OT: Akai "We will change the way you make music forever"

Man watching Saint Joe videos make me want the Studio or Ren. But I am hoping Maschine brings it and changes my mind.

 

Im so happy that Akai have come back in the game.... it forces NI to push harder and deliver more with updates etc. Chances are the Akai models are going to have problems just like maschine did with early stages and those problems take time to sort out. Whilst Akai are doing that surely NI will have time to progress even more. I think its a great thing and im sure we'll see benefits.

 

noiserot
mistamixx wrote:
Reality is you can't buy a Ren/Studio/Fly today, tomorrow, next week or a month from now because the software isn't there yet! so as of today Maschine is still in front and Akai is trying to catch up in the controller/computer software package category. i have a mpc5000 that still has issues.
Exactly. Talk about "making direct current comparisons without backdrop of one drop of reality" and "sheer power of denial but not rooted in anything real".
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this is what i'm talking about, I never compared maschine to the Ren :lol: I compared maschine to the mpc 500, 2000, and 2500 all of which have features that that maschine won't have until the upgrade, NoiseRot can you please stop fanning yourself long enough to at least know what you're talking about[/QUOTE]

 

Catch up? You do realize that Maschine already has sample layering on the same pad, right?

When you are in browse mode on the Maschine hardware and you are browsing samples there is a button labeled "Add". When you toggle this and press next or previous you will add samples to the same pad. You get separate control over Root Note, Low Note, High Note, Low Velocity, High Velocity, Tune, Pan, Gain for each layer doing it this way. You can layer up to 128 samples per pad in Maschine.

As seen on saintjoe's video, the MPC software only has control over Semi, Fine, Level, Pan, Velocity for each layer.

If you want control over every parameter for each individual layer in Maschine, you need to layer using Pad Link. It's the same deal on the MPC which just calls it Pad Simult.

Anyway, loved how the Akai rep weaseled his way out of answering how to load plugins from the hardware by saying that they don't have any plugins installed. :lol:

 

I think the point is that Akai HAD a solid rep with the 60/3000/2000, back when they were a different company (not owned by Numark). They're recent reputation has been less favorable as many people have been repeatedly pointing out (and other people repeatedly ignoring).

I also find it somewhat amusing that you're talking about NI playing catch up with a piece of software that isn't even out yet and no one has actually used. :lol:

Also, you have to remember that this isn't being released until summer (because of software bugs ), so who knows what NI are going to bring to the table in that time? There will be Komplete 9 for a start and i will be very surprised if there wasn't a Maschine upgrade or 2.

 

LOL Totally. The level of denial and fanboyism from the likes of Jahrome and theinvis is quite hilarious.

Yup, especially considering yesterday's unofficial "leak" from NI:
http://www.native-instruments.com/forum/showthread.php?p=989885#post989885

 

i think when everyone is referring to layering being better on the mpc and bmp software, they're not talking about how many layers, they're talking about how easy and intuitive it is to layer. Maschine and the mpc are worlds apart when it comes to this, maschine being more powerful, the mpc being more intuitive with much better workflow.

this looks very interesting

http://www.gearjunkies.com/news_info.php?news_id=7116
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wow the forum is really something else today look, again you have to look closer to see who is ignoring who, they are talking about the current maschine software vs the current mpc software on the current mpcs, if you even use an mpc then you would know, for example you can record mutes on the current mpc software but you cannot do so on maschines current software.
whats the deal with everybody today, it looks like everything is being spelled out in detail but people still aren't getting it.

 

Except that's really not the case. I found layering on MPCs (including JJOS) to be much slower compared to Maschine, both when layering on a single pad or by linking pads. Maschine's workflow is just so much faster and more intuitive overall compared to MPCs, period.

It's no surprise Akai needed outside help for the software. And it's still offline timestretch.
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It doesn't have audio tracks. Confirmed in saint joe's video.

 

I dunno about that, there are tons of post where people couldn't figure out how to use ni layering and unlike on the mpc forums noone talks about using it here, they talk more about the sample libraries here than they do about sampling which is just plain weird but different strokes for different folks and all that.

last izotope announcement paragraph says

The engine’s unique algorithm maintains high quality audio throughout real-time loop manipulation while remaining lightweight in terms of processing power.

so it looks like they're doing something good for us all in realtime. I for one am glad that akai got izotope to do it, hope they continue to make smart moves like that and I hope ni make some smart moves too cause they had allot of trouble with the time stretching.

 

That's just talking about the specs of the engine. Akai just licensed the engine for this MPC software which still implemented timestretch as an offline process.

 

I was actually referring to the stability of the software not the feature set. The amount of features is of no consequence if the software is full of bugs and Akai offer no real bug fixes or decent customer support (did saintjoe ask about that in the vids by the way?).

To be honest I have no intention of getting an MPC as I'm quite happy with Maschine (or will be with a couple of tweaks I'm sure are on the way) and I don't really want to get drawn into the debate that has been raging here for the past couple of weeks (kind of reminds me of the Mac Vs PC threads that appear all over forums). But when I was referring to "ignoring" it was the "Akai can do no wrong" attitude a lot of people have been displaying here.

 

Invis, my comment was not directed toward you as we both know where we come from however I am not the only person saying it....I might be the only person speculating but not the only person saying it....before the price was announced for the Ren many folks on this forum and other forums said the same thing...."If the Ren is over $1000 I'm not getting it" because to some they'd rather put there betting money on another horse....that's their right. Also note at the end of my post I said pretty much who gives a ****? Folks are gonna buy and use what they need to get the music done....hence my Spock quote....The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

As for the fanboyism, I've seen it on both sides here for both Akai and Maschine...again, read above...who cares? The music is gonna get done one way or the other.
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LOL! I hear ya man. UAD Apollo is definitely gonna end up in my lab soon.
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saintjoe got more Q&A with the MPC Studio and the software....


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zjMUGdz1os&feature=player_embedded"]NAMM 2012 akai mpc booth part 5 - studio controller and software export - YouTube[/ame]


looks like they handle exporting audio differently than Maschine but they got some surprises still. Looks like they're listening too....props to saintjoe because out of all NAMM vids I've seen, he's the only one coming with the great questions to ask these vendors.

 

MPCs have several methods of layering. There is no way anyone can claim that Maschine is better:

1. MPCs can quickly..within seconds assign 4 samples to a pad. Maschine simply can not do it they MPCs can.

2. MPCs have had SIMULT pad forever it seems. Maschine copied this function as a work around to MPC pad layering.

3. Maschine uses keygroups to layer sounds. You can assign a sound to a keygroup and then stay keygroups on top of eachother to layer. But the MPC 4000, 5000, Studio and Ren does the same thing. I believe the JJ OS can achieve something similar.

As noted in the video, the OS for the new MPCs are constantly evolving. It looks really great. If you are an ex MPC user and you like Maschine, I believe you are going to love these new products. If you are a long time dedicated Maschine user, whether you buy it or not...I am sure you are going to be impressed epecially when you see your feature requests being added to the OS.

 

I love the idea of the MPC Ren and Studio

I am very excited to see Akai finally stepping into the custom software/hardware controller with the MPC Ren, but after seeing the videos from Saint Joe, which were brilliant btw, I am highly skeptical. Akai is on very thin ice with their NAMM presentation. This product reeks of vaporware. I know that current specifications sound amazing, but none of this is real yet...repeat...none of this is real yet. Akai is in danger of over promising and under delivering to the extreme. Not to mention, Akai has a track record of this with Akai Sys, Z Samplers, MPC4K, MPC1K pads, MPC5K. That's quite a list of products that were supposed to "change the making of music forever" and they all were over promised and under delivered not to mention many were left unfinished as Akai moved onto another trendy product.

If you watch the videos closely, the MPC Ren isn't even out of prototype stage yet. AKAI HAS NOT YET FINALIZED THE HARDWARE PEOPLE! The 2 MPC Rens on display were BOTH PROTOTYPES! The "software" currently is a screen shot with some sounds loaded on the pads. The Akai reps demonstrated none of the features, gave ambiguous answers about the "MPC3K vintage mode" being hardware among others. My guess is it's a digital emulation. It already can't do audio tracks even though it's listed as a feature. All credit to Saint Joe for being polite and patient as the rep dodged questions and stuck with company line about the "MPC Legacy." And, most ridiculous of all, Akai didn't even have a demo of the thing being used and only made vague promises about this product being released in the summer. Isn't the point of having a NAMM booth to be able to showcase a full demo of a product? If this were any other company's product at a NAMM booth, think Roland of even worse BeatKangz for instance, people on the audio forums would be killing the company for the vagueness of this product "release."

Also, anybody trying to equate the release of MPC Ren line up with Maschine is off his/her rocker. NI had a full demo on display with the the FINAL HARDWARE PRODUCT AND BETA RELEASE STAGE SOFTWARE at NAMM for the debut of Maschine. Sure Maschine had software bugs but that is because NI actually had software on display for full use! Akai's software has no bugs because there is no effing software for there to be bugs yet! Nothing was demonstrated at the Akai booth except hype for vaporware.

I really hope Akai makes a great product. The studio at $399 would be very tempting and the MPC Ren prototypes "look" great. I would love to switch from Maschine to get the Akai MPC work flow, but seriously until the product is in the stores and in the hands of reviewers on these forums, Maschine for better or for worse is the still the only game in town for a soft/hardware hybrid product.

Also please don't accuse me of fanboyism. I'm just telling it like it is. These are facts not opinions.

 

More info on MPC Ranaissance...

http://www.youtube.com/embed/Z-3ZTxgDyis

 

46 pages of responses from people that enjoy using Maschine and Mpc's...you better believe NI has taken note and will bring something to the table that will push their product into the next phase to keep users happy...which I'm hoping we will see most of the user requested features implemented. Native Instruments has won over a good portion of Mpc fans in a short amount of time with Maschine. I'm certain NI realizes they have a large user base with Maschine and that by keeping a large user base they will sell more products in the future......so get ready, we will see a massive update to Maschine before long and I'm pretty sure it will release before these Mpc's. I'm not hating on Akai, I love Mpc's but I already have Maschine and if NI brings a solid update before these Mpc's release then I probably won't feel the need to purchase one.



Just my 2 cents

 

What an exciting time!

 

Hey guys AKAI visited over 100 producers for the mpc renaissance- Jermaine Dupri, Marley Marl, Brian Michael Cox, and Just Blaze. Those are heavyweights. Check here http://youtu.be/Z-3ZTxgDyis

I think I might get one. Regardless, the mpc is a staple in hip hop. Can you see a lot of hiphop producers jumping Maschine ship?

 

Jermaine Dupry

ha ha, didn't he also "endorse" the Roland MV8000 too when it first came out?

 

i love what akia is doing with the ren they are putting it out there, drumming up interest and collecting ideas

they defo have the resources to deliver everything they say they will.

i can see myself purchasing about a year after its release let the little niggles n bugs get worked out plus see if they release a unit in black