No, the Splice bug has *NOT* been fixed yet (as of July 20, 2022). It's broken on both MPC and Force if you use an SSD or removable storage as your target folder (which, anyone who has more than just a small Splice library should be doing anyway)...
Splice is unusable for me, everything is downloaded to the MPC in folders within folder within folders. If I find good 1 shots drums on Splice it takes ages to sort them into usable kit on in the MPC. Just awful file management on behalf of splice.
Regardless of whether the respective product is relevant for me or not, your videos + those from Venus Theory, Ricky Tinez and others have become a well-honored weekly ritual for me ♥ Thanks for posting this high-quality content and for sharing your educated opinion!
Gabe your reviews and tutorials on gear are awesome....the musical kid in us drives the interests in the products....the adults in the room understand that the products are just tools for the kid in us to express our musical thoughts...not all gear is for everyone....that's why the choices and opinions are there...having fun without drama is the positive side of making music...thank you for your channel and content...positive....💯👍
It would have been nice if Akai allowed 3rd party vsts to run on MPCs. That’s what I really want. I want a workstation that allows me to use my vsts outside of my computer.
At the beginning I was inclined towards the Fabric, but then things happened: I realized that the electric bass keygroups I had sounded better and could use velocity switch between fingered and slap + included samples of fret noise harmonics and what not on lower keys, and then I found that one of my favorite bell sounds on the Fabric was already included in hype (not kidding)... then searched for a flute or sax .. no woodwinds? really?, then wanted to make a piano playing around with the hammer noise, oh wait that's a stage piano only setting... I found that Fabric has everything, but then nothing, maybe it will be expanded to be at least a rompler covering all bases? Or maybe just get the one thing that really works for you. I guess I will pass and wait to see what direction this takes, maybe wait for a sale, but cherry-picking 1 or 2 seems to be a good option one way or another. If nothing happens, opx is probably the best option for me too.
It really seems that these plugins, particularly the Pianos, Strings and Organ, were developed specifically for the new Keys. They seem to need the extra RAM in that product to operate without memory issues. It makes no sense to buy these for the One, Live II etc.
Maybe if you're going to plug a midi controller into your One and just run a single instance of say, the piano plugin (or you just really wanted a realistic piano), it would make sense, but yeah in any other case they're a bit harder to justify for most MPC users.
Same here. FM is what my setup is missing, but only 4 operators and $150 is a bit steep. I'm looking at the original Volca FM used, and I'll just make keygroups. It seems more worth the value, to me.
@@philippeleblanc856 No its not... Pigments is 199 and 5-6 times a year only 99 bucks... And that thing is more you ever need. AKAI ripping of its fanboys is nothing new and it is stil going strong. So who is to blame for that?
It seems like a really nice sound pack... but it's definitely in "add-on" territory instead of "essentials". I don't remember the last time my music process was blocked by a lack of sounds... so adding more sounds won't really help me, even if they're really good.
Thanks for another great video, Gabe. BTW, I finally caved and bought an MPC One after procrastinating and over-analyzing this decision for many months, thanks to your advice. Holy @#$%#@ this thing is amazing, and I am in no way an MPC fanboy ... but I'm pretty sure I will be soon. Tons of stuff to dig through as this thing is so powerful, but so far it has been much easier to deal with than my DAW, which is exactly what I was looking for.
Man you're just gonna keep loving it more and more! Make sure you update the firmware btw so you get the Mellotron, Odyssey, Solina and Hype synth and all the new features
@@wm1573 yeah I realize that. 😁 However I have an E-Mu Esynth from 1997 and it blows most modern samplers out of the water in terms of sound, options, and polyphony, and that's 25 years old. Most modern firmware is not written under the same processing constraints as something from the 90s, so it is wasteful in terms of processing power and memory usage. I bet a 2006 PC with the right software and optimization could do a ton more than we think.
Just to clarify - since Gabe seems to have skipped over this fact entirely - the new MPC Key 61 actually has twice the RAM as the MPC One/Live II/X, and his memory issues would likely not be issue on the MPC Key 61 (or at least, he'd have less issues). Also, Fabric (not XL) has a smaller sample set and is a bit lighter on the RAM, so staying away from Fabric XL in standalone will help. OPx-4 has virtually no effect on RAM use, but Strings and the Piano/EP plugins do. It's all about balance.
exactly this or use outboard synths and sample just what you need. I think the One is meant to be a centerpiece but not do all the lifting all the time. Its replacing my korg sequencer and volca sample but keeping my external synths for those sounds I cant get in the MPC
Speaking of bugs/features.. why does the erase notes button erase during playback?. That's not what most people wpuld expect. It did it in 2.10 also.. even worse, if your in record/overdub mode, play, hit erase and hold it while you press stop, the unit will act as if you are still holding erase even after you let go. Conbined with the fact that the MPC will actually erase notes during playback, I'm sure this has caused some people a lot of frustration as the try to select pads for editing while listening to a loop only to hear that the loop is getting thinner as they inadvertently erase parts of the mix.. clicking erase during playback will release the button.. heads up everyone!
Looks like Akai got it right, Gabe. I think a part of the price attached is for them producing that giddiness in your voice interacting with their product/experience. The other part is for you to make their product YOUR SOUND. And for those you are not into sound design........that's priceless, really.
I actually really like the plugins and kinda understand their pricing. However I have a huge problem with them that Akai seems reluctant to fix for me a think is a good thing to highlight with other users. One of my computers crashed and I had to rebuild it and it's using one of the licenses and there is no way to get it back because it crashed and is no longer recognised as being installed therefore remains an active license so I can no longer install on anything or the same computer . Basically £500 flushed down the drain . I have raised a ticket with Akai about this but nothing has happened! They no longer use iLOK so you can't reset your licences or activation yourself and as yet have completely failed to help me
Say what you must... The new plugins are dope. The 61 is a producer board...period! If you want to make beats and loops... Ya... Copp the Live 2 or ONE. But if you are a producer, You will NOT be disappointed with the new akai plugins nor the 61
Got to admit, the Stage plugins sound surprisingly good. But from a technical performance perspective, they're not really made for the older MPC X/Live/One machines and Akai shouldn't have bothered preinstalling them because it just deteriorates the user experience.
@@jonnycavell That's exactly my point, loading times taking ages is just not a good customer experience. Especially when you have just been pushed by the onscreen menu to spend an extra 500 dollars on your brand new MPC investment. At least what you expect then is for these expensive plugins to work smoothly and flawlessly.
@@Drrolfski agreed that the load time is a real friggin drag. I like to sit on a plugin and scroll through the presets while tapping a few keys on my keyboard to hear it. Unfortunately now I have to wait 10 seconds, play the keys, then scroll to the next and wait another 5-10seconds. Super annoying because I'm trying to quickly decide where I want to start from and breaking that up with silence and load times steering me away from exploring other presets or going through the hundreds of sounds it can do.
They're not "preinstalled" on the older X/Live/One - only on the new MPC Key 61 (which has twice the RAM and can handle the larger RAM-hungy plugins much better).
@@EnochLight Preinstalled in this context means that Akai is pushing you onscreen to activate these plugins within your older MPC X/Live/One. The Stage plugins shouldn't be an option here. In fact, from a customer experience point of view, Akai shouldn't even push any of these pay-a-lot-extra plugins on these machines to begin with. But that's a different discussion.
I tried the demo of the complete set of plug ins. While it's nice to have the pianos and organ, I was pretty much sold on the fm synth, fabric xl and studio strings once I tried them, making the purchase of the complete set a no brainer ie $500 as opposed to $550 for just those three. While I could sample other plug ins etc that I have and make keygroups etc, I'd rather stump up the coin and spend that time making music. It's a couple of hours work for me to buy studio strings. Id spend more time than that in the long run making up keygroups the other way. I see my mpc's more as a massive bag of presets (of varying quality). Id rather load in samples than create them atm. That may well change in the future ... who knows, but for now I'm happy to just purchase plug ins and sample packs. The other thing that sold me was I have a one, a live and a force. I've loaded all three with the complete set, which in my eyes means I paid roughly $170 per unit for the complete plug in suite. When you look at it like that, it's a bargain.
Have you ever tried Kontakt? That 500$ can get you so much more if you take the MPC out of the equation, or even if you just use it as a controller. You get like every instrument that exists and entire orchestras. It’s still a wild price point, but I get it’s worth it for someone using it stand alone only.
It would be so nice if you make a tutorial about how you laid this track I like this type of music I have Mpc 61 I’m good at playing keys but just wanna see how you built this
The memory usage has never been a problem for me with regular usage, so these memory gobbling plugins do NOT appeal to me. I don't get why they would have gone with plugins that use huge sample libraries again (the Solina is sample-based, which sucks because the original uses divide-down synthesis, which is efficient and has a particular sound that the plugin misses). It's ALREADY a sampler, so these are feeling pretty redundant. Using actual modelling synthesis with the plugins makes much more sense on a machine like this, and improve the way the keygroup programs work, like being able to invert the LFO for each assignable variable (I love that panning always biases to the right if you combine it with amp or filter 😞), and giving global control of the envelopes, cutoff, and other variables to the knobs and LFOs in the macros section (currently it has to be assigned to EVERY separate group within a keygroup program, which is dumb, and impractical). Eh... I think they're just missing the target here, except maybe with the FM synth, but it's too expensive for me. For now I'll pick up a used Volca FM and sample it.
as a sound designer, I actually found (and reviewed) the OPx4 to be worth considering as it's pretty powerful for a plugin inside the mpc. it doesn't trump FM-4 or phase plant by any means but it does have the ability to modulate Fm amounts with a random modulator which a bass designer like me can appreciate. it's also great for designing plucks and docks for halftime beats. The other stuff is cool for presets but I didn't think they had enough depth for the price to justify longevity. I really hope akai adds the ability to modulate fx though. For my kind of sound design being able to automate/modulate the parametric eq bands as a custom filter is something I reallllly would appreciate.
Thanks for the video Gabe. I'm more of a synth head and this video confirms that I'm really only interested in the OPx4 plug-in. I can auto-sample the rest from Logic if or when I ever need the other sounds.
I like the plug ins. However you don't need all of them. Fabric (i bought) comes with all 4 plugins for $149. With that i dont need the piano expansions or the string expansions. Mini D (i bought) was on sale. The other one i want is OPX-4 is in a bundle I don't need, so i will wait til they offer it alone and or Jura with a discounted price..i noticed the sounds blend well with the beats. At times the DAW plug in sounds dont complement the MPC Beat as much, and the workflow is faster having the Expansions Right there to get your ideas well created to export to DAW and finish the production (changing or adding sounds).
Those are certainly cool , but i think i stay with my old friend Reason + mini midi keyboard , because one thing i have in mind that i don't listen / read often with the gears acquisition madness is except from really special situation, you better keep on what you already have and have knowledge on. New gear is not only a money taker and space eater, it's also a time consumer and learning curve to achieve. That said, i understand that time to time it can be refreshing to have a new machine to put a coin in the juke box of our motivation / creativity. Nevertheless i still think / feel the " best " for us is to stay on what we already have and work / play on it until the result is satisfaying. Paraxoxly, watching videos about new gears help me sticking on what i have and try to get more music's satisfaction out of it.
The splice bug is weird. Mine old splice samples work perfectly fine. However, I have had some sounds (not splice) not play when clicking them for preview. It seems to be random. I don't think it happens on the exact same samples every time, but it's annoying! I also hate when certain q-link knobs will freeze for a few seconds when you're doing things like zooming way in or way out while chopping samples etc. It slows down my work flow and is very frustrating.
Okay, the Stage upright is interesting to me - especially if it can go towards the Mrs Mills sound. Such a pity Yamaha didn't put an upright in the Reface CP instead of the useless Toy Piano. Uprights are so under-served considering they have way more character than grands. Not sure about the price.
The stage piano sounds great. It takes a while to load on the one and takes up a bunch of memory, but it does sound great. I use that and the LABS Mrs Mills on my DAW. And yea I prefer upright for my uses.
Hmmm.... Akai is finally reaching the limit of the boards they're using. Wonder if they can rework the firmware to use some of the storage, (SD or HDD), as RAM; that might keep things working on the standalones until they start releasing updated hardware.
Hi, I'm almost blind but I can use an electronic magnifier for my use. I have tried some Akai machines and they all request to be able to read the touch screen. That why, if you want a simple sampler that you can use easily, the novation machines are convenient ! a blind friend of mine has one and he can use all the capabilities of the machine. For sure, it takes time to master and to learn by heart of the functionalities available, but it's possible for us. You can also try the Korg electribe sampler. It has a lot of surface controls wich made the machine, with some work, accessible for blind users! Roland SP404 old version or MKII are accessible for blind users, too. Or, if you want something cheeper, Teenage engineering got small samplers very affordable and very easy to master. Try, for example, the PO 33 or the PO 35 speak. Finally, you can use Logic Pro on any Mac to sample or Reaper on any PC. They both are totally accessible with some options specifically made for us. If you need details, for Reaper or Logic, let me know!
Is there any other plugin that is similar to the Fabric XL one, or are there any other bundle deals besides the 500 dollar bundle deal on these plugins? Is there any way to get the Fabric XL and one or two other one's in a bundle? Can anybody direct me to really good plugin bundle deals? Thanks.
hey man, whats the best way to get downloaded/purchased instruments into my MPC One? does it always have to be plugged into an ethernet cable? ive had my MPC for years and finally just updated it, would be tight to get the new instruments on that the updates have as well, thanks.
This might sound like weird question, but are the stand alone sounds that are used with the MPC One considered hardware or software? The reason I ask is because hardware drums and synths still sound a bit better to my ear, compared to the synths and drum kits that you buy and use on the MPC One? The sounds are not bad, but hardware just sounds a bit better, like the Roland JD-XI, a cheaper synth that I have, just has a tone that the MPC One just quite doesn't have for some reason, but the MPC One kits and synths still sound good though. What is your take on this?...SBN RESONATE
Hey bud. How have you been? I plan on buying the MPC one plus soon. With it being 2gb of ram how does it hold up using big plugins like Fabric xl? How many instances before I start having to bounce stuff?
I have a bunch of Vst’s that I use to use with Fl studios , I have over 5k sounds I don’t need anything else I have the dx7 vst , I’m sure I have everything in the Fm .
"In this 10-15 min video" looks at timeline XD But seriously, would love a video on the FM synth. Oh, and for anyone interested in the MPC software, like say for the MPC studio, they've updated the interface of all the synths to be bigger than on the MPC screens.
Hi, Thank for this useful and brief presentation of the new Akai plug-ins. My question have nothing to do with this video in particular, but concerns the Akai Force and some serious issues with this gear: I heard that Akai has modified time ago the Force machines because of a defect which fried the outputs when activating the fantom switch. Do you have some details on this purpose ??? Have you ever use a condenser mike directly connected to the Force if you use it?
Iv heard the paid plug ins rape the internal ram but the free ones dont iv only got the 8 free ones not to fused about any of the bought ones as i have like 5 hardwear synths too and 3 keyboards so got plenty of sounds
For some reason I can only download and use in controller mode. I’ve downloaded standalone mode but it’s saying I need to activate my already activated plug in…what step am I missing? The synth folder is on my SD Card and I followed the pdf instructions.
resampling is probably close enough for a lot of applications. But freezing and having the ability to keep the tracks in existence but not active would be super nice.
Your videos have been super helpful so I thought maybe you might answer a question? Im a rock musician who loves all styles of music including pop, various dance styles, rap etc and want to do something different. Wiht that said im very used to the studio and quite a bot of software. With all that said If I was gonna buy one machine to make beats and produce sounds on which one would you recommend? and what if I got one now and one later? ( I was leaning towards one of these MPC one, Elektron Syntakt, Drumbrute impact or Novation Circuit ) thank so much for your thoughts.
Nice and honest review, if you get chance could you confirm what I thought was a bug on the Mpc one. Where the first three sliders on the step sequencer will not slide to maximum. On 2.11. 3 and 2.11.1 . Thanks.
Sort of: it comes with 4 synth engines and 100's of presets, but only a few natural sounding pianos and orchestral plucks, but still kind of synthetic. They do sound good but not completely realistic; for any instrument library like that, you will always have to pay a premium. If you want to stick to the MPC standalone, instead of autosampling VST's from a computer, the instrument collection in this video is your best bet. It sometimes goes on sale for $200 on Black Friday.
Considering the massive price hike on the One (I got mine basically open-box/new for $530 in Sept 2020)... I think all of these plugins are overpriced and unnecessary, for the most part. Also... I am sticking with 2.10.1 for a while. These 2.11 bugs are insane. Great vid, as always, Gabe!
Hey Gabe. So you need to plug in the one to a router via ethernet to activate plugins right? Any other way? How often do you have to reauthorize? Thanks
As far as I know, yeah, you have to connect to the internet to authorize them, Ethernet being the only way. I haven't had to reauthorize since I installed them.
Turn down the attack on the strings, they should "swell" (slowly get loud, then decay) for the style you are doing. This will make then sound more realistic as well.
Akai could do worse than make a deal with modart and get pianoteq on mpc. Pianoteq can run on a raspberry pi 3, so it should work on the mpc. And then : no loading time, infinite velocity layers, real new effects and reverb impulses.
@@GabeMillerMusic Thanks! I've considered these devices. I like Force's take on the OS as well as the UI but MPCs have strong community and lots of instructions. Edit: Keys 61 could be something to consider.
I have the keys and it’s worth noting that one the keys the stage plugins and xl load wayyyyy faster, I think they doubled the ram and bumped the cpu. Worth noting since if I hadn’t seen it myself I’d have seen this bud and maybe thought the load time was the same on the keys.
One thing that I think about these plugins that goes… unaddressed too often is that while these are called “plugins,” these shouldn’t be compared to actual virtual instrument plugins that you can get on a computer. That isn’t really what these are. These plugins should be compared to sounds that you can get from other keyboards. When you compare them to the other products that are actually in the same market as them they are relatively competitive. However, with that being said, I certainly wouldn’t pay for these. If you aren’t going to get a Keys then I wouldn’t buy them
I saw a video demonstration of the Key 61 where the guy compares it with hardware workstations like the Fantom and Montage. I thought that made a lot of sense. I purchased the plugins. My perspective maybe a little different from guys in Gabe’s age range. I’ve been in it since the early 1990’s. Back then, $500 would only get you a few MB of new sounds for your keyboard. Maybe I’m just too easily impressed now! 😂
It's pretty ridiculous that in 2022 a unit like the MPC One is running into RAM limitations. RAM isn't THAT expensive. Akai should have spec'd it with with plenty or RAM to max out the CPU capabilities. For the money these units cost, they should have much more processing power & memory (and I'm not just looking at Akai either).
It shows where the power, truth and accountability lies when you could come out first and take them to task and they still come crawling to you offering free gear 🤣😂💪. If their ears weren't burning, they would have just told you to go kick rocks but they couldn't!
Shoot it seems like being a RUclipsr would be the only way for a student/pt employee. I just tecently finally bought the mpc one after 7 months+ of saving. I wish my holidays and bdays were sort of cash grabs like some of my peers. Sorry 💀 and Congrats of course
The MPC without the paid plugins is absolutely plenty to make great music (hell, cheap software and plugins have gotten really good these days too). I made it work with cheap stuff while I was a student too, and really, I don't need the expensive stuff (although it is fun).
Volca FM vs mpc FM ? Leaning towards MPC got a MPC one but five volcas and running out of room so if it half as good I'm going that route got too much gear
Hard to say, but if you want to mostly use the sounds you make on the MPC rather than in a Volca jamming setup, I'd say the plugin is the way to go. If you want a more hands on feel and you already wouldn't mind more of the Volca experience, the FM is the go-to. The sound design itself on the Volca FM has a bit less control, but its sound is a bit more classic and even polished.
It might be worth noting that you can load DX7 patches into a Volca FM via the Dexed VST. There is a huge collection out there of patches people have made freely available.
I think these were more geared for the MPC 61. Also to probably get you to upgrade from the MPC One, which has the least amount of internal memory. I would like to see how they run off of an external hard drive.
I call BS on your reasoning for taking them up in the offer. You can try the plugins for free for 10 days. That would have been the only way you could have given a raw, unbiased opinion
Same thing for me. It seems that their customer service has no regard for the owners of their machines. It's not fair ! No company can grow up this way!
Out in the 'real world' I only know one person that bought OPx4 and one that got Fabric XL. Everybody else noped out once they saw the price. OPx4 is tempting, but I'll just fire up OXE FM on the lappy and sample it. Prefer how FL Studio did FLEX. Give you the plugin, but limit the content unless you want to pay.
Free? Definitely no. Someone has to pay the devs . Cheaper ? Yes... maybe 100 as a bundle would be ok for plugins running in a standalone unit . But comparing to cheap iOS plugins or free VSTs , still expensive . It's better offering a choice to buy the plugins or ignore them ,rather raising the price of the MPC line or even worse ,paid firmware updates
Splice bug has been solved by firmware update by now.
when the looper is going to be fixed? ( looper stops the loop playing when going out of the looper screen)
Just do a "reset preferences." That cleared it up for me.
Can you do a video on the Splice bug where some samples don't preview/play?
No, the Splice bug has *NOT* been fixed yet (as of July 20, 2022). It's broken on both MPC and Force if you use an SSD or removable storage as your target folder (which, anyone who has more than just a small Splice library should be doing anyway)...
People still using and paying for Splice... I just can't comprehent.
Splice is unusable for me, everything is downloaded to the MPC in folders within folder within folders. If I find good 1 shots drums on Splice it takes ages to sort them into usable kit on in the MPC.
Just awful file management on behalf of splice.
Regardless of whether the respective product is relevant for me or not, your videos + those from Venus Theory, Ricky Tinez and others have become a well-honored weekly ritual for me ♥ Thanks for posting this high-quality content and for sharing your educated opinion!
Same, but I'd add two more to that list: The Midlife Synthesist and Bo Beats are also fantastic.
Gabe your reviews and tutorials on gear are awesome....the musical kid in us drives the interests in the products....the adults in the room understand that the products are just tools for the kid in us to express our musical thoughts...not all gear is for everyone....that's why the choices and opinions are there...having fun without drama is the positive side of making music...thank you for your channel and content...positive....💯👍
It would have been nice if Akai allowed 3rd party vsts to run on MPCs. That’s what I really want. I want a workstation that allows me to use my vsts outside of my computer.
Controller mode lets you do that, can't do it standalone tho, but you can autosample individual patches
Is this possible with other pieces of gear out there?
At the beginning I was inclined towards the Fabric, but then things happened: I realized that the electric bass keygroups I had sounded better and could use velocity switch between fingered and slap + included samples of fret noise harmonics and what not on lower keys, and then I found that one of my favorite bell sounds on the Fabric was already included in hype (not kidding)... then searched for a flute or sax .. no woodwinds? really?, then wanted to make a piano playing around with the hammer noise, oh wait that's a stage piano only setting...
I found that Fabric has everything, but then nothing, maybe it will be expanded to be at least a rompler covering all bases? Or maybe just get the one thing that really works for you.
I guess I will pass and wait to see what direction this takes, maybe wait for a sale, but cherry-picking 1 or 2 seems to be a good option one way or another. If nothing happens, opx is probably the best option for me too.
The plugins are good, so happy that i have a portable workstation with my mpc live 2 now.
It really seems that these plugins, particularly the Pianos, Strings and Organ, were developed specifically for the new Keys. They seem to need the extra RAM in that product to operate without memory issues. It makes no sense to buy these for the One, Live II etc.
Maybe if you're going to plug a midi controller into your One and just run a single instance of say, the piano plugin (or you just really wanted a realistic piano), it would make sense, but yeah in any other case they're a bit harder to justify for most MPC users.
It may make sense for mpc software users if you like the sounds alot. Most computers will have more than enough ram.
I bought the piano and strings and they work great
I agree the FM synth was the one that mainly caught my eye, (and maybe a little bit the strings one), but damn $150 a pop is steep
Same here. FM is what my setup is missing, but only 4 operators and $150 is a bit steep. I'm looking at the original Volca FM used, and I'll just make keygroups. It seems more worth the value, to me.
That's what good plugins cost my guy
@@inthefade You could just use Dexed, on a computer to make the keygroups? It's easier to use, and more powerful too.
@@philippeleblanc856 There are plenty of fm synths that are not 150 bucks.
@@philippeleblanc856 No its not...
Pigments is 199 and 5-6 times a year only 99 bucks...
And that thing is more you ever need.
AKAI ripping of its fanboys is nothing new and it is stil going strong. So who is to blame for that?
It seems like a really nice sound pack... but it's definitely in "add-on" territory instead of "essentials". I don't remember the last time my music process was blocked by a lack of sounds... so adding more sounds won't really help me, even if they're really good.
Yep, the problem is too much choice these days! I rarely download patches or samples unless there's a specific sound that I couldn't make myself.
Thanks for another great video, Gabe. BTW, I finally caved and bought an MPC One after procrastinating and over-analyzing this decision for many months, thanks to your advice. Holy @#$%#@ this thing is amazing, and I am in no way an MPC fanboy ... but I'm pretty sure I will be soon. Tons of stuff to dig through as this thing is so powerful, but so far it has been much easier to deal with than my DAW, which is exactly what I was looking for.
Man you're just gonna keep loving it more and more! Make sure you update the firmware btw so you get the Mellotron, Odyssey, Solina and Hype synth and all the new features
"so powerful" it's literally a laptop from like 2006 tho. But I guess I kinda know what you mean. Just a reality check 👍
@@wm1573 yeah I realize that. 😁 However I have an E-Mu Esynth from 1997 and it blows most modern samplers out of the water in terms of sound, options, and polyphony, and that's 25 years old. Most modern firmware is not written under the same processing constraints as something from the 90s, so it is wasteful in terms of processing power and memory usage. I bet a 2006 PC with the right software and optimization could do a ton more than we think.
I got the 61 a few weeks ago and I learned new tricks from this vid. Thanks!
Just to clarify - since Gabe seems to have skipped over this fact entirely - the new MPC Key 61 actually has twice the RAM as the MPC One/Live II/X, and his memory issues would likely not be issue on the MPC Key 61 (or at least, he'd have less issues). Also, Fabric (not XL) has a smaller sample set and is a bit lighter on the RAM, so staying away from Fabric XL in standalone will help. OPx-4 has virtually no effect on RAM use, but Strings and the Piano/EP plugins do. It's all about balance.
Great video. Excellent job on showing us the differences with the plugins 👍
You can always bounce to audio to free up memory.
exactly this or use outboard synths and sample just what you need. I think the One is meant to be a centerpiece but not do all the lifting all the time. Its replacing my korg sequencer and volca sample but keeping my external synths for those sounds I cant get in the MPC
Speaking of bugs/features.. why does the erase notes button erase during playback?. That's not what most people wpuld expect. It did it in 2.10 also.. even worse, if your in record/overdub mode, play, hit erase and hold it while you press stop, the unit will act as if you are still holding erase even after you let go. Conbined with the fact that the MPC will actually erase notes during playback, I'm sure this has caused some people a lot of frustration as the try to select pads for editing while listening to a loop only to hear that the loop is getting thinner as they inadvertently erase parts of the mix.. clicking erase during playback will release the button.. heads up everyone!
Haven’t watched the whole thing, but that first beat is straight fire!
Production skills are..🔥...and great review of the software..💯
Looks like Akai got it right, Gabe. I think a part of the price attached is for them producing that giddiness in your voice interacting with their product/experience. The other part is for you to make their product YOUR SOUND. And for those you are not into sound design........that's priceless, really.
I just sold my Polyend Play Plus and got an MPC One Plus instead. This is just the video I needed. 👏🏾
Thanks Gabe. That OPx4 definitely for my MPCX. The Qlinks, I would go crazy twisting knobs
I actually really like the plugins and kinda understand their pricing. However I have a huge problem with them that Akai seems reluctant to fix for me a think is a good thing to highlight with other users. One of my computers crashed and I had to rebuild it and it's using one of the licenses and there is no way to get it back because it crashed and is no longer recognised as being installed therefore remains an active license so I can no longer install on anything or the same computer . Basically £500 flushed down the drain . I have raised a ticket with Akai about this but nothing has happened! They no longer use iLOK so you can't reset your licences or activation yourself and as yet have completely failed to help me
Can get you a serial just lmk
Say what you must... The new plugins are dope. The 61 is a producer board...period! If you want to make beats and loops... Ya... Copp the Live 2 or ONE. But if you are a producer,
You will NOT be disappointed with the new akai plugins nor the 61
Got to admit, the Stage plugins sound surprisingly good. But from a technical performance perspective, they're not really made for the older MPC X/Live/One machines and Akai shouldn't have bothered preinstalling them because it just deteriorates the user experience.
I haven’t had any issues running loads of them simultaneously on my OG MPC Live. Only real issue is load time.
@@jonnycavell That's exactly my point, loading times taking ages is just not a good customer experience. Especially when you have just been pushed by the onscreen menu to spend an extra 500 dollars on your brand new MPC investment. At least what you expect then is for these expensive plugins to work smoothly and flawlessly.
@@Drrolfski agreed that the load time is a real friggin drag. I like to sit on a plugin and scroll through the presets while tapping a few keys on my keyboard to hear it. Unfortunately now I have to wait 10 seconds, play the keys, then scroll to the next and wait another 5-10seconds. Super annoying because I'm trying to quickly decide where I want to start from and breaking that up with silence and load times steering me away from exploring other presets or going through the hundreds of sounds it can do.
They're not "preinstalled" on the older X/Live/One - only on the new MPC Key 61 (which has twice the RAM and can handle the larger RAM-hungy plugins much better).
@@EnochLight Preinstalled in this context means that Akai is pushing you onscreen to activate these plugins within your older MPC X/Live/One. The Stage plugins shouldn't be an option here. In fact, from a customer experience point of view, Akai shouldn't even push any of these pay-a-lot-extra plugins on these machines to begin with. But that's a different discussion.
I tried the demo of the complete set of plug ins. While it's nice to have the pianos and organ, I was pretty much sold on the fm synth, fabric xl and studio strings once I tried them, making the purchase of the complete set a no brainer ie $500 as opposed to $550 for just those three.
While I could sample other plug ins etc that I have and make keygroups etc, I'd rather stump up the coin and spend that time making music. It's a couple of hours work for me to buy studio strings. Id spend more time than that in the long run making up keygroups the other way.
I see my mpc's more as a massive bag of presets (of varying quality). Id rather load in samples than create them atm. That may well change in the future ... who knows, but for now I'm happy to just purchase plug ins and sample packs.
The other thing that sold me was I have a one, a live and a force. I've loaded all three with the complete set, which in my eyes means I paid roughly $170 per unit for the complete plug in suite. When you look at it like that, it's a bargain.
Have you ever tried Kontakt? That 500$ can get you so much more if you take the MPC out of the equation, or even if you just use it as a controller. You get like every instrument that exists and entire orchestras. It’s still a wild price point, but I get it’s worth it for someone using it stand alone only.
It would be so nice if you make a tutorial about how you laid this track
I like this type of music I have Mpc 61 I’m good at playing keys but just wanna see how you built this
im intrested in the Organ Plugin... I love the Organ
The memory usage has never been a problem for me with regular usage, so these memory gobbling plugins do NOT appeal to me.
I don't get why they would have gone with plugins that use huge sample libraries again (the Solina is sample-based, which sucks because the original uses divide-down synthesis, which is efficient and has a particular sound that the plugin misses).
It's ALREADY a sampler, so these are feeling pretty redundant. Using actual modelling synthesis with the plugins makes much more sense on a machine like this, and improve the way the keygroup programs work, like being able to invert the LFO for each assignable variable (I love that panning always biases to the right if you combine it with amp or filter 😞), and giving global control of the envelopes, cutoff, and other variables to the knobs and LFOs in the macros section (currently it has to be assigned to EVERY separate group within a keygroup program, which is dumb, and impractical).
Eh... I think they're just missing the target here, except maybe with the FM synth, but it's too expensive for me.
For now I'll pick up a used Volca FM and sample it.
Love the breakdown,Thanks🙏🏾🔥🔥💯
Thanks for the comparison i definitely prefer the stage instrumentals .
Yes, please a video on the Opx4!! Congrats for your channel!
as a sound designer, I actually found (and reviewed) the OPx4 to be worth considering as it's pretty powerful for a plugin inside the mpc. it doesn't trump FM-4 or phase plant by any means but it does have the ability to modulate Fm amounts with a random modulator which a bass designer like me can appreciate. it's also great for designing plucks and docks for halftime beats. The other stuff is cool for presets but I didn't think they had enough depth for the price to justify longevity. I really hope akai adds the ability to modulate fx though. For my kind of sound design being able to automate/modulate the parametric eq bands as a custom filter is something I reallllly would appreciate.
Thanks for the video Gabe. I'm more of a synth head and this video confirms that I'm really only interested in the OPx4 plug-in. I can auto-sample the rest from Logic if or when I ever need the other sounds.
I like the plug ins. However you don't need all of them. Fabric (i bought) comes with all 4 plugins for $149. With that i dont need the piano expansions or the string expansions. Mini D (i bought) was on sale. The other one i want is OPX-4 is in a bundle I don't need, so i will wait til they offer it alone and or Jura with a discounted price..i noticed the sounds blend well with the beats. At times the DAW plug in sounds dont complement the MPC Beat as much, and the workflow is faster having the Expansions Right there to get your ideas well created to export to DAW and finish the production (changing or adding sounds).
Those are certainly cool , but i think i stay with my old friend Reason + mini midi keyboard , because one thing i have in mind that i don't listen / read often with the gears acquisition madness is except from really special situation, you better keep on what you already have and have knowledge on.
New gear is not only a money taker and space eater, it's also a time consumer and learning curve to achieve.
That said, i understand that time to time it can be refreshing to have a new machine to put a coin in the juke box of our motivation / creativity.
Nevertheless i still think / feel the " best " for us is to stay on what we already have and work / play on it until the result is satisfaying.
Paraxoxly, watching videos about new gears help me sticking on what i have and try to get more music's satisfaction out of it.
Thanks for reviewing these. Helpful.
This is very usefull , getting the mpc one plus next week ( can't wait ) so im checking oit what standaline plugins there are
The splice bug is weird. Mine old splice samples work perfectly fine. However, I have had some sounds (not splice) not play when clicking them for preview.
It seems to be random. I don't think it happens on the exact same samples every time, but it's annoying! I also hate when certain q-link knobs will freeze for
a few seconds when you're doing things like zooming way in or way out while chopping samples etc. It slows down my work flow and is very frustrating.
I wonder if the same resource gobbling happens on the Live 2. Just bought the retro. What are your thoughts? Have you played with the live Gabe?
Okay, the Stage upright is interesting to me - especially if it can go towards the Mrs Mills sound. Such a pity Yamaha didn't put an upright in the Reface CP instead of the useless Toy Piano. Uprights are so under-served considering they have way more character than grands. Not sure about the price.
The stage piano sounds great. It takes a while to load on the one and takes up a bunch of memory, but it does sound great. I use that and the LABS Mrs Mills on my DAW. And yea I prefer upright for my uses.
Appreciate your transparency.
Hmmm.... Akai is finally reaching the limit of the boards they're using. Wonder if they can rework the firmware to use some of the storage, (SD or HDD), as RAM; that might keep things working on the standalones until they start releasing updated hardware.
I really like your channel. What's the best groove box for a blind user. I'd like something that can sample and that can run on batteries.
The Novation Circuits have a good reputation for blind users, and they have batteries. The Circuit Rhythm can sample, so that's probably a good bet.
Hi,
I'm almost blind but I can use an electronic magnifier for my use. I have tried some Akai machines and they all request to be able to read the touch screen. That why, if you want a simple sampler that you can use easily, the novation machines are convenient ! a blind friend of mine has one and he can use all the capabilities of the machine. For sure, it takes time to master and to learn by heart of the functionalities available, but it's possible for us. You can also try the Korg electribe sampler. It has a lot of surface controls wich made the machine, with some work, accessible for blind users!
Roland SP404 old version or MKII are accessible for blind users, too. Or, if you want something cheeper, Teenage engineering got small samplers very affordable and very easy to master. Try, for example, the PO 33 or the PO 35 speak.
Finally, you can use Logic Pro on any Mac to sample or Reaper on any PC. They both are totally accessible with some options specifically made for us. If you need details, for Reaper or Logic, let me know!
Is there any other plugin that is similar to the Fabric XL one, or are there any other bundle deals besides the 500 dollar bundle deal on these plugins? Is there any way to get the Fabric XL and one or two other one's in a bundle? Can anybody direct me to really good plugin bundle deals? Thanks.
Thanks for all of these! And the audio glitch at 12:00 really confirmed my thoughts on MPCs, weak computers with no doubt 🤐
hey man, whats the best way to get downloaded/purchased instruments into my MPC One? does it always have to be plugged into an ethernet cable? ive had my MPC for years and finally just updated it, would be tight to get the new instruments on that the updates have as well, thanks.
This might sound like weird question, but are the stand alone sounds that are used with the MPC One considered hardware or software? The reason I ask is because hardware drums and synths still sound a bit better to my ear, compared to the synths and drum kits that you buy and use on the MPC One? The sounds are not bad, but hardware just sounds a bit better, like the Roland JD-XI, a cheaper synth that I have, just has a tone that the MPC One just quite doesn't have for some reason, but the MPC One kits and synths still sound good though. What is your take on this?...SBN RESONATE
Hey bud. How have you been? I plan on buying the MPC one plus soon. With it being 2gb of ram how does it hold up using big plugins like Fabric xl? How many instances before I start having to bounce stuff?
I have a bunch of Vst’s that I use to use with Fl studios , I have over 5k sounds I don’t need anything else I have the dx7 vst , I’m sure I have everything in the Fm .
"In this 10-15 min video" looks at timeline XD
But seriously, would love a video on the FM synth.
Oh, and for anyone interested in the MPC software, like say for the MPC studio, they've updated the interface of all the synths to be bigger than on the MPC screens.
Haha yeah I got carried away
If you really want fm you could get a Volca FM for less than their plug in sequence it straight from the mpc...
The extra price come with getting it built into the board. I have the volca, my very first synth. The one with the mpc is more versatile
Hi,
Thank for this useful and brief presentation of the new Akai plug-ins. My question have nothing to do with this video in particular, but concerns the Akai Force and some serious issues with this gear: I heard that Akai has modified time ago the Force machines because of a defect which fried the outputs when activating the fantom switch. Do you have some details on this purpose ??? Have you ever use a condenser mike directly connected to the Force if you use it?
I had the same issue when trying to authenticate. Waited like an hour and it was fine after that.
Iv heard the paid plug ins rape the internal ram but the free ones dont iv only got the 8 free ones not to fused about any of the bought ones as i have like 5 hardwear synths too and 3 keyboards so got plenty of sounds
Between this & Jorb being able to detect the velocity layers on the stage keyboards I think the MPCs I'm not going to buy into the lineup now
For some reason I can only download and use in controller mode. I’ve downloaded standalone mode but it’s saying I need to activate my already activated plug in…what step am I missing? The synth folder is on my SD Card and I followed the pdf instructions.
There clearly needs to be a "freeze" function implemented in the next firmware.
resampling is probably close enough for a lot of applications. But freezing and having the ability to keep the tracks in existence but not active would be super nice.
Please do deep dive these! 🙏 I would love to see em.
Just hoping to see the fm synth on sale someday and i'll snap on it real quick!
Your videos have been super helpful so I thought maybe you might answer a question? Im a rock musician who loves all styles of music including pop, various dance styles, rap etc and want to do something different. Wiht that said im very used to the studio and quite a bot of software. With all that said If I was gonna buy one machine to make beats and produce sounds on which one would you recommend? and what if I got one now and one later? ( I was leaning towards one of these MPC one, Elektron Syntakt, Drumbrute impact or Novation Circuit ) thank so much for your thoughts.
Hi Gabe, it says of their page the Fabric needs internet connection?
Is it true?
Nice and honest review, if you get chance could you confirm what I thought was a bug on the Mpc one. Where the first three sliders on the step sequencer will not slide to maximum. On 2.11. 3 and 2.11.1 . Thanks.
Does the mpc one plus come with any stock acoustic pianos and orchestral instruments such as violins, horns, and saxophones?
Sort of: it comes with 4 synth engines and 100's of presets, but only a few natural sounding pianos and orchestral plucks, but still kind of synthetic.
They do sound good but not completely realistic; for any instrument library like that, you will always have to pay a premium.
If you want to stick to the MPC standalone, instead of autosampling VST's from a computer, the instrument collection in this video is your best bet. It sometimes goes on sale for $200 on Black Friday.
Considering the massive price hike on the One (I got mine basically open-box/new for $530 in Sept 2020)... I think all of these plugins are overpriced and unnecessary, for the most part. Also... I am sticking with 2.10.1 for a while. These 2.11 bugs are insane. Great vid, as always, Gabe!
I also had the error activating the Opx, but during the trial, it worked the next day, and got one day longer trial, maybe un purpose to compensate?
Hey Gabe. So you need to plug in the one to a router via ethernet to activate plugins right? Any other way? How often do you have to reauthorize? Thanks
As far as I know, yeah, you have to connect to the internet to authorize them, Ethernet being the only way.
I haven't had to reauthorize since I installed them.
@@GabeMillerMusic appreciate the fast reply. Picking up a one as a second mpc
Turn down the attack on the strings, they should "swell" (slowly get loud, then decay) for the style you are doing. This will make then sound more realistic as well.
Rewatching this because Black Friday!
Akai could do worse than make a deal with modart and get pianoteq on mpc. Pianoteq can run on a raspberry pi 3, so it should work on the mpc. And then : no loading time, infinite velocity layers, real new effects and reverb impulses.
That would be dope
I wish they would make a wavetable one . We will see what happens on the 3.0 release
Yeah, a serum type plugin would be superb.
Do any of the MPCs (including Live, Live 2, X, 61 Keys and Force) come with the plugins?
The Keys does.
@@Roguetrainer Thanks for the info.
And the Keys is the only one that does, the rest, including the X, don't.
@@GabeMillerMusic Thanks! I've considered these devices. I like Force's take on the OS as well as the UI but MPCs have strong community and lots of instructions. Edit: Keys 61 could be something to consider.
@@tubeMongercan get u plug-ins serial if u need it
I have the keys and it’s worth noting that one the keys the stage plugins and xl load wayyyyy faster, I think they doubled the ram and bumped the cpu. Worth noting since if I hadn’t seen it myself I’d have seen this bud and maybe thought the load time was the same on the keys.
Good to know! They're definitely meant much more for the Keys than for the others.
i hit play on the video heard that beat grab my mouse and kept pulling it back lol Gabe you all around dope cuzz
Can these plugins be installed on an SD card???? Or do you need an external hard drive to support them?
I have mine all installed on my SD card and it works fine
@@GabeMillerMusic what model and brand is the sd you use?
Can you do that with expansion packs😊
One thing that I think about these plugins that goes… unaddressed too often is that while these are called “plugins,” these shouldn’t be compared to actual virtual instrument plugins that you can get on a computer. That isn’t really what these are. These plugins should be compared to sounds that you can get from other keyboards. When you compare them to the other products that are actually in the same market as them they are relatively competitive. However, with that being said, I certainly wouldn’t pay for these. If you aren’t going to get a Keys then I wouldn’t buy them
I saw a video demonstration of the Key 61 where the guy compares it with hardware workstations like the Fantom and Montage. I thought that made a lot of sense. I purchased the plugins. My perspective maybe a little different from guys in Gabe’s age range. I’ve been in it since the early 1990’s. Back then, $500 would only get you a few MB of new sounds for your keyboard. Maybe I’m just too easily impressed now! 😂
100%. Good pc vsts have so much into them. The MPC ones are so very limited, but I guess the MPC is good for just sparking an idea anyways
can I buy these plugin off you for my Mpc one
Does Gabe have a website? Need it NOW!😂😂
It's pretty ridiculous that in 2022 a unit like the MPC One is running into RAM limitations. RAM isn't THAT expensive. Akai should have spec'd it with with plenty or RAM to max out the CPU capabilities.
For the money these units cost, they should have much more processing power & memory (and I'm not just looking at Akai either).
It shows where the power, truth and accountability lies when you could come out first and take them to task and they still come crawling to you offering free gear 🤣😂💪. If their ears weren't burning, they would have just told you to go kick rocks but they couldn't!
Worth the $200 deal right now??
Shoot it seems like being a RUclipsr would be the only way for a student/pt employee. I just tecently finally bought the mpc one after 7 months+ of saving. I wish my holidays and bdays were sort of cash grabs like some of my peers. Sorry 💀 and Congrats of course
The MPC without the paid plugins is absolutely plenty to make great music (hell, cheap software and plugins have gotten really good these days too). I made it work with cheap stuff while I was a student too, and really, I don't need the expensive stuff (although it is fun).
splice downloads flac files not wav and the MPC needs wav files.
Volca FM vs mpc FM ? Leaning towards MPC got a MPC one but five volcas and running out of room so if it half as good I'm going that route got too much gear
Hard to say, but if you want to mostly use the sounds you make on the MPC rather than in a Volca jamming setup, I'd say the plugin is the way to go. If you want a more hands on feel and you already wouldn't mind more of the Volca experience, the FM is the go-to. The sound design itself on the Volca FM has a bit less control, but its sound is a bit more classic and even polished.
Thanks we're living in the best time for amateur producers there's so many good choices out there
It might be worth noting that you can load DX7 patches into a Volca FM via the Dexed VST. There is a huge collection out there of patches people have made freely available.
On sale now $200 for all 6
A used Roland JV1010 will give you all the pianos and instruments you want (rompler) and cost less than the plugins.
I waited for the sale
凄くいい！
$500 is INSANE.
1st beat hard
I think these were more geared for the MPC 61. Also to probably get you to upgrade from the MPC One, which has the least amount of internal memory. I would like to see how they run off of an external hard drive.
Yeah they're 100% designed for the Keys, especially the Stage plugins.
MPC One, Live, Live 2, and X, all have the same exact CPU and amount of RAM memory. Only the MPC Keys has double the amount of RAM.
I call BS on your reasoning for taking them up in the offer. You can try the plugins for free for 10 days. That would have been the only way you could have given a raw, unbiased opinion
Shillers gonna shill
Regardless, I think the review was very raw and unbiased.
hes just another shill that wants free shit at the end of the day
Marketing guff…good lingo😊
Thanks Gabe l’m not interested in these expensive vsts.
Fair enough!
Akai bought you. Watch your other channel video and this.
"Akai support didn't get back to me"
Has anyone ever heard back from them I wonder? I've raised 2 cases and never got a response for either.
Same thing for me. It seems that their customer service has no regard for the owners of their machines. It's not fair ! No company can grow up this way!
I recently got a key 37. You could pick one plugin for free so I chose the Jura. But I would NEVER pay 150 eurodollars for these trash soft synths.
Out in the 'real world' I only know one person that bought OPx4 and one that got Fabric XL.
Everybody else noped out once they saw the price.
OPx4 is tempting, but I'll just fire up OXE FM on the lappy and sample it.
Prefer how FL Studio did FLEX. Give you the plugin, but limit the content unless you want to pay.
Can get you the serial if you need it
I’ve finally got em all for $199 😂
We can all agree these are fairly basic and should come for free. Upvote if you agree!!!👍🏿
Free? Definitely no. Someone has to pay the devs .
Cheaper ? Yes... maybe 100 as a bundle would be ok for plugins running in a standalone unit . But comparing to cheap iOS plugins or free VSTs , still expensive .
It's better offering a choice to buy the plugins or ignore them ,rather raising the price of the MPC line or even worse ,paid firmware updates
For $500 I would grab Omnisphere or NI Komplete Kontrol or KeyGroups
And you'd be tethered to a computer (aside from Keygroups), which is the exact opposite of why most people buy a standalone MPC...