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.
By JethroJethro Sat May 23, 2026 2:44 am
bitermc wrote:I'll let that sink in: I've never ever met anyone who has bought a record or even paid attention to a tune because they liked the tape saturation of the recording, or the analog warmth of the synth track...


Short answer: suppose you could say the same about compressors, so why bother

I have a very distinct memory as a kid in at a Radio Shack where they had Steely Dan’s Gaucho on a decent turntable with a nice pair of headphones ready to listen. I remember thinking every part of the recording was perfect and whatever they did in the laboratory to sculpt the sound i wouldnt change a thing. Getting the song nice makes it nice.

Anyhow a bit of saturation on a bus is a classic sound that’s both pleasant and non fatiguing. Drop into a Pultec thread if you want to really be annoyed.
By Masi Sat May 23, 2026 10:04 am
JethroJethro wrote:
bitermc wrote:I'll let that sink in: I've never ever met anyone who has bought a record or even paid attention to a tune because they liked the tape saturation of the recording, or the analog warmth of the synth track...


Short answer: suppose you could say the same about compressors, so why bother

Exactly.

The listener never pays attention to any of the mixing tricks employed. They don't listen to the carefully crafetd synth patches and delicate layer. Heck, they don't even care about the details of the composition (like scale, chords and their progression).

If you have spent enough time to learn mixing you will know when or when not to use tape saturation to get the result you want.

If you're not there ignore the marketing hype. Just slapping any FX on because "they" say you need that to make your sound awesome, won't work. Been there, done that :)

OTOH, just because you or any other mixing engineer does not find any given tool useful, doesn't mean it's pointless.
By SuperKonquer Sat May 23, 2026 9:24 pm
The listener does care. It is just that they don't know why they care. I have often stopped listening to otherwise good songs because they sound sonically awful. A good mix can even make an awful song sound tolerable. A bad mix makes everything sound bad.
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By Lampdog Sat May 23, 2026 9:47 pm
Many of us here aren’t *normal* listeners.
Critical listeners??

I told some friends we don’t *hear* the same things when *listening* to the same song.
Just the way it is for beatmakers imo.
By ii8 Mon Jun 01, 2026 2:20 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote:
Masi wrote:Each plugin is 99$ "regular" price.


Who is paying £100 for this stuff? I like tefty, but seriously I am not hearing anything on that saturator that you cannot already achieve in many ways with other MPC plugins. He says he really likes saturators, but how many do you actually need inside an MPC? We're definitely at 'collector' stage with these plugins, people are just buying them for the sake of it. Surely we are reaching 'saturation' point (sorry).

And seriously, claiming that the 'regular' $299 price is 'pretty signficant', and you should jump in quick to great the great deal. He knows full well that these RRPs are made up to allow them to offer 'big deals' at various points throughout the year. In a few months time these will all be $29 each plus an extra 15% promo code. Generally I like his vids, but it would be nice to see these guys call out Akai on all this nonsense once in a while, like Conan does (and what a surprise, Akai never sends him any stuff for review...).


Totally agree with you. Disliked the vids and don't wanna open his channel for a long time. Such things are really disappointing..
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By THXjay Wed Jun 03, 2026 11:20 am
Has anyone managed to get the Buy 2 Get 1 Free offer to work on Akai/Air sites?
Tried putting 3 items (from the listed page) and it doesn't apply any discount. Even went through to the payment page, still nothing!
By B-Wise Wed Jun 03, 2026 2:10 pm
THXjay wrote:Has anyone managed to get the Buy 2 Get 1 Free offer to work on Akai/Air sites?
Tried putting 3 items (from the listed page) and it doesn't apply any discount. Even went through to the payment page, still nothing!

Make sure the plugins are included with that deal as some are excluded. Read the fine print at the bottom of the email.
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By THXjay Thu Jun 04, 2026 12:21 pm
B-Wise wrote:
THXjay wrote:Has anyone managed to get the Buy 2 Get 1 Free offer to work on Akai/Air sites?
Tried putting 3 items (from the listed page) and it doesn't apply any discount. Even went through to the payment page, still nothing!

Make sure the plugins are included with that deal as some are excluded. Read the fine print at the bottom of the email.

Yeah, I didn't see that :) Sneaky aren't they? Advertising it as a blanket deal....
ended up using my 30% email code that works across the board :)
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By THXjay Thu Jun 04, 2026 4:22 pm
B-Wise wrote:
THXjay wrote:ended up using my 30% email code that works across the board :)

I meant to look into that 30% code. Did you get an actual code or like me, just email link to their site?

I got an email with a one time use code, though someone said you can use it more than once but I tried it a second time and nothing.
I think the code was the same for everyone but it's obviously tied to your account\email.