Hmm nothing yet?
Akai really knows how to play the marketing game. In Cookin Soulās new video you can see the same box in the background that appeared in The Heatmakerzās Instagram video. The launch canāt be too far away now.
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Probably because I have zero interest in hip-hop style beats or ābearsā as is. But this really looks uninspired to me.
It small compared to their full an draws. But not portable. It looks like a mature ep133 with out the fun and an ugly retro gray. Donāt know. From the looks I would prefer the sp404 for a similar style. But maybe it is better in action.
I donāt make beats outside & I donāt own a couch, so Iām out, but Iām still interested in this & any sampler Akai is making. Itās funny how they made the mini after the XL. talk about covering all bases. Now, can we get a Force 2!
Oh @captain8, we all know what you were doing over weekendā¦
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Iāll probably buy one
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are there any āstrong rumorsā about the limitations of this thing, when it comes to slicing, polyphony?
No
Iām trying to figure out some way that this thing is not going to be monumentally gimped compared to the MPC One+, and I canāt. My guess is that the One+ was good enough that Akai didnāt see enough people upgrading to the Live platform, so they axe the One+ and make this thing. Itās cheap enough to be attractive but (looks to be) underpowered compared to the older entry level MPC in order to upsell you down the line.
I didnāt like the workflow, but damn if the MPC One wasnāt one of the best āvalue per dollarā music production boxes
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Given how far mini computers have come, how small storage has become, I canāt see why companies donāt put out smaller AND powerful equipment. It doesnāt need to be cheap.
I meanā¦ would I love a 32GB KO-II with an OLED, waveform editor and stuff? Hell yeah!
I meanā¦ look at the Ableton Move. Itās an amazing device based on Raspberry PI. They purposely played it safe and limited it so they still have a bit of headroom for updates.
But look at what the community has done with 3rd party firmware. Itās mind blowing.
I donāt buy this bullshit ācreative limitationsā thing. Itās just companies being lazy or playing it safe.
Iāve owned a lot of self contained music making gadgets (call them grooveboxes if you want), and all the ones that had ācreative limitationsā I felt like throwing them at the wall.
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I think a gimped MPC is exactly what a lot of people want though, to make some old-fashioned chopped sample-based beats without any other distractions. The MPC One does seem like great bang for your buck, but when you start evaluating tools in that way it leads to the inevitable question of why donāt we all just do everything on a computer, but thatās no fun!
It does seem hard to get the balance between simplicity and gimpyness right though.
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they are gonna sell a ton of these. look at the reaction to the kawaii, toylike chompi. itās gonna be a summer of synthfluencers making the most basic boom bap ever. Boom bap in 2020s is to Dixieland jazz in the 1960s or even doo-wop in the 1970s. Akai should probably make a succulent-colored limited edition.
Iām hoping this release pushes roland to update the SP404mk2 again.
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This
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They add a speaker to SP404 and called it sx2, put money on it.
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If they make a 404 MK3ā¦ I would def. revisit those buttons & shortcuts.
I think they played it too safe for MK2 so they donāt lose usersā¦ but it has become a Twister game for fingers when you wanna achieve something.
It has a ton of useful stuff, but burried deep.
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Yeah I feel like they could have turned the DJ mode into a separate box almost
You do realize the SP-404 MkII has been out since 2021 right? Theyād be coming out with a MkIII.
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Hope the discussion about the MPC Sample and its release makes Behringer giving an update on their take on the SP1200ā¦
Looking forward to this one. I had the MPC One which was greatā¦but felt too complicated so I would end up doing the whole beat in Ableton.
Over 5 glorious years with it! I feel like I should send Roland some money or at least a case of beer!
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I agree the team was a bit too chained to the past when designing the MK2. One of the most obvious points of contention for me is the circular display instead of just using a normal one. Yeah it still shows the number/BPM on screen like before, and you can tweak some of that stuff, but itās buried deep in the settings menu and honestly should be off by default in my opinion.
The SP line really needed the layout of something like the 555 or 606 to give it room for those extra buttons and functions. Still, while I do hope they eventually do a MK2, I wouldnāt mind seeing a completely different form factor for the SP line either, something a bit more in line with competing with the MPC side of things.
On the flip side, MPC feels like it went the opposite direction ā basically āscrew the past, this is the future, like it or not.ā I kind of respect that approach, but itās definitely a Marmite situation. Personally I still prefer the workflow of the older MPCs with the jog wheel, tact switches, and proper buttons. The Live feels a bit clunky in its own way because of the UI, but thatās been talked about a lot already. Still really curious/excited to see what the MPC Sample ends up being like though.
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Personally I would never buy anything from Behringer even though their products are aimed at someone like me with limited budget. I find their CEO is a dickhead, I rather just go without than support a company like that. This is also someone who loves the SP1200, but sometimes itās OK to go without things.
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