AKAI Force

a 500 dollar computer with Ableton Live lite (free) has easily the power to process 8 audio tracks with effects!
that is not a fair comparison, sir!! :wink:

and i can also use it to hang out @ elektronauts :wink:

1 Like

No.
Requires 19V, 3.42A (65W) power adapter.

(for comparison, most Elektrons run on up to 24W from the Elektron power adapter)

2 Likes

Just 2 inputs?

Even in real life it might look like a photoshopped frankensynth.

Complete DAW environments in an integrated single piece of large hardware have always seemed aimed at a mystery market to me.

Small portable ā€˜workstationsā€™ like an Octatrack, OP-1, Deluge etc make a lot more sense.

If you are going to lug a giant machine around, you may as well just set up your studio desk correctly with component boxes and a computer and hide the wires.

In my humble opinion!

5 Likes

Honestly this can be a game changer. Finger drumming is not my thing so iā€™m seeing myself selling my MPC Live, Digitone and maybe the Octatrack to jump on this
Akai should just need to put some love on the software too.
And i can imagine Ableton and others doing something similar as this

2 Likes

well, credit where itā€™s due - this is the closest ā€œableton in a boxā€ Iā€™ve ever seen

there are two things that make me suspicious (probably the same that I had with MPC Live): the processor , and the screen -that guy seems to tap it in a somewhat unconfortable wayā€¦ but at least this one has more q-links and a lot more buttons.
and I know this are typical demo videos butā€¦ Iā€™ve yet to see anyone make music I find interesting with these - all the videos Iā€™ve seen for MPC Live were kinda bland, inoffensive house-ish tunes. (EDIT: well actually there are some nice videos around from users in youtube)

I feel like this could be quite appealing if you have your material already produced and you just want to launch clips, play a few one shot samples over itā€¦ processor-wise, I think it would be safer.
I think I got too used to Elektrons, wich feel more like instruments to me, more performance oriented

2 Likes

Iā€™m wondering if youā€™ll be able to use an older apc controller or launch pad with the current MPC as a clip launcher

2 Likes

I donā€™t think this product is for everybody.
But it does fill a gap in the market and I believe it will ā€œpushā€ Ableton to innovate somewhat on the Push 3. Good for Akai to see a niche that inspires them to continue development of their own DAW. And I think it is important to view it as an evolution of their MPC.


It definitely has the capabilities to be a laptop replacement, perhaps more so than Octatrack (debatable), but I donā€™t hear a lot of people wanting to completely ditch their computers in 2019.
6 Core i5s and i7s are relatively inexpensive for the power they provide.

If ā€œstandaloneā€ comes at the price of a mid-range computer itself, it will be hard for many to justify the cost. This could be why Ableton and NI have avoided it.
But someone has to get to the moon first and the first trip is always the most expensive.

Personally, I donā€™t mind using a mouse and my MIDI over bluetooth Akai LPD-8 Wireless, but I am not their target customer. Too stuck in my ways :slight_smile:

2 Likes

BBoy tech report got his hands on one

2 Likes

Interesting that suggests Ā£1299 so cĀ£200 less than Gear4Music hadā€¦

they shoulda gone after the OT with that crossfader for real time performance vibes.

3 Likes

i can tell your americanā€¦
its all goodā€¦ i have no idea who juicy j is ā€¦ i personally dont rate trap as a genre , but it seems popular. ive always preferred hip hop (electro , public enemy , rakim etc) , not rap /trap/ grime / whatever different countries / nations call itā€¦ and mumble rap ā€¦ WTF ā€¦

theres a good vid on appropriation here. ā€¦ but this is way off topic for Akai Force.

Ā£1299 sounds right since CDM is reporting $1499 USD

Check out that link, Peter goes rather in depth into the interface (if you prefer to read instead of watch videos)

unless it comes out after brexit and the Ā£ drops to all time lows and new 20% tariffs get added.
taking back control!.

4 Likes

Damnā€¦that thing looks pretty sick.

1 Like

Any mention of warp markers, trig conditions and such? Feels a little bland and behind the curve from what Iā€™ve read so far.

Definitely the most ā€œDAW in a boxā€ to come yet.

1 Like

Am interested in seeing what might get cross-ported or cross-developed on MPC Live. Doesnā€™t look like something to necessarily replace Live or X, but a different angle.

1 Like

Itā€™s best to go back and look at the software it is built upon.
MPC 2.0, an older version, has probability triggers and warp mode.

1 Like

innovation happens on mac/pc , this looks ā€˜up to dateā€™ to a certain degree , but i dont see any hardware box matching pc/ableton/logic/bitwig/1000ā€™s of plugins that are being regularly updated with much less restrictions on memory , interface , Cpu/Gpu , offline rendering etc.

this box does seem to have a lot of good things though (on the spec sheet).
but iā€™d still give it a while / few firmware updates .

1 Like

Official overview: https://force.akaipro.com/

EDIT: There is a whole tutorial series online: https://www.youtube.com/user/AkaiProVideo/videos

2 Likes