KVR Audio

plopseaw · Post by **plopseaw** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 11:11 pm

Situation is becoming dreadful over at Akai regarding the Advance VIP. Long standing bugs which crash the whole software left unfixed for over 6 months. Really popular stuff like Sylenth, Dune, Spire, Arturia not working.

Take a look at this thread before thinking of buying

http://community.akaipro.com/akai_profe ... ng-presets

Seems one case where NI are far ahead of Akai in terms of stability and customer service

Synthcordia · Post by **Synthcordia** » Wed Jan 18, 2017 7:20 pm

Greetings fellow musicians, producers, potential buyers"
For those considering a purchase of the Advance series keyboards: Two Words: Buyers Beware. If you visit the akai forum on the advanced series you will find a host of very frustrated users - including me. Do your homework before you buy. I thought I had done enough comparative analysis, but focused more on comparing the marketed features, functions of products and not drilling down into the issues blogs: big mistake. When you buy a midi controller you take for granted that the driver suite and included software will work without much issue. You also expect that the marketing materials are true. In the case of the Advance series they are not. Arturia suite and many others require programming maps to get to work, if you can even do it - VIP crashes everytime a VST plugin with extension that are not mapped yet is selected. It is unthinkable to take this thing on stage and perform. And when it crashes, it takes the daw with it - Abelton at least.
When you buy this level of controller you usually have a pressing need to get it into your production workflow or performance ready - spending many hours and suffering through crash after crash is not acceptable me thinks. While I really appreciate the hardware design, the software promise is unfulfilled - in short its marketing hype. Further, support from Akai to its loyal user base is laughable. Just go to the Akai blogs and read the anger and frustration that is brewing - Akai, doesn't even seem to care or acknowledge requests for assist, info, anything. Appears to be a poorly run company from the top. Software integration and/or development and its professional management and maintenance is not an Akai long suit. Even if they do come through with updates and fixes in v3 VIP, the way they manage (or don't manage) post release bug fixes and user base demonstrates a real lack of understanding on how to deliver software - not to mention their weak -and I mean weak - QA. I have 3 Akai products, to include the advance 61 controller. The others are simple devices - MPD26 and APC 25 key - not to much issue for these - no drivers to install, no specific software required. But enter software and integration with Advance series and all bets are off. Terribly disappointed. I don't have the time or inclination to wait around for another year for volley of crap updates and not using the controller out of fear it will crash on stage. Don't waste your money yet - its not ready for prime time - and the merchants who sell it and Akai itself continues to sucker people into this product. Buyer beware.

K-Bee · Post by **K-Bee** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 5:29 am

+1
I'm in the thread at the AKAI forum as well. I was happy when first buying the Advance but after 1,5 year of faulty installs, sudden crashes, promises never fulfilled on Akai's part and no customer service/support, I'm done. Now it sits in the corner gathering dust not connected at all.
This is the most expensive piece of useless plastic junk I've bought in my life! Just say no!

pinki · Post by **pinki** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 6:33 am

Yikes!

Thanks for posting these warnings. It was on my radar but not any more.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 6:35 am

pinki wrote:Yikes!

Thanks for posting these warnings. It was on my radar but not any more.

Yeah me too, amazing after all these years and no one has still been able to come up with something that can replace my Kore 2. Was recently looking into a Maschine Jam - turns out it doesn't even support aftertouch and the pads have no velocity, what planet are these companies living on?

incubus · Post by **incubus** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 6:37 am

It's amazing to me that at this day and age we have to worry about such things so much.

I think I said that 10 years ago

Automap was a lesson in frustration as well. Never got it right, or really even close. Still have my "impulse" 49. Dead weight in some ways (though not a bad controller outside of the idiot software)

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 7:23 am

After fixing some issues on my side I was able to control all synths I own from it, which is not bad. Initially I gave Advance 3 out of 10, now it's 5

Still don't feel much motivation to use it according to its purpose, though.

K-Bee · Post by **K-Bee** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 11:37 am

care to elaborate on how you managed to make it work?

rod_zero · Post by **rod_zero** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 3:57 pm

incubus wrote:It's amazing to me that at this day and age we have to worry about such things so much.

I think I said that 10 years ago

Automap was a lesson in frustration as well. Never got it right, or really even close. Still have my "impulse" 49. Dead weight in some ways (though not a bad controller outside of the idiot software)

I remember the discussions here about how VIP was a wrapper. Well it just evident than any software between DAW and plug in will introduce more problems (as we knew from automap).

The only company that will be able to be successful with a product like this is NI, they have the experience, a large plug in line up and the correct model, but the controller with just 8 knobs is lacking.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 4:51 pm

Well except they haven't learnt much if anything from that experience either, they have gone backwards, apart from one niceish ease of use feature (the way mapped knobs change focus) it is a long way behind their abandoned Kore 2. The current model for KK is really flawed.

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:02 am

Okay, so I wrote an article about it all:
https://djwarmonger.wordpress.com/2018/ ... d-presets/

trusampler · Post by **trusampler** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 3:07 pm

It's the Vip software that needs some major updates. The developer is here on KVR maybe he will care to chime in on some updates and fixes coming up?

K-Bee · Post by **K-Bee** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 1:39 pm

DJ Warmonger wrote:Okay, so I wrote an article about it all:
https://djwarmonger.wordpress.com/2018/ ... d-presets/

Good stuff!
In the article you write

On a side note, I have to admit that Advance 49 is the best-quality keyboard I ever played. Been learning to play keys with it last year, it just feels so good.

Really?

I consider the keybed decent but I've tried many better ones. Sad thing is, the better keybeds are way older than this one. Pure controllers tend to have mediocre keybeds and it's been so for ages. Don't know why. It's probably a matter of trying to keep costs down.

I actually think the Korg Triton Taktile (I have the 25 key one because of the built in Triton patches) has a superior keybed compared to the Advance and for a fraction of the price too. My old X-station 61 beats the Advance as well.
That said, I usually do my plugin synth playing parts on my V-Synth which has a keybed to die for (apart from being a monster machine altogether). Piano stuff is done on a Roland A90 so I tend to be extremely picky when it comes to keybeds. Maybe I'm too picky? That said, the Advance build quality is pretty good. The screen is great and I just love them big knobs!

Akai Advance Keyboard