Akai MPC X

after an initial update, all functions are operational.

Every musician has his own genre and finds his own workflow in it. I don't like menu diving and one-handed mice. I like an overview and being able to quickly grab a button with both hands. I work with midi as well as one shot samples (drums). I export my patterns to loopable wavs and bring them to a final mix. This device seems to be 100% made for that. I have a large amount of hardware and software synths, this unit is my centerpiece of my studio. It is also a kind of Swiss army knife for a musician, it has so many possibilities that you have to realize that you will have to put some time into getting to know the possibilities of this device. That means that you will search a lot in the beginning, but if you put in that time, everything will fall into place. Akai has been working on his MPC line for decades and you can tell. I have a lot of experience with grooveboxes, actually I found out much too late that the MPC X is a squared groovebox. I am much more productive now, because this device fits in so nicely with my personal workflow. Don't underestimate this device, especially if you're producing in hip hop. Mikes (the thing has phantom power), turntables, effects, etc you can hang directly on it. An extra hard disk can be placed in it, accepts fast SD cards, you can attach USB hubs and hang external hard disks on it. The touchscreen is of very high quality (not oversensitive, works very responsive, accurate and smooth). Decent buttons. The best pad buttons I've ever had under my fingers. Given all the functionality, I dare to call this product very well-arranged. But that only after I had already figured out the device a bit. It's quite a beast, bigger than I thought. Very solid build quality. Metal housing with high quality plastic top. This is a flagship MPC for a reason.