Thanks for watching! The thing I'm most impressed with is that they're really throwing mostly useful and well-structured features at you. Of course, there are a lot of details to nitpick on, but overall? This is really good value for the money.
I see it the same way, certainly there are some little things, but they are on every device. For my part, I can only say that it's a lot of fun to work with and I haven't regretted buying it for a single day, and if something doesn't run as it should, it's usually due to my ignorance. Stay healthy.
I have to admit I have been impressed. Since you got it I have watched a few vids on the unit and it really is pretty great and versatile. And a screen that's living in 2011! :)
Thanks! I did the research: The first iPhone was introduced in 2007, so one could argue they're living in 2007. The "bad screens on hardware synths" situation is really frustrating, as and end user, you can buy a capacitive touch display (e.g. for the Raspberry PI) for around $50. Using a good screen to explain what's going on with your sound should be a given, but here we are in 2021, using 8bit matrix displays like it's 1985. end of rant. :-)
Seems like a very powerful and capable instrument! I love how it goes beyond what the old MPC's were capable of, while kind of keeping the same lay-out as the oldies.
It is. I guess you could use an iPad plus midi controller, and have even more features, but that would also mean taking USB interfaces and controllers with you. MPC is one box that does a lot of stuff.
The whole notion of the MPC One being a hardware synthesizer on steroids is a refreshing point of angle that not many probably have looked at it this way.
Thanks for watching! There are high end synth workstations like the Korg Nautilus/Kronos or the Fantom series which claim you can produce a song on them from A to Z. But in reality, you really don't want to do that because the sequencers / the UI is horrible. The MPC does all of those things right or at least much better. It's a DAW in a box, really, but also a great synth and sampler.
I'm very pleased with mine. 👍👍👍 I'm finally breaking away from the tape paradigm! I sample riffs, repetitive parts, and one-shots which saves the audio tracks for vocals etc. The editing is handy but not so handy that I end up fixing inaudible problems!
I have the MPC One and I use it with an Arturia Lab II. I have it loaded up with tons of sample expansion packs which, along with its onboard VST instruments (including the recent drum machine addition), it's a fantastic way to make music. I also play guitar, and can record licks and chords into the audio tracks and fully integrate them with the midi sample tracks.
Thanks for watching! That's roughly what I do. And this really works well! When you browse MPC forums, everyone seems to be complaining, which is kind of strange. Obviously, these people have never tried to use competing products. :-)
@@mr_floydst Totally agree, my friend! Almost all of the other MPC One channels are about "making a beat" which I am not denigrating, but the MPC One is so much more powerful than that. These people turn it into nothing more than a glorified looper, whereas it is a fully fledged workstation, complete with powerful sequencing and sampling tools, and a superb mastering suite!
@@leslawrenson That's mostly the MPC "base" and lineage. It became popular in the 80s and beyond by being straightforward samplers with a lot of flex and remains to this day. A *lot* of people made/make their livelihood simply producing beats to this day. $100/500/2000+ for a simple beat loop to the right person, and you end up selling 20-30 a month? That's solid income any way you look at it. The forums for most devices are almost always people wanting things fixed or tweaked, so they will come off negative, but if you watch some of these other channels, the dedicated beat makers of old and new - they're all ditching their older MPCs for this generation and loving it. Akai, I think, got the OS to the point where it's just rock solid now. You probably know most of this, but I think it needed to be said.
Thanks for watching! Yes. Compared to other hardware boxes, this one has the best "value for the money" ratio of all. The 2.10 upgrade is just incredible.
So powerful, I am still finding new things in the force. was able to submit some bug reports too and they were very prompt at looking into it. You can just spend a day exploring one of the million things it can do. nice video floyd :) P.s did you see the new gold mpc one it is so.... gold!
I'm used to hardware sequencers in the 90's, now looking for new hardware to pick my old hobby up again. Glad to see a MPC video that's not focussed on slicing up samples and beats to create boring loops and pads
@@mr_floydst I want to find the right machine for live sequencing. What are the limitations of the One for that? I currently use Boss RC-50, but I'd like to have another machine to combine short clips with the Boss looper.
@@fladancegypsy The MPC is a DAW in a box and it can do a lot of things (for example you can assign pattern to the pads and trigger them in any order or quickly mute / unmute tracks). You can also create a beat while it's playing/looping. The one major letdown is the lack of a proper step sequencer like everybody else does it. The MPC has a very awkward step sequencer that can only be used for drum patterns.
@@mr_floydst So then I *can* use it for live sequencing? Not interested in step sequencing. Is step sequencing on the One the same as looping (on the One)? Sorry for my dumb questions. I am only learning about these type of units lately. I used hardware and software sequencers in late 80s-90s.
@@fladancegypsy I think I can answer this better if you are more specific what you're planning to do. The MPC is quite good at live sequencing and you can even build playlists of tracks.
thx for the vid. I'm almost certainly going for the one. I have pretty tight ipad integration for my sampling needs but still think a hardware sampler proper would fill a void. I'm mostly an elektron/roland/novation guy and have a few devices that can do sample playback, but no true sampling hardware sampler aside from my ipad setup. I WAS thinking about going digitakt, but more and more I hear mpc calling my name, and mpc one seems to hit the sweet spot of price/performance. Your number 10 point of price/performance REALLY should be #1 :)
Thanks for watching! I just finished a full track (with vocals and guitars and piano) on the MPC, and that was really fast and easy. (Will upload that on thursday)
The modern MPCs and Deluge seem like they're easily the best items on the market for a "DAW in a box" solution. I really should have gotten one instead of an OP-1 and Digitakt. Oops. I've mostly been using Reaper on an old Linux notebook lately, and it's virtually limitless, but I'd really like something standalone with more hands-on controls instead of relying heavily on a mouse. The MPCs are particularly good at multisampling and sample slicing / chops... which would be incredibly useful for a lot of stuff I want to do. Reaper technically can do everything a MPC can do, but it's nowhere near as convenient. Dedicated hardware would be nice. However, I went with a DAW anyway, mostly due to one key feature the MPC products don't have -- the ability to arrange clips on a timeline, with no artificial pattern boundaries. If the MPC software ever adds a free-arrangement mode with no grid partitions, I may have to switch. The workflow I'm going for is basically recording midi, cleaning it up, then rendering it to audio (usually from an external synth) while I turn knobs for expression. Then arrange the audio clips on a timeline. Even without that though, a MPC is still rather tempting.
I think you're right. I once had an OP-1, while it's workflow is interesting and it looks super stylish, once you mixed down your 4 tracks, there's no going back. Digitakt is built for "jamming", but the MPCs sampler doesn't get in your way with restrictions and "interesting" workarounds. :-)
Great demo. Best I have seen yet and nice that you feature non hiip-hop/dance styles. A few questions before I splash out. Can you record time signature changes and tempo changes into the rhythms, tracks, songs? And also, does it come with natural sounding drums already installed (as opposed to the usual dance/808 sounds). Thanks
Hi, thanks for watching! I never tried to record time signature changes, but I know every pattern can have it's own time signature, and as you can arrange patterns into a song, you can write a song with time sig changes. There are some rock drums and jazz drums preinstalled, and the drum synth can do an acoustic drum impression, too (although there's no preset using them, you have to create your own, which isn't hard).
@@mr_floydst Sounds great and thanks for a speedy reply. I'm def getting this. Just one thing.....can you program tempo changes? it's pretty fundamental to my songs.
@@sidebar4018 Nothing! :-) I'm just tired of writing "you're right" at the moment, haha. :-) Well, the Korg Nautilus can do roughly the same things, but that one is expensive, huge and heavy. And of course Maschine. But again, much more expensive.
@@mr_floydst i know i wont i was looking at your video and then looked another video and it was very simple i want it all if am going to pay with much money i want evevrything and maschine just dont have it
Thanks! It's possible to export the whole project or tracks as wav files. There's also an MPC software version which integrates the hardware. You can save MIDI files or other suitable formats from there, but as it's a full DAW, you might not want to, anyway.
Great video. I was tossing up between the MPC One and the Force, ended up on the Force in the end. Was just more familiar with the workflow of the Force from using Reaper with Playtime. The new synths are something that i am really looking forward to. I am tipping that the MPC One has keygroups as well, probably how you did the piano? Have only just discovered how powerful they are. Have got a few soft synths that i plan on sampling over at some point when i get the time.
Thanks for watching! Yes, there are keygroups. It's the main reason I bought this. I was really dissatisfied with what other hardware samplers had to offer on this regard (Blackbox kind of does it, but at the time of writing, doesn't loop multisamples and has no lfo/envelope/filter stuff, and Digitakt doesn't do multisamples at all, and most other samplers are "one shot" samplers or do "granular" which is not what I was looking for).
Any suggestions for standalone vocal recording with the MPC or a processor and pre setup to use with it? Thanks for your videos. I’m learning a lot on the standalone products reviews of yours. My goals to do standalone recording for my music. Still need a few things and there’s to many products to research.
beautiful machine of the AKAI ONE again and again nice to watch you making music ... sounds very good ... by the way the problem with the EX5 in connection with the motif I did not manage at least in the song and parrern mode of the motif reacted the EX5r only also the midi channel on which the EX5 is set, which is better than the voice or performance mide from Motif ... maybe the two devices are just too similar Motif äneln from the operating system although the EX5 is more than a sample-based syntesiser ... well, I have to be careful, thanks for your help :)
@@mr_floydst Thanks! So the One does not have an internal HD. How does the saving to a card and then using a card reader to load in to a daw work? Do you think the live is worth the extra $?
@@claessorensson225 Well, _I_ didn't think it was worth the extra $ :-) But I can't decide that for you. I think the internal battery is a great addition. Otherwise, SD cards are completely fine - you can just pop them into your PC and continue working in a DAW (there's an MPC DAW, but you can also mix down tracks or the complete song, or copy the whole project folder).
I have been looking at this as a future purchase, I have the Digitakt and Digitone and. I don’t really use them that much. This thing is beast and the price is pretty impressive. Great video
Thanks for watching! Yes, it's incredible value for the money, and I like the sequencer of this much more then Elektron's. Digitone are more geared towards tweaking sequences live, and are pretty limited when doing anything other than "4 bars of music, 16 steps per bar". MPC doesn't have these limitations, so it's better suited for writing complete songs, even mixing and mastering them. And once you know how to set up the controls and the buttons, live tweaking a playback sequence is no problem (while not as elegant as on Digitone and Digitakt)
@@mr_floydst thanks Floyd, I have been thinking about making some changes to my set up. I I think I’m going to let the digitakt go but keep the Digitone ( for now) because I love the way it sounds and it is more versatile than the digitakt. I have an op-1 that I just don’t really use at all, as cool as it is. Also I’m loving the iOS environment on my iPad. I’m feeling very attracted to the Mpc one. Just watching other people like yourself really makes it look so simple, I just know I could really get some shit done. It seems I’ve become a bit of a lazy Elektron/Teenage Engineering fan boy. Lol
@@howardanderson3061 I know that feeling ;-) Well, turning on the MPC for the first time, I was lost - but going through the tutorial in the manual takes half an hour and after that it all falls into place.
The Elektrons should be viewed more as instruments, not as standalone DAW devices. Yes, they can be standalone, but more for live jams. They don't have savable song modes, etc. I would probably keep the 'Takt after you get an MPC because they still pair fantastic. Nothing beats how quick you can throw something together with the 'Takt, not even an MPC. Elektron devices are really special, IMO.
I played them all (and just managed to get a Series X). Dang, I clearly remember what I was doing and who was with me when I first heard that music and saw that Halo ring spinning on the screen. _sigh_ Time. It passes. :-)
Nice video! Do you personally think a Akai MPC one could be a decent combo with the Juno DS88 from Roland? I like the synthesizer, but the 8 step sequencer is a bummer for me and afcourse a touchscreen also saves alot of time! Thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching! I think that would be a nice combo. The Juno DS can provide great "real world" sounds and has a great playable keyboard while the AKAI is a great sequencer. You can connect them via MIDI.
Hi, thanks for watching! It is a better machine because of it's built in hard drive, speakers and battery. On a musical level, it's the same. The CPU, RAM and software are the same. My impression was I don't need the hard drive and speakers, battery would have been great, but then again, there's Ripcords (myvolts.co.uk/) . But I think that's really a matter of personal preferences.
Criminally underpriced for the capabilities. The MPC One is definitely a gateway drug into the Akai MPC ecosphere. The Live II/X are a step up but the OS and features across all their devices remain the same whether you spend $600/1200/2200 - It's the same machine! You just decide on more inputs/outputs/battery/speakers/form factor - They don't neuter ANYTHING in the OS/onboard features. Most manufacturers would put a paywall of some sort on their lower-end machines like the One, but not Akai. I love all my equipment, but I can't say enough how much I think Akai really nailed this MPC generation. Call me an instant fanboy at this point.
And now that you can easily hook up any class compliant audio interface to expand it’s IO... there is very little argument to spend a few hundred more for the live2
Hi, thanks for watching! That's a pure saw wave - use Tube Synth and remove all the effects and envelopes and lfos and set the waveform to "saw" and you're left with this. If you're not sure, here's a patch you can load into TubeSynth. 1drv.ms/u/s!Au06jbGd_8NcsYNgTnyqZL5rN2nDog?e=eLjs6x Best regards! :-)
Hi, thanks for watching! Yes, it's the black Keystep. It's a good keyboard. If you need to go even smaller, the Korg Nanokeys is really tiny and takes a while getting used to, but it's the keyboard I use most due to it's travel-friendly size.
Yes, it is! But for some reason, the concept works quite well and is more fun (for me personally) than using a PC. Only yesterday I tried to do the simplest thing (recording some MIDI stuff) but my DAW wouldn't recognize my USB keyboard for one reason or another. This never happens on the MPC.
@@mr_floydst Yes very true and I have had issues with Abalten and the Reason 12 and dont get Me started on plugins that dont work. MPCs are dope because they are designed for one thing, Music making.
Thanks for sharing your opinion! (I think you didn't need to delete your previous post, it was perfectly ok). I can only compare this to the groove boxes I owned previously, and I must add I'm really not a live player / a person a enjoys tweaking sequences live. I was looking for a box that can to a very specific set of things (namely, the one mentioned in this video), and this ticked all of the boxes. Coming from the hardware I owned previously, this was a huge step forward.
@@mr_floydst thanks! I realized the first one came off very rude. I didn't want anyone to misinterpret what I said since you cannot read a tone of someone's voice. So I redid it.
Thanks for watching! I'm not the right person to give advice because I didn't own the mc707 yet, but reviews suggest the roland is the far better synth while the akai is the far better sequencer / groovebox.
Hello, thanks for watching! Disclaimer: I'm propably not the right person to answer this question as I never used Maschine. The obvious difference is that MK3 needs a PC / Mac to run with it. MPC can be used both standalone and with a PC. If you compare the standalone MPC to Maschine MK3 with a PC connected, Maschine wins, it's more flexible, more plugins, and so on. However, you can also use a software version of MPC along with the hardware MPC, which kind of levels them, so it all becomes a matter of taste - which workflow you like more. Sorry for this vague answer. I think Mr. BoBeats or Mrs. Courtney Hawkins might be more knowledgeable :-) Best regards!
@@mr_floydst OK Thank you for the answer, the autonomy does not matter to me I do not intend to walk with it, what is important for me is the work flow which would be the easiest and most interesting for someone who has never touched these machines, knowing that I would like to connect a keyboard on it but both do it so it's rather the workflow, the ease of handling, the stability and the quality that interests me, for the sounds I have an Arturia bank can I use it on MPC ??
@@wilpas1050 As long as it's available as a VST plugin, the MPC software (on your PC) will be able to run it. But you won't be able to use it on the MPC One standalone. You can download a free version of MPC here to test it: www.akaipro.com/mpc-software Best regards!
Hi, thanks for watching! The looper can't be controlled by pedal (not when I last tried it). You set up a number of bars and the looper will continuously overdub.
Floyd Steinberg hi I have a Yamaha PSR SX -900. I want to expand the possibilities of recording music and songs. Will the Akai MPС One be useful for me in my case ? can you recommend it to me ?
Hi! The PSR is a great arranger workstation already. The MPC is a "DAW in a box", so it would add a sampler, audio tracks, mixing and mastering effects and plugin synths to you setup. I can't really tell you if it's right or wrong to buy it in your case - if you can, try it before buying. As it's a vastly different approach to making music, maybe it will also give you new musical ideas.
@@mr_floydst thank you for your answer . I don't want to mess with the computer and the DAW . I like to record music in a hardware way . I expect from Akai as a powerful extension for editing preset styles and sounds on Yamaha . The Yamaha has 16 channels of MIDI input and output. I do not know how it will be displayed on Akai (technically ) . I do not have such experience and therefore I am afraid to make a mistake in buying this device.
@@СССРТВНижнийНовгород You'll have to prepare to learn the MPC a bit before everything "clicks". Basically, every song is made from patterns, and patterns can be as long as you want. They're made up from midi and audio tracks, so recording and playing back your 16 midi tracks while also playing back audio and samples should be no problem. Your MIDI tracks will be displayed as a "note roll" (piano keys on the left side of the screen, notes will be displayed as lines of different length on the right side).
Floyd, I have an other question! :-))) You are using AKAI MPC with the Keyboard to Midi Interface. The question is: Can you use AKAI + Laptop PC + USB-Midi Adapater + Matrix Piano WebApp = to connect and play it on AKAI? I hope you understud me :-)))
Hi! I'm glad to report both things work (which was to be expected, as webmidi uses standard midi protocol). You can even perform the same trick I featured in my PI400 video and capture your Matrixpiano performance in a DAW both as MIDI and Audio track. Best regards!
I can't really answer as I never used the LIVE 2. From the fact sheets, the hardware specs seem identical (CPU and RAM and connections), LIVE 2 having a 16gb "hard drive". There maybe differences in the operating system and software features, though.
In the meantime, I've educated myself. The MPC Live II has more audio in / out and more USB connectors, a battery and speakers and an exchangable hard drive and a different form factor. The "One" has more buttons. Other than that, they're the same. Best regards!
They have the same processors and RAM. Onboard storage the Live II has 16GB over the Ones 4GB. The Live II has a slot for an internal SSD drive which also mounts on your PC when you plug in the Live II via USB and you can access it like any other hard drive to copy stuff to/from. It also has a battery which provides around 6 hours of time. Built-in speakers as well, which BTW, are very nice. There are 4 speakers, two mid/high and two subwoofers. They provide decent "punch". They won't beat your monitors or $100+ headphones, but they'll easily be good enough for sitting down in a chair with nothing else attached while you sketch out some tunes. DO not discount them as 'cheap' and bad sounding, they are quality. Outside of that, the Live II has two powered USB ports which allow you to hook up a Keystep by itself and it'll just work over a single cable, and then you can use the other for another USB powered device like a Korg NTS-1 which the Live II will also power and you can route the audio into the Live II inputs. Live II also has Bluetooth MIDI, wifi, 6 audio outputs, phono inputs for direct turntable sampling, 8 cv/gate jacks, and .. the original (bigger) pads. Functionally? They are all the same. There is NOTHING missing in the OS. All the samples, all the instruments, etc. All there.
You can also download sound packs, which are sample based. These offer a wide variety of instruments. The "F9" collection is for free and sounds pretty good, it has pianos, basses, synth pads and much more, all of them velocity-layered and with filters and effects.
One reason why 'One' will never been the synthesizer workstation for you: no tempo track. Old MPCs gave you DAW tempo control, new one's were stripped of this crucial feature.
Thanks for watching! Fair point. Each pattern can have it's own tempo, but I guess you want to change tempo within a pattern to slow down gradually. That's not possible indeed.
It's still my go-to DAW-in-a-box, so my answer is yes. Akai keeps rolling out updates, and their plugins sound good generally. There are some annoyances like occasional crashes. And I'd like the instruments to "blend" into the next pattern when switching patterns (they get cut off abruptly). But other than that, you get a lot of value with these,
@@mr_floydst I appreciate the quick response. I will check the condition of the MPC One's in the second hand markets. There is also MPC One+ if I want a new device.
Really don't understand why people would prefer to buy a heap of drum boxes Drumbrute, Digitakt, 808, 909, 606 etc other expensive analogue mono synth, toys and sequencers to go with them over an MPC one. You can practically have any drum machine or synth ever made for a fraction of the cost and footprint, love mine just so versatile.
I guess it might be the more hands-on control of the sound, plus GAS aka gear aquisition syndrome. You could also add an external MIDI controller to the MPC and assign it to the various synth parameters to achieve something similar (or use the 4 controllers provided, but they're somewhat more complicated to use).
@@mr_floydst Love the 2.9 update and the drum synth, hope the developers keep going with the one, perhaps a wave table synth would be nice too, can only dream. :D
I’m about to sell my drumbrute impact to get this, I want something I can use my hardware synths with but also write and arrange full songs, on top of that, can load my own samples (I hope) and slice, chop, and mangle them inside the box which is all pretty much what I’m looking for, MPC one seem like the ideal box for me, can’t wait to have one
Did I make a mistake buying the 1010 blackbox!? (O_o) I'm actually picking my jaw off the floor for everything this thing offers at that pricetag. Like, no need for a DAW at all between that and the blackbox and my kurzweil. Oh by the way, Yamaha's EX5 acoustic piano is much better than my Kurzweil's. ;-)
That's the exact question I asked myself ;-) The best thing would be a blackbox sized musical device with all the stuff the MPC has on offer. Blackbox has made great strides since - but it's nowhere near the MPC in terms of features. But I think it's worth keeping the Blackbox as 1010 music is really busy improving and supporting it.
Thanks for watching! Hm, I wouldn't say they suck, they're "kind of ok" to "quite good". They can get overpowering, and Akai's patch developers certainly love themselves a ton of stereo delay cranked up to 110%. :)
Can i use it as a hard disk recorder? More than just a looper i mean. Could i use my hardware, sync with midi, and record .. 16 tracks and then have it play back with hardware using midi sync out? Will there be lag or instability in midi clock?
Hi, thanks for watching! The answer to these questions is no, yes, and maybe. You can have fairly lengthy audio tracks, but theyre limited by RAM size (you can't stream from the SD card). You can record incoming MIDI and you can control other MIDI gear without any problems (in my personal experience - please also visit some forums for other takes!). I personally have not experienced lag or instability yet, but MPC forums are full of angry people who say they've experienced bugs or lags. I've installed patch 2.9 right away and have not yet installed 2.9.1 because people reported problems. I'm not saying this is a _perfect_ machine. I'm stating 10 reasons why you might like it. And if you apply your questions to any synth hardware on the market in this price range at the moment, most of them don't even qualify and the other ones will have their share of problems, too. Best regards!
@@mr_floydst Thank you for your lengthy answer! I think the ram size is probably higher than old school recorder's hard drive! I want to stay hardware (Akai S5000, EMU E5000, RS7000, MC909, 303 clone, SYstem-1, Analog Rhytm) but with all the tools it can be a mess just loading a project across all of them! Easier to just record and accept i can't go back and change. Memory can be optimized be making loops. But i still want it to sync to midi so i can add new parts. Korg had a hard disc recorder but they removed midi from it. Now everything is just USB :( The Akai is really cheap compared to anything else and backup should be as easy as it can be. It sounds like the Akai is the best and only option.
No problem! :-) Ram size is 2GB, and let's say you use 1GB for for stereo audio tracks (and the remaining RAM for samples and stuff) - that would give you roughly 1.5 hours of recording time (divide by the number of stereo tracks). (edit: stated wrong RAM size first)
My brain just needs a timeline. I just feel autistic when I try to arrange a song. This os why i sold my mpc live. I stay in live only now. But still doubting between an mpc one or push 2 to control ableton. Btw you say mpc has the best sequencer.... I say No. A VERY BIG NO.
Hi, thanks for watching and commenting! Ok, I should have said "out of all the hardware sequencers I tried up to now, this one is the one I personally liked most". (I've tried: Yamaha, Elektron, ZOOM, Roland and some boxes I've already forgotten). So which one do you like more?
@@marcosrotllan I only know the Digitone/Digitakt sequencers, which were _somewhat_ restrictive and had some really hard to memorize key combos and were limited to 4 tracks.
I'd disagree on the basis of price. A groovebox shouldn't cost more than $500 IMHO, unless you're planning on going DAW-less and need a full studio in a box.
Hi, thanks for watching! I can see where you're coming from. There are some good groove boxes beginning at $300 (Circuit, for example - the price on the used market is really good). As the MPC is in the same price range of e.g. the Elektron boxes (which are quite popular), one can argue the MPC does a lot of things the competition doesn't.
@@mr_floydst Yeah, I should have expressed myself more clearly. I totally agree that the MPC One seems to give you a lot more for your money compared to cheaper grooveboxes. For one thing, there are virtually no limits to tracks and pattern lengths. However, I think of the MPC more as a "DAW in a box" kind of machine, not exactly a groovebox. To me, a groovebox is a kind of device someone might use to either jam live, or use to sketch out song ideas quickly and with hands on controls, outside of the traditional DAW environment. That's why I'm in the market for a 'proper' groovebox myself: I use a DAW for my music production because anything else would just slow me down when it comes to laying down the arrangements, mixing and mastering. However, I want something for that initial phase of creative ideation, and for that a groovebox seems perfect. I'd say that anyone trying to use an MPC One for the entire production cycle is missing out on the productivity of a DAW. Even something as simple as moving a pattern out a few 8-bars out is a pain compared to a quick drag and drop in a DAW. So, this is why I think the MPC kind of disqualifies as a groovebox because it's trying to be so much more. You are right though that you could use it as one, but that would be a fairly expensive groovebox in my opinion, a little overkill. I'm personally leaning towards the Circuit Tracks or the MC-101 myself, but neither seems perfect either. 😊
You're right, the MPC is a DAW in a box, that just so happens to be useable as a groovebox :) The learning curve is steeper than on the "smaller" boxes certainly.
If you get Ableton and a push (and you need a good laptop!) it will already cost you like 1100$ and then you only have the first party instruments and plugins. I think the MPC one is one of the most competitive priced hardware devices our there. Your comment about it shouldn’t cost more than 500$ lacks any arguments
@@fluim0102 I didn't say that the MPC shouldn't cost more than 500, I said a groovebox shouldn't. And I tried to offer my definition of how the two differ (music sketch/jam device vs full production center). It really depends on what you're looking for, particularly whether you're interested in finishing songs up to 99% in the machine, or if you mainly use it to sketch out new ideas and have fun. In all fairness, I wrote the original comment before having a chance to evaluate the MPC One, and, after owning it for about 8 months now, I definitely agree it's a lot of value and I'm hardly using my DAW at the moment.
@@mr_floydst the hype synth is like a multi purpose synth, it has wave tables , some fm engines, some other type of synth presets, bass presets. Tube synth is there version of classic vintage analog poly synths
Thanks for watching! I solved that problem by having an upper limit of 4 hardware synths in my home, so if I buy something new, something of the old stuff has to go. I'm not really sentimental about my synths. :-)
Can only agree, have had the part for a few months and am still surprised at the possibilities and am discovering. The One is really fun.
Thanks for watching! The thing I'm most impressed with is that they're really throwing mostly useful and well-structured features at you. Of course, there are a lot of details to nitpick on, but overall? This is really good value for the money.
I see it the same way, certainly there are some little things, but they are on every device. For my part, I can only say that it's a lot of fun to work with and I haven't regretted buying it for a single day, and if something doesn't run as it should, it's usually due to my ignorance. Stay healthy.
I have to admit I have been impressed. Since you got it I have watched a few vids on the unit and it really is pretty great and versatile. And a screen that's living in 2011! :)
Thanks! I did the research: The first iPhone was introduced in 2007, so one could argue they're living in 2007. The "bad screens on hardware synths" situation is really frustrating, as and end user, you can buy a capacitive touch display (e.g. for the Raspberry PI) for around $50. Using a good screen to explain what's going on with your sound should be a given, but here we are in 2021, using 8bit matrix displays like it's 1985. end of rant. :-)
Time just vanishes when I'm on my MPC One. So fun and glad I picked one up. Great overview!
Thanks for watching! Same for me. It's exactly what I was looking for. :)
So what Youre saying is, That Youre wasting your time?
Seems like a very powerful and capable instrument!
I love how it goes beyond what the old MPC's were capable of, while kind of keeping the same lay-out as the oldies.
It is. I guess you could use an iPad plus midi controller, and have even more features, but that would also mean taking USB interfaces and controllers with you. MPC is one box that does a lot of stuff.
The whole notion of the MPC One being a hardware synthesizer on steroids is a refreshing point of angle that not many probably have looked at it this way.
Thanks for watching! There are high end synth workstations like the Korg Nautilus/Kronos or the Fantom series which claim you can produce a song on them from A to Z. But in reality, you really don't want to do that because the sequencers / the UI is horrible. The MPC does all of those things right or at least much better. It's a DAW in a box, really, but also a great synth and sampler.
I'm very pleased with mine. 👍👍👍 I'm finally breaking away from the tape paradigm! I sample riffs, repetitive parts, and one-shots which saves the audio tracks for vocals etc. The editing is handy but not so handy that I end up fixing inaudible problems!
Thanks for watching! This sounds like a practicable workflow.
Definitely agree. Just picked up the MPC Live 2. Amazing bit of kit.
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for sharing your insights on the MPC One! You are really helping people decide if they should get this. Awesome video!
Thanks for watching! :)
Thanks for this “simple” overview! Just the kind of video I was looking for regarding this box. Also, loved the outro music! Cheers.
Thank you very much!
I have the MPC One and I use it with an Arturia Lab II. I have it loaded up with tons of sample expansion packs which, along with its onboard VST instruments (including the recent drum machine addition), it's a fantastic way to make music. I also play guitar, and can record licks and chords into the audio tracks and fully integrate them with the midi sample tracks.
Thanks for watching! That's roughly what I do. And this really works well! When you browse MPC forums, everyone seems to be complaining, which is kind of strange. Obviously, these people have never tried to use competing products. :-)
@@mr_floydst Totally agree, my friend! Almost all of the other MPC One channels are about "making a beat" which I am not denigrating, but the MPC One is so much more powerful than that. These people turn it into nothing more than a glorified looper, whereas it is a fully fledged workstation, complete with powerful sequencing and sampling tools, and a superb mastering suite!
@@leslawrenson That's mostly the MPC "base" and lineage. It became popular in the 80s and beyond by being straightforward samplers with a lot of flex and remains to this day. A *lot* of people made/make their livelihood simply producing beats to this day. $100/500/2000+ for a simple beat loop to the right person, and you end up selling 20-30 a month? That's solid income any way you look at it. The forums for most devices are almost always people wanting things fixed or tweaked, so they will come off negative, but if you watch some of these other channels, the dedicated beat makers of old and new - they're all ditching their older MPCs for this generation and loving it. Akai, I think, got the OS to the point where it's just rock solid now. You probably know most of this, but I think it needed to be said.
@@Philtho Wow! I didn't realise you could make that kind of money producing beats. Are there any good channels that give tips on how to do that?
How you add the guitar to MPC
Great content! I enjoy having the Akai MPC One!! Akai Pro is killing the competition!
Thanks for watching! Yes. Compared to other hardware boxes, this one has the best "value for the money" ratio of all. The 2.10 upgrade is just incredible.
So powerful, I am still finding new things in the force. was able to submit some bug reports too and they were very prompt at looking into it. You can just spend a day exploring one of the million things it can do. nice video floyd :) P.s did you see the new gold mpc one it is so.... gold!
Thanks! Yes I did see that. Such bling-bling. :-)
For me, it's ULTIMATE GROOVEBOX. Really nice to have it in studio, great job Akai! (even I'm long time Maschine Hardcore User)
Thanks for watching! That's what I think, too.
I'm used to hardware sequencers in the 90's, now looking for new hardware to pick my old hobby up again. Glad to see a MPC video that's not focussed on slicing up samples and beats to create boring loops and pads
Thanks for watching! I think MPC is the do-it-all box at the moment, you can do live sequencing (to an extent) and complete songs alike.
@@mr_floydst I want to find the right machine for live sequencing. What are the limitations of the One for that? I currently use Boss RC-50, but I'd like to have another machine to combine short clips with the Boss looper.
@@fladancegypsy The MPC is a DAW in a box and it can do a lot of things (for example you can assign pattern to the pads and trigger them in any order or quickly mute / unmute tracks). You can also create a beat while it's playing/looping.
The one major letdown is the lack of a proper step sequencer like everybody else does it. The MPC has a very awkward step sequencer that can only be used for drum patterns.
@@mr_floydst So then I *can* use it for live sequencing? Not interested in step sequencing. Is step sequencing on the One the same as looping (on the One)? Sorry for my dumb questions. I am only learning about these type of units lately. I used hardware and software sequencers in late 80s-90s.
@@fladancegypsy I think I can answer this better if you are more specific what you're planning to do. The MPC is quite good at live sequencing and you can even build playlists of tracks.
thx for the vid. I'm almost certainly going for the one. I have pretty tight ipad integration for my sampling needs but still think a hardware sampler proper would fill a void. I'm mostly an elektron/roland/novation guy and have a few devices that can do sample playback, but no true sampling hardware sampler aside from my ipad setup. I WAS thinking about going digitakt, but more and more I hear mpc calling my name, and mpc one seems to hit the sweet spot of price/performance. Your number 10 point of price/performance REALLY should be #1 :)
Thanks for watching! Yes, that's true - that is the number one reason. I put it at the end for dramatic reasons. :)
Great review. Love your delivery of the material.
Thank you very much!
The zoom/pinch feature is just HUGE when it comes to sequencing!
Thanks for watching! (I see what you did there :-) )
Yess No 1.
What a smart device it is.
So much to learn about it, but time is so much fun with the Akai one.
We love it.
Great video Thanks
Thanks for watching! I just finished a full track (with vocals and guitars and piano) on the MPC, and that was really fast and easy. (Will upload that on thursday)
Would highly recommend the mpc one it's extremely easy and fun to make great sounding music.
Thanks for watching! Yes, you're right.
Not easy like toraiz
The modern MPCs and Deluge seem like they're easily the best items on the market for a "DAW in a box" solution. I really should have gotten one instead of an OP-1 and Digitakt. Oops. I've mostly been using Reaper on an old Linux notebook lately, and it's virtually limitless, but I'd really like something standalone with more hands-on controls instead of relying heavily on a mouse.
The MPCs are particularly good at multisampling and sample slicing / chops... which would be incredibly useful for a lot of stuff I want to do. Reaper technically can do everything a MPC can do, but it's nowhere near as convenient. Dedicated hardware would be nice. However, I went with a DAW anyway, mostly due to one key feature the MPC products don't have -- the ability to arrange clips on a timeline, with no artificial pattern boundaries. If the MPC software ever adds a free-arrangement mode with no grid partitions, I may have to switch.
The workflow I'm going for is basically recording midi, cleaning it up, then rendering it to audio (usually from an external synth) while I turn knobs for expression. Then arrange the audio clips on a timeline.
Even without that though, a MPC is still rather tempting.
I think you're right. I once had an OP-1, while it's workflow is interesting and it looks super stylish, once you mixed down your 4 tracks, there's no going back. Digitakt is built for "jamming", but the MPCs sampler doesn't get in your way with restrictions and "interesting" workarounds. :-)
Toykeeper - give the Akai Force a look. The latest updates sound like they will chime with your workflow.
I have the mpc live wich is excellent!! But for the price the mpc one is the best machine actually. Awesome!!
Hi, thanks for watching! I agreed, for that price you won't get a better deal.
Great demo. Best I have seen yet and nice that you feature non hiip-hop/dance styles. A few questions before I splash out. Can you record time signature changes and tempo changes into the rhythms, tracks, songs? And also, does it come with natural sounding drums already installed (as opposed to the usual dance/808 sounds). Thanks
Hi, thanks for watching! I never tried to record time signature changes, but I know every pattern can have it's own time signature, and as you can arrange patterns into a song, you can write a song with time sig changes. There are some rock drums and jazz drums preinstalled, and the drum synth can do an acoustic drum impression, too (although there's no preset using them, you have to create your own, which isn't hard).
@@mr_floydst Sounds great and thanks for a speedy reply. I'm def getting this. Just one thing.....can you program tempo changes? it's pretty fundamental to my songs.
Hello David, every pattern can have it's own tempo on the MPC. So in order to have tempo changes in a song, split it up into patterns.
This has to be one of the greatest production machines ever created
Thanks for watching! I'm not going to disagree. :-)
@@mr_floydst please explain and let me know in the modern era what could be better. By the way I hate computers lol
@@sidebar4018 Nothing! :-) I'm just tired of writing "you're right" at the moment, haha. :-) Well, the Korg Nautilus can do roughly the same things, but that one is expensive, huge and heavy. And of course Maschine. But again, much more expensive.
Plug in instruments and effects were just expanded too. The update this week was HUGE
Yes, absolutely. Compared to other boxes, the "power for the price" ratio just went through the roof.
mines is on the way cant wait
Congratulations! I think you won't regret it. :)
@@mr_floydst i know i wont i was looking at your video and then looked another video and it was very simple i want it all if am going to pay with much money i want evevrything and maschine just dont have it
Good points and I like your music examples. Thanks.
Thanks for watching!
Another good video Floyd.
Thanks for watching!
Great video as a all ways! Thank you once again
Thanks for watching! :)
Thanks, this looks fun.
Thanks for watching! It is! :)
it'd be rad if they added an fm synthesizer in a future update
Thanks for watching! I agree - that would be superb.
This comment aged well
it looks really intuitive, i like it.
is it possible to export a track into something a daw could use ? or would it have to be recorded as wav's ?
Thanks! It's possible to export the whole project or tracks as wav files. There's also an MPC software version which integrates the hardware. You can save MIDI files or other suitable formats from there, but as it's a full DAW, you might not want to, anyway.
@@mr_floydst thats really cool, thanks for the reply!
Great video.
I was tossing up between the MPC One and the Force, ended up on the Force in the end. Was just more familiar with the workflow of the Force from using Reaper with Playtime.
The new synths are something that i am really looking forward to. I am tipping that the MPC One has keygroups as well, probably how you did the piano? Have only just discovered how powerful they are.
Have got a few soft synths that i plan on sampling over at some point when i get the time.
Thanks for watching! Yes, there are keygroups. It's the main reason I bought this. I was really dissatisfied with what other hardware samplers had to offer on this regard (Blackbox kind of does it, but at the time of writing, doesn't loop multisamples and has no lfo/envelope/filter stuff, and Digitakt doesn't do multisamples at all, and most other samplers are "one shot" samplers or do "granular" which is not what I was looking for).
@@mr_floydst keygroups was a big selling point for me. Ironically I haven't tried it yet. 😀
Any suggestions for standalone vocal recording with the MPC or a processor and pre setup to use with it? Thanks for your videos. I’m learning a lot on the standalone products reviews of yours. My goals to do standalone recording for my music. Still need a few things and there’s to many products to research.
Hi! Thanks for watching. As of update 2.10, MPC does "autotone" and vocal harmonisation. Compressors were built in for a long time now.
beautiful machine of the AKAI ONE again and again nice to watch you making music ... sounds very good ... by the way the problem with the EX5 in connection with the motif I did not manage at least in the song and parrern mode of the motif reacted the EX5r only also the midi channel on which the EX5 is set, which is better than the voice or performance mide from Motif ... maybe the two devices are just too similar Motif äneln from the operating system although the EX5 is more than a sample-based syntesiser ... well, I have to be careful, thanks for your help :)
Thank you very much!
Thanks! I'm looking at this or the live.
Thanks for watching! The Live is the same "musically", but it comes with a hard drive, more connections, a battery and speakers.
I had the MPC Live but I sold it and decided to get the MPC One because it's more functional.
@@PlayEngage I see, how so?
@@mr_floydst Thanks!
So the One does not have an internal HD. How does the saving to a card and then using a card reader to load in to a daw work? Do you think the live is worth the extra $?
@@claessorensson225 Well, _I_ didn't think it was worth the extra $ :-) But I can't decide that for you. I think the internal battery is a great addition. Otherwise, SD cards are completely fine - you can just pop them into your PC and continue working in a DAW (there's an MPC DAW, but you can also mix down tracks or the complete song, or copy the whole project folder).
I have been looking at this as a future purchase, I have the Digitakt and Digitone and. I don’t really use them that much. This thing is beast and the price is pretty impressive. Great video
Thanks for watching! Yes, it's incredible value for the money, and I like the sequencer of this much more then Elektron's. Digitone are more geared towards tweaking sequences live, and are pretty limited when doing anything other than "4 bars of music, 16 steps per bar". MPC doesn't have these limitations, so it's better suited for writing complete songs, even mixing and mastering them. And once you know how to set up the controls and the buttons, live tweaking a playback sequence is no problem (while not as elegant as on Digitone and Digitakt)
@@mr_floydst thanks Floyd, I have been thinking about making some changes to my set up. I I think I’m going to let the digitakt go but keep the Digitone ( for now) because I love the way it sounds and it is more versatile than the digitakt. I have an op-1 that I just don’t really use at all, as cool as it is.
Also I’m loving the iOS environment on my iPad. I’m feeling very attracted to the Mpc one. Just watching other people like yourself really makes it look so simple, I just know I could really get some shit done. It seems I’ve become a bit of a lazy Elektron/Teenage Engineering fan boy. Lol
@@howardanderson3061 I know that feeling ;-) Well, turning on the MPC for the first time, I was lost - but going through the tutorial in the manual takes half an hour and after that it all falls into place.
@@mr_floydst your guitar looping video sealed the deal. The mpc one can do all I need.Thanks, I am a big fan of your Chanel.
The Elektrons should be viewed more as instruments, not as standalone DAW devices. Yes, they can be standalone, but more for live jams. They don't have savable song modes, etc. I would probably keep the 'Takt after you get an MPC because they still pair fantastic. Nothing beats how quick you can throw something together with the 'Takt, not even an MPC. Elektron devices are really special, IMO.
6:03 I didn't know you played Halo Floyd!
I played them all (and just managed to get a Series X). Dang, I clearly remember what I was doing and who was with me when I first heard that music and saw that Halo ring spinning on the screen. _sigh_ Time. It passes. :-)
Great maschine with great price!!! I agree....
It sure is! Thanks for watching.
GREAT VIDEO !!!!!!
Thank you!
Nice video! Do you personally think a Akai MPC one could be a decent combo with the Juno DS88 from Roland? I like the synthesizer, but the 8 step sequencer is a bummer for me and afcourse a touchscreen also saves alot of time!
Thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching! I think that would be a nice combo. The Juno DS can provide great "real world" sounds and has a great playable keyboard while the AKAI is a great sequencer. You can connect them via MIDI.
Thank you. What are your views on the MPC LIVE II? If it wasn't so expensive, would it absolutely be a better buy?
Hi, thanks for watching! It is a better machine because of it's built in hard drive, speakers and battery. On a musical level, it's the same. The CPU, RAM and software are the same. My impression was I don't need the hard drive and speakers, battery would have been great, but then again, there's Ripcords (myvolts.co.uk/) . But I think that's really a matter of personal preferences.
Many thanks for the video
Thanks for watching!
Criminally underpriced for the capabilities. The MPC One is definitely a gateway drug into the Akai MPC ecosphere. The Live II/X are a step up but the OS and features across all their devices remain the same whether you spend $600/1200/2200 - It's the same machine! You just decide on more inputs/outputs/battery/speakers/form factor - They don't neuter ANYTHING in the OS/onboard features. Most manufacturers would put a paywall of some sort on their lower-end machines like the One, but not Akai. I love all my equipment, but I can't say enough how much I think Akai really nailed this MPC generation. Call me an instant fanboy at this point.
Thanks for watching! I entirely agree.
And now that you can easily hook up any class compliant audio interface to expand it’s IO... there is very little argument to spend a few hundred more for the live2
Hej. Is the micro switches works corectly? I have mpc 2500 and i scare buy next Akai mpc.
Thanks for watching! So far, all the buttons and switches are working fine.
as soon as he played never forget i subbed haha
Thanks! :-)
The old school video game sound that you’ve got going at 7:18... how’d you create it?
Hi, thanks for watching! That's a pure saw wave - use Tube Synth and remove all the effects and envelopes and lfos and set the waveform to "saw" and you're left with this.
If you're not sure, here's a patch you can load into TubeSynth. 1drv.ms/u/s!Au06jbGd_8NcsYNgTnyqZL5rN2nDog?e=eLjs6x
Best regards! :-)
Thanks!! Love I love your EX5 videos!
What keyboard are you using in this video is it the Arturia KeyStep Black Edition A’s I am looking for a small one to use on my mpc
Hi, thanks for watching! Yes, it's the black Keystep. It's a good keyboard. If you need to go even smaller, the Korg Nanokeys is really tiny and takes a while getting used to, but it's the keyboard I use most due to it's travel-friendly size.
Ok thanks 🙏
Very helpful in deciding to buy it. Very well do ne video not to much talking ,I hope others take this as a good example of how to make a video.
Thank you very much! This video was very helpful for me to learn the difference between record (the verb) and record (the noun). ;-)
Its essentially a DAW in a dedicated box.
Yes, it is! But for some reason, the concept works quite well and is more fun (for me personally) than using a PC. Only yesterday I tried to do the simplest thing (recording some MIDI stuff) but my DAW wouldn't recognize my USB keyboard for one reason or another. This never happens on the MPC.
@@mr_floydst Yes very true and I have had issues with Abalten and the Reason 12 and dont get Me started on plugins that dont work. MPCs are dope because they are designed for one thing, Music making.
can you just plug in the guitar and shape the sound with integrated effects?
You'll need a preamp. Apart from that, yes, there are plenty of effects, eqs, compressor and so on available.
I'm glad to see so many people really enjoy it & wish I could have. Its UI looks good on paper but in reality is a disaster.
Thanks for posting! Don't mean to sound so negative. Understand it's a personal preference.
Thanks for sharing your opinion! (I think you didn't need to delete your previous post, it was perfectly ok). I can only compare this to the groove boxes I owned previously, and I must add I'm really not a live player / a person a enjoys tweaking sequences live. I was looking for a box that can to a very specific set of things (namely, the one mentioned in this video), and this ticked all of the boxes. Coming from the hardware I owned previously, this was a huge step forward.
@@mr_floydst thanks! I realized the first one came off very rude. I didn't want anyone to misinterpret what I said since you cannot read a tone of someone's voice. So I redid it.
@@mr_floydst The mpc is truly wonderful in a lot of ways
Great vid, can't decide between mpc one and a Roland mc707🤔
Thanks for watching! I'm not the right person to give advice because I didn't own the mc707 yet, but reviews suggest the roland is the far better synth while the akai is the far better sequencer / groovebox.
@@mr_floydst thank you mate, might have to get both and check em out. Thank you
Merci pour ces explications , et entre Mpc one et Maschine Mk3 , le quel est le mieux d'après vous?
Hello, thanks for watching! Disclaimer: I'm propably not the right person to answer this question as I never used Maschine.
The obvious difference is that MK3 needs a PC / Mac to run with it. MPC can be used both standalone and with a PC.
If you compare the standalone MPC to Maschine MK3 with a PC connected, Maschine wins, it's more flexible, more plugins, and so on.
However, you can also use a software version of MPC along with the hardware MPC, which kind of levels them, so it all becomes a matter of taste - which workflow you like more.
Sorry for this vague answer. I think Mr. BoBeats or Mrs. Courtney Hawkins might be more knowledgeable :-) Best regards!
@@mr_floydst
OK Thank you for the answer, the autonomy does not matter to me I do not intend to walk with it, what is important for me is the work flow which would be the easiest and most interesting for someone who has never touched these machines, knowing that I would like to connect a keyboard on it but both do it so it's rather the workflow, the ease of handling, the stability and the quality that interests me, for the sounds I have an Arturia bank can I use it on MPC ??
@@wilpas1050 As long as it's available as a VST plugin, the MPC software (on your PC) will be able to run it. But you won't be able to use it on the MPC One standalone.
You can download a free version of MPC here to test it: www.akaipro.com/mpc-software
Best regards!
@@mr_floydst Ok bonne idée je vais l'essayer
@@wilpas1050 bonne chance! :-)
Question about the looper: can record be controlled with a foot pedal?
Hi, thanks for watching! The looper can't be controlled by pedal (not when I last tried it). You set up a number of bars and the looper will continuously overdub.
Floyd Steinberg
hi
I have a Yamaha PSR SX -900. I want to expand the possibilities of recording music and songs.
Will the Akai MPС One be useful for me in my case ? can you recommend it to me ?
Hi! The PSR is a great arranger workstation already. The MPC is a "DAW in a box", so it would add a sampler, audio tracks, mixing and mastering effects and plugin synths to you setup. I can't really tell you if it's right or wrong to buy it in your case - if you can, try it before buying. As it's a vastly different approach to making music, maybe it will also give you new musical ideas.
@@mr_floydst
thank you for your answer . I don't want to mess with the computer and the DAW .
I like to record music in a hardware way . I expect from Akai as a powerful extension for editing preset styles and sounds on Yamaha .
The Yamaha has 16 channels of MIDI input and output. I do not know how it will be displayed on Akai (technically ) . I do not have such experience and therefore I am afraid to make a mistake in buying this device.
@@СССРТВНижнийНовгород You'll have to prepare to learn the MPC a bit before everything "clicks". Basically, every song is made from patterns, and patterns can be as long as you want. They're made up from midi and audio tracks, so recording and playing back your 16 midi tracks while also playing back audio and samples should be no problem.
Your MIDI tracks will be displayed as a "note roll" (piano keys on the left side of the screen, notes will be displayed as lines of different length on the right side).
@@mr_floydst
thank you for your encouraging response.
@@mr_floydst
what can you say about the Tascam DP-24SD ? does it make sense to use it together with the Yamaha PSR to record music and songs ?
Floyd, I have an other question! :-))) You are using AKAI MPC with the Keyboard to Midi Interface. The question is: Can you use AKAI + Laptop PC + USB-Midi Adapater + Matrix Piano WebApp = to connect and play it on AKAI? I hope you understud me :-)))
Hi! I'm glad to report both things work (which was to be expected, as webmidi uses standard midi protocol). You can even perform the same trick I featured in my PI400 video and capture your Matrixpiano performance in a DAW both as MIDI and Audio track.
Best regards!
@@mr_floydst wow, thats cool. Thanks a lot for checking Floyd!!!! And now, i think it's time to buy a PI400 right now hahaha... :-)))
MPC One will be my next hardware purchase.
I think you won't regret it.
Isn't MPC Live II more powerful than One? What do you think?
I can't really answer as I never used the LIVE 2. From the fact sheets, the hardware specs seem identical (CPU and RAM and connections), LIVE 2 having a 16gb "hard drive". There maybe differences in the operating system and software features, though.
In the meantime, I've educated myself. The MPC Live II has more audio in / out and more USB connectors, a battery and speakers and an exchangable hard drive and a different form factor. The "One" has more buttons. Other than that, they're the same.
Best regards!
They have the same processors and RAM. Onboard storage the Live II has 16GB over the Ones 4GB. The Live II has a slot for an internal SSD drive which also mounts on your PC when you plug in the Live II via USB and you can access it like any other hard drive to copy stuff to/from. It also has a battery which provides around 6 hours of time. Built-in speakers as well, which BTW, are very nice. There are 4 speakers, two mid/high and two subwoofers. They provide decent "punch". They won't beat your monitors or $100+ headphones, but they'll easily be good enough for sitting down in a chair with nothing else attached while you sketch out some tunes. DO not discount them as 'cheap' and bad sounding, they are quality.
Outside of that, the Live II has two powered USB ports which allow you to hook up a Keystep by itself and it'll just work over a single cable, and then you can use the other for another USB powered device like a Korg NTS-1 which the Live II will also power and you can route the audio into the Live II inputs. Live II also has Bluetooth MIDI, wifi, 6 audio outputs, phono inputs for direct turntable sampling, 8 cv/gate jacks, and .. the original (bigger) pads.
Functionally? They are all the same. There is NOTHING missing in the OS. All the samples, all the instruments, etc. All there.
There is only 3 synth engines to make beats with? I do not sample so I need something I can make beats with from scratch
You can also download sound packs, which are sample based. These offer a wide variety of instruments. The "F9" collection is for free and sounds pretty good, it has pianos, basses, synth pads and much more, all of them velocity-layered and with filters and effects.
Those are velocity-layered multisamples ("ROMpler" sounds).
Thanks!
@@atrue8875 It's an excellent piece of kit I couldn't recommend it more!
One reason why 'One' will never been the synthesizer workstation for you: no tempo track. Old MPCs gave you DAW tempo control, new one's were stripped of this crucial feature.
Thanks for watching! Fair point. Each pattern can have it's own tempo, but I guess you want to change tempo within a pattern to slow down gradually. That's not possible indeed.
Now changes Mr. Steinberg from the ZOOM R24 "Sampler" to my fav modern Sampler names MPC One. Only the DAW Software Cubase it's Steinbergs next tool 😂
Well, I'm using Reaper most of the time (when using a DAW, that is). I'm not a militant DAWless jammer. :-)
@@mr_floydst Okay 👍 i like sounding "out the box" too
Hi thanks for this. Is the Rhodes emulator built in for free or a paid expansion?
(How do i access it if pre installed)
It's built in. When setting up a track, just press the "plug" icon and choose it from the list of available stuff.
You can get MPC One for 450 to 500 euros second hand. What is your opinion, do you think it would be worth the purchase?
It's still my go-to DAW-in-a-box, so my answer is yes. Akai keeps rolling out updates, and their plugins sound good generally. There are some annoyances like occasional crashes. And I'd like the instruments to "blend" into the next pattern when switching patterns (they get cut off abruptly). But other than that, you get a lot of value with these,
@@mr_floydst I appreciate the quick response. I will check the condition of the MPC One's in the second hand markets. There is also MPC One+ if I want a new device.
@@mr_floydst I went ahead and bought MPC One with 400 euros.
Really don't understand why people would prefer to buy a heap of drum boxes Drumbrute, Digitakt, 808, 909, 606 etc other expensive analogue mono synth, toys and sequencers to go with them over an MPC one. You can practically have any drum machine or synth ever made for a fraction of the cost and footprint, love mine just so versatile.
I guess it might be the more hands-on control of the sound, plus GAS aka gear aquisition syndrome. You could also add an external MIDI controller to the MPC and assign it to the various synth parameters to achieve something similar (or use the 4 controllers provided, but they're somewhat more complicated to use).
@@mr_floydst Love the 2.9 update and the drum synth, hope the developers keep going with the one, perhaps a wave table synth would be nice too, can only dream. :D
I’m about to sell my drumbrute impact to get this, I want something I can use my hardware synths with but also write and arrange full songs, on top of that, can load my own samples (I hope) and slice, chop, and mangle them inside the box which is all pretty much what I’m looking for, MPC one seem like the ideal box for me, can’t wait to have one
Wow really interesting!👍
Thanks!
Did I make a mistake buying the 1010 blackbox!? (O_o) I'm actually picking my jaw off the floor for everything this thing offers at that pricetag. Like, no need for a DAW at all between that and the blackbox and my kurzweil.
Oh by the way, Yamaha's EX5 acoustic piano is much better than my Kurzweil's. ;-)
That's the exact question I asked myself ;-) The best thing would be a blackbox sized musical device with all the stuff the MPC has on offer. Blackbox has made great strides since - but it's nowhere near the MPC in terms of features. But I think it's worth keeping the Blackbox as 1010 music is really busy improving and supporting it.
Thanks for watching!
Interesting guitar. Which is it?
Hi, Thanks for watching! It's a VOX Starstream. Got to make a video on this. :)
@@mr_floydst Thanks )
I have just ordered the mpc one and save money not getting the live 2 😂👍
Thanks for watching and congrats! You won't regret it. :)
What is the build quality like on the mpc one is it heavy
It's relatively light, the bottom is made from metal while the top is plastic.
Ok thanks 🙏
you guys ever see the movie Little Nicky?...
Thanks for watching. I hope this isn't going to be another ad for shady online streaming services...
@@mr_floydst th-cam.com/video/1oIgfV_sHXQ/w-d-xo.html
The effects suck on the mpc one still one of my few gripes
Thanks for watching! Hm, I wouldn't say they suck, they're "kind of ok" to "quite good". They can get overpowering, and Akai's patch developers certainly love themselves a ton of stereo delay cranked up to 110%. :)
Can i use it as a hard disk recorder? More than just a looper i mean. Could i use my hardware, sync with midi, and record .. 16 tracks and then have it play back with hardware using midi sync out? Will there be lag or instability in midi clock?
Hi, thanks for watching! The answer to these questions is no, yes, and maybe. You can have fairly lengthy audio tracks, but theyre limited by RAM size (you can't stream from the SD card). You can record incoming MIDI and you can control other MIDI gear without any problems (in my personal experience - please also visit some forums for other takes!). I personally have not experienced lag or instability yet, but MPC forums are full of angry people who say they've experienced bugs or lags. I've installed patch 2.9 right away and have not yet installed 2.9.1 because people reported problems.
I'm not saying this is a _perfect_ machine. I'm stating 10 reasons why you might like it. And if you apply your questions to any synth hardware on the market in this price range at the moment, most of them don't even qualify and the other ones will have their share of problems, too.
Best regards!
@@mr_floydst Thank you for your lengthy answer! I think the ram size is probably higher than old school recorder's hard drive! I want to stay hardware (Akai S5000, EMU E5000, RS7000, MC909, 303 clone, SYstem-1, Analog Rhytm) but with all the tools it can be a mess just loading a project across all of them! Easier to just record and accept i can't go back and change. Memory can be optimized be making loops. But i still want it to sync to midi so i can add new parts. Korg had a hard disc recorder but they removed midi from it. Now everything is just USB :(
The Akai is really cheap compared to anything else and backup should be as easy as it can be. It sounds like the Akai is the best and only option.
No problem! :-) Ram size is 2GB, and let's say you use 1GB for for stereo audio tracks (and the remaining RAM for samples and stuff) - that would give you roughly 1.5 hours of recording time (divide by the number of stereo tracks). (edit: stated wrong RAM size first)
@@mr_floydst Thanks!!
That is airsuply.
Thanks for watching! What are you referring to? (Sorry for asking dumb questions ;-) )
My brain just needs a timeline. I just feel autistic when I try to arrange a song. This os why i sold my mpc live. I stay in live only now. But still doubting between an mpc one or push 2 to control ableton.
Btw you say mpc has the best sequencer.... I say No. A VERY BIG NO.
Hi, thanks for watching and commenting! Ok, I should have said "out of all the hardware sequencers I tried up to now, this one is the one I personally liked most". (I've tried: Yamaha, Elektron, ZOOM, Roland and some boxes I've already forgotten). So which one do you like more?
@@mr_floydst the best at all elektron. The last, akai. Worst in universe.
@@marcosrotllan I only know the Digitone/Digitakt sequencers, which were _somewhat_ restrictive and had some really hard to memorize key combos and were limited to 4 tracks.
I'd disagree on the basis of price. A groovebox shouldn't cost more than $500 IMHO, unless you're planning on going DAW-less and need a full studio in a box.
Hi, thanks for watching! I can see where you're coming from. There are some good groove boxes beginning at $300 (Circuit, for example - the price on the used market is really good). As the MPC is in the same price range of e.g. the Elektron boxes (which are quite popular), one can argue the MPC does a lot of things the competition doesn't.
@@mr_floydst Yeah, I should have expressed myself more clearly. I totally agree that the MPC One seems to give you a lot more for your money compared to cheaper grooveboxes. For one thing, there are virtually no limits to tracks and pattern lengths. However, I think of the MPC more as a "DAW in a box" kind of machine, not exactly a groovebox. To me, a groovebox is a kind of device someone might use to either jam live, or use to sketch out song ideas quickly and with hands on controls, outside of the traditional DAW environment. That's why I'm in the market for a 'proper' groovebox myself: I use a DAW for my music production because anything else would just slow me down when it comes to laying down the arrangements, mixing and mastering. However, I want something for that initial phase of creative ideation, and for that a groovebox seems perfect.
I'd say that anyone trying to use an MPC One for the entire production cycle is missing out on the productivity of a DAW. Even something as simple as moving a pattern out a few 8-bars out is a pain compared to a quick drag and drop in a DAW. So, this is why I think the MPC kind of disqualifies as a groovebox because it's trying to be so much more. You are right though that you could use it as one, but that would be a fairly expensive groovebox in my opinion, a little overkill. I'm personally leaning towards the Circuit Tracks or the MC-101 myself, but neither seems perfect either. 😊
You're right, the MPC is a DAW in a box, that just so happens to be useable as a groovebox :) The learning curve is steeper than on the "smaller" boxes certainly.
If you get Ableton and a push (and you need a good laptop!) it will already cost you like 1100$ and then you only have the first party instruments and plugins. I think the MPC one is one of the most competitive priced hardware devices our there. Your comment about it shouldn’t cost more than 500$ lacks any arguments
@@fluim0102 I didn't say that the MPC shouldn't cost more than 500, I said a groovebox shouldn't. And I tried to offer my definition of how the two differ (music sketch/jam device vs full production center). It really depends on what you're looking for, particularly whether you're interested in finishing songs up to 99% in the machine, or if you mainly use it to sketch out new ideas and have fun.
In all fairness, I wrote the original comment before having a chance to evaluate the MPC One, and, after owning it for about 8 months now, I definitely agree it's a lot of value and I'm hardly using my DAW at the moment.
The Hype synth on the akai force is really good
Thanks for watching! What's the difference to the Tube Synth found on the MPC One?
@@mr_floydst the hype synth is like a multi purpose synth, it has wave tables , some fm engines, some other type of synth presets, bass presets. Tube synth is there version of classic vintage analog poly synths
We just got Hype on the MPCs a couple of days ago too. You're right, it's a great plug in!
Thanks for the great review! But I will never ever buy new gear! I hope ;)
Thanks for watching! I solved that problem by having an upper limit of 4 hardware synths in my home, so if I buy something new, something of the old stuff has to go. I'm not really sentimental about my synths. :-)
René, today's new gear is tomorrow's used gear ...but the best products don't get resold very often. 😀