I cant listen to the vids just now.
if you’re focused on a channel how do you know what devices / parameters the touch strips are controlling? doesn’t seem to be any visual feedback in that regard (unless I’ve missed something). is it just "the first 8"or whatever? 
native instruments jamm ffs 
I haven’t seen this addressed… can the CV outs be connected directly to Ableton LFO utilities, similar to what Expert Sleepers and CV.OCD units can do? If so that’s a hell of a deal in itself.
deal breaker
It’s not for me, but looks very interesting for that price range. No knobs or faders seems surprising at first, but having 8 touch strips with LED indicators should be a lot of fun as well.
Love that you can change the note layout (Loopop shows a custom layout of 4 chromatic keyboards on-top of each other). It would be really great if Push 3 would have this functionality…
That’s exactly why the APC range rocks. Without them, it’s not really an APC. 
A 64 grid, no knobs, no faders. That is not an Ableton Performance Controller (APC) at all is it?
who’s the target for this, I didn’t even know akai had time to spare on something like this without releasing an force mini or mpc mini yet, they must be doing better than I thought!
I have a feeling Ableton control very tightly what 3rd party controllers can do. Want faders and knobs? You’ll need a keyboard for that, as they don’t compete with Push directly. Want a pad controller? Sure but no MPE, screens or knobs.
The Novation controllers are fun with tight integration, and I’m sure this is decent as well. But it may spell the end of the era where likes of the APC40 were a non Ableton controller got the faders and knobs and whatnot.
Looks awesome, finally the LP Pro mk3 got some competition. I wonder though how good are the pads, hard to beat the LPP/LPX in that regard.
And I wish there was a 128 pad version.
Reckon you are on to something. Although I guess the earlier APCs, and the other Akai controllers do have rotaries. But it does seem weird that this device doesn’t. If it had 8 rotary knobs and some bank buttons, this would have been such a great piece of kit for standalone.
The Push 3 is a much deeper offering for Ableton integration so I don’t think it truly would compete in that respect
I can’t believe that in this day the best they could do is 32 steps for the sequencer. Maybe they’ll add more with firmware updates, but I don’t understand their logic there.
Speaking of, as far as the touch strip faders, I can only assume that they all agreed that it would be useful in dark club environments, but it’s a drag to see an APC without knobs and physical faders. Crazy really, as that was the main reason so many of my friends bought one.
Sounds more like a Launchpad with touch strips to me. 
Yeah they’re smart cookies. You can compete. Just not too much! Instead of making their own lower cost Push, they have instead put that weight on other companies who in turn become known as the “not quite a Push ones.” Which also means that Push is the only premium game in town. Keyboards they are fine with as they don’t make a direct comparison so they can do what they want there.
Also; note that none of the recent products like the Novation Launch XL, the Akai APC40 mk2 have been updated, and in many cases are being discontinued.
I’m not hyped for it but I can see me picking up a used one eventually… I like akai gear personally, it well made and for the most part pretty well thought out, I picked up an MPC studio 2 for silly money and having been very sceptical about it it’s turned out to be very good even if it is a one trick pony…
Maybe I’m being dumb but surely now it has no faders a used Push 2 for around the same price is a much better option? Sure you have three more fader strips on the APC but the Push 2 has a screen and 8 knobs.
Obviously none of the above matters if you’re using it for MIDI only but still, that’s clearly not the main intended audience.
Agreed, the Push 2 is way more capable at everything this does and goes a whole lot deeper. Some people just have to buy new though, so for them maybe this is a better alternative.
I picked up a Push 1 in perfectly good (and working) condition for £150 and I’ve seen them going on ebay for £100 or less. It still works very well. Just don’t make the mistake I made, when I originally got a Push 2, of thinking that you won’t need your keyboard, mouse or screen any more. That won’t happen!
Back on track - This looks OK but I’d choose encoders and faders any day over touch strips, and the weird split layout of the touch strips seems odd. I reckon I’d constantly be touching the wrong one, changing the wrong track volume etc.
Still, I like AKAI stuff and I’m sure this will be good for a lot of users.
Maybe you can view it as MPC Studio 2 re-adapted for Ableton or a comparable equivalent to Beatstep Pro and yeah maybe Novation launchpads.