MPC Key 61
Moderators: Sharp, X-Trade, Pepperpotty, karmathanever
- Synthmaestro
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:28 pm
MPC Key 61
I have to admit I wasn't too keen on the product but after reading and watching reviews I truly believe this is a nice improvement on the workstation concept. I will be buying one if they release an 88 version with a bigger screen. I am interested to see if Korg will be upping their game when it comes to the workstation concept...
Korg Triton Extreme 88, Korg M3 88, Moog Voyager Select Series Whitewash - Indigo, Roland V-Synth GT, Roland AX-Synth.
I doubt they will add an 88 note version,with the class compliant USB you can add another Controllor keyboard anyway so if you want a hammer action keybed you can choose your own,plus Akais history of 88 note hammer Controllor has not had the best track record
If you watch the sonicstate preview Andy Mac pretty much tells you that this is the only model they will produce
If you watch the sonicstate preview Andy Mac pretty much tells you that this is the only model they will produce
--Korg Nautilus~~Korg Modwave--Korg SV-1-Korg Wavestate--
Have to say I’m very disappointed. It’s core function is that it’s a Sampler, and without streaming keygroups, 4GB of RAM share across the entire system with the OS and sampler is completely outdated. It's also auto converts 16bit samples to 32bit when you load samples, so a 20MB 16bit file gets converted on load to use 40MB of RAM, which is so stupid as that half's the amount of ram you have to work with.
I have the MPC X and the only reason I’ve hung onto it for as long as I have is that AKAI staff said that they were going to be adding streaming to the MPC. Long ago.....
The force then gets this, but not the MPC. Think I will just sell my MPC X while its still worth something and just give up on AKAI.
I have the MPC X and the only reason I’ve hung onto it for as long as I have is that AKAI staff said that they were going to be adding streaming to the MPC. Long ago.....
The force then gets this, but not the MPC. Think I will just sell my MPC X while its still worth something and just give up on AKAI.
You could also buy those new plugins and add them to your mpc, they cost €150 each or €500 for all 6 of them..Sharp wrote:Have to say I’m very disappointed. It’s core function is that it’s a Sampler, and without streaming keygroups, 4GB of RAM share across the entire system with the OS and sampler is completely outdated. It's also auto converts 16bit samples to 32bit when you load samples, so a 20MB 16bit file gets converted on load to use 40MB of RAM, which is so stupid as that half's the amount of ram you have to work with.
I have the MPC X and the only reason I’ve hung onto it for as long as I have is that AKAI staff said that they were going to be adding streaming to the MPC. Long ago.....
The force then gets this, but not the MPC. Think I will just sell my MPC X while its still worth something and just give up on AKAI.
We might have to wait for the upcomming NI komplete X keyboard..
Korg Kronos 2/88 , Genos, Mainstage3 +VSTsu, ipad pro, GSi Gemini, Roland Integra 7, Jupiter Xm, Yamaha motif XS rack, Ketron SD90.
www.keyszone.boards.net
www.keyszone.boards.net
I’ve activated the 9 day trial so I’ve full access to all 6 right now. Truthfully, I can’t justify buying them because I feel that they are way over priced for what little they offer.
Fabric XL is probably the most interesting one of them all, but it’s painfully slow to use. Selecting a preset sound takes anywhere between 1 to 5 seconds before it becomes playable. This gets old pretty fast when you are browsing through the sounds.
For the most part, real-world sounds are not so real too. There are far better third party sample libraries available for in around $30 to $50 each which are playable right away when loaded.
Regards
Sharp.
Fabric XL is probably the most interesting one of them all, but it’s painfully slow to use. Selecting a preset sound takes anywhere between 1 to 5 seconds before it becomes playable. This gets old pretty fast when you are browsing through the sounds.
For the most part, real-world sounds are not so real too. There are far better third party sample libraries available for in around $30 to $50 each which are playable right away when loaded.
Regards
Sharp.
Thanks Sharp - it's good to have independent evaluations from real users.
The MPC Keys acoustic piano sounds more synthetic than acoustic to my ear - somewhat akin to the tonality of Pianoteq pianos.
Early hype from compensated influencers simply cannot be trusted. Whatever product they're endorsing is second only to sliced bread as the best thing ever. (There are a few exceptions like loopop and Woody who do real reviews not just endorsements).
I give any newly released product at least 6 months "in the wild" to get a balanced perspective of both cons and pros.
The MPC Keys acoustic piano sounds more synthetic than acoustic to my ear - somewhat akin to the tonality of Pianoteq pianos.
Early hype from compensated influencers simply cannot be trusted. Whatever product they're endorsing is second only to sliced bread as the best thing ever. (There are a few exceptions like loopop and Woody who do real reviews not just endorsements).
I give any newly released product at least 6 months "in the wild" to get a balanced perspective of both cons and pros.
bpoodoo
Triton Extreme 88 w/MOSS
Triton Extreme 88 w/MOSS
No problem. Who knows, 6 months from now maybe AKAI will have addresses these issues.
Seems some YouTuber's are on the mark though. This seems to be very fair and accurate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ9r1Q0kWNA
Regards
Sharp.
Seems some YouTuber's are on the mark though. This seems to be very fair and accurate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ9r1Q0kWNA
Regards
Sharp.
-
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 885
- Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 4:14 pm
- Location: Greece
Re: MPC Key 61
I think the pa5x is going to make an impact on the workstation market too. Although it is said to be an arranger the synth engine and some more things (some hidden capabilities that hopefully they ll enable in the future) along with its sound quality and ease of use will put it for good in the workstation market.Synthmaestro wrote:I have to admit I wasn't too keen on the product but after reading and watching reviews I truly believe this is a nice improvement on the workstation concept. I will be buying one if they release an 88 version with a bigger screen. I am interested to see if Korg will be upping their game when it comes to the workstation concept...
From what i know , its sound is better than the korg kronos in most cases (we are talking about the sample engine of kronos of course) and with all these onboard controllers , I can tell that it counts as a full workstation!
~~~The best keyboard for any player is the one that fits his/her needs!~~~
Korg keyboards owned now: PA5X 61 ,PA300, Triton extreme 61, Korg 707, Trinity plus
Korg keyboards owned now: PA5X 61 ,PA300, Triton extreme 61, Korg 707, Trinity plus
I think that I saw a number somewhere, and it was big. However, every plugin does have its own polyphony count, and they are all different.bpoodoo wrote:Any idea what is the polyphony for MPC Key? (128, 256, etc.). I don't see it in the Akai specs. The video says you're limited to 8 plugins per project. Does each plugin have its own polyphony?
Having said that I don't think that you should be too worried about the plugin count as such. Aside from resampling, you get eight plugin tracks and eight audio tracks and an abundance of drumkit tracks, keygroup tracks, and MIDI tracks. If you run short of tracks you can render things piecemeal and treat them as frozen audio.
https://www.thomann.de/it/akai_professi ... key_61.htm
They write 64 simultaneous voices
They write 64 simultaneous voices
bpoodoo wrote:Yes, that's a good video, especially for an MPC newbie like me.
Any idea what is the polyphony for MPC Key? (128, 256, etc.). I don't see it in the Akai specs. The video says you're limited to 8 plugins per project. Does each plugin have its own polyphony?
bpoodoo wrote: Any idea what is the polyphony for MPC Key? (128, 256, etc.). I don't see it in the Akai specs. The video says you're limited to 8 plugins per project. Does each plugin have its own polyphony?
64 simultaneous voices may be adequate for beats production. But for other song types, 64 simultaneous voices could be constraining, e.g. for a sequence composed of MIDI tracks with dense layering, long-sustaining notes, and multiple chords being played at the same time across multiple tracks.afr wrote:https://www.thomann.de/it/akai_professi ... key_61.htm
They write 64 simultaneous voices
bpoodoo
Triton Extreme 88 w/MOSS
Triton Extreme 88 w/MOSS
I'm pretty sure I've heard other numbers, something more like 192? Over 100, to be sure.
But again, when the device is also a MIDI master that can drive other devices hard, that's a very artificial limit. I can use my Force to drive my Kross and my Krome and my Blofeld and my Pipes and my stack of Volcas and various desktop monosynths at the same time - and then I'm well over 200 parallel voices.
But again, when the device is also a MIDI master that can drive other devices hard, that's a very artificial limit. I can use my Force to drive my Kross and my Krome and my Blofeld and my Pipes and my stack of Volcas and various desktop monosynths at the same time - and then I'm well over 200 parallel voices.