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 Certified Beatz Wed Jun 03, 2026 3:37 am
B-Wise wrote:
Certified Beatz wrote:.. to much click clack sound :-D :-D

Like a fake gangsta rapper :lol:

I hate that sound too. The RS7000 had that issue. I put clear tape over the buttons & it greatly reduced the noise.


:-D :-D :-D :-D looking around to see if I got bullet holes in my walls
By JethroJethro Wed Jun 03, 2026 4:25 am
EnochLight wrote:I love the click/clack sound of this style of buttons, but what I hate is the useless area inside of each button - no labels indicating a shift+feature.. just - a light:

Image


It was awful in the dark. Bright ass buttons make your pupils constrict rhen you can’t see the labels. Which you need because no matter what gear you came from the Key has a weird layout.
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By Lampdog Wed Jun 03, 2026 1:04 pm
Certified Beatz wrote:Its like the design team ran out of ideas for the layout...

I felt that same way when I first saw XL powered on in my dark room.
By kday Thu Jun 04, 2026 9:15 am
Maybe the chip shortage delays caused Akai to just make a slightly upgraded memory-board model over trying to make a new upgraded Key 37 MKII with touch strip and ePads etc. This is just an extension of the same old Key37 with a new retro color in the same way they added retro color to the Live III version. The upgraded CPU is mandatory because newer motherboard with upgraded memory boards cost the same as the old boards four years ago. This G2 is for people wanting a Key37 but never acted on it, and now it gets a new retro color and new debut attention of visibility in people's faces again, that's it. Because it offers really nothing new worth upgrading for, for current owners to sell their old original red Key 37.
By jpeg Thu Jun 04, 2026 9:27 am
i guess having the quadrant pads on those smaller devices would of been a big ask

at least the CPU power is upped and the RAM only marginally updated, but understandably there has to be some trade offs but the updated CPU is the key aspect
By B-Wise Thu Jun 04, 2026 9:47 am
jpeg wrote:i guess having the quadrant pads on those smaller devices would of been a big ask

at least the CPU power is upped and the RAM only marginally updated, but understandably there has to be some trade offs but the updated CPU is the key aspect

I feel a new controller with Q-pads poppin up.
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By EnochLight Thu Jun 04, 2026 2:05 pm
JethroJethro wrote:
EnochLight wrote:I love the click/clack sound of this style of buttons, but what I hate is the useless area inside of each button - no labels indicating a shift+feature.. just - a light:

Image


It was awful in the dark. Bright ass buttons make your pupils constrict rhen you can’t see the labels. Which you need because no matter what gear you came from the Key has a weird layout.


It's the same on the MPC One. Not a great look.
By JethroJethro Thu Jun 04, 2026 2:23 pm
kday wrote:upgraded CPU .., upgraded memory boards … it offers really nothing new worth upgrading for, for current owners to sell their old original red Key 37.


Not everyone just does boom bap
By jpeg Thu Jun 04, 2026 3:38 pm
JethroJethro wrote:
kday wrote:upgraded CPU .., upgraded memory boards … it offers really nothing new worth upgrading for, for current owners to sell their old original red Key 37.


Not everyone just does boom bap


what has boom bap got to do with his statement regarding lack of new features on gen2 key 37?
By JethroJethro Thu Jun 04, 2026 3:50 pm
jpeg wrote:what has boom bap got to do with his statement regarding lack of new features on gen2 key 37?


He said it has improved CPU and RAM yet has “nothing” worth upgrading for. Those are pretty big improvements, unless you’re a boom bap person who does sample based music and don’t need the extra power.

Melodic techno, dubstep, cinematic, ambient, synth pop.. plenty of other styles have lots of synths and effects. Not everyone is here trying to be Pete Rock.
By Certified Beatz Thu Jun 04, 2026 5:29 pm
JethroJethro wrote:
jpeg wrote:what has boom bap got to do with his statement regarding lack of new features on gen2 key 37?


He said it has improved CPU and RAM yet has “nothing” worth upgrading for. Those are pretty big improvements, unless you’re a boom bap person who does sample based music and don’t need the extra power.

Melodic techno, dubstep, cinematic, ambient, synth pop.. plenty of other styles have lots of synths and effects. Not everyone is here trying to be Pete Rock.


Boom Bap is a genre of hip-hop that's sample base but could be layered with Spitfire strings that would take ram. Pete rock hip-hop era was limited to sp1200 and mpc3000.. you can still make hip-hop east coast beats that use alot of ram..
By JethroJethro Thu Jun 04, 2026 7:45 pm
Certified Beatz wrote:Boom Bap is a genre of hip-hop that's sample base but could be layered with Spitfire strings that would take ram. Pete rock hip-hop era was limited to sp1200 and mpc3000.. you can still make hip-hop east coast beats that use alot of ram..


I think you missed the sentence that was right before what you were responding to: “Melodic techno, dubstep, cinematic, ambient, synth pop.. plenty of other styles have lots of synths and effects.”

I run an X and a Force alongside each other and still sometimes get CPU warnings doing EDM. And that’s with me sometimes also using a third device for wavetable synths. If I only had one device the $300 RAM upgrade would have been a must-do.

Fringe examples aside, EDM is generally a lot more CPU intensive than hip hop yes even Trap. Hey man I love hip hop even lost a ton of hearing working in a Dirty South club (Five On It also permanently ringing in my head ywars later). But the reality is on a technical level hip hop is not very demanding of equipment. Which literally is how and why it came into existence.

Anyhow, at the rate music and short attention spans are going it won’t be long until Akai releases a dumbed down device that pretty much only does Splice. And we’ll be right back where we started. #MPC Splice #MPC Splice Retro #MPC Splice XL lol
By Certified Beatz Thu Jun 04, 2026 9:37 pm
JethroJethro wrote:
Certified Beatz wrote:Boom Bap is a genre of hip-hop that's sample base but could be layered with Spitfire strings that would take ram. Pete rock hip-hop era was limited to sp1200 and mpc3000.. you can still make hip-hop east coast beats that use alot of ram..


I think you missed the sentence that was right before what you were responding to: “Melodic techno, dubstep, cinematic, ambient, synth pop.. plenty of other styles have lots of synths and effects.”

I run an X and a Force alongside each other and still sometimes get CPU warnings doing EDM. And that’s with me sometimes also using a third device for wavetable synths. If I only had one device the $300 RAM upgrade would have been a must-do.

Fringe examples aside, EDM is generally a lot more CPU intensive than hip hop yes even Trap. Hey man I love hip hop even lost a ton of hearing working in a Dirty South club (Five On It also permanently ringing in my head ywars later). But the reality is on a technical level hip hop is not very demanding of equipment. Which literally is how and why it came into existence.

Anyhow, at the rate music and short attention spans are going it won’t be long until Akai releases a dumbed down device that pretty much only does Splice. And we’ll be right back where we started. #MPC Splice #MPC Splice Retro #MPC Splice XL lol


Again there different styles of hip-hop wether it be westcoast mid west or south they also use heavy synth, mmog bass and effects. Hip-hop isn't just sample base and I have and many others produced tracks that are 12 - 14 channels with effects its all subjective. I see what you mean ..
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By Ultros Sat Jun 06, 2026 12:05 am
That boom bap comment got people feeling things lol. Poked at people's SOULS with that comment. I see his point though, you can do that on some of the wimpiest samplers available today theres no need to blow away a couple grand and continue the same path of engineering. Unless you just want a new toy which is completely acceptable.
By JethroJethro Sat Jun 06, 2026 12:21 am
It’ll suck when gen 1 no longer supports new firmware though. Does that happen with 4.0 maybe? Even apple known for supporting legacy devices longer than most, no way a 9 year old phone will run the new OS so it’s nice Akai is still at it.