AKAI PRO LAUNCH NEW MPC RANGE INC. MPC LIVE, MPC 2.0 SOFTWARE, MORE
This. Is. Big.
Akai Pro has announced the release of the MPC Live, MPC X Music Production Centre and MPC 2.0 Music Production Software.
The two new standalone players bring with them new features and new studio production, live and performance capabilities.
The MPC Live picks up on where the MPC Touch left off but with addition of some added oomph! Looking rather similar to the MPC Touch the new Live comes with a host of features including a full-colour 7-inch multi-touch screen, 16 responsive velocity and pressure-sensitive RGB pads, four touch-capacitive Q-Link controls and a large, master encoder knob.
The new MPC Live also features multicore processing technology, 2GB of RAM and an expandable 16GB of on-board storage. The MPC Live, whilst being extremely powerful, is also mega portable thanks to the fact that it can run under battery powered operation via the internal, rechargeable lithium-ion battery.
Users now have the ability to time-stretch in real time, sample, grab, pinch & edit waveforms via the glorious touch display; as well as programming the step sequencer; record, sequence & edit audio/MIDI live and apply XY FX in real-time, all aided by the iPad style touch screen.
Minimal and stylish in design but extremely powerful the MPC Live can slot into an advanced DJ set up and or any Live/Studio rig
The Mac Daddy of the range is now the MPC X, a fully fledged, one-stop production studio.
The new MPC X is a standalone MPC featuring an impressive, full-colour 10.1” multi-touch screen display, 16 responsive, velocity and pressure-sensitive RGB pads all fuelled by a multicore processor that powers the MPC Software 2.0.
The MPC X features dedicated menu buttons, a large master encoder knob and 16 touch-sensitive 360º assignable pots (Q-Links) with adaptive OLED displays, perfect for viewing and precisely automating individual parameters to deliver extremely accurate recordings.
Akai’s new MPC X offers tactile ease-of-use found on smartphones and tablets combined with full-featured production functions, as with the MPC Live users can time-stretch in real-time; grab, pinch & edit waveforms; program the step sequencer; record, sequence & edit audio/MIDI; apply XY FX and much more directly from MPC X’s large multi-touch capacitive colour screen and dedicated hardware controls.
The MPC X has plenty of connectivity options. A 2-in/4-out MIDI interface can connect to controllers and MIDI compatible sound modules, drum machines and synthesizers, providing core sequencing and control capability. Thanks to a wealth of inputs and outputs (XLR, ¼-inch jack, 1/8-inch jack & RCA), plus studio-grade audio capture, direct / hardware monitoring options and switchable phantom-power, the MPC X can easily be the centre piece of any production setup.
Additional connectivity options include 8 CV/Gate outputs and a custom CV Program, configurable via MPC X’s allowing producers to be able to control their external modular gear and CV compatible synthesizers via MPC X’s hardware controls and sequencing functions.
Powering the impressive MPC X and MPC Live is MPC Software 2.0, Akai Professional’s reimagined update of its MPC software. Capable of running natively on the MPC X in standalone mode, MPC Software 2.0 can also be run from a Mac or PC as a plugin in all popular DAWs, or as a full-featured standalone application as well as on Akai’s existing MPC Touch and MPC Studio Black units.
The New MPC 2.0 Software is an extremely powerful music production software, intuitive and fast to use with top draw features found on some of the most popular DAWs currently out there...
Akai Pro have definitely lifted the production and music creation bar with this collection of MPC Goodies.
Watch some of the software in action below!
Mick Wilson is DJ Mag’s Tech Editor. Follow him on Twitter here.
