Performance recording is here.... AKAI Force

too bad it’s the wrong product. Having some force gas atm, have to be honest

 

Very nice. Hmm

 

People complain about Maschines new clip/pattern hybrid but Akai just has clips, so there is no going back and editing a scene or pattern once it commits to the arranger, at least not spontaneously. You have to go to the arranger window to make changes. In my opinion Maschines new workflow is superior to the Force.

 

Have I seen this toy here before?
I think so.
It should be forbidden to advertise other brands here.

René

 

I think it's more like entirely valid comparison with a very comparable competitor product. Whether you like it or not, Akai have just added to the Force what NI essentially promised us for MASCHINE years ago...

 

It might be better overall (I certainly prefer MASCHINE's workflow to MPC from my experience), but the key performance recording feature is the main point here, which is what we still don't have.

 

I don't have a problem with it though, it was meant to be a joke.

René

 

Ahh, fair enough. Just got lost in internet translation.

 

I switched over to Maschine after 15 years of MPC loyalty. Will always love Akai as I built a great career and lifestyle using their tools.

That said, I don’t miss the workflow, lame ATM like touchscreen on Force or Live, snail paced support or super clunky form factor of the devices. People complained about M+ processor but it’s significantly more powerful than Force. Also, there will never be any synths on any of their devices that remotely approach what M+ offered at launch. Akai just cannot compete with NI sound libraries or workflow and that won’t change.

 

I worked with 2 Akai controllers: the APC40 Live controller as well as the MPD24 drumpad controller. I'm well aware that every controller is different and that my experiences with these two are probably hardly relevant here. But even so... as much as I appreciated Akai I cannot help say that I like my Ableton (Push) and Native Instruments (Maschine) controllers a whole lot better. I'm not too eager to pick up an Akai anymore to be honest.

 

I suppose it depends on what the equipment is being used for. If you're strictly sample-based, then those sound libraries are a huge waste.

I've never owned an MPC. Last year, I wanted to get the MPC Studio but it's incompatible with Catalina, so I went for the MK3.

I've been very happy with my Maschine, but I can't help but feel like I'm missing out by not having an MPC of some kind (since I don't need sound libraries and I'm strictly sample-based). Also, with Maschine you're stuck to a wall (and until recently, a computer). There's no Maschine equivalent of an MPC1000 for instance.

If the Live 2 was cheaper, I would get it to see how the MPC workflow is. However, I do agree that some of the new MPC features like touchscreen are corny. I just wish that Maschine would focus less on sound packages and focus more on simple things for simple beatmakers like myself, things like the ability to change sounds from stereo to mono and vice versa, a bar grid, better time-stretching, better arrangement, etc.

Still, I love my MK3 and I've been very happy with it.

 

Well said. After a year, I’m still loving Mk3 and it and Jam remain the core of my workflow but I’m happy I didn’t sell my MPC collection. I use Live 2 on the go and the most recent update to Force increased its value exponentially.

Each tool has its advantages and disadvantages. All about when, how and why you use em.

 

I bought a used Live Mk.I for that reason, try the MPC way of doings. I think there’s a lot to like but it sure is different compared to the Maschine.
I set aside a month to give it an honest chance but in the end it made me feel the same frustration that convinced me to try the Maschine in the first place.

I’m not trying to make this into a one-better-than-the-other type of post, just sharing my personal opinion.
I am still curious about the Force though, it seems more like Ableton-in-a-box and that would suite me perfectly since that is something I’ve been spending a lot of time in lately.

Oh, and the touch-screen felt like a hindrance to me, I much prefer the knobs and buttons of the Maschine (and Push 2) for workflow.

 

Thanks for sharing your opinion.

How were the chopping and time-stretch features compared to Maschine?

 

The chopping was fairly intuitive, I had to read up and watch a few vids to get my head around it but the same is true for Maschine. When I started to get the hang of it, getting from sample to pads felt "quicker" despite some menu diving.
Beyond that, the sampling in the MPC is more advanced (imho) with a lot of different settings and unique features that is missing in the maschine.
I have come to love the round-robin and delay-play chained pads.

I can't really comment on the time-stretching since I don't use it that much in either device. It worked and did sound quite good (within a couple of semi-tones).
Personally, I prefer to timestretch samples in Ableton if I need them. Clunky I know but the end-result is so much better.

 

Interesting. I had a feeing that was the case with chopping. I'll check some videos to see how I could use the Live in my workflow. As discussed earlier, there's validity to having different equipment and tools.