This 
On the Force the crossfader has side A & B. Both sides can store 100s (Idk the limit) of parameters as macros & there are 16 independent crossfader macro sets. You can kinda use it as a mod matrix by having parameters affect each other.
Not only is the cf a different experience vs a touchstrip, its on the left hand side (they tried, LOL) plus its vertical. All the muscles memory skills from using the Force CF on the top right is like all for nothing!
Iāll wait for the real Force 2 or whatever or get a an ext MIDI controller with a cf or just combine it with the Force & have the best of both worlds. I donāt really feel like I need anything new after the last update. Iām GAS-freeā¦ for now.
I had to look that up & this would be amazing to have.
I for one am completely stoked about this release. Iām putting a bunch of stuff up for sale to fund it so that I can try and grab it on day 1.
For me, this promises to be everything Iāve wanted in a box. Iāve been through the Octatrack, the SP-404, Ableton Push, and finally landed on the combo of MPC Live II and Ableton Move.
Having all of these functions flattened and available with a button push will hugely improve my workflow. And the inclusion of the Ableton / Force clip launcher might make me think twice about keeping the Ableton Move for quick beats and daily sketches.
I use the Live II primarily as a sketchbook, but it shines as collaboration tool. When working with other songwriters, to quickly cook up a beat and not have to fuss with speakers and just get a groove in the air is priceless. Iāve been recording scratch vocals on audio tracks, but itās been sluggish and buggy once a sequence goes beyond a certain length. I lose momentum dealing with the arranger view and having to set loop points to move around sections, and that can kill the mood when someoneās sitting there waiting to write. The clips will solve this problem hopefully. And Iāll be using the built-in mic to capture scratch tracks or raw ideas that I can demo out immediately. I canāt wait.
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Force users, does the clip launcher have something like the ālegatoā mode that Ableton has? If I could program different breaks in clips and then jam on them direct-pattern style on the Live III I think that would seal the deal.
Iām feeling brainwashed after hearing that TR-1000 price. I almost immediately forgot that $1700 is ridiculous for an MPC.
I understand that others may not feel that way but Iām not gassing hard enough for anything to have lost sight of what these numbers mean just yet.
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This one has the Legato stuff:
Force 3.5 added so much many new feature like scene follow, MPC seqs & MPC song mode.
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Nah I feel its way too high, at that price I can get a Push 3 standalone which I feel would be still far more powerful and better. However, I love to be proven wrong.
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Thereās always some bargaining like that āthis one thing can replace these three things and those 3 things together cost more than that one thing so itās a good dealā but the bargain is supposed to be that youāre getting a good price on that one thing and therefore you donāt give your money to 3 companies for 3 well thought out, standalone products. Youāre instead giving your money to one company who shoehorned 3 products into one box so god damn right it should be a good deal because some sacrifices must be made to make that happen and therefore itās a compromise to choose the all in one.
Like a swiss army knife doesnāt cut a steak nearly as well as a steak knife does.
For me though, having one box do more is something I actively seek out, but I donāt think you have to raise the price every year when youāre releasing products which still run on the same OS.
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Dude, Iām just poor. Iām working and trying to make ends meet nowadays. Iām sure people can justify it, or feel itās not expensive. This is more a me issue than Akai I know. Iām just spit balling here, for me that price range is just too out there. I probably nab one later down the line much later though.
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I mean, I assume that you and I arenāt the only ones in that boat, but some folks be like āif I live in my car for 3 and a half weeks I can afford itā itās just that youāre brave enough to say that you canāt swing it and there is honor in that kind of defeat.
In reality, there may be more triumph in that scenario than defeat.
Naw, scratch that. Thatās the definition of winning.
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I justified my OG Live by not buying coffee from the local shop everyday and home brewing!
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While itās true that the price is high, and itās also a bad starting point for future, larger MPCs, some considerations need to be made:
- The software isnāt exactly the same; letās just say that over the last year weāve been āexperimentingā with version 3 intended for these new products.
- The addition of physical buttons for the step sequencer makes this MPC more like a traditional drum machine; faders are missing, but at least there are virtual ones.
- This argument seems similar to what was made when Push Standalone came out, but come onā¦ 8GB of RAM, a multicore processor, an integrated SSD, software thatās a DAW, maybe even a metal chassisā¦ do you think a machine like this can cost ā¬1000?
I bought the TV yesterday, but do you know why? Iām an Elektron fan and have been hopping from one hospital to another for ten years, and all the money I save goes to music because I canāt do anything else, but damn, that TV is way overpriced!
Letās be clear: if you want an instrument for live performances or if you want to be āanalog,ā you can buy an Elektron, maybe an AR, or the next Roland, but youāll pay for what they are: performance instruments and āsophisticated compositions.ā If you want a DAW in a box, get MPCs, Pushs, Maschinesā¦ are they Swiss Army knives? Yeah, but donāt worry, they can also cut steaks! That said, on a personal level, I still think the only real problem with this type of MPC is that you canāt manage a DAW with just 4 knobs, the MPC X will be the REAL DAW, but I think this Live is a good compromise.
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Those are all good points, but I donāt think that it makes the cost a wash.
The merit is not in companies justifying the cost but in providing the best service at the best price and none of these companies operates in competition to give the best value, they only compete to see who can charge the most for providing the least and using teasers or staged leaks to manipulate the buying public into an agitated frenzy of bubbling water waiting for someone to throw in the chum.
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Buying a Live, Live 2 prices werenāt too bad, but the days of me spending silly money to buy stuff is long over. Life has a way of being a massive dickead, and I know many people who feel the same and are worst off than me. For me making music is a way of escaping the worries of life and just focusing on being a kid again in the sense of just having fun. Which is a scarce commodity nowadays.
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You are a good guy, much like Kegeratorz. Thanks for the kind words.
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I totally agree, and they do more than that, they churn out models that are all pretty much the same for years. Was there really a need for Live and One? Or maybe so many Digis where only the software changes? And then thereās the tr8, tr8s, Verselabā¦ Every year they make you want something newā¦ but you can choose, I made my smartphone last 10 years before replacing it, and Iām still super happy with my mpc live1, Iām waiting for the RIGHT one to replace itā¦ only Elektron can always screw me 
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I refuse to say how old my smartphone is but Iāll tell you honestly that the screen has been cracked for at least 7 of them because I accidentally threw it at a wall, twice.
āaccidentallyā
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Wait for Christmas
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