Are Akai MPC Beats and Akai MPC 2.9 different products?

[ferez21]

I'm a bit confused,
Is Akai MPC Beats like the "lite" version of Akai MPC 2.9? And is Akai MPC 2.9 a full fledged DAW?

Cheers

[antic604]

I'm a bit confused,
Is Akai MPC Beats like the "lite" version of Akai MPC 2.9? And is Akai MPC 2.9 a full fledged DAW?

Cheers

In terms of features they're the same, but Beats has less sound content and I think doesn't have the - awesome! - DrumSynth released some months ago (https://www.akaipro.com/drumsynth).

But Beats is good and quite competent as a simple DAW, especially for working with samples. The native plugins are OK and you can also use VSTs. Actually playing with it convinced me to get MPC One year ago.

[ferez21]

I'm a bit confused,
Is Akai MPC Beats like the "lite" version of Akai MPC 2.9? And is Akai MPC 2.9 a full fledged DAW?

Cheers

In terms of features they're the same, but Beats has less sound content and I think doesn't have the - awesome! - DrumSynth released some months ago (https://www.akaipro.com/drumsynth).

But Beats is good and quite competent as a simple DAW, especially for working with samples. The native plugins are OK and you can also use VSTs. Actually playing with it convinced me to get MPC One year ago.

Thanks, how about MPC Essentials? I'm guessing it's positioned between the Beats and the Standard?

[antic604]

I'm a bit confused,
Is Akai MPC Beats like the "lite" version of Akai MPC 2.9? And is Akai MPC 2.9 a full fledged DAW?

Cheers

In terms of features they're the same, but Beats has less sound content and I think doesn't have the - awesome! - DrumSynth released some months ago (https://www.akaipro.com/drumsynth).

But Beats is good and quite competent as a simple DAW, especially for working with samples. The native plugins are OK and you can also use VSTs. Actually playing with it convinced me to get MPC One year ago.

Thanks, how about MPC Essentials? I'm guessing it's positioned between the Beats and the Standard?

Isn't MPC Essentials just an extension (sound pack)?

[ferez21]

I'm a bit confused,
Is Akai MPC Beats like the "lite" version of Akai MPC 2.9? And is Akai MPC 2.9 a full fledged DAW?

Cheers

In terms of features they're the same, but Beats has less sound content and I think doesn't have the - awesome! - DrumSynth released some months ago (https://www.akaipro.com/drumsynth).

But Beats is good and quite competent as a simple DAW, especially for working with samples. The native plugins are OK and you can also use VSTs. Actually playing with it convinced me to get MPC One year ago.

Thanks, how about MPC Essentials? I'm guessing it's positioned between the Beats and the Standard?

Isn't MPC Essentials just an extension (sound pack)?

Ok I've searched a bit more and found this:.

MPC Essentials is a one-track version of the full MPC software

So it's a hardware bundled product, but it's worse than the free MPC Beats. No wonder i'm confused by their products' tiers and naming

[antic604]

Just d/l the beats, watch their tutorial and have fun. It's great. You'll want an MPC soon

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyaw ... gn4V_d_Kxv

[Trensharo]

MPC Essentials is the old version of MPC Beats. MPC Beats is MPC 2.8.x with track limitations and no DrumSynths or Hybrid 3 (though the latter is in almost every inMusic company's software bundle).

I have MPC 2.9.1 and several expansions. I wouldn't personally use either of these over Native Instruments Maschine 2 software, and NI has far better expansions. I don't like the workflow, personally, or the way the software is structured (too much bouncing between screens/modes).

And I think Red is probably the worst accent color any developer can choose for their software.

[apoclypse]

MPC Essentials is the old version of MPC Beats. MPC Beats is MPC 2.8.x with track limitations and no DrumSynths or Hybrid 3 (though the latter is in almost every inMusic company's software bundle).

I have MPC 2.9.1 and several expansions. I wouldn't personally use either of these over Native Instruments Maschine 2 software, and NI has far better expansions. I don't like the workflow, personally, or the way the software is structured (too much bouncing between screens/modes).

And I think Red is probably the worst accent color any developer can choose for their software.

That depends on what you want out of the software. Maschine as software is really limited, while Akai doesn't really limit what you can do directly in Beats or the MPC Software. If you want something that you can use with pretty much any controller (including NI's controllers) then MPC Beats is the better option imo and it's quite a bit more powerful in a few areas. The looks are another thing entirely, that's subjective so I won't really comment on that.

Oh yeah and MPC Beats is free. So there is also that.

[Trensharo]

I own MPC 2.9.1

My M.Audio Oxygen Pro controller ships with MPC Beats. There are updated MIDI Learn profiles for this controller.

It still doesn't work properly. Good luck setting it up to work as advertised, without your C3 key on the controller triggering G4 or whatever in the software, bad pad mappings (cause Akai has to be different), etc. You can't even Sync the Controller's Arp and Note Repeat to the DAW's Tempo, because enabling that MIDI Port messes up the Key and Pad Mappings, etc.

This controller sets up in 2 minutes in Cubase and Studio One, and works flawlessly in both, BTW. So, it has everything to do with the software, and there's no way in hell I'm going to waste more hours manually mapping this controller to their software.

----- ----- -----

If you're going to be producing music, chances are you're going to at least buy an Audio Interface, and likely a MIDI Controller. Beatmakers are likely to look into pad controllers. People who actually plan this stuff out before randomly buying scattershot products factor this in - or should - to maximize their investment.

The M32 is competitive in price with most other Mini Keyboard Controllers, and has a better key bed than pretty much anything in its price tier. The Maschine Mikro is better than any Akai MPD Pad controller on the market (and doesn't have the double trigger issues that plague them) and is competitive in price with any that offer features comparable to it. Both of those together are practically a Maschine MK3 minus the screens and a few buttons, for $250 less.

The software is free, since most were going to buy comparable hardware, anyways.

No one with an NI controller (keyboard or pad) will use MPC Beats, because those devices come with Maschine 2 software bundled and why would you use a DAW comparable to Live Lite over Maschine 2 software? The only thing it doesn't include is the full factory LIbrary, which you can bolt on at NI's website - if you want.

[apoclypse]

I own MPC 2.9.1

My M.Audio Oxygen Pro controller ships with MPC Beats. There are updated MIDI Learn profiles for this controller.

It still doesn't work properly. Good luck setting it up to work as advertised, without your C3 key on the controller triggering G4 or whatever in the software, bad pad mappings (cause Akai has to be different), etc. You can't even Sync the Controller's Arp and Note Repeat to the DAW's Tempo, because enabling that MIDI Port messes up the Key and Pad Mappings, etc.

This controller sets up in 2 minutes in Cubase and Studio One, and works flawlessly in both, BTW. So, it has everything to do with the software, and there's no way in hell I'm going to waste more hours manually mapping this controller to their software.

----- ----- -----

If you're going to be producing music, chances are you're going to at least buy an Audio Interface, and likely a MIDI Controller. Beatmakers are likely to look into pad controllers. People who actually plan this stuff out before randomly buying scattershot products factor this in - or should - to maximize their investment.

The M32 is competitive in price with most other Mini Keyboard Controllers, and has a better key bed than pretty much anything in its price tier. The Maschine Mikro is better than any Akai MPD Pad controller on the market (and doesn't have the double trigger issues that plague them) and is competitive in price with any that offer features comparable to it. Both of those together are practically a Maschine MK3 minus the screens and a few buttons, for $250 less.

The software is free, since most were going to buy comparable hardware, anyways.

No one with an NI controller (keyboard or pad) will use MPC Beats, because those devices come with Maschine 2 software bundled and why would you use a DAW comparable to Live Lite over Maschine 2 software? The only thing it doesn't include is the full factory LIbrary, which you can bolt on at NI's website - if you want.

You can change the Akai mappings to whatever you want. It sin the options so I’m not sure what you are talking about there.

As for the rest. NI makes “dumb” non class compliant controllers. If you want your hardware to have support dropped out of the blue (as NI is prone to do) then by all means. People who plan and if they’ve done any research may be wary of dealing with NI and their whims. You get what you pay for imo.

[ferez21]

It still doesn't work properly. Good luck setting it up to work as advertised, without your C3 key on the controller triggering G4 or whatever in the software, bad pad mappings (cause Akai has to be different), etc.

That's exactly why i gave up on using Beats as my main drum machine plugin, i actually loved the amount of options and customizability, but this bug frustrated me and rendered it unusable for me.

[apoclypse]

It still doesn't work properly. Good luck setting it up to work as advertised, without your C3 key on the controller triggering G4 or whatever in the software, bad pad mappings (cause Akai has to be different), etc.

That's exactly why i gave up on using Beats as my main drum machine plugin, i actually loved the amount of options and customizability, but this bug frustrated me and rendered it unusable for me.

So you are saying going to Edit > Program > Note Mapping and changing that to Chromatic C1 or Chromatic C-2 doesn't work?

[ferez21]

It still doesn't work properly. Good luck setting it up to work as advertised, without your C3 key on the controller triggering G4 or whatever in the software, bad pad mappings (cause Akai has to be different), etc.

That's exactly why i gave up on using Beats as my main drum machine plugin, i actually loved the amount of options and customizability, but this bug frustrated me and rendered it unusable for me.

So you are saying going to Edit > Program > Note Mapping and changing that to Chromatic C1 or Chromatic C-2 doesn't work?

It acted weird in a way that drumming on my pad controller was ok, but entering these same notes i just tapped on into the pianoroll in my DAW, played different sounds. It might also be a bug in my DAW, I'm not sure so I'm not blaming one vendor or the other, but the result is just that it acted weird.

My pads play chromatically from C2 upwards, and C2 plays the kick drum just as expected, while D3 does play a snare when tapping, again, as expected, but plays a rimshot when i enter the notes in the pianoroll.

[apoclypse]

It still doesn't work properly. Good luck setting it up to work as advertised, without your C3 key on the controller triggering G4 or whatever in the software, bad pad mappings (cause Akai has to be different), etc.

That's exactly why i gave up on using Beats as my main drum machine plugin, i actually loved the amount of options and customizability, but this bug frustrated me and rendered it unusable for me.

So you are saying going to Edit > Program > Note Mapping and changing that to Chromatic C1 or Chromatic C-2 doesn't work?

It acted weird in a way that drumming on my pad controller was ok, but entering these same notes i just tapped on into the pianoroll in my DAW, played different sounds. It might also be a bug in my DAW, I'm not sure so I'm not blaming one vendor or the other, but the result is just that it acted weird.

My pads play chromatically from C2 upwards, and C2 plays the kick drum just as expected, while D3 does play a snare when tapping, again, as expected, but plays a rimshot when i enter the notes in the pianoroll.

I just tried this on my end in Bitwig and it works as expected. I would double check you changed the mapping correctly.

[replicant X]

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