With the announcement, and the price range, this kind of feels like competition for digitakt. I have the digitakt and love it but the velocity/pressure pads songmode and touch screen etc really look great.
Anyone any thoughts?
My only thought is that itâs good for Elektron to have a fire lit under their ass. Maybe with such stiff competition theyâll stop purposely limiting hardware like the lack of being able to save pattern chains with a project, for example.
pLocks > Akai
yep, competition is good.
would love to see a band pass filter in their next release
#bringbackthebandpass
Ya! It seems likely that itâs because of the cost effective-ness of assigning developer hours to new features.
Hopefully having competition will help rethink how many developer hours they can sink into a product though!
Theres no reason akai cudnt add plocks to that though
For sure. I feel kinda sorry for them having to compete with massive corporations like Akai in some ways, but at the same time if enough of your users (the ones who buy your products) cry out for something, give it to them! Thatâs just good business sense
I dunno there are comparisons to be made but I feel like plenty of people had the same arguments a while back with the Mpc live VS Digitakt⌠heck Mpc live is used is the price of a digitakt if that says anything. Digitakt is a much more focused device, shines as a drum machine but it can do some other cool tricks. The new Mpc units have a lot going for them, and are basically a DAW, I think a lot of people get hung up on the workflow being heavily touch screen based and it not being too different than a good controller and a DAW. A laptop bitwig 3 and a good controller is what I would do if I were going for a DAW type music making experience. But we all come to these instruments for different reasons, Akai certainly hits a certain market not really for me though.
To me the MPC line is no competition to the Digitakt (or any other Elektron device for that matter). The DT has a hands-on immediacy from sound generating features over the effects all the way to the sequencer that the MPC line just canât match.
The MPC is great for finger drumming, sequencing / performing with track mutes, or building entire pieces linearly like in a traditional DAW.
But somewhere between the promise and the reality of it, that hands on feel just disappears. I feel the sequencer on the MPC line has a poor UI (wanna zoom in? Pinch and zoom doesnât work, gotta select the zoom tool, then zoom. Wanna delete a series of midi events? No problem, select the zoom tool to zoom to scale, then select the select tool and select the events you want to delete, then select the eraser tool and press on one of the selected midi events you want to delete). The MPC Live also lacks hardware controls critical to a hands-on workflow (eg buttons for modesâŚinstead it has + / - buttons which are pretty much uselessâŚthe MPC One remedies this to some extend but eg the awkward Q-Links mapping and the lack of eg a Macros page still limits eg immediate hands on control of onboard effects).
What is more, while the MPCs are very capable machines, they seem to always inexplicably lack a critical feature here or thereâŚcase in point for this line: multitimbral midi support or midi mapping global functions.
Lastly, as others have already mentioned, the DT is much more focused and hence I feel it doesnât overpromiseâŚso meeting expectations is much easier.
The MPC on the other hand has exponentially more functionality but that makes it harder to find a role for it other than âcomplete production centreâ âŚa role for which it then again lacks those features that would truly make it a âDAW in a box.â
I should add that I own both devices, a DT and an MPC Live (as well as an MPC1000 and an MPC Studio).
Elektron samplers bring a unique flavor to the Sampler market, I wouldnât honestly compare the two myself (two very different companies, and two very different approaches)âŚthat said though, Elektron has matured to a âhigh expectationâ company, and theyâve surpassed their cult status of olâ. I have to agree with some of the other members comments âcompetitionâ is a good thingâŚAkai has definitely made a statement, and Mpc 1âs price point makes it obvious what market theyâre gunning for. Elektron has made sampling a pivotal component to their product lines, and itâs been a very successful addition, itâs definitely time for Elektron to flex a little, We all know the sampler we want and we know Elektron can make it (actually 2 samplers we want them to make lol!!). I definitely donât want an MPC, I want an Elektron sampler, I think most of us just want the âbestâ Elektron sampler they can makeâŚfor me if I didnât have my octatraks Iâd just stick with a laptop and my Renoise just to keep it in the family lol!!..this new mpc will definitely be a success, and I can see it becoming a staple product for a lot of kats, the features are thereâŚbut its a âproduction centerâ not a âdrum computerâ so to really competeâŚElektron is going to develop their version of the best sampler/production center (and Iâll be happy to pay 1400 for too).
This so much. I wouldnât even consider Trading my DT for an MPC One/Live.
The MPC Live might be the more capable of the machines. But, its basically a computer. The Digitakt takes the scenic route to a destination thatâs not as far as the new MPCs.
Iâve heard things about the MPC workflow that makes it seem like it would take getting adapted to- that strongly discourages me.
The MPC One definitely seems like a step forward for the MPC line, though. Dedicated buttons seem like an absolutely necessary inclusion. Shame it doesnât have a built in battery. Maybe theyâll offer an attachable battery as a future purchasable accessory
MPC One VS DT? I like to mix my DT with my OT and my DN. Or witht he RYTM. I think if I had the MPC one I would use it all by itself. Mayve Iâd pair it would modular. Either way it actually is the most appealing thing they have made IMO in quite some time. However, I wouldnât trade my DT for it.
âŚiâm an old mpc headâŚand as much i ranted about all that new akai concepts for not beeing the real thing anymore, i must admit, this mpc one starts to get it right againâŚ
butâŚ
end of the dayâŚitâs all about sound and workflowâŚ
and even if the workflow seems to get better again with this new comeback of additional buttons to get around the touch touch a bit more again, the mpc got no truu balls, when it comes to what comes outâŚwhile the takt has the biggest slap and punch iâve ever eyperiencedâŚ
might be wrong with this new akai soundthing and itâs only this overdose of sugar must have dentist appointments when i hear all these akai presets and itâs just meâŚbut uarghâŚ
and up to now, all developer hours money of akai was not really that effective invested money as it is in swedenâŚwhere they even fight the endless overbridge fight against all sonic windmills on top of it allâŚ
so letâs see if akai can really deliver this time, as they always promise, every year againâŚ
and in the bottomline, speaking of competitionâŚthis new akai thing is more aiming to and dangerous for roland anywaysâŚ
but yupâŚthis looks like a nice machineâŚ
that still canât stream for realâŚby the wayâŚstreaming audio filesâŚrememberâŚthat skill, the ot offers since a decadeâŚ
new mpc looks cool but how many bugs is it going to have?
I know what you mean about that slap. DT (and my DN) both just have that âsomethingâ sound wise, whereas my MPC Live always sounded a bit ⌠sterile? But the main reason I sold it was that the DT/DN combo hit my sweet spot and I LOVE the Elektron workflow. The whole AKAI âDAW in a boxâ thing with the Live was paradoxically a creativity killer for me.
Othersâ mileage may vary.
On my journey to get away from my computer as much as possible during music creation (because I sit at my computer the full day for work), I also tried the Akai route (Used the Akai Force). As much as I liked the features and the power the system has, as others mentioned already: Its a computer with a âDAWâ and Buttons. The Force has a lot of buttons to press and turn, but I was forced a lot to work on the touch screen and for my opinion, the UI and the workflow on it needs heavy improvements. Changing Midi Sequences on the Screen is a lot of touching, trying to hit the correct element, Button Smashing etc. It felt like working in a DAW on the Computer just with the negative influences of a small screen and less possibilities of interaction. I moved more and more back to my PC, because it was the same, just more easy. Than I bought 2 Didi* devices (for the same Price of a Force) and have not touched my PC for composing a single time.
And as much as I would like a small âeverything in the boxâ, that I can take with me onto the couch, in my small camper van und whatever, the One doesnât trigger GAS for me.
some of my standout views on the subject.
-
Storage-
the One owns in this regard. If I remember correctly the DT has 1gb of +drive opposed to the 2gb or 4gb on the One. Not to mention a sd-card slot as well. Convenient feature but adds to the value. -
Build Quality-
I know noticed the One is just a MPD with the updated screen. Same plastic/clear loud clicky buttons and all. (I feel like the Live should of been in this form factor and the One vice versa.) the DT owns here. -
Overall-
Itâs already well known the Akai caters to the lo-fi/HipHop/Trap scene. That said their strengths over the DT I think is the âclassic MPC swingâ, ease of sequencing, chopping samples/editing, overall workflow, ease of use in general. A couple features that I really liked about the One was the âflattening featureâ of multiple sounds. Theyâve been had this but itâs seems so easy on the One. Also what was a benefit over the DT to me was the ease of exporting, more specifically the âexplode tracksâ feature. In the Sonic State video it looked so easy to just export your individual stems.
Conclusion: So yeah itâs nothing new really, the DT is more for the deeper minds, in sound design and everything, whereas the One is more immediate and HipHop driven which of course is their core. The cliche apples to oranges I suppose.
But I will say this, if I could get an One at a great discount price I would probably do it. Would mainly use it to lay down some drums - export - and move onto my daw. Chop samples as well from vinyl.
Also forgot to mention, does the One have a compressor like the DT?
Not a software/plugin type, but real circuitry that affects the sound.
The DT compressor is software. MPC swing magic is a myth, itâs been fully debunked by the creator.
Iâd say the One is gunning more for the Roland 707 and likes. If youâre into what the Digitakt does well, you donât want an MPC One, I believe. However, if youâre into the 707 ⌠this one is an option, for sure.
Really, did not know that about the compressor. I always thought the DT had some kind of Analog Heatness implemented lol and was just delayed due to software issues. Guess because it sounded good to me.