Wow.

Just got done replying in another thread (https://sp-forums.com/viewtopic.php?f=4 ... 89#p178489) about how I've been thinking about copping a mpc one

That thing is huge though! Only reason I sold my 2500 was because it took up ALL my desk space. The X looks damn almost as big as the 4k I couldn't imagine having something that big in my studio.

So you finally did it then, I'm pleased you got the cash together for it and are clearly delighted, but I have to ask a thing or two (or three) ...

1 - Did you try it out in the shop first?
2 - Are you planning to desert your poor, faithful SP homies because of this?
3 - Does your wife know about it?

Seriously though, very pleased for you, that's an awesome piece of kit bruh!

1- Yes ..on several seperate occasions.
2- No
3- I'm divorced

Yeah..it's massive .

No excuse if you return it then, and I would definitely be eyeing-up some solid Burl Walnut cheeks and some fat feet if that were mine!

I notice you never customised any of your SPs though so don't suppose you will!

This definitely won't be getting returned anytime soon I wouldn't think.

Lol ...man I hate those customized SP's ..and the ppl who couldn't write a note to the fucking milkman that bought the SX and covered them in crap..I can understand a sticker or two or the custom faceplate thing but when they're covered in kids plastic jewels and bits of sea shells or whatever the fuck gets stuck on there by these hipster twats with their lame as fuck cookie cutter 'Study Beats' they can GTFOH.

Bruh, you ever be wantin' some seashells to stick on that beast you just give me a shout

Just remember, the beach be sittin' right at the end of my street so it's no problem at all, I could always do some beach-combing for a homie in need!

Nah, I meant more along the lines of a professional look, like those big chunky feet they put on the bottom of expensive turntables, and some chunky Burl Walnut end-cheeks professionally finished in resin, that sorta thing.

Regards the customisations peeps do on their 404s, I actually really like all of that, even the tacky stuff cause whenever someone modifies it in some way, and even if it's just knobs, at least you're not looking at the same old factory spec all the time.

Maybe if they spent the time dicking around gluing stupid little bits of plastic to their samplers and actually devoted it to making music all those fuckers lame ass cookie cutter Chill & Study beats or whatever the fuck they're called wouldn't sound exactly the same as each other hahaha....

I like the customisations, it shows creativity and individuality and is no different to decorating your living room really. Plus, I've decided to get an SX and I'm definitely customising that (I'll be getting and customising an ES-1 as well). I don't mean with stickers though, I mean to put the time and effort into it like a person would do when customising a motorbike or something - factory quality customisation.

Anyway, have fun, and to be fair I think you made the right choice with that one (you being a guitarist). I'll let you into a little secret, I actually did purchase an MPC some time ago (MPC ONE), but never told anyone. I thought it was very powerful but it just felt too involved and cumbersome compared to using an SP and it just didn't feel right for me. It got returned pretty damn quick for that reason (and another reason I'll not bother going into).

But something I really liked about it (and I wish all manufacturers would allow this) is that you can skin the on-screen graphics. I didn't get to do that, obviously, but it's pretty damn cool that you can do stuff like that!

I'd actually like to hear more on your thoughts about it cause I plan on purchasing one my self soon. Granted, you have a history of being a little picky when it comes to this type of thing

Well if you insist (this will be a big one), but the reason I chose not to go into it is because it's really inappropriate in this thread. Basically though, it was because of AKAI themselves, because when it came to installing the major new update they had just released at the time, I came across an epic problem.

They had the update files listed on their website, and it would constantly fail just before the end of the download (it was quite a large download as well). That seemed a bit weird to me cause usually when a download constantly fails it is after a random amount of time each time.

So I looked into it on YouTube, and among the comments on a video about the new update, I noticed a bunch of people with the same issue complaining that the download keeps failing. But then someone in the comments stated that you need to log in to your AKAI account to download it, and that immediately started the alarm bells ringing for me.

I thought hang on a minute, these downloads are listed in the public area of the site just like they're supposed to be, they're readily available without needing to be logged in and I sure as hell am not opening an account with AKAI to download them anyway.

So I waited for it to be fixed assuming that due to the amount of people wanting to download it, they surely know by now that the download is failing. At this point I suspected that corporate manipulation tactics were involved, whereby the break the download hopiong that you'll open an account to access it from in there instead.

Fuck that, so I sent an email to the seller and pointed out that unless I am able to access the update for this device I will be returning it. I also pointed out to them that I am not obliged to surrender details to AKAI in order to access updates for the device (I owe AKAI nothing).

My suspicion of corporate manipulation was made even stronger with what happened next, because believe it or not, rather than fix the publicly available download link that was failing, they got one of AKAI's team to send me a download link, but not only that, it appeared to be an unfinished beta or something, we're talking complete background graphics missing from some of the instruments even.

In a nutshell, they're a bunch of deviuous bastards as far as I'm concerned. I demended refund from the dealer, telling them that the download AKAI provided me with looks like an unfinished internal job, and that AKAI clearly have no intention of fixing that download, and I was right, because despite no longer having any interest in the AKAI MPC platform whatsoever, I occassionally checked back on that download, just to see if my suspicions are valid, and with the last check being about a month ago they still have not fixed that publicly accessible download link, therefore they're knowingly wasiting customers time and bandwidth.

So as far as I'm concerned it's just another demonstration of corporates shitting all over the users. It's all about getting you opening accounts, pulling you into their system and I'm guessing that this is why the MPC ONE is so competitively priced, it's basically a user-base grab.

You see legally, they are not allowed to force you to surrender details to them in order to access updates for your product, but in effect that's exactly what they're doing because if the donwload fails unless you're logged in, they are in effect forcing you to open an account in order to access something which, by law, you are not obliged to hand over any data in order to access.

Of course, your average sheeple just goes ahead and does exactly that, they open an account so that they can access the update. Why do you think the new keyboard version they just released is so much more expensive than the MPC ONE even though it's pretty much the same machine but with a keyboard attached?

So the keybed costs a thousand fucking quid, does it?
Go fuck yourselves, AKAI.

It's because the MPC ONE is there for no other purpose than to suck-in as many users to the MPC platform as possible. But I didn't like it anyway, because powerful that it was, it simply does not allow for that hands-on, fun, spontaneous thing you get out of an SP.

Drove me quite mad to be honest, but that update thing is how I noticed it could be skinned, cause I went exploring the unfinished update they sent me and noticed that some of the graphics files were missing, lol!

So just be weary of what you're buying into is my only bit of advice. It's not going to give you the enjoyment you get from the SP range IMHO and it's basically just another corporate money pit designed to get you opening accounts, purchasing sound-packs and then realising that you have invested so much that you are later hesitant to give it up.

Consider how much gear I have had and that I have now settled on two old school products for this stuff, those being the SP-404SX and the ES-1. Both of those products run rings around the MPC range for sound quality and spontaneous hands-on usability. The MPC platform is basically a DAW in a dedicatred hardware box, so at the end of the day all you really need to be asking yourself is why you are wanting to use hardware in the first place.

One other thing you should be very weary of is just how ludicrous AKAI are when it comes to the inplementation of this stuff. Cause if you thought that using hardware would free you of all that software registration bullshit, then you had better think again with the MPC platform, because I saw a video from AKAI themselves demonstrating the registration procedure for adding their latest (atrociously overpriced) software intruments to the MPC ONE. I am not kidding you, I have never seen anything so convoluted in my fucking life, and judging by the pissed-off comments for that video, neither had anyone else!

I know it's fresh coming from me, but for fuck sake you absoultely MUST try one out in the shop before you go thinking that it will in any way replace your SP gear. There's a saying that the best camera is the one you have with you. And if we take that analogy and adapt it then what we basically have here is a case of "The best beat box (or whatever you want to call it) is the one that will inspire you to use it".

So for me, comparing the SP range to the MPC range is like comparing some comfortable well worn jeans that look cool on you (SP), to an awkward suit that you cannot wait to pass-on to a charity shop cause you're just not the office type (MPC). So what I'm saying is I'm not the office type, I hate offices and I hate office suits! I much prefer jeans and my own little cave with cosy lighting, a log fire crackling away and an SP sitting in the corner!

SP-User wrote

SP-404SX and the ES-1. Both of those products run rings around the MPC range for sound quality .




Sorry but that's just laughable ...you're trying to say that the SP 404 SX has better sound quality than the Akai MPC X ??

I have the MPC X obviously ,I also have a 404-SX sat next to me here..it isn't actually mine but that's not really important right now but believe me, it sounds nowhere even remotely near as good as the MPC-X .

There's no comparison .

And If you were to stand here and A/B both through these KRK ROCKIT monitors you'd be in agreement ,I can assure you.

Take it from myself as someone who loves the SP series,with it's limitations,warts and all.

And talking of SP's sound quality the SX is in fact pretty sterile sounding in comparison to the 404 O.G.,303 or the 808's in my opinion ..it's still a great sampler because of the workflow and upgrades but the OG sounds far better when it comes down to pure sonics and grit.

I didn't switch over to using the MPC X and shelling out the cash for this lightly. I read and researched and tried it out in the store several times before I pulled the trigger but it was worth it , this machine absolutely hammers anything I've owned or used in the SP series hands down .

I don't believe Roland will ever release a standalone sampler to rival the MPC-X unfortunately , they missed the boat big time ..if they'd have been smart enough to design a new model of the SP 808 with CF readers and SD cards ,bigger pads etcetera they probably could have cleaned out the competition years ago but here we all are ...still waiting .

(Old pic of my A/B test of the SP 404s )

Would sell my soul for a new SP-808 with more tracks, more inputs and true multitrack recording!

I'm in total agreement with you TGN .

That's exactly what Roland should have done ..I would have snapped one up in a heartbeat personally.

Talk about a missed opportunity...

For Danswift and any other Live/One/X users, how do you all feel about the touchscreen?

Personally I'm a button-masher (JJOS FTW), so the idea of there being functionality that's only possible on the touchscreen is kind of a turn-off for me. That's probably the only reason I haven't went for any of them yet (besides for the software bugs and some of the business practices SP-USER talked about)...



Anything without the D-Beam has been a missed opportunity