Akai MPC X SE // Top 3 Pros & Cons vs MPC Live II, One, Key 61, Studio // XSE Special Edition Review

I'm looking for unlimited track sequencer, possibly this is the only option 🤔 qlinks switching on smaller mpc's is too annoying in my opinion.

Is it possible to shift the sound, midi notes and / or samples, in their song / arrangement mode, on the time axis, on MPC and / or Force?

Mpc x se ,mpc keys 61 or push 3 whats best please any advice

How ist „Sound Quality“ ?

There is still an awful midi note off bug that's been here for 2 years now.

48 gig internal storage, not 32.

Would you possibly do a deep dive on the Tascam Model 12? Specifically with one of these MPCs.

This video is such a help for me to navigate which one i need. i will use my Arturia Keylab with it (your demo helped me immensely there also).... so when you say you can get halfway there by using an additional MIDI controller with the Cheaper MPCs, could i simply map the controls that the MPC X has over the MPCLive onto my Artuia MIDI keyboard? like i could with the MC 707 (also bought because of your demo :) )

Always good content, nice review

An MPC X and induldge in buying Hydrasynths x4 — You'll never need another synth/Production box for your studio.

The main encoder not having push is a real head scratcher.

IEEEEEEE... I'm not an MPC user but I can't entirely agree with some of your "cons". What Akai should have done is given the MPC X 16Gb of RAM and 500GB hard drive to start. The size is AKAI MPC nomenclature and the purchase expectancy but it is expensive. I think a "CON" is the Midi Control. Most producers use multiple DAW, and this unit like others should have worked seamlessly with other DAWs. It will work with other DAWs like a midi controller but not seamlessly for that price.

As an MPC user I am feeling free to disagree with you below, as you invited me to do.

I get a lot of use out of the q-links. I'm aware that an MPC is a DAW in a box, but I find the tactile controls and resulting muscle memory to be really beneficial. As you observed, it takes a bit of getting used to understanding what the q-links do in different sections, but I've become very fast at navigating critical functions. I wonder if it's case of needing more dedicated time - you obviously need to work with many different pieces of hardware, whereas the MPC is my only sampler (until tomorrow morning when I'm planning to go pick up an SP 404 mk2 😂).

But yes, the expanded q-link section on the X is the only feature that would actually tempt me - looks powerful.

I feel like the mpc x could be upgraded to include the extra memory. if anyone does a breakdown comparison of the internals lmk.....

Q-Links are really THE reason I'd like a MPC X instead of my MPC Live.
That new Special edition is very nice, but as many other people I feel like the price difference with the normal MPC X is not justified.

the only thing I wish my X had was 8 ins. there would be enough room, too. Scrap the XLRs and add symmetric Jacks. If people need, then they can use adapters. Also I think the biggest opportunity they've missed is to add more touch functions to buttons of the X. Also mouse support would be nice.

any akai force users can help me? i dont like ableton and have no intention of using it. i was considering getting a boss rc505 so i can write out my jams before recording on the computer because - i hate working on the computer. i work in IT and trying to get away from working more hours on the computer.

im using fl studio + studio one. so this is where im considering the force. can the force do similar things like the 505 but also record sequencing as well? if im not using ableton, is getting the force a waste? i use NI, studio one, fl studio (fl for writing then i take stuff into studio one for recording guitar/instruments, its a pain).

another alternative is to get the deluge. is it true also the force cannot do different time signatures?

Great video! covers all I need to know. Am sticking with my Live II.

thrilled i will be dropping by superbooth23 and meet you!

Sorry this is related to the MPC video. But you did a video on a micro synth that was in a mall wooden box and I for the life of me cannot find the video! Do you remember the name of the synth??

LOVE my MPC One! It would be nice to have the extra qlinks though...

Any thoughts on how an MPC X might interface with a Blokas Midihub? Too much of a good thing?

I'm not here to tell you how better it is I went out and bought it personally for making boom bap it's more intuitive ❤

Getting my first MPC this month! Wish my experience luck! I’ve been using Maschine + for a while and looking for more workflows to adapt too just because ❤

Just to be clear, what can you not connect to the MPC One via USB-A? Is it a controller keyboard and/or audio interface, but you can connect a Flash drive or external hard drive?

Hi Loopop, can you give us a short note about a very much wanted improvement: The late MPCX can only stream/record around 5 minutes of live sample in an Audio program. It samples into the RAM of the MPCX, as hard disk streaming is not possible (why-ever this is...). So key question: has the live recording just improved from 5 mins to 10 mins, or do we have hard disk recording and can we record as long as we like....? Thanks in advance

Great to see an MPC... any MPC, being used for something other than yhe usual hiphop.

I’m not sure if all MPC’s in the range support the ability to add an extra internal SSD but that was key to me buying Live II & Force.

Hi @loopop you seem well suited to do a performance comparison between the MPC X and the MPC X SE. There is a bunch of misinformation going around about the impact the 2GB ram update has on performance. It would be nice to actually know what difference the minor improvements make. For example are there noticeable differences in Plugin or Project load times, are you able to have "x" amount more FX plugins without any degradation to the system. I imagine a scenario where the system is maxed out for example; max track counts, plugins, samples, FX etc and compare when the OG X and X SE start to show performance issues.

It’s sad akai got to a point where my lofi 12 feels better for boombap then a mpc 😂 and my gosh the updates where broken for like a yr they should fix the os before making the keys 🎹 61 and this

AKAI make solid gear and I love the MPCs. However, come on boys...its 2023!

Why on earth when the costs of flash memory and powerful 64 bit ARM processors are now significantly cheaper are AKAI only putting 4GB of memory and 32GB of storage with a weedy little ARM chip in the new MPC X SE? They could have easily quadrupled the onboard storage to 128 GB, chucked in 8 or 16 GB of ram and a more powerful multi-core arm CPU futureproofing this box for a decade...

Love My Live 2 Retro, this looks good though

Can I just buy the alll extra sounds and put them on my MPC ONE?

Is flex beat plugin included with mpc X se?

What is the depth with the screen up please my desk is limited every inch counts . Thanks

Having that screen being able to move up will save you lots of neck pain lol

I wonder...I like to buy 1 device ( currently the Octatrack ) to sample/ record/ sequence my erica synths techno+black system and some, and make complete songs with. I must be doable with the octatrack, but im missing a lot there. I like to work somewhere inbetween the octatrack and a daw. So I wonder; is this my best bet? The Force X SE.

Thank goodness, I just bought the Mini D and Flavor Pro a few weeks ago for my Live then I heard they came with the SE and it felt like a waste. Just gotta transfer them to the SE now!

Can we get stems Akai and more software improvement please...

Will wait for the Force 2

Looks like an 1980s checkout till smashed together with the Chernobyl power station control panel, and a cheap £200 Android tablet from 2013.

Try pressing the buttons under the encoder with your thumb!🙌😄 way more comfortable and you can go back and forth browsing your folders without touching your screen.

I already own a MPC Live 2, and I had no intention to buy an MPC X, but this looks so perfect for my setup, that I decided to get one. I'm not sure if I should sell my MPC Live 2 now... There's some perks like the speakers and battery, but I have a feeling that it's not going to get much attention after I get the X.

The cursor keys along with the data wheel should be able to navigate to every field you can interact with on every page of the UI. Those keys and data wheel are core to the "old" MPC workflow and I will never understand why that was not carried over to the new UI. Having to constantly remove your hand from the cursor keys and data wheel to reach up for the touch screen because for some reason you are not able to navigate there any other way is infuriating and a workflow killer for me. One hand on the pads, one on the cursor keys/data wheel is the MPC way. Shame this has never been addressed. I can appreciate the need for a touch screen but it should not be required considering everything needed to do it the "old school" way is already a part of the hardware on the X.

😱🤯😍🔥

These things are a pretty hard sell for me, personally. A laptop and controller are more powerful, and if I want the DAWless experience I can pretend and close the lid. This is different to say, an Elektron box, where no software/controller equivalent exists. There'd need to be some killer feature that differentiates the hardware from the software.

Still, they do look a lot of fun!

The more I’m starting to see this new unit, the more I think I want it. 🤔😂 (….but..the RAM… 😒👎)