I disagree. You can’t get the same Force work-flow on the any of the current MPC. Too many dedicated buttons are not there & they lack the crossfader & only the X has more than 4 knobs & the little display screens. The 64 pads are more than just for launching clips. Not even an MPC with the Force OS & APC would be the same. If they go full Force on MPC3 then new MPCs should have a new dedicated design with out having to rely on the screen so much.
The fact that the pads, the screen & the knobs can all be in different modes at the same time is what makes the Force so flexible & a powerful hardware device. 4 banks of 16 or a 4 octave piano is also something that can’t be emulated on MPCs.
They could just make the MPC64 with a specialized Force like design to be able to run the future more Force-like MPC3. Then keep the new gen MPCs more traditional but with necessary useful upgrades.
Like I told you, it’s not just the 64 pads that make the Force workflow a different experience.
Regardless of how you feel & think, I hope Akai make a new Force type of device.
Most complaints about the force are the size. My initial thoughts were the same, as in would have preferred a smaller form factor. But I’ve come to appreciate its luxury. The crossfader and programmable macros gets closer to the octatrack than anything else does (and maybe ever will). It’s a no expense spared attempt at creating the perfect performance device and clearly a lot of thought went into it, but maybe wasn’t as profitable as the MPC’s and won’t keep the shareholders happy. If there’s ever another iteration of the force, it could be a watered down version with a smaller form factor. So maybe it’s better to appreciate it in all its splendour as they may never make anything else like it.
Ofc it’s not as profitable as the MPC line, but that a given, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t successful based on the amount of units they made. I’m sure they made way fewer Force’s than any of the MPCs, but if the Force are out of stock that means they sold most of all the units they made which is a good thing for Akai, esp for a box that was made 5 years ago. In that case it may have a higher sell rate than any of the MPCs. How many MPC One’s are there in stock waiting to be sold, IDK, but I bet it’s way more than the Force which mean it has a lower sell rate based on units made.
I like the size of the Force. I wish they made Force XL with 128 pads, 2 crossfaders, bigger screen, 16 knobs & more audio & MIDI ports. I don’t see how they can make a 64 pad device smaller without hurting what makes it so great to use. May if they make it 32 pads like the Move & add a battery that would be cool for the mobile users.
Sweetwater said they weren’t getting any more stock in so someone contacted Akai and they said production was paused until demand for more.
So looks like they aren’t making any more unless there is a high demand for them which I doubt there will be. Didn’t stop me picking one up last week to give it a go
There is one guy affiliated with Akai that recently posted about having patience and that something was coming. So I guess a firmware update is being worked on.
Ok thanks. This is from over a month ago. I thought he posted something aging more recently. I like Tom & understand he can only say but so much & we have to read between the lines with his messages.
Whatever gonna happen to with the Force, most likely won’t happen until MPC3 is out officially. Do any know if Akai will be NAMM?
it is not abandoned AFAII. AKAI promised multiple times that there would be some updates, and while AKAI might or might not launch a MKII, clearly all the MPC 3 improvements have great chances to be backported to the Force.
So current owners should not worry, and well people who can buy one new for cheap, by all means… AKAI is just slow, but all their business model revolves around the sell of plugins on hardware, so AKAI is going to produce more hardware.
Yeah I get you, but in some ways it like the MPC need to catch with the Force & that’s gonna take time. The biggest advantage the Force has over the MPC currently is the clip matrix & it’s hardware is made to work fast like being able to copy/paste/delete row of clip quickly. Doing that on the MPC is slow & isn’t as visual without seeing 8 scenes & 8 tracks at once & then you have the Navigation view see everything & move around the to different parts.
I like the 8 sample layers on the MPC3 & it’s new main screen. Stem & the new plugins are nice as well. A MPC-64 is up next & will sell better than Force mk2 just because of it has “MPC” in the title. I don’t care what they call it. Just do it like Nike.
Lmao… Tom literally works for Akai. He said things are looking bright - clearly an update is coming. Stop being so obtuse, people. Force is getting an MPC OS update. You’re welcome.
