It all looks promising – and making the MPC a hub, with complete connectivity and (finally!) multi-timbral mode again makes loads of sense.

And they now have a significant lead – especially since Native Instruments seems not to be entering standalone hardware. Akai are delivering both a deep new generation of software (MPC 2.8) and a hardware revision that packs more connectivity and speakers into their mid-range MPC Live. So here, Akai’s investment of time looks to be paying off. (I mean, that’d be funny slash weird if someone tried to do that, right?) Certainly, you couldn’t just post a picture and claim that counted as legitimate product news. It takes a mature product development process and a cycle of updates. Meeting user functionality demand is really complex. But it’s hard to compare Elektron machines’ workflows to the current generation of Akai – which is why users have been loyal to each, after all. Akai’s approach uniquely does everything software would when connected to your PC/Mac, then acts effectively as a standalone PC when it’s on its own.Įlektron, now with its updated Overbridge, has its own take on this – basically, make the plug-in and drivers a window to dedicated hardware. The demands for a digital drum machine/production workstation are now pretty rigorous, largely because we’ve been spoiled by computers. And finally, you get MIDI multi capability, like on the classic MPCs. Akai’s recent 2.8 software offers some powerful new features – and a revised MPC Live II could be a sweet spot in hardware, with expanded connectivity and built-in speakers.

Akai pro mpc live