Bunch of stuff on MPC 3.0 does for me, weirdly enough. I guess that’s why they call it an “integrated workflow”.
akai is squandering their blessings 
, the infrastructure/ foundation they have set up is the gift that keeps on giving… with their i/0 configurations they’ve historically been able to cultivate a repeat buying situation within their base that would most likely have most devs taking a loss… because when you’ve got an mpc that has 6 or 8 outputs on it and multiple midi ports when it comes to the time that they put out a new model that you’re interested in checking out it’s easy to just move the mpc you already have into another corner/room/situation and hook it up in a completely different way than the centerpiece of your setup to try out altnernative setups… that’s why you find them in so many diff modular setups, or other set ups connected to a bunch of pedals, or just running all kinds of midi setups not even using it’s sampling prowess, people forget how accessible the midi sequencing is on the mpc, imho it’s definitely the best beatmachine for live midi looping as well… it’s like a swiss army knife you could have one already but that doesn’t take away from the usefulness of having more than one… and you can use one mpc in a completely different way than you use another…
this is why the old one’s hold their value so well and the new ones are starting to
you could take something like any of the current line up from the mpc one to the mpc x and pair it with one pedal like an h90 or something like that polyend mess that’s coming out and build a whole career of music just around that… the mpc’s viabliity when it comes to production capability is just off the charts…, imo it’s only 2nd to a laptop in this regards but does not feel like a laptop to me
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I didn’t say that because I have a problem with the workflow, and I disagree about the button situation… I totally get why the buttons are they that they chose and why some buttons are not there… it was the same for 2.0 as it is for 3.0 I feel…
I said that because fundamentally I just would rather not have a touch screen… I don’t hate it and do appreciate it… is just that if they did ever make a old school mpc for whatever reason, I would trade in a second.
Funnily I also switched from the Live 2 to the 2500.
As you said, the speakers and the portability of the Live 2 are one it’s biggest upsides, but the workflow is just a huge downside.
I haven’t tried OS 3.0, but the whole MPC OS does not feel like it was designed with actual hardware with haptic feedback in mind.
The whole UI/UX seems cluttered and not well thought-through. It is a ecletic combination of old MPC processes (Seq Edit screen e.g.) with elements from JJOS and from Force OS and on top of that external Integration (Splice, Ableton Controller Mode).
When I changed to the 2500 suddenly the whole famous MPC Workflow was in front of me and made sense. Recording samples, chopping them quickly, recording some tracks and then arrange them on the fly. It all seems logical and well-thought within the 2500 and JJOS. But I’m no fool, I see all the modern advantages of the modern MPC Line and some limitations of the 2500 are quite annoying. But when it 's coming down to the core of what an MPC should be like, the newer one are still not there yet…
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what I love about the mpc is that there is one for everyone, or several 
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if you sample Bonafides dialogue and slow it down just a little bit he’ll sound just like Bruh man from Martin… they have the same cadence he just talks faster and a hair higher in pitch… anyway the sh*t he says is perfect for coming up in a beat out of nowhere when you’d least expect… definitely sample worthy
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I feel like I wanna sample this part, pitch it up to a chipmunk voice, but regular speed and reverse it, add a little reverb to make it sound hazy like it’s coming from inside your head and drop it right before an extended 2nd break at the end of a song…
I love beatmakers like this, dude is a mad scientist , when he said fl studio at the end of all of that i almost died. cued up…
he makes dope beats
the MPC platform allows for so many types of personalities to flourish
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Cool little doc on the history of Akai up to the new gen of MPCs.
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“I dont like touchscreens”. Meanwhile we all using phones with touchscreens.
I agree that with some aspects it can be hard to use the screen, i have thick fingers, so ya. Sometimes there is a bit of lag. But it works. The MPC/Force lets you be extremely creative writing songs. Its the most creative machine i have in the studio. It just can do all. And with the MPC3 update it makes it all even much better in almost all aspects. Arrangement overview is godsend. Now im able to record easily automation, which is key with the music i write.
When i tried to go the dawless route on an ipad, it was completely only touch based. Then i felt, i miss encoders and buttons. The MPC or Force is best of both worlds. Same with the new bento ( although needs some more work and synths, at least a wavetable or FM!! )
I do understand the MPC/Force is not for everyone, heck, MPC2 was a no go for me. I switched to MPC because of MPC3 os upgrade. Everyone has their own flows of writing songs. Stick what feels best for ya.
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As an independent third party comment, a take which is uninfluenced by any posts or videos above, I can say confidently that I would probably still be T9 texting if the good lord saw it fit to put a normal keypad on my phone. At the very minimum a physical mini qwerty keyboard.
I can see how in the context of an MPC these features are just not conducive to portability or a streamlined design, but in general a lot of us are quite literally forced to use touch screens because important things like physical hardware and proper headphone jacks have been forcibly removed from popular culture to make it less expensive for the big companies charging us top dollar to be able to secure max profits.
I stay off of my phone as much as possible, but I have to use this MPC because I paid so much for it and, for me, none of my other gear save for getting on a computer and dealing with additional headaches will currently perform at the level of the MPC in a music production context.
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The argument I hear more often is that the MPC touch screen is dreadfully inferior compared to the touchscreens we are all used to with phone and tablets.
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Lol he kinda does remind of Bruh man. I wonder what floor he lives on & if this is this even his studio?
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Thats why i said this;
Is it really, though? I find it has good resolution, good colors, good viewing angles, it’s responsive, etc. It’s way, way better than most cars’ screens, although obviously not up to the flagship phones but I don’t need “retina” 120Hz OLED on my groovebox…
It’s just the Akai software that is kind of sh*t with poorly thought out UI, very basic use of gestures, incoherent workflow.
The (touch)screen hardware itself isn’t the problem.
The software is.
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hope they announce something tomorrow but wouldn’t they rather announce something this big at namm?
I find the software works fine for me. It’s all very weird.
“fine”, is far from great; it’s clearly very basic and outdated compared to what is possible on touch screens.
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Exactly that, you can get your head round the whole thing (mostly), and that seems to help me massively with productivity. Getting the technical side to the background, and concentrating on the musical ideas. It would be great to have a legacy mode on the modern MPCs giving you access to certain features & improvements but preserving the simplicity.
Also true for me, out of all the kit I own/have owned, MPC is where I’m most productive for actual finished music. Actually MPC 2500, because of the limits, it’s easier for me to feel like things are finished, whereas with Live 2 I can fall into endlessly tweaking things because it has so much capability.
So no announcements in the end? Given the complete lack of leaks, I guess I’m not that surprised.
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ha, this!
People have been making fire beats on MPC’s for decades.
An extra 4GB of RAM isn’t holding you back folks. Go forth and make music.
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I felt lucky to have 16 mb on my first MPC2000 OG and was making raw uncomprising music to boot….now with 2 gigs ram I sit like a baby in from of the machine ))
-but then again it was a drum/chopped up sample beat machine/arranger……Now gotta host everything and do everything !!!
If I couldn’t make something interesting with a few beats and samples with a synth attached I’d give up )
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I don’t find it responsive enough at all for editing on the grid, and then I get replies like “just play it in until you get it right, bro” or “just overdub, bro,” “it’s the MPC way”
It’s the MPC way because of flawed design and for a DAW in a box designed to create full tracks standalone it’s not nearly good enough.
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