Have you used the Force as an Ableton controller yet?
I have a Push 2… I like it, but the way the Force handles track mutes and solos is way better IMO… something about the Push 2 that feels wrong to me. I usually have my Novation Launch Control XL hooked up to use in combination with the Push 2.
Also, I had a look at the sampling capabilities of the Force against the MPC earlier… Force seems to have much of the same sampling functionality, but it feels more natural to me on the MPC.
Ah man…no fair 
I’d have to drive to Portland GuitarCenter to get a Retro. That’s about 2.5 hours away. But I could make a day of being in Portland.
Orrrrr…drive 15 minutes up the street and save some $ and time
Life’s good if you think about it 
looks almost like new !
Hey Guys,
Version 2.0.2 of my Mastering template has been released to follow up AKAI’s new 2.10 firmware release and it’s now easier than ever to load up my mastering template!
The new AIR Limiter really brings things to where it should be and settings have been optimised accordingly…
Best of all been testing a track i’ve made exclusively in standalone mode on my MPC by sending it to a good friend of mine you happens to be one of Hernan Cattaneo’s Mastering engineers and his exact words were: “Wish all clients would bring me tracks like yours…It took me under 10 minutes to Master it…Couldn’t believe it you’ve mixed it solely on your MPC…”
Enjoy it and take care people 
YA
Yeah the force can only do control the session view, but I can’t use the pads for VSTs. Maybe that’s too much latency via WiFi. Probably possible if I connect a midi cable to my focousrite (ideally the blue USB cable would suffice)
The switching between Ableton and force works well, but for myself I don’t see the point splitting between the two, since you’re also recording the performancr on two different spots
I just started digging into the 2.10 update and was hoping the expanded outputs would also work when assigning the MPC as my interface in controller mode. Unfortunately, it only recognizes the default stereo in and out. Would have been amazing to be able to use the MPC as a bridge between my interface and PC.
Unfortunately the internet seems to agree that there is no MPC MIDI implementation document. So far I only found some threads talking about some single functions, which are not the usual ones provided by a connected keyboard.
But maybe you find something usefull here …
I got the trial XO a few days ago and purchased it last night… I think it’s really good so far!
The sample lay out is obvs cool, but the kit building and exporting side is superb too… as is the sequencer. It’s easy to sit and come up with a ton of variations on beats, and fast, then export them as one-shots, stems or loops as you need them… really good stuff.
I know Atlas has been mentioned as tying in better with the 4x4 of the MPC… but I’m really digging the limitation of 8 slots, it reminds me a lot of the Digitakt, and I like how I can export samples/grooves for my Digitakt, my MPC, my Force or Ableton.
Price wise it’s on offer right now too, so I got it for less than Atlas. 
Completely up to you! But if you feel like the choice of color is important to you (somehow it was for me), a third option is just to wait a bit longer. I’m sure the Retro version will be in stock everywhere soon. In the meantime, enjoy the GAS! 
4-week update: the main point is that I’ve never been more productive. I think the honeymoon is over, and I’m still having so much fun with it. I’ve produced a ton of short beats/ideas, some are bad, others are at least promising. Then I’ve turned a few good ones into things I’m kind of proud of, about 4 “songs” (still just in the form of an 8-16 bar sequence that I perform live with track mutes, filter envelopes and pad mutes to turn it into an evolving song structure). And then I’ve finalized one full song along with all the little automations recorded onto a full song sequence.
So that’s my quantitative output in just a month: about 5 songs and several scrapped ideas. Before that, I spent the last 2-3 months on the Digitone, where I made 3 song embryos similar to the MPC live performance songs above. All of them I’m proud of, the Digitone sounds so great! And before that, I spent the last 6 months producing merely 2 complete songs in Reason 10.
So:
Why is that even relevant? Fair question. It’s maybe not. But it’s indicative of how fun the experience is and also how productive it is. Also, practice makes perfect. I now hear song ideas in my head again, in ways I did 25 years ago when I was 17 years old.
For me, the main conclusion here is that hardware makes me much more productive as a musician in general, and the MPC in particular is the sweet spot between performance-friendly synth hardware and song arrangement/groovebox capabilities. What the MPC has done for me is to really turn music making into a daily activity. I have it mostly on the table in the living room, and I occasionally plug in the Keystep 37 using the USB cable, and it’s such a simple, self-contained setup. I sit down a few minutes here and there throughout the day, and then I spend some evenings in more focused 2-hour sessions. I never get stuck in an endless 2am session like I did in Reason every time. It’s more quick, fun, and immediate. If I don’t like a beat, I move on. If I like it, I quickly lay down some more layers, like pad chords, bass, or whichever is needed. Making music on the MPC doesn’t feel like a project, it feels like a “no pressure” side activity.
I’m still learning new things about it. In the 2.10 update, they introduced this completely hidden feature of 8 effects laid out right there on each pad on a drum kit. They’re amazing! You can easily add some distortion, bitcrushing, EQ, etc on each pad individually, just as easily as you can change pitch, loop mode, or anything else on a sample. It’s almost as immediate as the Digitakt (though not quite as versatile and creatively surprising, maybe).
I keep comparing against the Digitakt and Digitone because they were my gateway drug into hardware, and I’m still not sure what to do with them. They are no doubt unique, especially the Digitone. It’s such a beast of creativity with its ability to affect all tracks at once on synth parameters like the filter envelope, that’s just a level of creativity that the MPC does not have. The Digitakt feels much more barebones to me, it’s really just a basic sampler with the amazing Elektron sequencer workflow, but I don’t feel I need that and the MPC. But I could see myself holding on to the Digitone just based on how great it sounds. But I’m getting off topic here.
Maybe a short line about my music: I’d probably call it trance, or maybe just “electronic music”, not limited to just 130 bpm tracks but exploring some other slower tempos too. Very synth heavy, about the only samples I use are drums. I’m probably not the ideal MPC user because I’m about as far away from boom bap music as you could come.
Anyway, the bottom line is: for me at least, the MPC One has made me a more productive musician than I’ve ever been before.
You make a good point. The box doesn’t limit you when you’re trying to get to the finish line.
I think it’s worth considering the Digitone as a useful sequenced FM addition to the MPC, providing a different type of sound and sequencing approach that complements, rather than competes with the MPC. You can sequence the Digitone’s voices from four MPC MIDI tracks, or take advantage of the Elektron sequencer and sync it up to the MPC.
I would suggest that the Digitakt offers a few creative opportunities that the MPC does not, particularly in how you can modulate the sample’s various sample playback parameters. And again, the Elektron sequencer is going to allow you to think of using those samples in a different way. Think of the MPC as your command center and your Elektrons as additional elements to add in. The MPC gives you song mode which you can impart to your Digis via program change, thereby getting beyond one of their biggest limitations.
I bet if you don’t try to depend on he Digitakt/tone to create full productions, but rather as ancillary tools to your MPC, you’ll get a lot more out of them. At the very least, you might better appreciate their potential roles in your productions.
Awesome it worked out for you, they are great machines once you get over the touch screen!
This is basically my setup and I love it. DN and MPC Live 1. Throw in the SiX, guitars, and a few pedals and that’s all I need. It’s a super cozy, compact setup with loads of options I have no clue exist. I do have an OT (2nd Time) and I don’t think it’s going to make the desk as the MPC is just too fluent with what I want to do.
My problem is I packed everything up for a few months so I have to re-unite the crew, relearn, and wire it all up. Can not wait!
I was going to quote some of your comments in my response, but found myself agreeing with so much of what you said, it wouldn’t be practical. I’m also really new to my MPC One, but I am so glad I got it (somewhat impulsively). It’s also my first MPC. For me, it opens up ways of developing patterns (“sequences”) that I don’t think of when using Elektrons. Don’t get me wrong, the Elektron sequencer is fantastic, as we all know, I just get stuck entering steps in manually 90% of the time. With the MPC, I take advantage of playing things in (sometimes with time correction, sometimes with it off) and trying to feel the groove develop. The productivity isn’t quite there yet, but I’ve been taking it a little slower, trying to explore the many features (and now firmware 2.10). I think the pace will pick up here pretty soon.
This is a spot on summary of a key difference between the two: on the Elektron sequencer, I step program things in and stumble over gold occasionally by accident. And then the conditional trigs and p-locks takes me to a place where I wasn’t at all expecting. And it’s so much fun.
The MPC, on the other hand, invites me to listen and play it by ear, and build things quickly, layer by layer.
Regarding productivity, one thing I’m doing is layering even things like a manual arp using Dub Recording on a 2 bar loop. I start with a few notes, then feel my way into adding more and more until I feel the groove. When it starts to feel really good and busy, i 2X the sequence and remove things here and there to create more variation, and then I may switch to doing the same things with the drums, and so on. I find that this process really works for me, but it’s of course not the only way a song comes alive. 
Oh yes, I hope it didn’t sound like I was suggesting that there isn’t tons of creative value in the Digitakt. Just the basic fact that I can quickly change the amp decay on every sound at once is amazing and can create so cool variations of a drum beat. I just feel that between the Digitakt and the Digitone, the Digitone offers a lot less MPC overlap and, because it can also do really interesting drum synthesis, it just feels like something I have an easier time justifying to myself why I should keep.
I should note that keeping all three devices is outside of my self-imposed budget; the plan was to evaluate the MPC against the Elektron duo, but in some ways, I’ve found that they make a great team…
In that case, then yeah, the Digitakt is the one with least to offer. As good as it is, the bits that overlap what you have in the MPC probably aren’t worth what you get back by selling it. The MPC certainly has more than enough sampling tools to last a lifetime!
That’s always the trick! Even if you know you can only keep two, having all three at once is going to be very hard to walk away from once you’ve experienced what the combined trio can do. I have made this mistake often enough that I frequently find myself needing both a bigger budget and a bigger room!
Live 1 and SH01A and a synth + FX from Ableton. I really wish the MPC could do odd number of steps and could loop infinitely…oh well
It can do odd time signatures… I haven’t done it, but I recall reading that it can indeed be done. Or is that not what you mean?
I think it can do odd time signatures. But you know how on the Elektron boxes you can set the steps to be any length from 1 to 16 and make the pattern loop forever? That’s what I’m talking about for the MPC. I haven’t found a way to do that.
Actually, I don’t think it can be done without some kind of workaround.
