May I ask what makes you prefer the black one? The Retro looks gorgeous to me, though the black is maybe more utilitarian and in a way looks a bit more serious. And the lit up text is a nice touch.
Philosophically, I 100% agree with you! But in this case, the seller has had this thing in a box pretty much since he bought it in late 2020 so I worry that an 18 month long hiatus may have damaged the battery already.
Iād throw it in the gutter , and go buy another
I bought the Retro for the same reason, I love the look of it. Iāve just found in day to day use I gravitated more towards the black oneā¦ it feels/looks more robust and Iāve probably been less conscious about it getting beat up/well used.
Also, the back lights make a differenceā¦ I much prefer them on the black.
I have an MPC X too, I really like that the more Iāve used it, but it gets 20-30% of the use that my Live 2 gets.
Unfortunately a brush is a losing battle with the MPC. It does an okay job. But the tackiness just holds the dust.
PLEASE AKAI: make a non rubberized case. Charge what you willā¦I WILL buy it. The rubber is awful. I try to keep it clean as best I can. And with constant cleaning you start getting shiny spots, that somehow remain sticky.
I had the same thought. I could see myself decorating a black one with stickers and stuff. A Retro Edition Iād probably treat more like a precious bonsai tree.
one great thing about the retro models , even when beat up they look good
Donāt worry about the batteryā¦ you can buy replacements, but besides that, it is a mpcā¦ And a very popular oneā¦ mpc has pretty much the most accessories of any instrument everā¦ and a huge 3rd party companies followingā¦ it is pretty much guaranteed that there will always be atleast some kind of battery option available if not the official onesā¦ but they are not going anywhereā¦
the retros arenāt rubbery either, I had a rubbery black one thoughā¦pfffft
āCliveā
appropriate 
I think youāre only allowed to make bangers on the gold ones haha, thatās a lot of pressure
I have a Force and a Live 2 retro. I use the live the most, largely because of the battery and the faster workflow. But I really really want to love my Force. The clip matrix setup is so powerful that I must dedicate more time to it as Iāve never found a way to play a set on the Live that isnāt heavily pre planned.
You obviouly know more than me! My knowledge pretty much stops at custom battery packs for RC stuff 
For those of you who would like to try the Force OS on their MPC Lives, TheKikGen has a entirely unobtrusive way to run the Force software on the MPC from a USB stick. No installation required.
Even the clip programs on the MPC have a bit more flexibility than the Force in many ways, as you can edit the mute groups freely. The Force is still the better fit for me overall, but I donāt want to give up my MPC One. At the same time having the MPC One going into the Force just feels too redundant, but maybe I should try it just in case it turns my life around.
Did you try it? Was it worth your time?
Mpc one just arrived
Just canāt work out the firmwareā¦. I thought 2.1 was the most recent?! Am I going mad?
2.10 is the most recent version at the time of writing (not to be confused with 2.1)
2.10 is the most recent. 2.11 is coming next monthš„³
Iām an idiot. It is Friday. Thatās my excuse lol.
