AKAI Professional MPC Sample

great device especially for a beginner looking to dive into the world of MPC beatmaking, it's very capable and as a first step on this journey, it will take you a long way. it's super intuitive, everything is very clear, the full manual is super useful. it's just an absolute joy to play with. mileage will vary for experienced beatmakers who already own other tools, whether hardware or software, for someone like that this may be redundant. but for someone who always wanted to get into beatmaking but was put off by the price and learning curve of the larger AKAI devices, this hits the spot.

When you are confronted by all the videos on YouTube etc you may be sceptical and rightly so. It has to be said that a lot of people online may not actually understand how the history of the mpc 60 and 3000 is connected to this little box of joy. There’s a lot discussion about what’s missing, which device you should choose, or just simply masses of misinformed influencers just talking to keep you engaged rather than to let you know how good the product actually is. Unfortunately, this is the current state of affairs with social media.
For those who have used any good vintage machines you realise how simplicity is really the ultimate key to creativity and satisfaction. Learning your tools inside out and creating a muscle memory that allows you to flex, at any moment, to create your own masterpieces. Testing the limits and boundaries of simple equipment has created entirely new genres in modern music. This was rarely predicted by music industry companies but it has been a proven method for several generations to escape the boundaries of the tools that they used. Aside from the sound and build of the vintage mpcs, this formula has been tried and tested. There are literally countless albums that have used the mpc as the main sequencing or sampling tool. Do the research and you’ll find the results.
So why the long intro about vintage machines you may ask? Simply because the DNA of this machine lies in that simplicity. The ability to pick it up, switch it on and simply start sampling to your hearts content is where the old and the new mpcs connect. Nobody needs large feature sets, DAW’s with too many tracks, features and workflows that you can’t remember without watching a video or reading a manual. Unfortunately this current music industry process has distracted thousands upon thousands of keen musicians from actually focusing on what they need to do, which is make good music and have fun in the process.
Speaking of fun, I can only say that the fun factor is exactly where this mpc takes the prize. It is far from perfect but I must say it has a feature set larger than any vintage pieces of equipment, yet it is powerful enough to create anything that my vintage pieces of equipment can create and more. The portability is a major plus and muscle memory for this type of device will probably developed within one week of regular use. Having been out for a short period of time I’m pretty sure that there’s feedback and future ideas being gathered to improve the device. There are some minor bugs but nothing too jarring. For those of you that are on the fence you might want to wait to see how this develops but to be honest it doesn’t get much better than this as a new release but there is room for improvement. We have seen worse and better. You can make or sketch your tracks, depending on the genre of course, with this device without a doubt. The ability to play along with computers and other pieces of equipment means that it can hold its own amongst more sophisticated and complex devices yet still provide you with a fully hands-on experience that does not leave you perplexed or confused. It just allows you to stay in the flow. Just long enough for a smile to start appearing on your face when you realise that within a few minutes you’ve already started to sketch out your idea.
For those of you who are new to the MPC world, there is a learning curve but I can safely say with this device, it is not particularly steep and the device actually has been quite well equipped with enough samples and ideas for you to get going for a good period of time. For those you are looking for your own kind of personalisation of the device, the SD card slot is your gateway. Within a few minutes, you can load up the device with your own personalised samples, if you’re not keen on direct sampling as your first steps. With that said the sound quality is on par with most other pieces of equipment. Of course it is not perfect and there are some aspects that have room for improvement. However these are just things that either can be rectified in future updates or has to be accepted for what they are.
In conclusion, I actually think this is the first MPC that feels like an actual continuation of the legacy MPC’s. Even though they may have been a fantastic onslaught of videos on social media, in my opinion the device does live up to its own hype. But don’t let other people convince you of what you can experience yourself. Pick up the device, turn off the computer, load some samples and dive into the world of mpc pad sequencing. See what your creativity can reward you with when you spend time being in the mpc zone.

its great. its a toy. i own the Ableton Move and this one. since there is like a debate around, i will give my 2 cents.
- if you're sample focused. Go for the MPC.
- if you're into Sample based hip hop, go for MPC.
- If you're into electronic/experimental music, go for Move.

i really do not recommend the Move for sampling based styles AT ALL.
same way i would not recommend the MPC for electronic music.

you can still do both in the opposite, it just feels less suited for it.

great product, i love it.

MPC Sample is an intuitive, joyful, handy and mobile little machine. It feels like a toy, but it’s much more: a compact sampler, drum machine and production brain in one. You can record, chop, edit and play samples from pads, sequence beats, layer sounds, apply effects and sync with MIDI gear.

I’ve been using it for a week and keep finding new ways to work with it: creating samples on the computer, then remixing and reshaping them on the machine. I dug into my brother’s records and can now tread the historical path of some of my favorite records from the 90s. Mistakes become lucky decisions, and being forced to work on a few-bar loop with limitations is an absolutely helpful way to rediscover loop-based music.

There’s still plenty left to discover, but with a little patience it opens up like a pocket book.

It’s basically the Game Boy I wish I had when I was little.