We are getting what we asked for, but is it what we need?

I think we effed up dudes... i think our delusions of grandure have come home to roost. One one hand I've been a big advocate of change in terms of functionality, and they really have answered a lot of my previous wants and desires out of the digital era but with that being said.. are we moving too far away from MPC's natural work flow? I fear that this thing they are creating will soon in no way represent or emulate any legacy mpc system or workflow. Don't get me wrong i'm actually excited to get a new mpc in the future, but am I gonna be able to sit down at it and just hammer out tunes.. i dont know.

When i got my mpc one i think it had 2.7 on it? (2.9?) im not sure, but in that micro era, (2019) i actually really appreciated the simplicity of the device it didnt really have many problems that were apparent to me, midi worked it did it's sampling and chopping stuff fine, everything was pretty good. I did some of my best work on those older firmwares before we got fishhooked by plugins and goofy effects addons and shit. I kinda feel like maybe we lead akai to this place through our demand for goofy changes thats actually taken them away from something really good. I know there are a few of you still using 2.10 and I think you might be on to something... less might be more.

I wanted more more more more and now my box on whatever the last few firmwares have been buggered and i've left it sitting on a shelf collecting a layer of dust for almost two years. In some ways im kinda annoyed that for two years ive had nothing but trouble and mishaps. From having to update to stay with the times rapidly to the mpc melting 64gb of projects on an sd card. literally melted it, and that was the moment i was like "k im done.."

This isnt for the surface users this question is for you guys who know me and i know you from around the scene. do you think we are going the right direction? are you guys having production issues and holdups due to your mpc having these quirks and changes or do you find them inspiring in some way?

Lampdog wrote:I LOVE it being self contained, plugins and all. Yes, you’ll be able to make beats, what a dumb ass question.

Exactly!

Most of the new stuff they add is optional. It's up to you do decide what you're gonna use as part of your workflow. Programs & the editor are still there, they just tie it to a track but they added 4 more pad layers & now there's KGXL. The plugins allow you to hold off using ext synth longer than you used too or just only use them since they are better than some people would like to admit. This post makes me think that if Akai ever add a great reverb people will say the MPC is dead or some BS like that.

Ultros, If anything just stick to the older firmware as you mentioned, or just avoid the certain features on the newer OS. Or are the plugins so good you lack the willpower to not use them?

What everyone need to do is Downgrade to the Lowest Firmware on Akai Website....And See how much Progress Akai has made. I bet all the Naysayers will embrace the New Firmware with Open Arms...

Don't worry you can always Re-Upgrade back to 3.41

My entire works being burned in the sd slot infront of my eyes definitely brickwall stopped me and mmc not working properly is a big problem!! LOL.

i didnt make this thread to gripe though haha. i got kicked off facebook and cut myself off from the music world when not making music so i'm trying to get some insight into how the hardcore folks are fairing with all the new stuff. I want to you know what *you* indivdually think. there as to be some concerns of sorts? or questions as to why they did this over that. Tell me bout the weird stuff.

I havent even tried 3.0 beta, i havent had time with my other non music related projects. I still pop on the forums here and read stuff all the time though but reading pales in compairson to participating. Trying to keep my finger on the pulse but i let it fade... now im outside looking in. I dont know whats really going on because i've not been active is all. I need to be brought up to speed a bit by the ppl who see the root of the appliance.

Thanks for the reply fellas.

40Beatz wrote:What everyone need to do is Downgrade to the Lowest Firmware on Akai Website....And See how much Progress Akai has made. I bet all the Naysayers will embrace the New Firmware with Open Arms...

Don't worry you can always Re-Upgrade back to 3.41

True, but the OP isn't one of those people. He saying the opposite in that the MPC made too much progress. He even said he understands why some users stay on OS 2.10.

Just a brain dump... bit stream of consciousness...

I *liked* the idea of firmware 3.0 and what it promised, but going from 2.x to 3.x I *hated* it. But complaining about running beta software while choosing to run beta software, is kind of dumb. Fundamentally though, change creates friction, and there have been plenty of new bugs, changed processes, and oddities... all mixed in with some good stuff.

Personally I *prefer* the 2.x style of one sequence to many tracks to one program... but humans tend to understand many to many and one to one, but get mixed up on the mixed one/many relationships... I fully understand the change though in 3.x... it is *much* easier for new users to understand and use, just at the expense of keeping things more malleable from an old school MPC music creation.

So... firmware 3.x I would suggest is *mostly* better, but it's going to irritate a lot of the older MPC heads. We're used to all the multiple ways to accomplish the same thing but with awkward side effects, so reprogramming ourselves is tough. I forced myself to use MPC 3.x to make a track a day, and slowly got my head wrapped around it. It's pretty good too... just... some dumb bugs still... I am willing to bet that the 2.x and older workflows are still faster, but I'm also getting pretty quickly up to speed with 3.x.

All the plugins over the last year are mostly nice, situationally useful, but certainly not necessary. I don't see any haves vs have-nots for soft-clipper for example. You have it... cool... it might help... but I don't see people cheering for it as the next "always end of chain" plugin... or any of the others. Biggest obvious gaps at this point is a serious reverb of some kind... and needing more memory... because if you use a heavy memory usage plugin, and clone it... you've now doubled your memory requirements... when before you could just point two tracks to the same plugin.

NearTao wrote:when before you could just point two tracks to the same plugin.

You can still point 2 tracks to the same plugin with MIDI Send or did I not understand something?

IMHO

I do not like the vanishing of programs. They have existed since the MPC60 and it is the fundamental brick in the MPC. One important thing is that I like having different programs per sequence, so now having unused tracks polluting the arranger view when creating a new sequence sucks.

Clip programs were also extremely useful, I hope AKAI put them back in.

I like the new macros but since they removed clip programs, well there is less incentive to jam live at first place.

I also like the new keygroup XL, but I am also fine without it.

Anyway nobody is forced to update. If AKAI simply corrected the MIDI IN bug in 2.X I would not update at all when 3.X gets a fix, and stick with that version.

B-Wise wrote:

NearTao wrote:when before you could just point two tracks to the same plugin.

You can still point 2 tracks to the same plugin with MIDI Send or did I not understand something?

You *can* do this... but if you mute the main track then you can send as much midi as you want, it will still be muted.

I'll have to play around and see if there is a difference here between audio and midi muting... but I haven't quite gotten it to work the way I'd like.

I'm 1 of the people that decided to stick with 2.xx

2.x holdout here too
3.0 added some cute things, but good lord I hate the new track/pad mixer screens.
arranger is nice, but I don't really find it worth the tradeoffs of losing the old program/track flexibility. the cluttered wild color scheme of mpc3 is kind of nonsense to look at. it's somehow both information overload and not enough UI at the same time.

keygrpXL and qlink macros are neat, but mostly seem to be a time trap of "you can fiddle with this endlessly"and their respective UI's leave much to be desired ..

on 2.12 and the only thing I really miss is disk streaming and master/sub automation (ok, also re-ordering FX) :p

Currently jealous of those who held out. When exporting multitracks or “bouncing tracks to audio” the automation doesn’t export properly on 3.4.1. Literally different each time you export.

This thread discusses what we “need” and you would think being able to export your productions from a production box like the MPC, would be the highest on the list.

I actually love the new software, but if I can’t confidently export my tracks, to mix them or record a client’s vocals in a daw with the MPC multitracks (the way I produced them), it essentially renders my MPC useless.