Obtuse? Is this about valdemorts new pants?
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Peace to all the Force users,
I was on the MPC thread & they were complaining about the MIDI Note On bug, but as someone was describing it I they revealed that it was different then the how it is for me on the Force. For them, the notes cut off ext MIDI tracks during playback & recording. For me it only cut of note during recording.
Iām trying to find out if the Force & MPC have the same bug or is my Force just an exception. So how does the this affects you: During playback & recording or only just playback like me?
Correct me if Iām wrong here, but arenāt they talking about functionality when using Force / MPC as a multi-timbral synth āworkstationā sequenced from an external sequencer?
as in āMPC plugins sound so good, but when I attempt to sequence the MPC multi-timbraly from my Euclidean sequence master 9000, I keep getting cut off notesā
As far as Iām aware, the ābugā behaves thusly:
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Using an external sequencer and Sending rhythmic A4 notes on channel #6 will cause sustained A4 pad sound on channel #5 to stop making sound, as if a Note Off had been received on channel #5.
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This ONLY happens when sending MIDI from an external sequencer to plug-in instruments on Force.
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I have never experienced this when sending MIDI from Force to external MIDI gear on a bunch of different firmware versions OR sending external sequencer MIDI through Force to ext MIDI gear.
I havenāt isolated any difference in behavior between playback or recording. Furthermore, I have yet to see anyone document if this behavior is the same for gear that actually sends Note Offās rather than Note Onās that equal velocity 0.
all you have to do to beat the ābugā is to transpose one (or both) of the plugins so that the plugins are not reacting to the same note. Chn #5 gets A3 and Chn #6 get A5, or A#4, or A4
While not high on my priority list, Iāll try this on MPC and see what happens.
@Poetic-Noise - how do you experience the āMIDI Note On bugā?
The bug I get is how described it but only when I record from external sequencers. I moved a bunch of beats from the MPC1000 & Proteus-2500. None of the tracks notes (some would act as layer tracks - the same MIDI data with a different patch) would cut out from being sent to the Force as multi MIDI tracks. Only when I would record multiple tracks would I see notes getting cut off. Like you said, thereās no problem playing back once you record everything into the Force & send the MIDI out to an ext sequencer.
Hello all, Force reliability. Iāve had my Force nearly 2 years but itās very under used. So itās not had a lot of use so all works fine. Iām really gelling with it in the last couple of months which now has me thinking about overall reliability.
Whatās everyoneās experience whoās been using one regularly for while? Iāve heard a few crossfader stories but not much else.
Cheers
Hey @matt_wilsh - had my (2nd hand) Force for about 3 years. Used it a lot but mostly in the studio and never in any compromised environments wrt moisture / temp etc.
Itās still flawless except for some slight jankyness on the crossfader extremes. Iāve not done the deoxit/faderlube yet cos a few hard slams usually does the trick but Iām sure a quick spray with the correct product would sort it out.
Be aware of the phantom power issue if youāre not already - basically donāt use the internal phantom power cos it can fry the I/O components (I think thatās what Iāve heard anyway).
Doesnāt affect my use case since I use a UMC1820 as the interface for it.
There are a few annoying bugs - like the track macros for channel 1 often reset to empty (saved track presets help here), and thereās sometimes an issue where my iConnectivity MioXL locks up if Iāve had my Force running then it crashes but that doesnāt happen often since I updated my MioXL so probably more the fault of that unitās previous firmware.
Overall Iām very happy with the Force - pads, knobs and all other functions have worked and continue to work flawlessly.
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Good stuff @ThorntonForce - appreciate the response. 2nd hand and 3 years old gives me some confidence.
I would have thought switch cleaner in the x-fader wouldnāt work as itās surely transmitting digital signal. In the old DJing days I wouldnāt be without a can of Servisol but that was crap old cheap crossfaders on an analog signal path.
Encountered a few bugs. Setting up macros, in the macro page if Iām using the knob Iām setting up, itās as if I touch the others as the focus goes to another knobs. But Iām nowhere near them. Could be something to do with the capacitive nature of the knobs as well.
I can live with those quirks for sure 
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Force reliability is great, similar to the MPC Live/Live 2. But just like the Live/Live 2, the soft rubber coating is a VOC and will eventually go sticky. Doesnāt matter if itās kept in a climate controlled museum or not - itāll decompose and get that sticky icky. So plan on a skin at some point. Fader is absolutely the next point of failure, but if youāre gentle with it, youāll be fine. Phantom power issues were corrected in the production line at some point as the reports of those failing are very small.
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Hi, thank you very much for the orientation, i also want to do the accompaniments on the force and switch scenes, but i have a tech21 midi moongose without success. Do you recommend change my midi foot controller or is there a way to leverage my actual gear for this purpose? Thanks!
Me again, also how do you cc midi map the switches on th foot controller on the mockba mod force? iāve been very frustrated about the topic, thanks a lot
Hi @dr.aldana !
Iāve owned a Force for 3 years, but Iāve not yet installed the Mockba Mod.
However I have researched it, and have basic awareness of what it is and how it worksā¦
This video āHow to Turn the Akai Force into a BEAST! (MockbaMod Firmware 2024)ā is a good place to start.
I noted that thereās a text file called midiloop.config that shows CC numbers assigned to functions, including āLAUNCH-SCENE-1ā etc - that sounds like what you need, right?
Hereās a screeshot from the video:
And hereās a time-stamped link to that part in the video (heās talking about a different thing, but itās related) - hopefully this gives you a jumping-off point in your journey!
Hello Matt. As others have mentioned the Force is pretty reliable. The rubber skin on mines that I got used in Oct 2021 is still mostly holding up. I keep a Decksaver on.
I used the crossfader a lot since its a become a big part of my style & itās still working well, but there times when I get glitchy pop & clicks I had talked about on here way back but nobody could relate which is a good thing I guess. It stopped after I think the last update but popped up again last week, but on the next session it was fine. Hereās some examples of how I use the crossfader - keep in mind Iāll be jamming like this for a longtime before I even record anything: https://youtu.be/Tq5zmlGJMbM & https://youtu.be/j8sMEtE_ZBI?si=SPhsjiBuicQQm10j
Other than that I Force is built to last, but I still up Akai drops it & remake it as the MPC64 & stop all this 2 platform madness, where one gets treated like an ugly step child even tho its the more advanced unit. The Force hasnāt been updated since Nov 2023. Hopefully theyāll give us another update this year after they stabilize MPC3.
Anyone skinned the Force? Show some pics!
Do you mean removed the original rubber or put a custom skin on it?
I still have the OG rubber. What about you?
Custom skin overlays. Still on OG coating here.
I thought this white skin looked kinda cool. Itās reminds of a Stormtrooper from Star Wars.
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Nice one, thanks. Seems like Iām worrying about very little.
Interesting use of the crossfader for jamming.
And been following the possibilities of an update with keen interest. TBH keygroups XL donāt do a lot for me - great for sound design but itās still not a synth so doesnāt bring me too much. Getting Flexbeat, the recent saturator, and presets for OP4X (Pro Motion) working are the big ones for me. Why the presets donāt work is beyond me - if I got to the desktop version and save individual presets they work just fine. Seems an unnecessary limitation.
I havenāt heard many stories of the Force breaking down. I know the YouTuber Maxipox knobs got messed up & Akai wouldnāt fix because it was out warranty or something like. They couldāve made an exception for him since he was making really useful Force videos; https://youtube.com/@maxipokmusic?si=YHEj4W5PYvOkx1wV
Thanks for complements!
I donāt agree about the Keygroups XL. āItās great for sound design but still not a synthā seems contradicting. I would like to know your definition of synth.
These 3 demos made me want KGXL on the Force why more than flex beat which seem like could done the Force using the Crossfader, pad macros & CC automation, which is it only on the MPC:
Except that it is a synth. Itās literally a synthesis engine - your samples are the oscillators. If youāre not a sound designer or donāt enjoy building your own Keygroups, then I get it - even the Legacy KGās werenāt meant for users like yourself. But if you use Expansions or tend to be a preset tweaker, then Advanced Keygroups (or Keygroups XL or whatever marketing term theyāre using now) is a game changer. And it will only get better.
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Exactly!
And I hope it gets better on the Force, which seems to have more users that would appreciate these KGXL features more than most MPC users. Most of them seems to be more excited about the NI plugs & Expansions.
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