Not me. MPC3 is still a version of Force-lite. Lack of clips, the clip-matrix & the 64 pads as well as the other dedicated buttons. Oh yeah, I love the crossfader on the Force. Also, the hacked Force OS the MockbaMod is like OS update if your willing go down that road.
Will you be switching to the MPC?
No, Iām ready for a new Force and for that reason MPC3.0 got me interested in MPC. But I hesitate to go that route. It seems the hardware user interface of the MPC is definitely not optimised for a track and clip-based workflow. I see everyone questioning it and struggling. I think MPC2 was what the hardware was designed for.
For me the ideal Force mk2 would be a Force with MPC body footprint. I created a design for that some time ago. I think its even in this thread. It would have 6 outs, like MPC, and keep the fader of course. The somewhat smaller 64 pads for me would be a price Iād be willing to pay if the sensitivity of them would get a significant boost (like Launchpad Pro). It would make sense to up the sensitivity/responsiveness of the pads, maybe even support MPE because Force is less of a boom-bap, drum sequencer than MPC is intended to be.
So just Force feature-updating its OS would not do it for me. Iām ready for next level Force hardware, on a smaller footprint and more expressive pads.
I donāt want a force with less pad & if I really need just 6 outs I would get a audio interface. MPE would be nice. The Force is just as good for Boom Bap as the MPC, if not better (crossfader), so I donāt know whatās that about.
Seems like you want a mini Force & I want a Force XL. Give me 128 pads with MPE & all 32 ins & outputs to make the real center piece of the studio. I still want more QOL upgrades & many of the features from the MockbaMod OS & ofc all the current MPC only plugins which is only thing weāll be getting. Hopefully they will make Force-Stems that will be of higher quality than stems standalone on the MPC.
A great Force feature update to itās OS could do it for me, especially if they fix most of the major bugs & add more QOL improvements. The screen can even be modded to tilt if your willing to do it.
I wonāt be switching, but an MPC Live II with 3.0 is looking much better now that the workflow is closer to contemporary 1:1 / tone-generator:track workflow. (Iāll probably get one at some point)
The disconnected program:track layout of MPC always seemed convoluted to me.
Iām thinking Akai is brewing up something nice for 2025, seeing as how the OSāes are really close to merging and they have 3 different form factors in 5 different sizes now: OG MPC, Push/APC40, and Keys.
Clip follow is a given. Thatāll offer an entirely new way of constructing songs on Force, and also make transferring a Clip Matrix performance into the Arranger a lot more āautomatedā. Itāll definitely get the same Arranger and Pattern Sequencer refinements that weāre seeing in MPC 3. There will also - eventually - be a new keyGroup redesign. Think more modern āsynth-likeā features with an actual modulation matrix. But that will come to MPC as well (and probably first), and likely be a 2025 thing. We may see that paired with new hardware, which is a guarantee. Whatās not a guarantee is if said new hardware will āonlyā be a new Force, or if theyāll just finally morph the two platforms into one and make an MPC+Force āhybridā. Exciting times!
I hope they put more than one arranger per project & add the option to convert all/selected arranger tracks into clips.
Mini Force, cross fader on the left would be mine day freakin one, and if I could morph between 2 or more patches that I could play on the Force Mini via the cross fader that would make it a great combo for my MPCs
You turn the Force upside down to have the crossfader on the left.
You can morph between samples of a patch or plugins.
Haa! Only in akaiās dreams, this is no time to shuck and jive theyāve got the wind at their backs, the momentum is there to do something momentous 
They may do something momentous, but you may not like it. 
Uh oh
If Akai were to meld the MPC and Force features and workflow, which seems to be the direction now, the 8x8 clip matrix could be implemented in MPC 3.0 when you pair one of their hardware 8x8 controllers with MPC hardware. Itās hard to reason why thereās a need for Force 2 when Akai can streamline its software instead of bifurcating it. If MPC is their hardware flagship, extending it with peripheral 8x8 hardware, for example, makes more sense.
So would it still have 16 pads on the device. I wouldnāt want to add a another controller. They donāt even have to add 64 pads to the MPC for them to use the 8x8 matrix, just add the screen option the of matrix view. If they do add the matrix keeping the 64 pads would be better & let who want the MPC 16 big pad get a MIDI controller. They most likely will make multiple models for different users as they been doing with the current MPCs. Akai currently has 2 platforms & one with many different models, so they donāt seem to mind bifurcating it which has itās own advantages.
I donāt mind then creating a hybrid MPF thing as long as they most of the Force form like the 64 pads & crossfader. The MPC doesnāt really add anything the Force doesnāt have except the bigger pads. As think as more MPC users get the new 3.0 OS they will see the value of the Force & jump on it as they realize that the Force is already like a new gen MPC, but will see.
Thatās what I meant, if it wasnāt clear that they can also add the clip matrix launch screen to MPC 3.x and, if we want a hardware 8x8 and the crossfader, it can be a hardware peripheral option. Akai already make something similar in the form of APC 64. Not as convenient of course, having to view the screen separately from the keypads. I personally would love to have a crossfader on the new Live or MPC X myself. Anyway, all speculation at this time.
Ok folksā¦ sorry Iām a bit thick so Iām about to possibly rehash past questions on this thread because I donāt understand how to do this and the manual is a bit skinny in this area.
Iāve got a Force and a Denon SC6000m and am hoping to use the Force as the mixer for the Denon. Just a note - even though I want to do dj mixing here but only have one Denon, the unit actually has 2 layers (with each layer has an L and R RCA output) meaning I can play an MP3 on track 1 while queuing up track 2 and then playing when ready.
I was originally hoping I could plug in the Denonās 2 RCA pairs (i.e 4 cables) into the Force, but this wonāt work since the Force only have 2 XLR inputs.
So my questions are:
After a bit of research, it turns out a USB interface may do this:
And since itās audio-over-USB, the Forceās crossfader L can be assigned L+R from Denonās layer 1 track channel, and the Forceās crossfader R to the Denonās layer 2 track channel.
Does this make any sense or am I totally wrong about how this works and itās all above my own head?
But if this all sounds even just a little bit plausible, does anyone have any recommendations for the audio interface I use? Reddit seems to think not all audio interfaces with the Force - some wonāt work at all, some will work but then get constant annoying sound cracks!
No you e basically got it all correct.
You will need a 4 channel in audio interface (2 stereo pairs in), and you can then setup 2 audio channels in the Force, assigning each to A & B for the fader.
You can do the normal FX for each track , route to sub mixes etc, and use global effects such as the XY pad, macros, etc.
Using an audio interface means all of your ins and outs will be through that interface - ie the headphone out on the Force will be disabled.
Hopefully someone has a recommendation for an audio interface. Good luck!
Awesome, thanks for the confirmation!!
Using an audio interface means all of your ins and outs will be through that interface - ie the headphone out on the Force will be disabled.
Bah! Of course thereās got to be a lemon somewhere. I guess this is why some of the audio interfaces Iāve been looking at have multiple headphone jacks 
Yeah, this is the main downside in my experience - itād be convenient for me to be able to leave headphones connected to the Force all the time, as I donāt always need the interface. But itās a relatively minor hassle in the grand scheme of things, and if you end up liking the setup and treat it as permanent then itās nothing to worry about. It does also have the advantage of allowing you to tilt the Force without having to worry about snapping the jack, which I have taken advantage of.
Iāve had to drill multiple hole in the studio table for that headphone jack. Sometimes I wish the jack was on the back. Lack of a tilt-screen is just poor design.
I use a UMC404HD for this purpose. 4 mono in/4 mono out. And you can assign an output pair as the cue mix target from the Force even when using an external audio interface. Itās in the setting page on the Force. You then can have outs 1&2 of the UMC as your main mix and outs 3&4 as your cue mix, then you can push a button on the front of the UMC to have either of those pairs sent to the headphones.
Edit: but I donāt think thereās an easy way to have a mix between the audience / main mix and the cue mix sent to the headphones when using an external interface.
The idea is not yet fully formed or tested but I reckon it could be possible to setup the knobs and routing on the force to achieve the ability to have a blend between the main mix and cue mix sent to headphones when using an external interfaceā¦