Who has a Live 3 and is loving it?

Mines arriving tmrw and so damn excited by what Akai have done with this release. At least from what I cant tell it fixes all the shortcomings I care about in the modern iterations.

Keen to hear what users think of their new toy.

Im most looking forward to usb c audio to track out, tho cant decide what config I'll setup logic pro to , e.g. 10 mono, 7 stereo.

Then the workflow enhancements with the extra buttons and less dependency of the screen. Think it will make me use the screen more for its advantages rather than to do everything.

And the new processor - so glad Akai bumped things up considerably.

And finally MPCe has really got mr thinking about designing a performance workflow. So cant wait to set this up.

I don’t have one but my Studio is the shit! Like working on a classic mpc will all the processing power ever needed!

Had my unit for 2 weeks now and its a massive upgrade with the extra buttons.

A lot has changed since I last used the newer MPCs, was rocking an school setup with an MPC 4k for a bit but it was getting old and creaky and the missus hated it lol. But I feel this new MPC Live 3 has the hands on feel that I liked about the 4k, which also had a great simple punch in step sequencer.

My wish lists is pretty small;
- less crashes - had a number of internal errors shutting down my project.
- way of switching step sequencer button colours to just be one colour when pressed. Hate the multi colours.
- more shortcuts. Would love their to be button presses to set a loop start and end. Reckon with Live 3 you could do shift+ locate << to set the start where playhead is and shift +locate>> to set end point.
- cv playground, maybe you can do this, but would want to link in a midi channels so can trigger notes from the cv channel via midi into my eurorack.
- MPCe seems like a bit of a gimmick so far, or perhaps i just haven't found the right template yet. Would love to see more examples and definitely extend capabilities to plugins, keygroups and midi.
- I do miss programs, but I do also love tracks being identical across sequences. But if there was a way to bring back programs that would be cool.

Honestly machine does so much, and a lot well, its come so far since the earlier iterations. Akai always nails the hardware but the software was lacking. But it has evolved really well. Cant see myself needing much more to make music.

Anyway just my experiences so far.

got it launch day. beefy, love it. i dont use a lot of the options. the warp is really amazing, speakers are much better vs live2, faster processor and NVMe drive round out the goodness. but yes to anyone on the fence about getting it.

Same here, wonder where rhe 16 steps will go.

ontherun wrote:Same here, wonder where rhe 16 steps will go.

Probably will inherit the Force Step-Seq mode & use the drum pads.

Lampdog wrote:I want YOUR happiness but in MPC X form factor.

Me too..

zangetsu01 wrote:

Lampdog wrote:I want YOUR happiness but in MPC X form factor.

Me too..

The X-Force is when shit gets fo'real!

Lampdog wrote:ForXe

Xorce

I like X-Force, but they would have fight with Marvel for sampling the name or cut some sort of deal with them...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Force
Get ready for them new Super Hero/Villain sound packs for $100, but 90% off with the code: SuperAkai.

Sold my Live 2 last year, regretted it, saw they were going cheap a few months ago after the PMTOnline going out of business, but decided to wait to see and glad I did! This thing is a beast and definitely something I will be getting... once Christmas is over! Can't wait

This is always the first place I check for news!

I'm still digging the Live 3...

the criticism on the *looks* is fair... it's not a Homer car by any means, but it is a push into that direction.

My biggest hurdle is the muscle memory built up from using the Live 2/X for so long. Button placement is different and *feels* slightly off, but with enough time/practice I'll get fully back into the swing of things. And what I consider more import, is that the button and sub function placement has a specific design to it, that you *can* get your head around.

So while I'm still reading the pads/interface from time to time... and double checking myself a bit... where things are placed logically makes sense, and does help start to make sense of how/why things are clustered together where they are on the device.

Oh, and have beat/bar transport controls on the Live 3... hell yes!

It does look like a christmas tree with all the coloured lights, but the extra buttons must make a huge difference? And those pads!

One thing I really want it to do is unlikely, but can it be used as a looper like the Roland RC-505?
There can't be many production methods this thing can't do, but I bet that's one! If not I need to get the RC-505 mk2 as well!

Until the looper has a smooth way to push loops to audio tracks/clips/samples (ie no clicks/pops)... it's not going to replace an RC-505.

It's an area that I feel like Akai *could* invest in making some major improvements, but it's still in the "functional but not perfect" space. You can do it... and if you practice a workflow it is *fairly* seamless... but for somebody with an RC-505... or somebody that wants to juggle multiple loops... you're likely to find the workflow/process insufficient.