquer wrote:plus a billion different ways you could supplement the lack of x features.

Well a room full of gear in order to supplement a lack of features is certainly not what most people would consider an ideal or even tolerable solution. Particularly if it could be avoided say by going ITB instead.

A lot of the grounds for the criticism of modern workstations or the MPC is that people recognize that manufacturers have self interest in trying to avoid having their products ditched for a PC and a DAW but somehow the manufacturers themselves seem to not realize this. They need to offer something the PC DAW doesn't, I.E. workflow, immediacy and the comfort of having everything in front of you without feeling like you're working overtime at the office. Roland is going overboard by over simplifying their Fantoms, Korg is offering too much for their horrible UI to practically display/handle and Akai is somewhere in the middle, approaching Kronos territory.
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Re: I have to give it to Akai, they are pushing things forwa

By EnochLight Sun Feb 02, 2025 8:10 pm
SuperKonquer wrote:Let's put things into perspective though. You have access to one of the most advanced music making gizmos in a box that has ever existed. Does it do this or that or that exactly how you want it to be done? Obviously no. But humans have made "complex" music for all of time without even being able to imagine having access to the tools that you do. Even 30 years ago, you would have had to be a very successful producer'/engineer to have access to the amount of tools available inside the current MPC.

I struggle to take anyone serious when they say the lack of x feature or workflow completely forbids them from making the amazing music that they would otherwise be crafting. It's a billion different ways you could use the MPC plus a billion different ways you could supplement the lack of x features. And most importantly, there are things that other gear may do that the MPC doesn't do or does poorly according to some. But there is no single piece of gear that comes close to all the things the MPC can do, and that's by a mile.

You could literally just it use as a track recorder and live record in any time signatures you like. You could just use it as a sound module or fx unit. The only limit from stopping anyone from making the greatest musical piece ever created by any lifeform is determination and imagination.



GOT. DAYUM. This man speaks truth! :worthy:
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