Well, I just picked one of these up third-hand (! Not a good sign, hah). Looking forward to putting it through its paces.
a third hand mpc one?.. hope you are able to return it if it is faulty cause from what I can tell there is a big demand for them even after the Live mk2, are they even widely available again yet?
I’ve actually cancelled my review on the One. After I finished my first draft, I felt I just don’t get it. Someone who does, should better write about this thing, be fair and do it proper.
As far as mobility was concerned, though, it seems to be the better choice. I used it with a Ripcord and a battery all the time, certainly no big trade-off if that’s a big deal and the Live’s more appealing because of it.
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I know, it’s weird. I tried all the buttons and didn’t notice any issues. By contrast, I had briefly tried a Live a few months back, and its pads would retrigger like mad; here, the One was all good. I doubt there’s anything wrong with it, just because of the age and conversation of the seller (who even wrote me a receipt on a sticky pad note!). But I’ll send more word soon.
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classy
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I figured I’d publish my conclusion at least here, which I consider to be a safe place. Not always calm, but always safe 
CONCLUSION
The MPC One is a bit of an enigma to review, because your opinion on it will depend on your relationship with its legacy. That’s not to say you need to be familiar with the MPC line, to appreciate the One. Even if it’s your first MPC, you might very well love it. Maybe. We’ll get to that as I prepare to close.
If you’ve been on the MPC workflow for some time, and you’re okay with what Akai is doing with the line-up, then there isn’t much to say. The MPC One is the compact and agile option of the lot. The hardware design and layout sets it apart from the Live MKII as far as workflow goes (and most definitely from the MKI). It’s defined and contains only the bare minimum as far as ins and outs are concerned. It’s made for those of us who want to believe that Dilla made Donuts on an SP-303 (I don’t believe it, but I want to) and that if we had the right gear, we could be Dilla, too (we know we can’t, but we want to believe). If you’re serious about this, the One is your choice. Just plug in a cable from Ripcord, get a power source and you’re as mobile as any Live user.
If you’re new to the MPC line, though … I don’t know. There’s this gap between what the MPC does well and what it just barely gets away with. The core flow, of creating beats and music, the way you play it and work it, that is a joy and remains genius. To just get shit done and play some music. Everything around it, though? Not quite on the same level. Browsing, setting things up, leaping between sections, and don’t even get me started on the file system, it’s all a bit awkward compared to the ninja motion that’s just working the goddam thing. The rest is a functional and polite something, designed by committee and user testing, as opposed to the downright primal experience of the jam. If you’re new to Akai’s sampler, though, and you believe in the stand alone hardware concept, and the MPC legacy is still an idea and not an experience, you might be scratching your head and wonder what all the fuss was ever about.
Our want to be unchained from a computer isn’t about mobility and cramming it all into a box with a screen. That’s just one of many outputs that it could be. It’s about the connection you make when playing an instrument, and extending that connection into the process of writing and producing as well. Doesn’t hurt if it’s mobile, but it’s not essential. In this context, Elektron’s instruments are a more intimate and direct experience. Their endearing pixel screens might seem archaic in comparison to the MPC lineup’s lovely color monsters, but maybe that’s because attention shouldn’t be on a screen. It should be on the instrument. With the MPC, your attention shifts with context. That’s not always a good thing.
But if you’re on board with this, the One is a great choice if you’re into the most compact and fluent MPC experience. It remains equally great if you’re new to the show and want to dip your feet. Solid price combined with just mentioned flow, makes it attractive no matter where you’re coming from. If the MPC is central to your rig and you’re gearing up, then the Live MKII or the X is more likely for you, with its flexibility on ins, outs and everything that goes with it. But then again, if you’re that kind of user, you already knew that and probably didn’t read this far. And if you did, you’re most likely pissed I just don’t seem to get it anyway.
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totally my experience with the MPC live
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Prep is everything on both machines.
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Process and workflow, however, is not. It’s how you prefer to get there, that makes the difference.
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Anyway, has anybody been using the CV outs? Curious to see what others are doing with them.
Early experiences with the unit on its own have been OK. It sure is a different workflow, but I like a lot of what it does.
But boy oh boy, trying to figure out how to do anything on it, like add expansion packs that for some reason weren’t just installed in the first place, or update the firmware (a hidden update button command when there’s tons of free real estate on the screen!), is a real pain. The manuals are woefully bad, the MPC terminology is spread across both software and hardware generations with multiple ways of doing the same things, one of the main forums seems to have been deleted, and even their walkthrough videos fail to tell you about some of the basics. Yikes!
Still having fun with it despite tonight’s massive headaches, and looking forward to never touching any of these things for as long as possible. It’s a tremendously powerful machine. Now to see if I can actually perform with it, too.
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Exact same feeling with the newly arrived Digitone! 
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Hah! Credit where credit’s due, I learned how to use the Elektron machines by the manual alone. But I hear you.
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Akai MPC’s have always been a big letdown with workflow and UI feel for me.
Still have the 500 kicking around, I owned a 1000 JJOS and a MPC Touch at some point.
Overall I hate the fact that I have to program everything carefully before playing it, there is no immediacy whatsoever.
@circuitghost, I d argue that the Deluge is more fun to play with, because I d jam using the isomorphic keyboard a lot, or using a Qunexus with it. Heck I even finger drum with a Quneo plugged in, at least you can have velocity and after touch with a light weight controller…the KMI controllers are so underrated, you slide them in the pouch or any backpack and here you go…
anyways, I admit that the MPC groove if anybody is after that in 2020 is still unmatched and if someone is looking at performing slice sampled based music, it is still the best at doing it.
(unless you are a sample freak Octatrack maniac or a Digitakt mad scientist, haha)
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As irony would have it, I now have a Deluge review unit. This one, I will publish.
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just curious, what does " have to program everything carefully before you playing it" mean?
I always got the impression that the Mpc was the simplest of the majority of options out there in this regard, which I thought was the reason so many people gravitate towards them for running outboard gear…
an example of the kind of stuff I think of would be stuff like this
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looking forward to that one!
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I have no idea what this person is referring to there either.
I’m a career session player, and literally chose the MPC (and the Tempest before that) because I can actually play it, live, like a real instrument, and record to the sequencer (when need be) in real-time as well. The MPC X, Live, and One are the exact opposite of the kind of machines that you have to program tediously.
To be fair, this person did cite the MPC 500 as their primary experience with the MPC workflow, and those earlier models were definitely clunkier, what with having to start and stop the sequencer sometimes, etc., depending on what you needed to accomplish. But these newer boxes are very immediate in that respect.
Cheers!
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WOW! This guy rocks!
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if I recall you didn’t even have to stop the sequencer to record additional tracks on the mpc-500, but yeah it was clunkier than what came after it for sure. Funny thing I was just checking to see if I could score another one on the super cheap yesterday but the used price on those things are going up right now
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