The think is… for the price of lpd8 and old iPhone (5s so you get lightnint connector for cck3usb) plus koala sampler you got an sp… why to hurt a coder with that brain surgery? If almost akai did release the og code or whatever… but probably the cpu was crap so not much possiblities to go further.
@@thelabby9998 I'm not a coder but I know that a lot of em find it fun to try and squeeze something cool out of terrible hardware, see all the examples of getting doom to run on refrigerators and pregnancy tests
@@AudioPilz modern mcu design tends to make it a bit more difficult to brick a bit of gear with a dodgy firmware, although that may not be a plus in this instance
I've reached a point where I realize I've been watching gear videos because I've become obsessed with perfection. As a result, I haven't made any music in three months. I've been re-tooling and upgrading and it's driving me insane. I long for the days when I made music with whatever gear I had around--and I was happy about it. The days of innocence. That should be the name of my next album! Thanks, Bad Gear!
Thats why everyone uses computers with cracked vsts if you have gotten to the point to distribute your music then you will find making music is a waist of time anyway.
Grrr, got one of these, Bad Gear review hits the nail on the head, the MPX8 has to be the most frustrating piece of 'studio' gear I own (Roland VP-03 a close second). Great upload as per usual Florian.
Yeah, I returned mine within two days. I thought it would be really cool to have a portable finger drum machine to practice on and sometimes connect with my DAW to make beats. However it dropped so many notes it wasn't worth it.
-Wall of comments trash-talking the gear -Baffling list of limitations -Casual invention of a new genre from whole cloth -Totally deserved cheap shot at the Digitakt Oh yeah, it's a classic Bad Gear episode
I bought it to plug into the AUX port of my car stereo so passengers could jam out while we ride around town. For that purpose, it's pretty great if you just use the default sample library. Otherwise, its only other saving grace is the pads themselves. Compared to the LPD8, the pads are wonderful. The LPD8 feels like you're mashing your fingers into the walls of a prison. The MPX8 feels more like poking silicone orbs. Squishy and sensitive.
Florian, I really enjoy these videos! Of course, I always know it is you because your voice always sounds like it has been put through a flanger in a very subtle-ish way.
2013 body with a 1993 operating system. First time in a while that a piece of bad gear mangled your intro tune so much lol. The drums doubling up were rough.
You have this really great way of making fun of gear while also being inspiring to just use whatever you manage to get your paws on to, like. Make some jams, man. And that's fantastic as always, cheers!
I almost got this back when I got my Volca Sample, and for some time now thought I had made the wrong decision. Thanks for setting me straight, the ol' Volca looks much better now.
I appreciate visual humor of your English accident it makes your videos so entertaining in the non music parts. Keep up the good work! How many devices do you think you have left to go through?
MPX8 = Epic fail! Love your show! A machine I've used and loved for almost 2 decades is considered bad by many people, but for me its awesome and it would be great to see you review it: Zoom Sampletrak 224! Cheers!
I used an MPX8 for a few years with my cover band. I bought a Juno Di and bought the MPX8 to do the job of the Fantom X6's sample pads which I had used in a previous band (and had to give back.) The quirky file format of 16 bit/mono/WAV (though I've heard there's a stereo firmware update) was a little frustrating to get used to at first but it did the job. After about 3 years, it started to have low volume issues. Every time we sound checked it the cables or DI were always to blame but it was actually the unit itself. Turning it off and back on sometimes fixed it. I got so frustrated with it that I just bought a second one since they're so cheap. I like to use it for playing Casio drum sounds that I sample from old Casitone synths.
Have one here for quickly firing off some Twitch sound clips and this job it's doing fine. Then I tried to sequence it via several grooveboxes but only one of them worked without random note drops. It was the good old Electribe R. All other devices caused the MPX8 to drop notes due to it's firmware bug not supporting the f***ing dreaded MIDI running status. The only workaround I could find to control it with a Novation Circuit Tracks was to put a MIDI DIN to USB host converter in between because USB MIDI doesn't use running status. Then it worked like a charm as an additional sample track for the Circuit Tracks ;) :D Never had any problems with samples not playing or the device being picky with SD cards though...
God, Akai really did go through a terrible decade. As I got into music production gear during that time I still don't see them in a positive light despite their newer gear being well liked.
I started in the MPC2000 era and the era where Maschine briefly ate the computer connected MPC’s lunch was so bad it took me awhile to believe their new stuff could be any good. Now I’m eyeballing a force pretty strongly.
I'm using the Akai Force. I LOVE the thing and have made a simplified setup based around it. That being said, it is buggy, customer service and community relations are nearly nonexistent, and I highly doubt they would have updated it over the last year if it weren't for Maschine+ being released.
Lol was that Pete Townshend quote over a Brian May picture!? And I didn’t know the D2 was a crime against good taste, it still looks good next to some orange soda….😅🤣🍊 And shout out to the Lo-Pan edit over the real trouble starts voice-over! Big Trouble In Little China!! Nice video bro!!! Have a great weekend 🤍✌🏼
This used to be the only "drum machine" I had for a while. I remember finger drumming everything to tape since the midi was so sketch. Let's just say quantization wasn't in my mind at the time...
actually same here. couldn't believe what I'd bought - still crap for 20€ - but it turned out to be an ok make shift fingerdrumset and ambiance sample player going into heavy processing and looping pedals.
While everybody craps on this (for all the right reasons) it was perfect for what I purchased it for and still use it to this day. When playing in a live band and need to trigger random samples (sound effects, song intros, etc) this is perfect. I never used it for drums.
I had to rewind “..the build quality is rugged..” several times because I thought I was seeing things- is that RA the Rugged Man? It sure is! Well played, your videos are top notch 👌🏽
Strangely enough, I actually really liked the sound of that Rhythm Wolf snare! It sounds like it's got some punch, unless you had to do some post-processing magic.
2:56 Why are you showing a screenshot from the US Version of "Funny Games" instead of the excellent original Austrian one? That being said, the video editing this time is absolutely superb, even better than the excellent previous ones!
Excellent verdict, with all the experience AKAI acquired making current MPC line up they could make entry level updated version of MPX-8 and sale a boatload of those.
This is the only channel that I click thumbs up before I saw the whole video. Because I know already, it will be awesome! Thanks for producing and uploading here!
I have one of these and I pretty much just use it for triggering dialog samples live. Doesn't get much use and I think that's probably all I would use it for. I never had any issues with SD card formatting though, which is very strange.
I bought one of these for a beatmaking workshop with teens many years ago. First kid that hit the pads instantly broke the whole circuit board. Last Akai product I ever bought.
I sold both of my Boss SP's before buying this MPX8 thinking it was a simpler way to do things. Big mistake. Bugs and loading times are really annoying. However i use it just to trigger some voices in a band situation and it does the job. That being said, I would sold it in a second if I knew i can have my SP 303 back.
I'm wondering if the MPX-16 just skated me past all the horror described in this episode... I mean the MPX-16 does have the 8.3 DOS filename issue and the slow load times (on steroids as it has twice the pads.) The MPX-16 does have choke groups and Amp, Pitch, and Filter Envelopes... the pitch envelopes are nicely comedic with negative envelope amounts. I don't have any real hate for it other than load times from SD to RAM. I compare it to the Volca Sample and in that scenario it doesn't seem awful for the price. The MPX-16 also has a line input and a built-in mic (my Casio SK-1 nostalgia kicks in here.) Sadly the MPX-16 is not battery powered. The pads can be setup as trigger on and trigger off continuous loops (16 of them) which is fun when appropriate sounds are loaded. I always wished it had some sort of primitive sequencer, so I used mine with a Groovesizer MB setup with the Drum Sequencer (Golf Firmware) the MIDI always worked fine even when running flams and ratcheted triggers. Oddly the screen would go nuts as it would update to show the currently triggered pad's settings.
I had the MPX16-it's just as bad! Popping noises on my own samples, and it would sound different when editing the sound vs playing the saved sound. Also can only receive on channel 10. Wtf?
Almost bought one of these as needed a sample player for a live hardware gig. Bought the 1010 Music Blackbox instead, but I often wonder what might have been had I plumped for the MPX. I totally lie, I didn't give the Akai a single thought again 😆😜💁
I love your videos! It always makes for an interesting Friday! Even though I love them, I'm excited to see more roland bashing. The abandon products soo fast.
yeah this one has issues as I can attest, but I found the perfect way to use it, similar to what you did in one part I use it with my OP-1 or OP-Z since they lack proper pads and velocity, and with certain one shots and loops it makes a great companion (no MIDI needed) and being small and portable (add a small USB power bank) it travels well with the small gear like OP-Z and/or OP-1 the slow load time is the biggest annoyance but it you plan your banks you only have to change between songs - the transpose thing sucks too but again planning ahead (using Audacity or whatever) helps that I wonder if the MPX-16 is any better or faster, seems nicer at least and price never goes down great vid and jams as usual
Florian is coming for everything I own 🤣😂 I have used one of these for one shots live, just some vocal samples to match a. Track to its recording, or long-ish ambience to fill space between songs. (but i wish I was using anything else😂)
I get that it's more of a DJ tool for dropping tagz than studio gear. The big brother MPX16 has live sampling which is a saving grace maybe. Or maybe an MPX16 episode too? Akai should release some new affordable samplers to compete in the 'Volca unit' price range and get these 'dark-age' MPX off the shelves. Oh yeah - Super cool funky intro music make me laugh genre creating episode!
And I find this video as a TH-cam recommendation tonight / this morning, as I realize I have an MPX8 that I received as a going-away gift from a friend who was, himself, moving away out of town. I've not yet even turned it on, but I miiiight just fold it into part of an upcoming gig on 8 October.
Hah I used to use my mpx8 years ago a lot, I actually got some good stuff (for 16 year old standard) from it and actually didn’t hav to many issues with my own samples in it (even tho a lot of the time I stuck to the built in sounds), I never even used the midi though (didn’t have anything that went to midi channel 11 hah).
@@AudioPilz hah yeah, I think it does a fine job doing simple things but it’s certainly limited and there is reasons why I haven’t used it in 4 years now. I think I would still defend it slightly... which I guess is easier said if u haven’t used it in 4 years lol.
Now *that* is a piece of gear that is desperately crying for a hacker to "adopt" it. Wish my assembler skills hadn't atrophied a quarter century ago...
I am failing at step zero. Allegedly Medeli A2 chip - what is it, datasheet, can you find it? I also don't have one and it's kind of not entirely cheap enough to just throw money away at it.
@@thelabby9998 Mhm yeah i actually would have a LOT more fun developing a travel sampler addon for the LPD8 which i already have anyway. Time much better spent!
@@SianaGearz if you decide to build something please notify me. I will go the koala sampler route for sure before anything else but I love to see these kind of projects and try to contribute somehow if I can (as dirty hardware hacker myself)
Yay, yet another of my sugestions. I have been thinking about picking this one up a few times, so it is superinteresting to see what you think. Next sugestion is the Akai synthstation25, that looks absolutly trash, and I have seen them for like 15$.
@@thelabby9998 I toght it was trash because you need a working gen 1 Iphone or G4 Ipod touch or whatever it uses, but you can probebly get a replacement battery for cheaps on ebay.
I had to use one of these for a tv/theater production. After around 5 hours of fiddling with different SD cards and sample errors we figured out that the official converter corrupts your samples if you overwrite them during the conversion process. The other software that lets you save user kits was also not much better as it kept crashing as soon as I saved anything. I also found it odd that a machine this small isn't battery powered so we had to duct tape a power bank to it, quite inconvenient.
Lol yet another piece of gear I own…can you do a vid on the maudio trigger finger pro..that’s got a built in sequencer and built like a tank but frustrating to use so would make a good vid
All these abominations eventually brought us to the modern APC and MPC boxes. Technology works in mysterious ways. Somewhere there's a squat full of unemployable designers who met at the Akai midi R&D watercooler circa MPX8 and the Wolfpack. It's almost guaranteed that someone will claim you're bad, wicked, and evil for slagging off the greatest instrument ever built, but they probably live in that squat.
@@secretelitemusic I don't know. It has been an American company for a very, VERY long time. It doesn't seem like inMusic is in the habit of leaving much of the companies they acquire intact over the long term.
@@secretelitemusic One of their recent acquisitions is Rane - they were promised they'd get "taken care of" and "needn't worry". By now, nothing left of the office. Where are the people? Nobody quite knows. So i'd say whatever they do, they also do so to successful gear designers, not only failed ones.
Yessssss I saw one of these at a local place, and that cheap price tag was mighty attractive. Then I asked myself, hey, why IS this thing so affordable?
@@AudioPilz Even the Ensoniq Mirage? 🤔 By the way, you really should do a Mirage episode, if you haven't already. Instead of ticking all the boxes, it's a box with all the tics. 😁
@@Eleni_Be The Mirage isn't an EPS. I used to professionally service both when they were still in production, and I happen to own 1.5 Mirages currently. They're adorable in a way, but they definitely have no shortage of quirks. 😉
@@GlenBerry I've used both on stage and in studio (in fact i had one of the earliest imported to AT). of course the M isn't and E - both have their place in history. i still use the EPS albeit its PSU will need a fresh up soon...
I love these so much. Not just for the "why DOES that get so much hate?" aspect, and a lot of it is understandable.. but also your dedication to making tracks and solid examples of what the gear actually sounds like and how it performs. More often than not I listen to the demo tracks in these and like a lot of the sounds I hear. Reminds me to tell myself that most of the time it's not the fault of the gear if a track is bad, get back to work and make something cool you muppet
2014 i had only monomachine and nord wave i desided to take an mpx8 (without to think about it) to keep out backing loops for help. I had no computer only mnm and nord instruments and a mixer ... Mpx8 hadn't heard
Awwww I have one of these, its almost bittersweet to see this on Bad Gear, although I do have my own love-hate relationship with it. Its a wonderful tool for finger drumming practice on the go, but an absolute pain to use in any kind of set. It really didnt need to suck as bad as it did, Akai would be wise to make an updated version, especially given a pocket operator 33 is half the price and does so much more.
something i'm always wanting to see is, if the sampler will connect to a keyboard, and if i can stretch that sample over the keyboard like old Emulator II's.
I bought this for a teacher to use as a cheap standalone soundboard, so she can trigger meme noises and Anime Wows in class whenever needed. Ran into the limitations of the box at every turn trying to get it all set up for her.
I know a dude who does a whole live show with a rickenbacker bass, an mpx 8 and a looper pedal, *and it's freaking amazing*
Some people just beat the system!
the mpx-8 feels like it desperately wants some enterprising genius to write a whole new firmware for it that fully overhauls it into something great
The think is… for the price of lpd8 and old iPhone (5s so you get lightnint connector for cck3usb) plus koala sampler you got an sp… why to hurt a coder with that brain surgery? If almost akai did release the og code or whatever… but probably the cpu was crap so not much possiblities to go further.
@@thelabby9998 I'm not a coder but I know that a lot of em find it fun to try and squeeze something cool out of terrible hardware, see all the examples of getting doom to run on refrigerators and pregnancy tests
@@famitory I think it will be easy make a proper sampler with a pregnancy test than this.
I would love to risk turning it into a brick in the process;)
@@AudioPilz modern mcu design tends to make it a bit more difficult to brick a bit of gear with a dodgy firmware, although that may not be a plus in this instance
I've reached a point where I realize I've been watching gear videos because I've become obsessed with perfection. As a result, I haven't made any music in three months. I've been re-tooling and upgrading and it's driving me insane. I long for the days when I made music with whatever gear I had around--and I was happy about it. The days of innocence. That should be the name of my next album! Thanks, Bad Gear!
Thank you so much!!!
Thats why everyone uses computers with cracked vsts if you have gotten to the point to distribute your music then you will find making music is a waist of time anyway.
Get off youtube, might help haha! Altho then you'd miss amazing content such as this 😆
The intro is priceless, and so is that Oldboy clip. Perfectly captures the mpx-8's essence 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Thank you!!!
what? I missed the oldboy clip? where?!
It’s “Plan 9”, Baby,
That oldboy clip could easily be used in every video on this channel 😁
When it comes to my Fridays, your videos always tick all of my boxes.
Happy to hear that, thanks!
Best gear show I ever seen. Also like your ability to produce music, not just "sound demo"
Thank you so much!
i swear to god in like 20 years somebody is going to get famous using this thing and it will skyrocket in value
I'd like to see that too!
Hasn't happened yet? Still $50 on Reverb? Guess I'll have to buy one ahead of the curve.
Grrr, got one of these, Bad Gear review hits the nail on the head, the MPX8 has to be the most frustrating piece of 'studio' gear I own (Roland VP-03 a close second). Great upload as per usual Florian.
Thanks! More Boutiques to come!
Yeah, I returned mine within two days. I thought it would be really cool to have a portable finger drum machine to practice on and sometimes connect with my DAW to make beats. However it dropped so many notes it wasn't worth it.
-Wall of comments trash-talking the gear
-Baffling list of limitations
-Casual invention of a new genre from whole cloth
-Totally deserved cheap shot at the Digitakt
Oh yeah, it's a classic Bad Gear episode
Let's call it a tradition❤️
@@AudioPilz Ticking all the boxes!
You are wrong. There are indeed no mute groups on the 8.
@@kimwilliamjustice6945 not this time only some of the boxes were being ticked
I found your channel by mistake about a year ago. It's fast become one of my favorites.
I bought it to plug into the AUX port of my car stereo so passengers could jam out while we ride around town. For that purpose, it's pretty great if you just use the default sample library.
Otherwise, its only other saving grace is the pads themselves. Compared to the LPD8, the pads are wonderful. The LPD8 feels like you're mashing your fingers into the walls of a prison. The MPX8 feels more like poking silicone orbs. Squishy and sensitive.
👍
Always astounded at the final track you produce with each piece of "bad gear". Astounded. Your skills are tops!
Sitting at my synths, phones vibrating, it's a new bad gear video, stop the sequence cause I need a coffee anyway and watch immediately ❤️
❤️❤️❤️
Florian, I really enjoy these videos! Of course, I always know it is you because your voice always sounds like it has been put through a flanger in a very subtle-ish way.
Are you saying he was born with a Flange?! ;O))
Thanks! I'm the OG Univibe man;)
2013 body with a 1993 operating system.
First time in a while that a piece of bad gear mangled your intro tune so much lol. The drums doubling up were rough.
Samplers in 1993 usually worked;)
I have to admit that the "The unit is very picky" joke connected with me on a deep level.
When you know you know;)
You have this really great way of making fun of gear while also being inspiring to just use whatever you manage to get your paws on to, like. Make some jams, man. And that's fantastic as always, cheers!
Thank you so much!
I almost got this back when I got my Volca Sample, and for some time now thought I had made the wrong decision. Thanks for setting me straight, the ol' Volca looks much better now.
Volca Sample is actually great!
@@AudioPilz It really is, especially after the Pajen update. Mahalo to you for the tip on that one.
@@haolekoa737 Pajen is a must, on the FM too! 😴👍
I'm just glad that today's Akai is really delivering big time.
Yup, faith in humanity restored;)
@@AudioPilz :)
I appreciate visual humor of your English accident it makes your videos so entertaining in the non music parts. Keep up the good work! How many devices do you think you have left to go through?
Thanks! I don't thing I'll ever run out of Bad Gear;)
MPX8 = Epic fail! Love your show! A machine I've used and loved for almost 2 decades is considered bad by many people, but for me its awesome and it would be great to see you review it: Zoom Sampletrak 224! Cheers!
That Oldboy cut....nice...and Funny Games....flawless vids man.
Thanks!!!
I actually like this unit and it performs well for me. No issues whatsoever. It does exactly what it’s designed to do.
Happy to hear that! I'd love a working version of that unit
That's good to read!
I have The Meg on pause rn, so I love your use of shark images to represent memory. Well done.
I used an MPX8 for a few years with my cover band. I bought a Juno Di and bought the MPX8 to do the job of the Fantom X6's sample pads which I had used in a previous band (and had to give back.) The quirky file format of 16 bit/mono/WAV (though I've heard there's a stereo firmware update) was a little frustrating to get used to at first but it did the job. After about 3 years, it started to have low volume issues. Every time we sound checked it the cables or DI were always to blame but it was actually the unit itself. Turning it off and back on sometimes fixed it. I got so frustrated with it that I just bought a second one since they're so cheap. I like to use it for playing Casio drum sounds that I sample from old Casitone synths.
Nothing to add! Just unusable!
gear video again, love how you show a clip of Cyberpunk 2077 when you said buggy. GOLD!
Thank you!!!
Have one here for quickly firing off some Twitch sound clips and this job it's doing fine. Then I tried to sequence it via several grooveboxes but only one of them worked without random note drops. It was the good old Electribe R. All other devices caused the MPX8 to drop notes due to it's firmware bug not supporting the f***ing dreaded MIDI running status. The only workaround I could find to control it with a Novation Circuit Tracks was to put a MIDI DIN to USB host converter in between because USB MIDI doesn't use running status. Then it worked like a charm as an additional sample track for the Circuit Tracks ;) :D Never had any problems with samples not playing or the device being picky with SD cards though...
Good to know about the Electribe R!
Try pressing more than 3 pads at once. If it doesn't trigger a random other pad then it's better than an MPX-16.
Haha good lord the text overlays, one of the happiest thumbnails I could see while pressing my coffee
watching for the second time just to appreciate the memes and well thought texts ♥
Thank you!!!
great video editing with lots of old fun youtube clips.. that's a lot of work... well done!
Thank you!!!
God, Akai really did go through a terrible decade. As I got into music production gear during that time I still don't see them in a positive light despite their newer gear being well liked.
Let's hope for the best!!!
I started in the MPC2000 era and the era where Maschine briefly ate the computer connected MPC’s lunch was so bad it took me awhile to believe their new stuff could be any good. Now I’m eyeballing a force pretty strongly.
I'm using the Akai Force. I LOVE the thing and have made a simplified setup based around it. That being said, it is buggy, customer service and community relations are nearly nonexistent, and I highly doubt they would have updated it over the last year if it weren't for Maschine+ being released.
Mpc is definetly back! 2.10 update is sooooo good. I use the MPC live as a brain for my dawless jams.
@@FaraceChannel kinda hard to call it a dawless jam when the MPC is literally just a DAW lol
Lol was that Pete Townshend quote over a Brian May picture!? And I didn’t know the D2 was a crime against good taste, it still looks good next to some orange soda….😅🤣🍊
And shout out to the Lo-Pan edit over the real trouble starts voice-over! Big Trouble In Little China!!
Nice video bro!!! Have a great weekend 🤍✌🏼
Thank you!!! (and it was a Frank Zappa quote;)
This used to be the only "drum machine" I had for a while. I remember finger drumming everything to tape since the midi was so sketch. Let's just say quantization wasn't in my mind at the time...
Wow, that's quite a skill!
actually same here. couldn't believe what I'd bought - still crap for 20€ - but it turned out to be an ok make shift fingerdrumset and ambiance sample player going into heavy processing and looping pedals.
@@Eleni_Be yep, using mine for the same thing. It's still a piece of garbage, but kinda works for that purpose.
That end music video was so chaotic it was amazing.
Thanks! (Microhouse usually is;)
While everybody craps on this (for all the right reasons) it was perfect for what I purchased it for and still use it to this day. When playing in a live band and need to trigger random samples (sound effects, song intros, etc) this is perfect. I never used it for drums.
👍
Have you experienced any bad glitch noises at the end of the samples you created? I have some issues with mine.
I had to rewind “..the build quality is rugged..” several times because I thought I was seeing things- is that RA the Rugged Man? It sure is! Well played, your videos are top notch 👌🏽
Thanks! Big RA fan for decades!
Strangely enough, I actually really liked the sound of that Rhythm Wolf snare! It sounds like it's got some punch, unless you had to do some post-processing magic.
The RW snare is actually really great. It works great when processed but you can use it in its original form as well
Lol exactly what I was thinking
Btw I am such a fan of you! Every aspect of your content is inspirational to me. Thank you!
2:56 Why are you showing a screenshot from the US Version of "Funny Games" instead of the excellent original Austrian one? That being said, the video editing this time is absolutely superb, even better than the excellent previous ones!
Thanks! I LOVE the original version but the short sequence of the US version fit perfectly
Excellent verdict, with all the experience AKAI acquired making current MPC line up they could make entry level updated version of MPX-8 and sale a boatload of those.
Bought one of these because I thought I could big brain my way around it’s limitations. It now just sits in its box somewhere in the basement.
I assume that's the way of the MPX
This is the only channel that I click thumbs up before I saw the whole video. Because I know already, it will be awesome! Thanks for producing and uploading here!
Thank you so much for watching!
I have one of these and I pretty much just use it for triggering dialog samples live. Doesn't get much use and I think that's probably all I would use it for. I never had any issues with SD card formatting though, which is very strange.
Formatting usually works fine, getting the files ready was a real issue
Now that really was a totally genuine bit of authentically BAD gear - you saved me from a 2nd hand disaster!
I wanted one of these bad boys. I’m glad I didn’t buy one. Awesome videos and rad jams!!
Thanks!
I bought one of these for a beatmaking workshop with teens many years ago. First kid that hit the pads instantly broke the whole circuit board. Last Akai product I ever bought.
I sold both of my Boss SP's before buying this MPX8 thinking it was a simpler way to do things. Big mistake. Bugs and loading times are really annoying. However i use it just to trigger some voices in a band situation and it does the job. That being said, I would sold it in a second if I knew i can have my SP 303 back.
SMH. I use my MPX8 as a companion to my SP’s. Definitely was a bad move to trade SP’s for MPX8
That really hurts. I feel you!!!
🤣 Pete Townshend quote over a photo of Brian May who looks confused as to how he got there.
...based on a Frank Zappa quote;)
I'm wondering if the MPX-16 just skated me past all the horror described in this episode... I mean the MPX-16 does have the 8.3 DOS filename issue and the slow load times (on steroids as it has twice the pads.) The MPX-16 does have choke groups and Amp, Pitch, and Filter Envelopes... the pitch envelopes are nicely comedic with negative envelope amounts. I don't have any real hate for it other than load times from SD to RAM. I compare it to the Volca Sample and in that scenario it doesn't seem awful for the price. The MPX-16 also has a line input and a built-in mic (my Casio SK-1 nostalgia kicks in here.) Sadly the MPX-16 is not battery powered. The pads can be setup as trigger on and trigger off continuous loops (16 of them) which is fun when appropriate sounds are loaded. I always wished it had some sort of primitive sequencer, so I used mine with a Groovesizer MB setup with the Drum Sequencer (Golf Firmware) the MIDI always worked fine even when running flams and ratcheted triggers. Oddly the screen would go nuts as it would update to show the currently triggered pad's settings.
Thanks for posting. I'll take a closer look!
I had the MPX16-it's just as bad! Popping noises on my own samples, and it would sound different when editing the sound vs playing the saved sound. Also can only receive on channel 10. Wtf?
I’m waiting for a Bad Gear episode for MPX16.
Man what a legend bro you got the deep cuts on these jokes. David lopan and tubby got me so happy
Thanks! David LoPan!!!
Almost bought one of these as needed a sample player for a live hardware gig. Bought the 1010 Music Blackbox instead, but I often wonder what might have been had I plumped for the MPX. I totally lie, I didn't give the Akai a single thought again 😆😜💁
Lol, you might have bought the 1010 12h later and with a higher blood pressure level;)
I love your videos! It always makes for an interesting Friday!
Even though I love them, I'm excited to see more roland bashing. The abandon products soo fast.
Thanks! Don't worry, more Roland to come!
yeah this one has issues as I can attest, but I found the perfect way to use it, similar to what you did in one part
I use it with my OP-1 or OP-Z since they lack proper pads and velocity, and with certain one shots and loops it makes a great companion (no MIDI needed) and being small and portable (add a small USB power bank) it travels well with the small gear like OP-Z and/or OP-1
the slow load time is the biggest annoyance but it you plan your banks you only have to change between songs - the transpose thing sucks too but again planning ahead (using Audacity or whatever) helps that
I wonder if the MPX-16 is any better or faster, seems nicer at least and price never goes down
great vid and jams as usual
I have mpx8 and mpc16. You are right about being companion to other units.
I really liked the pads too!
2:35 I can hear Mr Krabs asking the Yamaha SU-10 if it's READY TO PARTYYYY
Yeah, that's the loop! Nice!
Florian is coming for everything I own 🤣😂
I have used one of these for one shots live, just some vocal samples to match a. Track to its recording, or long-ish ambience to fill space between songs. (but i wish I was using anything else😂)
Nothing personal;) maybe use a phone...
@@AudioPilz 😳
I used to use it for the same thing but I switch to an SP-404 and then a 1010 BitBox
@@ncapone87 I should just buy a 404 for the culture anyway 😂
@@JorbLovesGear Or if you need a small, but reaally good sampler, take a look at the 1010 Blackbox. I hear only good things about it.
2:48 omg mlp clip. i love you audiopilz
Thanks!🥰🥰🥰
8.3 filenaming limitations…. Classic! Back in the days you had to be creative with abbreviating words in order to create your filenames.
AuPiBadG.ear
Those video clips during the, erm, microhouse track were just beautiful
I get that it's more of a DJ tool for dropping tagz than studio gear. The big brother MPX16 has live sampling which is a saving grace maybe. Or maybe an MPX16 episode too? Akai should release some new affordable samplers to compete in the 'Volca unit' price range and get these 'dark-age' MPX off the shelves. Oh yeah - Super cool funky intro music make me laugh genre creating episode!
Thank you!!! It would be great to have Volca-style instruments from Akai
I have both MPX8 & MPX16. You’re right it more of a DJ tool. I use it to trigger samples and loops. You get what you pay for.
And I find this video as a TH-cam recommendation tonight / this morning, as I realize I have an MPX8 that I received as a going-away gift from a friend who was, himself, moving away out of town. I've not yet even turned it on, but I miiiight just fold it into part of an upcoming gig on 8 October.
Nice! You might wanna use a phone app tho. That thing is not exactly fit for gigging
Hah I used to use my mpx8 years ago a lot, I actually got some good stuff (for 16 year old standard) from it and actually didn’t hav to many issues with my own samples in it (even tho a lot of the time I stuck to the built in sounds), I never even used the midi though (didn’t have anything that went to midi channel 11 hah).
Made this song with the mpx8 (last time I record anything with it I think) th-cam.com/video/TWK7ylSKcaA/w-d-xo.html
I think that I would have accepted its flaws as a teenager as well...
@@AudioPilz hah yeah, I think it does a fine job doing simple things but it’s certainly limited and there is reasons why I haven’t used it in 4 years now. I think I would still defend it slightly... which I guess is easier said if u haven’t used it in 4 years lol.
@@AudioPilz only real issue I remember I had at the time was the god damn sd card formatting, that stunk.
I’ve been binging your content. And damn you can make a great track out of any piece of gear!
Now *that* is a piece of gear that is desperately crying for a hacker to "adopt" it.
Wish my assembler skills hadn't atrophied a quarter century ago...
I am failing at step zero. Allegedly Medeli A2 chip - what is it, datasheet, can you find it?
I also don't have one and it's kind of not entirely cheap enough to just throw money away at it.
Doesn’t worth the effort. Lpd8 are superior and cheaper… just tie it to an iPhone/koala app or raspi…
@@thelabby9998 Mhm yeah i actually would have a LOT more fun developing a travel sampler addon for the LPD8 which i already have anyway. Time much better spent!
@@SianaGearz if you decide to build something please notify me. I will go the koala sampler route for sure before anything else but I love to see these kind of projects and try to contribute somehow if I can (as dirty hardware hacker myself)
Super interesting, keep me posted!!!
I always love your videos
Thank you!!!
Yay, yet another of my sugestions. I have been thinking about picking this one up a few times, so it is superinteresting to see what you think. Next sugestion is the Akai synthstation25, that looks absolutly trash, and I have seen them for like 15$.
Always a pleasure!!!
It’s trash since 30 pin connector and the akai app get broken afair…
@@thelabby9998 I toght it was trash because you need a working gen 1 Iphone or G4 Ipod touch or whatever it uses, but you can probebly get a replacement battery for cheaps on ebay.
I had to use one of these for a tv/theater production. After around 5 hours of fiddling with different SD cards and sample errors we figured out that the official converter corrupts your samples if you overwrite them during the conversion process. The other software that lets you save user kits was also not much better as it kept crashing as soon as I saved anything.
I also found it odd that a machine this small isn't battery powered so we had to duct tape a power bank to it, quite inconvenient.
Ticks the following boxes: [x] is a box
Wise words;)
Lol yet another piece of gear I own…can you do a vid on the maudio trigger finger pro..that’s got a built in sequencer and built like a tank but frustrating to use so would make a good vid
All these abominations eventually brought us to the modern APC and MPC boxes. Technology works in mysterious ways. Somewhere there's a squat full of unemployable designers who met at the Akai midi R&D watercooler circa MPX8 and the Wolfpack.
It's almost guaranteed that someone will claim you're bad, wicked, and evil for slagging off the greatest instrument ever built, but they probably live in that squat.
TBH, I'd really love to hang out with those guys because I assume things went wrong at C level
@@AudioPilz They probably have some good sake.
@@secretelitemusic I don't know. It has been an American company for a very, VERY long time. It doesn't seem like inMusic is in the habit of leaving much of the companies they acquire intact over the long term.
@@SianaGearz Are you suggesting that InMusic bury failed gizmo designers in landfill? Sounds a bit too Cosa Nostra, even for an American company..
@@secretelitemusic One of their recent acquisitions is Rane - they were promised they'd get "taken care of" and "needn't worry". By now, nothing left of the office. Where are the people? Nobody quite knows. So i'd say whatever they do, they also do so to successful gear designers, not only failed ones.
Even with this the end product sounded good! Kudos!
Yessssss I saw one of these at a local place, and that cheap price tag was mighty attractive. Then I asked myself, hey, why IS this thing so affordable?
It's like they deliberately made it bad
Love this! This was one of the first electronic instruments I purchased and I have actually used it in a live set. It was, interesting 😂
There's some pretty stank drums happening in today's intro...
Yeah, epic fail is to be taken seriously;)
Hats off to you as usual mate
Truly bad gear... Makes m-audio support look good
Yeah, M-Audio stuff does have some redeeming qualities
As always, keep it bro! Great work(:
Thanks!!!
OMG, i have better results with a ensonic eps from the stone age with 2mb's of ram in it.
At least it loads in new programs dynamicly.
EVERY old school sampler is better than this
@@AudioPilz Even the Ensoniq Mirage? 🤔
By the way, you really should do a Mirage episode, if you haven't already. Instead of ticking all the boxes, it's a box with all the tics. 😁
don't EVER talk down an EPS. how dare you ;)
@@Eleni_Be The Mirage isn't an EPS. I used to professionally service both when they were still in production, and I happen to own 1.5 Mirages currently. They're adorable in a way, but they definitely have no shortage of quirks. 😉
@@GlenBerry I've used both on stage and in studio (in fact i had one of the earliest imported to AT).
of course the M isn't and E - both have their place in history.
i still use the EPS albeit its PSU will need a fresh up soon...
Bro the finale "work prank" bloopers at the end 08:27! Comedy
Completely unfinished, extremely buggy software then
Yeah, it's a PITA
What a torture... love this channel
Kinda loving the weird noises from the mpx8
Thanks!
Truly the worst hardware since you started doing these...
...and it can't even sample
@@AudioPilz I NOW get the "Plan 9" reference, lol.
MPX8 comes with updated firmware from factory. It can play stereo samples.
Yup, they didn't correct all the other flaws though;)
Wow that shot at Roland at the end. Zing. Love it.
Thanks!
I love seeing the gear I've had on this channel - had an MPX8, sold an MPX8!
Liked and enjoyed 👍, Ooof! Funny lol. Cool tunes! 😎
Thanks!
9:39 - is that an MC101?? Dangerously close to crossing a line!!
Crossing a line? From which side? ;)
@@AudioPilz The MC-707 is the best object I have ever owned! Not just synth - object. I can't imagine the 101 is anything but excellent.
I remember wanting this one back in the day. Glad i never had the money to waste
You dodged that bullet;)
that funny games screenshot was... unexpected, I did a double take when I first thought I saw it
Love Haneke movies!
7:17 Love that Terence Fletcher reference. Need to watch the movie again!
Thanks! That movie was so cruel!
I love these so much. Not just for the "why DOES that get so much hate?" aspect, and a lot of it is understandable.. but also your dedication to making tracks and solid examples of what the gear actually sounds like and how it performs. More often than not I listen to the demo tracks in these and like a lot of the sounds I hear. Reminds me to tell myself that most of the time it's not the fault of the gear if a track is bad, get back to work and make something cool you muppet
Thank you so much!!!
AudioPilz to his theme song:
(Crying) "Look what they did to my boy!!"
They will pay...
Wow, Puddles cameo! Also nice to see the Mopho again too.
A musical genius (both puddles an DS;)
Oh hell yes, I knew you were going to pull out the Rhythm Wolf for this one
"pull out the Rhythm Wolf" sounds kinda wrong😂
@@AudioPilz or... Does it...😂
Yet you still produce the beats that bang!!!!!
2014 i had only monomachine and nord wave i desided to take an mpx8 (without to think about it) to keep out backing loops for help. I had no computer only mnm and nord instruments and a mixer ... Mpx8 hadn't heard
Have you thought about getting an MPC500. Not ideal but still better than the MPX
@@AudioPilz MPC 500 is good enough but 2014 i had no money at all.
Now on 2021 i have different set up
"More Rover". - Very nice.
😀
Awwww I have one of these, its almost bittersweet to see this on Bad Gear, although I do have my own love-hate relationship with it. Its a wonderful tool for finger drumming practice on the go, but an absolute pain to use in any kind of set. It really didnt need to suck as bad as it did, Akai would be wise to make an updated version, especially given a pocket operator 33 is half the price and does so much more.
I had a fursona just like yours once.
@@zakblackhawk204 oh heck! Fun to see another furry watching one of my favorite non-furry TH-camrs!! 🥰
Thanks but c'mon - I'm super furry;)
something i'm always wanting to see is, if the sampler will connect to a keyboard, and if i can stretch that sample over the keyboard like old Emulator II's.
You can assign the samples to midi notes but you can't play them chromatically
Ouch! Never heard of this one before - good to see/know that AKAI have redeemed themselves since (proud owner of the MPC One).
I bought this for a teacher to use as a cheap standalone soundboard, so she can trigger meme noises and Anime Wows in class whenever needed. Ran into the limitations of the box at every turn trying to get it all set up for her.
The horror...