The mpc keys looks so so do so cool ! I ordered the live 2 though because I just love my microfreak and Hydrasynth. I got the mpc live 2 because I was lookin at drums like Roland tr8s and it just seemed like I could get fine drums in the mpc live 2 abs be able to record real drum samples and everything else so it just seemed like the better choice after seeing I didn't want the elektron abs but the circuit tracks looks cool. I just figured I would be best served by the mpc! I just want to do simple stuff like what my forefathers did with this stuff and make some killer tracks with sweet riffs and hooks ands beats that swing and thump !
Akai has left me with an overwhelming sense of gratitude over the last few years. MPC is up there with the OG Circuit with regards to the value that has been added after I purchased it. Very rare to see such generosity and after purchase care. Maschine, we are looking at you ; ]
AKAI has made the Best MPC to date and software updates are really on point, But $500 for those plugins..... I don't think so. They Could have charged $250 for MPC users and that's still a tall order to ask. The kicker is it's $500 for a limited time as they cost $900, that's laughable.
@@TeftyMeems I know AKAI needs to make money, but that's starting to cost as much as Hardware synths and even as much as an MPC one. Hydrasynth, Behringer 2600 and so on, those are real instruments that can last you forever. That's my only problem.
I got 99 problems, but a lack of good instruments ain't one. The new plugins and sounds seem pretty cool and would be nice to have, but it doesn't seem worth paying $500 _and_ dealing with DRM. The DRM alone would be a deal-breaker.
My suggestion would be for Akai to price the plugins low or free and charge a much higher amount for the presets and sample-banks than they previously charged for their one-shot/melodic libraries. Content takes time to produce. Good content necessitates both time and experience. So that cost/time checks out. I get the impression that $500 is reasonable if the MPC is your main kit. But $500 will buy quite a few interesting small hardware synths both new and used. And a sampler allows you to stretch those little instruments further than they could have gone on their own.
My two cents: First, $500 for the whole collection is... steep. I paid something like that for FL Studio with all the bells, whistles, and plugins('Producer Edition', I think it's called), and that software is CRAZY powerful. That said, my computer is currently dead, and I've been wanting to spend more time away from the DAW anyway, so I've been working on using my MPC Live 2 and some other hardware to create music. In that context, the cost is easier to swallow. I'm not sure where I'd even start looking for this range of sounds in a hardware/standalone unit for that price. As for the new Akai MPC Keyboard, I think it looks SICK. I don't really play keys worth a damn, already have the above-mentioned Live 2, and don't really have that kind of desk space, but I think for keyboardists it's a great option.
@Nathaniel Walker I agree, if I was sticking with my DAW, I would have no need of these new Akai plugins. I have all the sounds I could ever need on my laptop. In addition to FL Studio, I have EZ Keys(pretty convincing piano/e-piano sounds) EZ Drummer(ditto, but for drums), and a few other assorted things. Moving away from the computer the options get a lot more limited.
They sound interesting, but not $500 immediate buy level. I'm hoping for some good sales as I'd like to have them on my MPC One, but simply can't justify them at this price. If they dropped to 250-300 for the bundle, that'd be a very different story. Current pricing seems to be set up in a way to convince people that the new MPC Key is a great value, rather than actually reflecting the perceived value of these plugins in the market.
I like your theory that Akai priced this bundle to make it look like, "FREE WITH MPC KEY!!", was a super bargain. In fact, I was a little pissed that the Key got the bundle for free in the first place. I only realized that yesterday. It's not a $500 package. I use my Akai plugins but always lament their seemingly arbitrary limitations. Now it's starting to look like the limitations are designed to not compete with purchase only plugins.
Yes, this. $500 is too much. I paid less than that for the entire Arturia V Collection, and there's a lot more there. This would ideally be a $99 bundle, but I'd go up to $250. $500 is way out, and if they consider that an "introductory sale" they're in fantasyland. They're decent, but not $500. It feels like they're extorting their user base by locking the standalone ecosystem.
I can go on the second hand market and find real genuine synths and good compressors and what not, for these prices. Akai is out they dang minds. Most of these should either be FREE for purchasers, or priced better. I will never, ever, spend 1-500$ on a mpc plug in lmao
Following up on this comment - Akai seemed to hear the feedback and reduced the bundle to $199. I bought it alongside the discounted model D and I'm quite happy with the quality at that price. Now my mpc one became a workstation replacement for all my piano, ep and organ needs :)
Keep In mind, they sound decent because he's running them through some kind processing. But if you hear them without sourcing and his great video production, you would hear the run of the meal free plug-ins that's awesome for being free. But why would you buy a 500 dollar vsts for a drum machine essentially. Logic for the whole suite is 299, ableton has a great price, reason is on sale, fruity loops with allllll the bells and whistles etc are the main stream. I just feel betrayed by akai, because I have so many of their products, and this should have easily been included in the update. But akai is always full of surprises, who knows, they might bless us with the $99 bundle instead 500. $99 to 150 is the standard for vst like this. That's pretty fair 👍 bundled pricing, what you think
I would label these instruments as on par with iOS apps and should be priced as such. Not for me at current prices although I do like the idea of having a few more instruments in the box. I agree we can’t expect Akai to keep rolling out updates based on the original hardware sale but an online shop built into the software would be the way to go. Selling synth patches, samples, keygroups, instruments and expansion packs. Even expand to community stuff that can be uploaded and sold where akai take a commission. As for the keys 61 - I can just plug my Live 2 into my Roland fp30. Same thing with a larger/better keybed and I’ve got a speaker and battery. Then I just unplug and finish working on the track somewhere else.
I also have the Roland fp30 and I love it, but I have to admit the keybed on the MPC Key61 really surprised me. It is definitely a high quality keybed with velocity sensitive keys with after touch…. nothing like those cheap keybeds on those older Akai controllers. Also, the touch strip is just sick! I underestimated how having everything in one place would benefit my workflow. No more interruption of inspiration switching from one piece of equipment to another. To each his own, but I’m loving the experience with my MPC Key 61 so far. The immediacy it adds to my workflow is like nothing else I’ve owned.
@@williamocosby fair enough. I haven’t seen one in the flesh but it looks like a massive bit of kit. Is it polyphonic aftertouch? However you look at it, it is just a MPC with a keyboard plugged in and if you already have a MPC then it’s hardly an upgrade. I think many people would have liked to see a MPC One with a battery and wifi.
Now finally could test the plug ins. to have in consideration: Fabric: Lots of decent sounds, but not covering all the basics; no woodwinds! Some presets are recycled from Hype, at least I could find some choir, strings and bells that sound basically the same as in hype. Almost no articulations going on, even thou, the fabric engine can in theory handle it, there are even a few guitar presets with harmonics, slides or muted articulation on notes with velocity 127. But it would be so much better if we could construct our own presets with articulations, let's say a fingered bass on layer 1 and slap bass on layer 2, and switch between them with a foot switch or something, could not do that in a easy way (it is possible to record an automation turning layers on and off, but not switch between them). Compared with keygroups, Fabric has layers 3 (two melodic multisamples and one percussive layer as shown in the video) each layer has an unknown number of velocity layers that can't be edited, it has embedded effects, better GUI, but no custom samples. Keygroups are more basic, but velocity layers can be edited, and they can use your own samples. Fabric Piano has the same sounds as stage piano, and also similar presets can be found in the normal fabric, still fabric piano sounds better the the normal fabric. Stage piano, seems to have more velocity layers than fabric piano (but in general the same samples). It has additional controls for piano parameters, hammer noise and so on, that makes it sound much better, it could compete with pianos from other hardware flagship synths. Similar story applies to the EPs. In general the Fabric, technically speaking does not match other synths like the kronos, fantom or montage, those would offer more velocity layers, and articulations. The dedicated plugins like the Stage Piano, Stage EP, Organ or Studio strings, could eventually compete with those. Studio strings has some interesting legato algorithm thing going on, but I think they should have added more articulation power to stand out. The organ, seems nice, the type of control would not be found in fabric or easily emulated on keygroups. The opx4 is quite powerful for an 4 operator FM synth, when compared to other FM synths, it tends to stay on the harsh side of FM thou. But it offers a lot of parameters to be modulated or automated. A bit niche, but if you like FM beyond some classic sounds, it can't be replaced by keygroups. I would say, the bundle is only worth for standalone users, as there are better value VTS. Moreover, considering that there is a lot of overlapping, and to some extent it can be replaced with some good keygroups, for those who know well what they need, cherry-picking only one or two plugins could be better than the bundle (or wait for other plugins to come out or sales).
Great and fair video! I think the price is fair with other standalone software in the market compare to Roland and Ni standalone stuff. TIP: Use “locate preset” button on the top right of the sounds browser to find the sound you’re one instead of going back to sounds.
Yeah, expensive for sure, but I'm packing away to grab em. Demo'd on my OG Live, they sound great, aren't as bad on resources as I'd feared, and most importantly, are inspiring to me. Lots of cool presets, I know it's not up to par with all sorts of other options, but I live in my Live, almost totally standalone, with controllers and other doodads. Bottom line: Upgrading to the keys is too much, for effectively more RAM as an existing owner. Will pay the 500 now and wait for the Live 3 someday for the next upgrade cycle. Oh, and totally agree, the Flavor effect is GREAT.
I'm actually a big fan of hardware, with multiple hardware, synths samplers and groovebox's in my collection but there are free plugins like Vital, Surge and many more that put these inferior paid plugins to shame.
As fucked up as your comment sounds, it's 100% accurate! I feel so dumb for wasting money on these shit plugins! They are ridiculously quiet! I'm talking -20 to -25 dB even when I'm drop kicking my keys and jumping off my bed and dropping elbows on my keyboard! If you notice, he's playing all these sounds without any beat or anything else going and you can still barely hear the presets as he plays them all throughout this video! And he even mentions in the very beginning of this video that he has his setup being ran through compressors, eq, SSL etc. and we still can barely hear the plugins in the video! Now imagine trying to hear these plugins when you have a dope project that's almost finished but you want to add a piano, or some strings! Good luck even being able to hear them in the mix with everything else! I've been producing music 100% with software on a PC for the last 20+ years. I have a little over 20 years of experience with FL Studio. The only reason I started going down this rabbit hole of plugins for the MPC is because I decided to get an MPC X 4 years ago. I love the X! But I wanted to produce more with hardware and get away from the DAW/software realm! However.. the further I go, the more I realize I'm missing out! I really wish my MPC X would work seamlessly with FL Studio rather than relying on a shit plugin or throwing my X into controller mode! For me the perfect world would be if FL Studio was the one that owned the MPC and designed it specifically to use with FL Studio!
My real problem is that Akai might be starting a trend here where you buy a future MPC, only to find out that its sounds and fx are only barebones. And that you have to pay another half on top of the hardware investment you just made to get the full deal. That's just a horrible customer experience.
I think Akai has generated way too much good will to do that. It would be a marketing disaster. The new additional plugins are aimed at a specific audience. I purchased the piano suite, no regrets at all there as I can write it off anyway. The "barebones" option still gives you a nice lot of plugins and effects.
@@Diddddu MPCs have grown beyond that and are nowadays perfectly capable DAW workstations even if you don't put anything in them. I would go as far as claiming that when you're not into sampling or playing hardware instruments yourself but in the market for a standalone DAW, then MPC is your best option.
@@Drrolfski Grown beyond what? Like i said it's still an mpc.You can all ways do mpc stuff with it like add your own sounds and samples.All that beyond stuff is just extra.My point was you don't need all the extra content because it's a MPC YOU PUT SOUNDS IN IT.I have keygroups that sound just as good if not better in some cases.
@@Diddddu You suggest that putting sounds in it yourself is the only way you're "supposed" to use an MPC. Well, that's bullshit. A significant part of the MPC users can't be bothered to hook up external gear & instruments (that they don't have anyway) or have to figure out all this intricate key group stuff. They just want to turn on the machine, at best install a few expansions and then get going making tracks. And Akai needs to make sure they can keep delivering this straight-out-of-the-box, fully equipped DAW experience without giving them a bad taste in the mouth about all the built-in stuff they miss out on if they don't pay serious extra money.
As I person who bought the Force when it first came out I can now say its worth the money....just had to wait years to be able to re order tracks.... the pluggins sound great and def going get the Keys and organ (onsale right now) maybe the OPx-4 too. I agree though the price is a bit high, I don't mind paying say$50 per pluggin but not $500! They should make a cheaper version that works only in the machines and a more expensive one if you want it to work as a vst, then at least they know they made the money off the hardware when ppl buy the $50 one.
Those two VSTs are prime examples of why I feel Akai’s pricing for the new software is exorbitant. You can get way more sounds and effects from those two pieces of software for the same price range as the entirety of the new MPC sounds.
@@hostilesavage4299 But Having Quality Plug ins For A Standalone Unit Of This Elk Is A Groundbreaker but like The Host Said, If You Just Bought A MPC LIVE 2 For 1300 Dollars Then Add 500, That's 1800 Dollars... The MPC KEYS 61 Is 1899... So That's Ah Problem... They Should've Gave Us some Kind Of Better Deal For Sure.. Like Buy The Bundle For 250 Dollars Max, Then It Goes To 500 After The Trail Run Of About 90 Days... Now That would've Been Fair.
Only one I’m interested in is the fm synth. Trying some cool sounds from innt patches at mo before the trial expires. Having ng trouble making traditional fm sounds, like lately bass though. Will experiment some more. Like the sharper look!
straight up, hell no these are not worth $500. And that's the "half price" price. What a joke. It's worth $200. And Akai is just going to end up screwing over its loyal, early adopter buyers when they lower the price to something reasonable. This is a brutal misstep. And where's the disk streaming already?
I feel like at $200 for the bundle it'd be a no brainer. I could see it getting discounted as a black Friday sale at around $200 (maybe not this year 🤣). And yeah, I want that disk streaming!
Thats the recipe for Wall Street sell high buy low…. In essence wait it out then… I think Akai has really supported this product much more than previous MPC’s with constant updates vs other companies putting unfinished products out clearly just using it as a front to sell you sample packs.
Good video 👍. I agree with your analysis that it's fair in principle for Akai to want to charge for extras such as this. My perspective is I rarely use the existing plugins so I wouldn't be any more interested if these ones were free! What is interesting is the MPC Key 61. I wonder why it took them so long to do that even though people have been mourning the Ensoniqs for decades? I might have been interested if it had been available at the same time as the One because I do want a synth (not a MIDI keyboard) to replace my DX27 as my full-size synth-action keyboard but I don't need two MPCs.
@@muppetpaster I've not even installed all the ones that are free but I did buy the Air delay. I find that free plugins, VSTs, sample packs, etc. just end up as clutter.
I think for the people who already own hybrid 3 and Riser we should get a cross grade and also I think that all the air plug ins should work in the mpc environment. would I pay 500 no but I would pay a 50-100 crossgrade. .. I am also a huge arturia v collection 7,9 user pigments 3 ... heaviy user of arturia.
I've been experimenting with the OPX-4 and Fabric synths and they truly sound great, and the fact that they are available in Stand Alone mode makes it a tough one to ignore for me. The price seems high, but the quality of these synths is also very high IMHO...the MPC is really excelling at being a total solution for music production in a portable box. I have 5 days remaining on my demo...so we will see how I fair over the coming hours as I build out more tracks using these sounds. :) Great to hear losing your beard was for a great cause. Congrats on surpassing your goal for the Children's Hospital!
Be that as it may, the akai mpc is a fantastic product. Personally I have rediscovered the joy of making music, away from those fucking computers, sound cards, latencies, windows, drivers, etc... So I can only say thank you akai for what you did! The plugins? They don't look bad to me and anyway nobody forces you to buy them, or at least not to buy them all. You have 8 audio tracks, the sampler and keygroups.. You can always record anything you want! Great akai.. Serious and honest brand.. Shall we talk about bosses? An rc505 for 600 euros and you don't even have a fucking micro sd slot! 😄
So I'm fairly confident these plugins are to compete with Maschine+, where we now have synth plugins on a standalone device available for sale. The pricing is also consistent on a per plugin basis. If you go purely off the market perspective, these are fairly priced. Personally, I think they are a little overpriced, especially considering they only work with MPC, while NI's stuff can be used with other software as well. I did get them though because first they do sound great, and second I agree that I want to support Akai with their dev costs. They've done an excellent job so far supporting the MPC lineup and so I'm happy to kick a couple extra dollars their way.
19:55 ofcourse you can go back to presets....Just click the rotary encoder right now...While preset name at the top is highlighted.....Gets you straight to the list of presets...In ALL plugins...
Really Good value when bundled with MPC key, a little steep otherwise as VI prices have dropped over last 5 years or so due to more competition especially in the orchestral space look at east west sales prices for example, but I will say the MPC workflow is amazingly efficient and creative so having access to this in a groove sequencer really opens the door to creativity and production ,
I'm just waiting for the Force update. I think these are worth it for a standalone device. I only use my force standalone so I'm looking forward to it. these new plugins will hold me over until I can pickup a juno-x
MPC line getting cheaper, plugins/ software is the market where the revenue, margins, profits are. Akai has seen this from ... and you can mention many names! Let's be honest ; the packages are basically about keygroups and parameters. Sure it takes time to program! But 500 dollars ? Haha! I think not. -- good video Sir. Thanks!
$USD500 = $AUD750 down here in Australia. For that I could buy so much more I think. I have some big workstation synths like Motif XS, Korg M3 and Nord Stage. I can grab samples from them and create my own sound library. It is handy to have them all there and ready to go. The workflow is clunky and in his review, loopop showed similar cons to the workflow.
The OPx4 is huge. I did not regret buying it (at a 50% discount though). I had sequences worth of 4 tracks in the first 20 minutes of using it. For the Pianos and the XL stuff ... I might get it if they discount it a lot but then I don't think I need those really. I have all the sound creating gear I currently need and utilise. For some years now I don't "hoard" gear just because I like it. When I buy something I see if I use it and when I see it just collecting dust it's on eBay in a minute. Hard to do with a plugin especially since it's so special purpose MPC only. I would never pay for extra base features though like a better arranger aso.
So I switched from MPC One to MPC Key and couldn't be more pleased. I really dig all these sounds. Would I have bought these for my One at 5 hundy? Yeah I think so, but I also wanted Wifi and Bluetooth, and the built in keyboard. Upgrading to the Keys has simplified a LOT for me, a lot of synths are now boxed up and I don't have to faff about trying to use an iPad as a sound module. I also think there's a lot to dig into in that FM synth. All that being said - would I have upgraded from a Live ii? Probably not, unless I had loads of money or got a good price back selling the Live ii.
Maybe ipad will comeback soon , because Model D , Animoog ,Zeon ,Piano , rhodes , Swam...with Mpc Key ;) miam , better ? Maybe ...;) But now you have just 4 knob to control a external synth .... A synth with only 4 knob for me it's not possible... But i understand
They are ok. The fact they are work on standalone sweetens the pot some. The price is on the high side. If anyone thinks it’s too high, buy parts or none at all.
I Will be buying in the future, but I got enough sounds running into my MPC now. I use it standalone and run the CPU as an audio input. I'm thinking about the Keys it'll take away the need for the keyboard on my desk but doesn't really replace anything being that all the MPCs have the same built-in software. It's more vanity buy than necessity.
Respect to AKAI for adding so much to the MPC platform. I have a used OG Live, and I feel like I'm getting too much for the money especially with the additions of drumsynth and hypesynth. Whoever bought my Live originally in 2017 had a far less capable machine. But yeah I don't think these plugins are a good value. The FM synth is the only one Im excited about, and it's hard to justify over just using Arturia Pigments VST. It's a big premium, and licensing/usability friction to get some new standalone instruments. Hopefully AKAI puts them on sale for 50% off around black Friday, and maybe Ill buy one.
@@sederquest a lot of software today is backed by venture capital and is never profitable. Also this model of software development has created the expectation in the market that software is cheap, when it really isn’t.
hope you enjoyed that beat coz that was real nice.....Another consideration when you provide a platform for 3rd party involvement its also an idea to attract 3rd party`s to bring value by bringing better content. ive seen this is the gaming sim side multiple times... so... im confident its a cash grab, happening every where in our world. confident the price will be re adjusted as they are on the extortionate side. alas don`t forget everything that has been free so far too. the Key61 is fantastic on the other hand with these plugins not being a consideration. nobody bought a workstation for its excellent sequencing and sampling and nobody bought an MPC for its synth engines or plugins. but we have a new medium and its workflow is unrivalled as a redefinition of the workstation. just new mpc territory capable of attracting a different style of musician without leaving the old fold out. i think one of the plugins could have been free very easily. A " take your pick " for the new akai plugin registrations system might have been a nice option. encouraging at least. but also i believe everyone can demo these plugins and create key groups as a compensation which also leads to new key61 Interest.
1:00 A list of everything these AKAI plugins must run through in order to even be able to hear them! I paid for these plugins and they literally sit at -20 to -25 dB while casually scrolling through presets and playing! It's pathetic! I spent hours yesterday trying to figure out why they're so quiet and what I could try to do in order to counter it. Because you max out the volume for the plugin itself, and STILL the instrument will be 30-50% lower in dB than what you need in order for you to play along with your project! The sounds themselves are pretty decent. I have no gripes in that regard. My issue is how ridiculously low the volume is for Akai plugins! Edit- I mean just listen as he goes through the presets for crying out loud! Even with his monster setup you still can barely hear these damn plugins! And he's playing them by themselves without any sort of beat already going! Now imagine trying to hear these plugins when your beat is nearly finished but you decide you want to add a piano, or a guitar, or some strings! Good luck trying to hear those instruments with everything else playing! Complete MF NIGHTMARE! 🤮
They’re cool, but the pricing is simply inappropriate and out of sync with comparable mainstream plugins and softsynths that sound way better and offer better performance for less money.
My biggest concern is actually that my box could stop working at some point if akai no longer supports the software (which eventually always happens at some point) or ceases business. The price for the Plugins is borderline acceptable, but on a hardware box they then need to work for as long as the box works.
I have a Live 2, and I'm really debating on getting the keys. I haven't really messed with the stock drums much, but they're hitting hard on this. I could definitely use them. I always use my own and 3rd party samples. I'm really struggling trying to figure out if the Keys is worth buying, if I already have a Live 2. I'm just not sure if the plugins sound good enough, for me to double up on MPC's. There's so many things I can get when spending that much. I'm trying to streamline, by getting more premium gear, to replace multiple pieces of smaller gear, due to not enjoying the clutter of having a bunch of gear. It messes with my workflow. I would rather have a bout 10 premium pieces, than being cluttered by cheaper pieces. I just ordered an Iridium Keys, which has stereo sampling, so I'm thinking that me getting the keys would be an overlap, and a step down from the Iridium, especially since I have the Live 2. I think I may have just answered myself with this comment... HAHA! Thanks for the video! I like the stuff you do!
Not bad sounds from the Fabric vst very pricey where I live our dollar is currently a joke, on special for $99 in USA presently but sadly nowhere else.
🤣🤣 Welllllll I was planning on rearranging things again (surprise surprise) and our AC broke last week, so I decided to do just make it happen....without AC. I'm still planning on getting a Jaspers synth stand behind me. Thanks for the support, Noir 🙏❤
Thankyou for putting out. Feels like a lot of quality of life design to work with the presets or grease design your own... I'd be interested in how layered the piano sounds are.... But at $500... I'm trying to work out who this is for? It feels like the piano would have to be on a par with garritan gfx. If these come free with the 61 keys, is it just to nudge people into buying the keys thinking they got a bargain?
Yeah, a bit pricey and the competition is stiff in terms of sound libraries. I think the target market really is people that want to have everything included in their MPC for touring/live performance and not worry about software loaded up on a laptop, on stage. In that perspective, it makes a lot of sense with it bundled into the Key 61. I could see some steep discounts in a year. Or holiday sales 👍
Not one of the sounds I’ve heard from the new bundle are worth any $$$ over the plug-ins I already own, much less $150, $250 or $500. As an engineer myself I’m all about paying for software, but not as a charity. There are a metric shit ton of better apps for iOS made by hobbyists that don’t cost more than $5-20. And Vital is practically free. So I just don’t buy that their devs couldn’t compete with the other teams out there to make something equal or better for at least in the same ballpark of price. Not 10X the price. Hype is better than all of them.
One angle I forgot to mention, that I think is really important in hindsight, is the live performance ability with these plugins. If you perform with a Live or One and need these type of sounds on the road, then it's a great choice. This is assuming you're not running a laptop for a show. But yeah, I prefer my own synths/devices for sound sources most of the time.
@@TeftyMeems - yeah but with only 4 q-links, you really need a Faderfox or something with more knobs/faders to assign if you want to tweak things live. At which point you might as well just have a Volca or something for the same price.
I’m struggling to make the MPC Live 2 the main brain of my setup. It does a lot, but the workflow is a hurdle for me. Sound browsing, menu-diving, and program-editing/patch-editing tend to slow me down more than I’d like.
I hear you on this. It took me a few months of dedicated focus and setups for it to click. The problem is the box itself is super complex when you try to remember all the possibilities. I find it helps to just reduce it down to a couple roles to keep my mind clear.
@@TeftyMeems good advice - that's what I did too. In my case I focused on drums first, then sampling & chopping. I then reached into the mixing and effects.
yeah, thats the right word: dumb it down. think of it as you bought the mpc 1000, just for the sampling and midi sequencing possibilities. everything on top of that, is just a bonus, as was/is with the jjos. just isolate yourself with the mpc one only (assuming you got other gear too), after a while you can leave your stuff im keller, only bringing them out of their boxes when you need to make a keygroup patch. having to move to different location with limited space, made me appreciate the mpc one more than ever. if there wasnt the drum synth plugin, maybe i would have to bring some drum machines out of their boxes.... and hype too, that shit is good for everything. with these 2 plugins, i really dont need anything else, i got a volca fm as OP-4 ersatz
Plugins sound ok, but probably not what you’d expect to get from vsts running on computers or such. Then again, you could certainly make a decent track with it and there’s the nice thing of having it in a small mobile unit. Still, it does seem pricey.
They are coming out with more instruments you will be paying more like NI komplete they are going for native instruments neck. Think about it all of akai plugins work with standalone and on the PC native instruments plugins most of them don't work in maschine + Akai has a vision that most users can't foresee they are giving us what we have been asking for and people are complaining about $500. If you are making music that's the price you'll pay or you could just use autosampler and sample your favorite vst's either way it's a win win
Actually I would say, that if these where VSTs, they should be cheaper. For instance NI Komplete costs 600 (at least now) and it includes 68 good quality instruments. It's like 10 times more stuff. But you can't load any VST on the MPC in standalone mode. So that is what you are paying for.
Kind of a side point - but this new "Synth Add-ons" has meant that this MPC Touch user now has Hype, which wasn't previously included with v2.10 pack. Unlikely to fork out for v2.11 plugins, unless there's a big discount someday.
Thanks akai but no thanks for that price. We’re in the middle of summer sales and I can literally get Korg Collection 3 for $239. I understand some work has been put into making these but you need to be realistic with intro prices. Sorry but you simply released it at a bad time. I rather use SW mode simply because I can bring the buffer size lower than on standalone thus timing being more snappy. Not to mention we already have similar options elsewhere. Really bring the price down to atleast $300 and I’ll consider it.
The plugins are worth the $500 if you use an MPC as your main workhorse. Don't be annoyed if you can afford something, it's just you just can't afford it. If Akai charges $150 each and you get six of them sounds like you save money, if you don't like them all just buy what you can afford and be happy with your purchase. Everybody wants everything for free, but in life you have to pay for what makes you happier or don't worry about at all.
I think Akai is readying the marketplace for 3rd party plugins, likely to come in MPC 3+, I'm guessing. They're the inherent and gain traction, before others are made available, as compatible - or perhaps we can create our own? I'm particularly hoping for an Akai-Soundtoys collaboration, but precise tools like FabFilter are probably overkill for the MPC
I think the marketing is way off, the “100 presets” for Stage Piano should be more clear, it’s 4 pianos with lots of FX chains. The pianos sound good but I’m just gonna to find one and make a keygroup. I’d love a deep dive on OPx4…before I start my trial. I can’t find anything that gets into how it really works, thanks for showing that sample layer page, first time I’ve seen it.
I'm all about supporting them, they have given a lot ill admin, but, we need a rent to own model here, for 1 plug-in or all, over time id buy them all anyways
@Tefty - pretty sure buying the plug-in gets you the standalone plugin as well as the desktop as a VST you can drop into any DAW (without having to use the MPC Software as a wrapper).
The reason that they are that price is because of the price of the akai 61 key. These plugins come free with that machine so what they're trying to do was justify the $2000 price point of that machine by saying that you get $900 worth of plugins free. So it makes it seem like the machine itself only costs $1100 but you also get $900 with the plugins. Of course that's not very accurate realistically.
Thanks for this. I’m still debating about getting the OPX 4 plug in as I don’t own a fm synth outside of a computer. (Dexed) It’s either this or the Volca Fm 2. I don’t want spend £600 on an OpSix to be honest. Any thoughts?
Hi Peter! Good news is you can buy the OPx4 plugin separately for $150 US. And it'll probably go on sale at some point in the future. Is it a good FM synth? From what I'm played with so far, yes. Solid option. I have the Korg OpSix and Digitone, though, and I'd honestly reach for those first if I have the choice (that might just be habit and familiarity). But sometimes you just want a quick FM like tone, and the OPx4 fits that perfectly.
It’s just too expensive. There’s different hardware you can pick up to match those synths. And some don’t seem much different from what you could access with sample packs. I think it’s a shame they didn’t add just one instrument to the free updates, and it does feel a bit landgrabby. I have the mpcone and it feels like having to spend the same again to get the additional packages. As for the rest of the update… I’ve got to dig into the sampler system because they’ve changed to adding a sample to a new program - I would work pseudo layering samples to pads which were already set to trigger, so you got a kind of looper going on. That now seems to have gone away, but need to dig to check it out. So I’m kind of a bit ‘meh’ about this update. One thing I hope has been solved for me is the system crashed every time I held a shift function and it was running. It’s still a great kit, but I’m not sure it’s the exciting update everyone keeps talking about.
$500 would absolutely be worth it if they were amongst the best in class. But in every single category, there are better and cheaper options. The worst things about MPC is that the sounds aren't great for non hip-hop genres.
I initially thought they were o ly sold seperatly. I initially just bought FabricXL...for 250, then a week later I got OPx4 for 150...then yesterday I bought Studio Strings for 150...so..I stupidly spent $550 for 3 plugins thinking I didn't want them all...I didn't now whole bundle was 500...it was so confusing at launch. Ima see if I can get rest of bundle seeing as I paid over the asking price already.
From the perspective of a Native Instruments Maschine user, the sounds are pretty laughable, especially for that price. You get a lot more from NI for your money.
Personally I think $500 for it not being an actual VST. That is nearly the price of Omnisphere which has much more application. Akai needs to rethink this. I could understand $100 for the Fabric and maybe $50 for the other as a bundle.
"Teft, what happened to the beard?" Half way through the last video I explain it czcams.com/video/S3TSpBwg1ts/video.html
Thanks for watching! ❤
I honestly didn't notice. :)
holy shit dude :D
Ned 'Funky' Flanders
The mpc keys looks so so do so cool !
I ordered the live 2 though because I just love my microfreak and Hydrasynth.
I got the mpc live 2 because I was lookin at drums like Roland tr8s and it just seemed like I could get fine drums in the mpc live 2 abs be able to record real drum samples and everything else so it just seemed like the better choice after seeing I didn't want the elektron abs but the circuit tracks looks cool. I just figured I would be best served by the mpc! I just want to do simple stuff like what my forefathers did with this stuff and make some killer tracks with sweet riffs and hooks ands beats that swing and thump !
Akai has left me with an overwhelming sense of gratitude over the last few years. MPC is up there with the OG Circuit with regards to the value that has been added after I purchased it. Very rare to see such generosity and after purchase care. Maschine, we are looking at you ; ]
Agreed
AKAI has made the Best MPC to date and software updates are really on point, But $500 for those plugins..... I don't think so. They Could have charged $250 for MPC users and that's still a tall order to ask. The kicker is it's $500 for a limited time as they cost $900, that's laughable.
Ohhh shit, really? That's a limited time intro price 😬? ......just checked my email saw the limited time note. Yeah that's painful.
@@TeftyMeems I know AKAI needs to make money, but that's starting to cost as much as Hardware synths and even as much as an MPC one. Hydrasynth, Behringer 2600 and so on, those are real instruments that can last you forever. That's my only problem.
That's taking the piss, just like the price of Teenage Engineering's new TX-6 Mixer
I got 99 problems, but a lack of good instruments ain't one. The new plugins and sounds seem pretty cool and would be nice to have, but it doesn't seem worth paying $500 _and_ dealing with DRM. The DRM alone would be a deal-breaker.
Capitalism
My suggestion would be for Akai to price the plugins low or free and charge a much higher amount for the presets and sample-banks than they previously charged for their one-shot/melodic libraries. Content takes time to produce. Good content necessitates both time and experience. So that cost/time checks out. I get the impression that $500 is reasonable if the MPC is your main kit. But $500 will buy quite a few interesting small hardware synths both new and used. And a sampler allows you to stretch those little instruments further than they could have gone on their own.
My two cents: First, $500 for the whole collection is... steep. I paid something like that for FL Studio with all the bells, whistles, and plugins('Producer Edition', I think it's called), and that software is CRAZY powerful. That said, my computer is currently dead, and I've been wanting to spend more time away from the DAW anyway, so I've been working on using my MPC Live 2 and some other hardware to create music. In that context, the cost is easier to swallow. I'm not sure where I'd even start looking for this range of sounds in a hardware/standalone unit for that price.
As for the new Akai MPC Keyboard, I think it looks SICK. I don't really play keys worth a damn, already have the above-mentioned Live 2, and don't really have that kind of desk space, but I think for keyboardists it's a great option.
@Nathaniel Walker I agree, if I was sticking with my DAW, I would have no need of these new Akai plugins. I have all the sounds I could ever need on my laptop. In addition to FL Studio, I have EZ Keys(pretty convincing piano/e-piano sounds) EZ Drummer(ditto, but for drums), and a few other assorted things.
Moving away from the computer the options get a lot more limited.
They sound interesting, but not $500 immediate buy level. I'm hoping for some good sales as I'd like to have them on my MPC One, but simply can't justify them at this price. If they dropped to 250-300 for the bundle, that'd be a very different story.
Current pricing seems to be set up in a way to convince people that the new MPC Key is a great value, rather than actually reflecting the perceived value of these plugins in the market.
I like your theory that Akai priced this bundle to make it look like, "FREE WITH MPC KEY!!", was a super bargain. In fact, I was a little pissed that the Key got the bundle for free in the first place. I only realized that yesterday. It's not a $500 package. I use my Akai plugins but always lament their seemingly arbitrary limitations. Now it's starting to look like the limitations are designed to not compete with purchase only plugins.
Yes, this. $500 is too much. I paid less than that for the entire Arturia V Collection, and there's a lot more there. This would ideally be a $99 bundle, but I'd go up to $250. $500 is way out, and if they consider that an "introductory sale" they're in fantasyland.
They're decent, but not $500. It feels like they're extorting their user base by locking the standalone ecosystem.
I can go on the second hand market and find real genuine synths and good compressors and what not, for these prices. Akai is out they dang minds. Most of these should either be FREE for purchasers, or priced better. I will never, ever, spend 1-500$ on a mpc plug in lmao
Following up on this comment - Akai seemed to hear the feedback and reduced the bundle to $199. I bought it alongside the discounted model D and I'm quite happy with the quality at that price. Now my mpc one became a workstation replacement for all my piano, ep and organ needs :)
I was thinking I could buy a synth for this.. The native instruments one or the akai with software built in is around this price.. 500 is nuts
Keep In mind, they sound decent because he's running them through some kind processing. But if you hear them without sourcing and his great video production, you would hear the run of the meal free plug-ins that's awesome for being free. But why would you buy a 500 dollar vsts for a drum machine essentially. Logic for the whole suite is 299, ableton has a great price, reason is on sale, fruity loops with allllll the bells and whistles etc are the main stream. I just feel betrayed by akai, because I have so many of their products, and this should have easily been included in the update. But akai is always full of surprises, who knows, they might bless us with the $99 bundle instead 500. $99 to 150 is the standard for vst like this. That's pretty fair 👍 bundled pricing, what you think
I would label these instruments as on par with iOS apps and should be priced as such. Not for me at current prices although I do like the idea of having a few more instruments in the box. I agree we can’t expect Akai to keep rolling out updates based on the original hardware sale but an online shop built into the software would be the way to go. Selling synth patches, samples, keygroups, instruments and expansion packs. Even expand to community stuff that can be uploaded and sold where akai take a commission.
As for the keys 61 - I can just plug my Live 2 into my Roland fp30. Same thing with a larger/better keybed and I’ve got a speaker and battery. Then I just unplug and finish working on the track somewhere else.
I also have the Roland fp30 and I love it, but I have to admit the keybed on the MPC Key61 really surprised me. It is definitely a high quality keybed with velocity sensitive keys with after touch…. nothing like those cheap keybeds on those older Akai controllers. Also, the touch strip is just sick! I underestimated how having everything in one place would benefit my workflow. No more interruption of inspiration switching from one piece of equipment to another. To each his own, but I’m loving the experience with my MPC Key 61 so far. The immediacy it adds to my workflow is like nothing else I’ve owned.
@@williamocosby fair enough. I haven’t seen one in the flesh but it looks like a massive bit of kit. Is it polyphonic aftertouch?
However you look at it, it is just a MPC with a keyboard plugged in and if you already have a MPC then it’s hardly an upgrade. I think many people would have liked to see a MPC One with a battery and wifi.
@@Marco-ek8wu No Poly aftertouch
Man I jumped back into the mpc world after years of pc production. First thing I did was spend $250 on Jura, Flex, & Fabric XL.
Now finally could test the plug ins.
to have in consideration:
Fabric: Lots of decent sounds, but not covering all the basics; no woodwinds!
Some presets are recycled from Hype, at least I could find some choir, strings and bells that sound basically the same as in hype.
Almost no articulations going on, even thou, the fabric engine can in theory handle it, there are even a few guitar presets with harmonics, slides or muted articulation on notes with velocity 127. But it would be so much better if we could construct our own presets with articulations, let's say a fingered bass on layer 1 and slap bass on layer 2, and switch between them with a foot switch or something, could not do that in a easy way (it is possible to record an automation turning layers on and off, but not switch between them).
Compared with keygroups, Fabric has layers 3 (two melodic multisamples and one percussive layer as shown in the video) each layer has an unknown number of velocity layers that can't be edited, it has embedded effects, better GUI, but no custom samples. Keygroups are more basic, but velocity layers can be edited, and they can use your own samples.
Fabric Piano has the same sounds as stage piano, and also similar presets can be found in the normal fabric, still fabric piano sounds better the the normal fabric.
Stage piano, seems to have more velocity layers than fabric piano (but in general the same samples). It has additional controls for piano parameters, hammer noise and so on, that makes it sound much better, it could compete with pianos from other hardware flagship synths.
Similar story applies to the EPs.
In general the Fabric, technically speaking does not match other synths like the kronos, fantom or montage, those would offer more velocity layers, and articulations. The dedicated plugins like the Stage Piano, Stage EP, Organ or Studio strings, could eventually compete with those.
Studio strings has some interesting legato algorithm thing going on, but I think they should have added more articulation power to stand out.
The organ, seems nice, the type of control would not be found in fabric or easily emulated on keygroups.
The opx4 is quite powerful for an 4 operator FM synth, when compared to other FM synths, it tends to stay on the harsh side of FM thou. But it offers a lot of parameters to be modulated or automated. A bit niche, but if you like FM beyond some classic sounds, it can't be replaced by keygroups.
I would say, the bundle is only worth for standalone users, as there are better value VTS. Moreover, considering that there is a lot of overlapping, and to some extent it can be replaced with some good keygroups, for those who know well what they need, cherry-picking only one or two plugins could be better than the bundle (or wait for other plugins to come out or sales).
Excellent 🎉
Great and fair video! I think the price is fair with other standalone software in the market compare to Roland and Ni standalone stuff. TIP: Use “locate preset” button on the top right of the sounds browser to find the sound you’re one instead of going back to sounds.
Yeah, expensive for sure, but I'm packing away to grab em.
Demo'd on my OG Live, they sound great, aren't as bad on resources as I'd feared, and most importantly, are inspiring to me.
Lots of cool presets, I know it's not up to par with all sorts of other options, but I live in my Live, almost totally standalone, with controllers and other doodads.
Bottom line: Upgrading to the keys is too much, for effectively more RAM as an existing owner.
Will pay the 500 now and wait for the Live 3 someday for the next upgrade cycle.
Oh, and totally agree, the Flavor effect is GREAT.
This is totally crazy to go from DAW to inferior DAW (dawless hardware) and then buy inferior plugins for the inferior dawless system.
I'm actually a big fan of hardware, with multiple hardware, synths samplers and groovebox's in my collection but there are free plugins like Vital, Surge and many more that put these inferior paid plugins to shame.
As fucked up as your comment sounds, it's 100% accurate! I feel so dumb for wasting money on these shit plugins!
They are ridiculously quiet! I'm talking -20 to -25 dB even when I'm drop kicking my keys and jumping off my bed and
dropping elbows on my keyboard! If you notice, he's playing all these sounds without any beat or anything else going
and you can still barely hear the presets as he plays them all throughout this video! And he even mentions in the very
beginning of this video that he has his setup being ran through compressors, eq, SSL etc. and we still can barely hear
the plugins in the video! Now imagine trying to hear these plugins when you have a dope project that's almost finished
but you want to add a piano, or some strings! Good luck even being able to hear them in the mix with everything else!
I've been producing music 100% with software on a PC for the last 20+ years. I have a little over 20 years of experience
with FL Studio. The only reason I started going down this rabbit hole of plugins for the MPC is because I decided to get
an MPC X 4 years ago. I love the X! But I wanted to produce more with hardware and get away from the DAW/software
realm! However.. the further I go, the more I realize I'm missing out! I really wish my MPC X would work seamlessly with
FL Studio rather than relying on a shit plugin or throwing my X into controller mode! For me the perfect world would be
if FL Studio was the one that owned the MPC and designed it specifically to use with FL Studio!
My real problem is that Akai might be starting a trend here where you buy a future MPC, only to find out that its sounds and fx are only barebones. And that you have to pay another half on top of the hardware investment you just made to get the full deal. That's just a horrible customer experience.
Na cause when the smoke clears it's still a mpc and mpc's are designed to put things in them.
I think Akai has generated way too much good will to do that. It would be a marketing disaster. The new additional plugins are aimed at a specific audience. I purchased the piano suite, no regrets at all there as I can write it off anyway. The "barebones" option still gives you a nice lot of plugins and effects.
@@Diddddu MPCs have grown beyond that and are nowadays perfectly capable DAW workstations even if you don't put anything in them. I would go as far as claiming that when you're not into sampling or playing hardware instruments yourself but in the market for a standalone DAW, then MPC is your best option.
@@Drrolfski Grown beyond what? Like i said it's still an mpc.You can all ways do mpc stuff with it like add your own sounds and samples.All that beyond stuff is just extra.My point was you don't need all the extra content because it's a MPC YOU PUT SOUNDS IN IT.I have keygroups that sound just as good if not better in some cases.
@@Diddddu You suggest that putting sounds in it yourself is the only way you're "supposed" to use an MPC. Well, that's bullshit. A significant part of the MPC users can't be bothered to hook up external gear & instruments (that they don't have anyway) or have to figure out all this intricate key group stuff. They just want to turn on the machine, at best install a few expansions and then get going making tracks. And Akai needs to make sure they can keep delivering this straight-out-of-the-box, fully equipped DAW experience without giving them a bad taste in the mouth about all the built-in stuff they miss out on if they don't pay serious extra money.
Love the plug-ins but sadly they aren't nearly as affordable as I would like them to be.
Maybe scoop'em when a solid sale comes along 🤔
As I person who bought the Force when it first came out I can now say its worth the money....just had to wait years to be able to re order tracks.... the pluggins sound great and def going get the Keys and organ (onsale right now) maybe the OPx-4 too. I agree though the price is a bit high, I don't mind paying say$50 per pluggin but not $500! They should make a cheaper version that works only in the machines and a more expensive one if you want it to work as a vst, then at least they know they made the money off the hardware when ppl buy the $50 one.
I know it’s not built in but Omnisphere 2 is $399 and Arturia V9 is priced similar. They are reaching with that price tag. Should’ve been $200 tops
Those two VSTs are prime examples of why I feel Akai’s pricing for the new software is exorbitant. You can get way more sounds and effects from those two pieces of software for the same price range as the entirety of the new MPC sounds.
If omnispere were to be a hardware unit. How much do you think it be?
Omnisphere 2 is way better than all of akai's new and old plugins lol...
@@hostilesavage4299 But Having Quality Plug ins For A Standalone Unit Of This Elk Is A Groundbreaker but like The Host Said, If You Just Bought A MPC LIVE 2 For 1300 Dollars Then Add 500, That's 1800 Dollars... The MPC KEYS 61 Is 1899... So That's Ah Problem... They Should've Gave Us some Kind Of Better Deal For Sure.. Like Buy The Bundle For 250 Dollars Max, Then It Goes To 500 After The Trail Run Of About 90 Days... Now That would've Been Fair.
@@biggrime $10k+
Only one I’m interested in is the fm synth. Trying some cool sounds from innt patches at mo before the trial expires. Having ng trouble making traditional fm sounds, like lately bass though. Will experiment some more. Like the sharper look!
straight up, hell no these are not worth $500. And that's the "half price" price. What a joke. It's worth $200. And Akai is just going to end up screwing over its loyal, early adopter buyers when they lower the price to something reasonable. This is a brutal misstep. And where's the disk streaming already?
I feel like at $200 for the bundle it'd be a no brainer. I could see it getting discounted as a black Friday sale at around $200 (maybe not this year 🤣). And yeah, I want that disk streaming!
Thats the recipe for Wall Street sell high buy low…. In essence wait it out then… I think Akai has really supported this product much more than previous MPC’s with constant updates vs other companies putting unfinished products out clearly just using it as a front to sell you sample packs.
Just snagged them at 40% off on the spring sale currently going on. Worth it now :)
I got them 70% off....Mini D for example for 19 bucks...
Like always, enjoyed the video! And I really enjoyed today's guest! Looking forward to see him more often...
🤣🤣❤🙏
MPC X owners should be given the new plug ins for free as we spent just as much for the X as that wack a$$ keyboard costs... make it happen Akai...
Freedom of choice....You did not HAVE to get the X....
Dude. Absolutely love the stache
❤🙏❤
Great quality review, made me suscribe, keep up the good work.
Good video 👍. I agree with your analysis that it's fair in principle for Akai to want to charge for extras such as this. My perspective is I rarely use the existing plugins so I wouldn't be any more interested if these ones were free!
What is interesting is the MPC Key 61. I wonder why it took them so long to do that even though people have been mourning the Ensoniqs for decades? I might have been interested if it had been available at the same time as the One because I do want a synth (not a MIDI keyboard) to replace my DX27 as my full-size synth-action keyboard but I don't need two MPCs.
Willing to bet you'd get them if free....
@@muppetpaster I've not even installed all the ones that are free but I did buy the Air delay. I find that free plugins, VSTs, sample packs, etc. just end up as clutter.
Tried the demo liked the piano and ep, rich sounds. The synth was good too. Overall they’re good plug ins but too pricey for me at 500$
I think for the people who already own hybrid 3 and Riser we should get a cross grade and also I think that all the air plug ins should work in the mpc environment. would I pay 500 no but I would pay a 50-100 crossgrade. .. I am also a huge arturia v collection 7,9 user pigments 3 ... heaviy user of arturia.
Yeah, and I paid less for V collection than they want for these.
10000% love the new look! Daddy tefty! 😍😍😍😍
🤣🤣🤣❤
I've been experimenting with the OPX-4 and Fabric synths and they truly sound great, and the fact that they are available in Stand Alone mode makes it a tough one to ignore for me. The price seems high, but the quality of these synths is also very high IMHO...the MPC is really excelling at being a total solution for music production in a portable box. I have 5 days remaining on my demo...so we will see how I fair over the coming hours as I build out more tracks using these sounds. :)
Great to hear losing your beard was for a great cause. Congrats on surpassing your goal for the Children's Hospital!
Be that as it may, the akai mpc is a fantastic product. Personally I have rediscovered the joy of making music, away from those fucking computers, sound cards, latencies, windows, drivers, etc... So I can only say thank you akai for what you did! The plugins? They don't look bad to me and anyway nobody forces you to buy them, or at least not to buy them all. You have 8 audio tracks, the sampler and keygroups.. You can always record anything you want! Great akai.. Serious and honest brand.. Shall we talk about bosses? An rc505 for 600 euros and you don't even have a fucking micro sd slot! 😄
I like your closing views on the price . Rest of the video was super , too.
Didn’t recognize you without the beard. Thanks for showing the FM synth. Most of the MPC community is focused on Fabric.
Nice vid! They seem dope but not gonna drop $500 for them with what I have already. Maybe if they run a sale sometime I’ll grab them..
Totally forgot about sales 🙌
So I'm fairly confident these plugins are to compete with Maschine+, where we now have synth plugins on a standalone device available for sale. The pricing is also consistent on a per plugin basis. If you go purely off the market perspective, these are fairly priced.
Personally, I think they are a little overpriced, especially considering they only work with MPC, while NI's stuff can be used with other software as well. I did get them though because first they do sound great, and second I agree that I want to support Akai with their dev costs. They've done an excellent job so far supporting the MPC lineup and so I'm happy to kick a couple extra dollars their way.
Ni plugins and sound libraries are much better. But Maschine is basically an abandoned product.
cowboy hat would be a great add on here :)
🤣🤣
Flavor Plug-in is da real mvp
Honestly, been using it all the time both on the hardware and in Ableton.
19:55 ofcourse you can go back to presets....Just click the rotary encoder right now...While preset name at the top is highlighted.....Gets you straight to the list of presets...In ALL plugins...
Use locate preset to go from sounds view to where you are in presets
Yea, I think I'm just gonna get the Fantom-08 😏
Got this feeling a subscription model for akai plug-ins and expansions is coming soon…
Really Good value when bundled with MPC key, a little steep otherwise as VI prices have dropped over last 5 years or so due to more competition especially in the orchestral space look at east west sales prices for example, but I will say the MPC workflow is amazingly efficient and creative so having access to this in a groove sequencer really opens the door to creativity and production ,
I'm just waiting for the Force update. I think these are worth it for a standalone device. I only use my force standalone so I'm looking forward to it. these new plugins will hold me over until I can pickup a juno-x
MPC line getting cheaper, plugins/ software is the market where the revenue, margins, profits are. Akai has seen this from ... and you can mention many names! Let's be honest ; the packages are basically about keygroups and parameters. Sure it takes time to program! But 500 dollars ? Haha! I think not. -- good video Sir. Thanks!
To edit the current plugin, use Menu, Program Edit. Tip: Keep that in your pull our menu, along with Save :)
$USD500 = $AUD750 down here in Australia. For that I could buy so much more I think. I have some big workstation synths like Motif XS, Korg M3 and Nord Stage. I can grab samples from them and create my own sound library. It is handy to have them all there and ready to go. The workflow is clunky and in his review, loopop showed similar cons to the workflow.
The OPx4 is huge. I did not regret buying it (at a 50% discount though). I had sequences worth of 4 tracks in the first 20 minutes of using it. For the Pianos and the XL stuff ... I might get it if they discount it a lot but then I don't think I need those really. I have all the sound creating gear I currently need and utilise. For some years now I don't "hoard" gear just because I like it. When I buy something I see if I use it and when I see it just collecting dust it's on eBay in a minute. Hard to do with a plugin especially since it's so special purpose MPC only. I would never pay for extra base features though like a better arranger aso.
So I switched from MPC One to MPC Key and couldn't be more pleased. I really dig all these sounds. Would I have bought these for my One at 5 hundy? Yeah I think so, but I also wanted Wifi and Bluetooth, and the built in keyboard. Upgrading to the Keys has simplified a LOT for me, a lot of synths are now boxed up and I don't have to faff about trying to use an iPad as a sound module. I also think there's a lot to dig into in that FM synth. All that being said - would I have upgraded from a Live ii? Probably not, unless I had loads of money or got a good price back selling the Live ii.
Maybe ipad will comeback soon , because Model D , Animoog ,Zeon ,Piano , rhodes , Swam...with Mpc Key ;) miam , better ? Maybe ...;)
But now you have just 4 knob to control a external synth ....
A synth with only 4 knob for me it's not possible...
But i understand
The main problem with using Ipad or Sound modules to me is the workflow of recording the audio back into the mpc
They are ok. The fact they are work on standalone sweetens the pot some. The price is on the high side. If anyone thinks it’s too high, buy parts or none at all.
Nope not worth it until Black Friday. Got all new plugins for $199 in total
my man made a beat to meditate and smoke a whole pack of newports to
I Will be buying in the future, but I got enough sounds running into my MPC now. I use it standalone and run the CPU as an audio input. I'm thinking about the Keys it'll take away the need for the keyboard on my desk but doesn't really replace anything being that all the MPCs have the same built-in software. It's more vanity buy than necessity.
I'd love to support Akai but the price is too high and the value is too low. $50-75 each I would've bought a couple.
Respect to AKAI for adding so much to the MPC platform. I have a used OG Live, and I feel like I'm getting too much for the money especially with the additions of drumsynth and hypesynth. Whoever bought my Live originally in 2017 had a far less capable machine.
But yeah I don't think these plugins are a good value. The FM synth is the only one Im excited about, and it's hard to justify over just using Arturia Pigments VST. It's a big premium, and licensing/usability friction to get some new standalone instruments. Hopefully AKAI puts them on sale for 50% off around black Friday, and maybe Ill buy one.
The Fabric pack is on sale for $99 right now. Normally $250
As an engineer I know how much work it is to build software. So I find it completely reasonable.
Unfortunately, most musicians do not have any understanding or comprehension of how difficult it is to build software.
Then how do explain the cheap price of every other written software
@@sederquest a lot of software today is backed by venture capital and is never profitable. Also this model of software development has created the expectation in the market that software is cheap, when it really isn’t.
@@johnrikardnilsen7840 well I do appreciate the skill and knowledge involved, I couldn’t program it….wouldn’t know where to start lol
hope you enjoyed that beat coz that was real nice.....Another consideration when you provide a platform for 3rd party involvement its also an idea to attract 3rd party`s to bring value by bringing better content. ive seen this is the gaming sim side multiple times... so... im confident its a cash grab, happening every where in our world. confident the price will be re adjusted as they are on the extortionate side. alas don`t forget everything that has been free so far too. the Key61 is fantastic on the other hand with these plugins not being a consideration. nobody bought a workstation for its excellent sequencing and sampling and nobody bought an MPC for its synth engines or plugins. but we have a new medium and its workflow is unrivalled as a redefinition of the workstation. just new mpc territory capable of attracting a different style of musician without leaving the old fold out. i think one of the plugins could have been free very easily. A " take your pick " for the new akai plugin registrations system might have been a nice option. encouraging at least. but also i believe everyone can demo these plugins and create key groups as a compensation which also leads to new key61 Interest.
1:00 A list of everything these AKAI plugins must run through in order to even be able to hear them! I paid for these plugins and they literally sit at -20 to -25 dB
while casually scrolling through presets and playing! It's pathetic! I spent hours yesterday trying to figure out why they're so quiet and what I could try to do in
order to counter it. Because you max out the volume for the plugin itself, and STILL the instrument will be 30-50% lower in dB than what you need in order for
you to play along with your project! The sounds themselves are pretty decent. I have no gripes in that regard. My issue is how ridiculously low the volume is
for Akai plugins!
Edit- I mean just listen as he goes through the presets for crying out loud! Even with his monster setup you still can barely hear these damn plugins! And he's
playing them by themselves without any sort of beat already going! Now imagine trying to hear these plugins when your beat is nearly finished but you decide
you want to add a piano, or a guitar, or some strings! Good luck trying to hear those instruments with everything else playing! Complete MF NIGHTMARE! 🤮
They’re cool, but the pricing is simply inappropriate and out of sync with comparable mainstream plugins and softsynths that sound way better and offer better performance for less money.
My biggest concern is actually that my box could stop working at some point if akai no longer supports the software (which eventually always happens at some point) or ceases business. The price for the Plugins is borderline acceptable, but on a hardware box they then need to work for as long as the box works.
Great point. I have no idea if the newer MPCs will be able to keep working (repairs, etc.) the same way the classic units have.
I have a Live 2, and I'm really debating on getting the keys. I haven't really messed with the stock drums much, but they're hitting hard on this. I could definitely use them. I always use my own and 3rd party samples. I'm really struggling trying to figure out if the Keys is worth buying, if I already have a Live 2. I'm just not sure if the plugins sound good enough, for me to double up on MPC's. There's so many things I can get when spending that much. I'm trying to streamline, by getting more premium gear, to replace multiple pieces of smaller gear, due to not enjoying the clutter of having a bunch of gear. It messes with my workflow. I would rather have a bout 10 premium pieces, than being cluttered by cheaper pieces. I just ordered an Iridium Keys, which has stereo sampling, so I'm thinking that me getting the keys would be an overlap, and a step down from the Iridium, especially since I have the Live 2. I think I may have just answered myself with this comment... HAHA! Thanks for the video! I like the stuff you do!
im digging the fm plugin. 👍🏻
Not bad sounds from the Fabric vst very pricey where I live our dollar is currently a joke, on special for $99 in USA presently but sadly nowhere else.
Hold up……I feel like I’m seeing a whole new setup behind you, did someone do some updates 😱🥹
🤣🤣 Welllllll I was planning on rearranging things again (surprise surprise) and our AC broke last week, so I decided to do just make it happen....without AC. I'm still planning on getting a Jaspers synth stand behind me. Thanks for the support, Noir 🙏❤
Thankyou for putting out. Feels like a lot of quality of life design to work with the presets or grease design your own... I'd be interested in how layered the piano sounds are.... But at $500... I'm trying to work out who this is for? It feels like the piano would have to be on a par with garritan gfx. If these come free with the 61 keys, is it just to nudge people into buying the keys thinking they got a bargain?
Yeah, a bit pricey and the competition is stiff in terms of sound libraries. I think the target market really is people that want to have everything included in their MPC for touring/live performance and not worry about software loaded up on a laptop, on stage. In that perspective, it makes a lot of sense with it bundled into the Key 61. I could see some steep discounts in a year. Or holiday sales 👍
Name of the song
Hot Mud Bath with BBW's
I thought you were Accurate Beats for a second LOL
if you hold menu and press the cubes it jumps you around on the screen. love the video.
They are absolutely VSTs. If you buy Organ, you get the MPC version, the AU, and the VST3 version.
Not one of the sounds I’ve heard from the new bundle are worth any $$$ over the plug-ins I already own, much less $150, $250 or $500. As an engineer myself I’m all about paying for software, but not as a charity. There are a metric shit ton of better apps for iOS made by hobbyists that don’t cost more than $5-20. And Vital is practically free. So I just don’t buy that their devs couldn’t compete with the other teams out there to make something equal or better for at least in the same ballpark of price. Not 10X the price. Hype is better than all of them.
One angle I forgot to mention, that I think is really important in hindsight, is the live performance ability with these plugins. If you perform with a Live or One and need these type of sounds on the road, then it's a great choice. This is assuming you're not running a laptop for a show. But yeah, I prefer my own synths/devices for sound sources most of the time.
@@TeftyMeems - yeah but with only 4 q-links, you really need a Faderfox or something with more knobs/faders to assign if you want to tweak things live. At which point you might as well just have a Volca or something for the same price.
I’m struggling to make the MPC Live 2 the main brain of my setup. It does a lot, but the workflow is a hurdle for me. Sound browsing, menu-diving, and program-editing/patch-editing tend to slow me down more than I’d like.
I hear you on this. It took me a few months of dedicated focus and setups for it to click. The problem is the box itself is super complex when you try to remember all the possibilities. I find it helps to just reduce it down to a couple roles to keep my mind clear.
@@TeftyMeems good advice - that's what I did too. In my case I focused on drums first, then sampling & chopping. I then reached into the mixing and effects.
yeah, thats the right word: dumb it down. think of it as you bought the mpc 1000, just for the sampling and midi sequencing possibilities. everything on top of that, is just a bonus, as was/is with the jjos. just isolate yourself with the mpc one only (assuming you got other gear too), after a while you can leave your stuff im keller, only bringing them out of their boxes when you need to make a keygroup patch. having to move to different location with limited space, made me appreciate the mpc one more than ever. if there wasnt the drum synth plugin, maybe i would have to bring some drum machines out of their boxes.... and hype too, that shit is good for everything. with these 2 plugins, i really dont need anything else, i got a volca fm as OP-4 ersatz
Plugins sound ok, but probably not what you’d expect to get from vsts running on computers or such. Then again, you could certainly make a decent track with it and there’s the nice thing of having it in a small mobile unit. Still, it does seem pricey.
They are coming out with more instruments you will be paying more like NI komplete they are going for native instruments neck. Think about it all of akai plugins work with standalone and on the PC native instruments plugins most of them don't work in maschine + Akai has a vision that most users can't foresee they are giving us what we have been asking for and people are complaining about $500. If you are making music that's the price you'll pay or you could just use autosampler and sample your favorite vst's either way it's a win win
That is more expensive than Omnisphere, Falcon, or Phase Plant!
Actually I would say, that if these where VSTs, they should be cheaper. For instance NI Komplete costs 600 (at least now) and it includes 68 good quality instruments. It's like 10 times more stuff.
But you can't load any VST on the MPC in standalone mode. So that is what you are paying for.
Kind of a side point - but this new "Synth Add-ons" has meant that this MPC Touch user now has Hype, which wasn't previously included with v2.10 pack. Unlikely to fork out for v2.11 plugins, unless there's a big discount someday.
Thanks akai but no thanks for that price. We’re in the middle of summer sales and I can literally get Korg Collection 3 for $239. I understand some work has been put into making these but you need to be realistic with intro prices. Sorry but you simply released it at a bad time. I rather use SW mode simply because I can bring the buffer size lower than on standalone thus timing being more snappy. Not to mention we already have similar options elsewhere. Really bring the price down to atleast $300 and I’ll consider it.
Tefty what do you think about the new Akai MPC Keyboard?. And do you see yourself getting one.?
The plugins are worth the $500 if you use an MPC as your main workhorse. Don't be annoyed if you can afford something, it's just you just can't afford it. If Akai charges $150 each and you get six of them sounds like you save money, if you don't like them all just buy what you can afford and be happy with your purchase. Everybody wants everything for free, but in life you have to pay for what makes you happier or don't worry about at all.
Stand up guy here ☝🏽
I think Akai is readying the marketplace for 3rd party plugins, likely to come in MPC 3+, I'm guessing. They're the inherent and gain traction, before others are made available, as compatible - or perhaps we can create our own? I'm particularly hoping for an Akai-Soundtoys collaboration, but precise tools like FabFilter are probably overkill for the MPC
Your dreaming
MPC needs the revenue, they're not going to give it up to 3rd party mfgs
nice groove...
I'd love to have these but I'd need to be in a position to write these off. I ain't quite there yet... LOL
VSTs iz all
I think the marketing is way off, the “100 presets” for Stage Piano should be more clear, it’s 4 pianos with lots of FX chains. The pianos sound good but I’m just gonna to find one and make a keygroup. I’d love a deep dive on OPx4…before I start my trial. I can’t find anything that gets into how it really works, thanks for showing that sample layer page, first time I’ve seen it.
Thanks for the thoughts! I'll keep in mind a deep dive for the OPx4 👍
@@TeftyMeems literally searching now, again, for any OPx4 content.
I'm all about supporting them, they have given a lot ill admin, but, we need a rent to own model here, for 1 plug-in or all, over time id buy them all anyways
Synthstrom doesn't charge for extra features.
Did you found a short cut to go back to the preset of a pluggin ?
@Tefty - pretty sure buying the plug-in gets you the standalone plugin as well as the desktop as a VST you can drop into any DAW (without having to use the MPC Software as a wrapper).
The amount of expansions/ sounds I own including splice I will pass this would be considered light work with what I have on my mpc X i'm good.
Need to fix there software and website first before they charge ridiculous prices?
This machine was not cheap either
Won’t be buying akai again
The reason that they are that price is because of the price of the akai 61 key. These plugins come free with that machine so what they're trying to do was justify the $2000 price point of that machine by saying that you get $900 worth of plugins free. So it makes it seem like the machine itself only costs $1100 but you also get $900 with the plugins. Of course that's not very accurate realistically.
Thanks for this. I’m still debating about getting the OPX 4 plug in as I don’t own a fm synth outside of a computer. (Dexed) It’s either this or the Volca Fm 2. I don’t want spend £600 on an OpSix to be honest. Any thoughts?
Hi Peter! Good news is you can buy the OPx4 plugin separately for $150 US. And it'll probably go on sale at some point in the future.
Is it a good FM synth? From what I'm played with so far, yes. Solid option. I have the Korg OpSix and Digitone, though, and I'd honestly reach for those first if I have the choice (that might just be habit and familiarity). But sometimes you just want a quick FM like tone, and the OPx4 fits that perfectly.
It’s just too expensive. There’s different hardware you can pick up to match those synths. And some don’t seem much different from what you could access with sample packs. I think it’s a shame they didn’t add just one instrument to the free updates, and it does feel a bit landgrabby. I have the mpcone and it feels like having to spend the same again to get the additional packages. As for the rest of the update… I’ve got to dig into the sampler system because they’ve changed to adding a sample to a new program - I would work pseudo layering samples to pads which were already set to trigger, so you got a kind of looper going on. That now seems to have gone away, but need to dig to check it out. So I’m kind of a bit ‘meh’ about this update. One thing I hope has been solved for me is the system crashed every time I held a shift function and it was running. It’s still a great kit, but I’m not sure it’s the exciting update everyone keeps talking about.
$500 would absolutely be worth it if they were amongst the best in class. But in every single category, there are better and cheaper options. The worst things about MPC is that the sounds aren't great for non hip-hop genres.
I initially thought they were o ly sold seperatly. I initially just bought FabricXL...for 250, then a week later I got OPx4 for 150...then yesterday I bought Studio Strings for 150...so..I stupidly spent $550 for 3 plugins thinking I didn't want them all...I didn't now whole bundle was 500...it was so confusing at launch. Ima see if I can get rest of bundle seeing as I paid over the asking price already.
Lol literally the dumbest thing ive ever read..
The trailer park chic something ;)
Yes and no. Like these are reasonably priced plugins but I certainly wouldn’t buy them independent of an MPC
They are worth 29 bucks each at that id still be like do I need them all? 500 bucks is steep
I need a Piano for my MPC
From the perspective of a Native Instruments Maschine user, the sounds are pretty laughable, especially for that price. You get a lot more from NI for your money.
Personally I think $500 for it not being an actual VST. That is nearly the price of Omnisphere which has much more application. Akai needs to rethink this. I could understand $100 for the Fabric and maybe $50 for the other as a bundle.